Bublé's Louisville Concert 6/4/11

Michael Bublé, first of all is one of the 'shining stars' in music today, IMHO.
Been a fan for several years now...introduced him to hundreds of acquaintences, who've virtually all fallen in love with him.
Last night, he came back to Louisville after having been away for, in his words 2 and half years.
The good news is, he has a remarkable voice--an incredible group of musicians in his band and is not just a singer, he's an Entertainer with a capital E. Hilariously funny quips and audience interplay--one can't help but be mesmerized by this young man...and I hope he has 50 more years of albums, concerts and success.
However... as the other shoe drops, wait for it, wait for it...THE SOUND AT HIS CONCERT LAST NIGHT WAS AWFUL.
Speaking to a friend about this, he said that virtually ALL performers of that level bring in their own equipment for sound reinforcement...but I can't address that.
The concert was at the relatively new YUM Center, and I was ready to fault the 'house' audio system until my 'in the know friend' told me that.
OK, I'm not going to pretend that I wanted audiophile sound in an arena...live/acoustic sound, or anything like that...decent or passable would have been OK--I was there to see and support an entertainer that I admire--but the sound was so incredibly bad as to be painful...WAY TOO LOUD...which is a common mistake--but then distorted, piercing, terrible mix, with the piano sounding hollow and too loud/soft/distorted.
But the BIG problem was the pain that his 'swells' caused because of the Large Horns, (let's don't go there with the love horn, hate horn crowd) which in this venue sounded horrible.
It would seem that a $1Million Dollar event, (about 20K people spending $100. each, would allow Michael to have sound people who know the difference between loud and good.
Years ago, the liquor industry/entertainment industry commissioned a study evaluating the correlation between music volumes and bar receipts. Louder music, to a point, increases excitement...to a point.
The issue is, that after a certain volume level was exceeded, people scurry to the exits like rats off a ship.
Again, sheer volume wasn't the case last night...horrible distortion and simply bad sounding speakers ruined it more than the 'too much volume'.
Michael, if you can somehow read this--find that 'magic volume', loudness level that hits the vast majorities 'sweet spot', get some better speakers...your albums show us all that you know what a good mix sounds like--make that your calling card at your concerts too.
Know this, even with the horrible sound, I LOVED the show. No entertainer that I've ever seen is better than this guy...he's loaded with charisma, vocal talent, he's a handsome young man, full of energy--and utterly masterful.

Here's hoping for better sound next time--and yes I'll go next time he's in the region.

Good listening,

Larry