LOUSY SOUND AT LIVE CONCERTS


I went to a concert at Bank America Pavillion in Boston last night. I saw Tedeschi and Trucks, and The Black Crows. A terrific concert; The Tedeschi and Trucks Band was especially terrific.

Unfortunately, these bands sound better in my living room than at this beautiful, outdoor venue.

Many venues have extremely poor acoustics and/or poor sound systems. The music is often terribly distorted, details and nuances of the instrumentals and voices are lost. The sound presents as a congealed distorted mess. The art of these incredibly talented musicians cannot be fully appreciated without clear sound. Listening to music in these crappy venues is like looking at masterpiece paintings in dimly lit museums with dirty glasses. The colors, details and brush strokes are indistinct. The artistic genius cannot be fully appreciated. The Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA., Fenway Park and The Boston Garden are just as bad as The Bank Of America Pavillion, if not worse.

I am frustrated with these venues that cannot provide great sound to accompany the great music. What is the sense of attending live concerts if the sound quality sucks. Does anyone else share my frustration?
matjet
Just heard Steely Dan last week in Austin at Bass Concert hall, a rather vast 5000 set venue. Admittedly, we had outstanding seats (4th row just left of center), but the sound quality was some of the best I've heard in 40+ years of attending live performances. You could hear every nuance of every one of the 11 musicians on stage. I suspect I was hearing more of the stage than the PA, but I heard similar praise from others in attendance who I knew.
Lenny, you may know that sound inside Bass used to suck horribly but they closed the place down and re-did it. The sound is much improved. Many thanks to whoever is responsible for this!
Hi Toasty,

Yes I do remember unfortunately and you're correct, vastly improved. I've also heard awful performances (sound wise) at the Moody Theatre which was entirely due to whoever was engineering. Tedeschi Truks band's first performance there case in point. I take it you're from Austin or live here currently?
So this week I'll have an interesting opportunity to hear Lyle Lovett in the same venue from two different seats but within two days so my audio memory should be fresh. This Tuesday I saw Lyle and his "acoustic" group at the Moody Theater from a front row center seat. Most of what I heard was direct from the stage but there was a series of vocal reinforcement speakers 4 of them aligned across the front of the stage. Tonight I'll hear the same concert from an 8th row center seat and let you all know my experience. By the way, the sound was superb, extremely well balanced and not at all perceived as loud.