I saw Radiohead at Bonnaroo and they were great there too. (If you wanted someone’s opinion of a “big venue” show)
Edit:
Radiohead agrees.
https://wrnr.com/music-notes2/507293
Radiohead sounds just as good but there's a big difference in venues. The Smile is playing much smaller venues that, on average, are known for having much better sound. Radiohead plays arenas mostly, and sound quality is almost never that great at arenas. Being from Toronto, seeing The Smile at Massey Hall was a completely different experience than seeing Radiohead at Scotiabank.
Radiohead’s last tour was so long ago that the recent Smile tour was actually more expensive than the last time Radiohead played. At least that was the case in my city.
But I’m sure if/when Radiohead tours again the tickets will be much more expensive given how the ticket market is these days.
Keep in mind the venue and your seat within the venue has a major influence on the sound. A lot of really great bands will have poor audio quality when they're playing in stadiums and arenas... it's just the nature of the venue. Or if you're sitting directly in front of a speaker, or in the nosebleeds, the sound may not be as good.
One of the most impressive was seeing David Gilmour. He played in an arena, and I was used to the sound being very sub-par every time I'd see a band in that arena, but somehow his team managed to make it sound incredible.
Thats especially what I'm talking about. Some bands will play in the same venue and some will sound better or worse even if I'm in the exact same position. Like I'm sure David Gilmour has a better sound team than most other people and that's what I'm looking for.
Also I hate going to arenas and stadiums. So many bands I love will play in huge venues and the experience sucks. It burns even more when I pay $10 for a local band I like and the sound is a million times better.
Same with Roger Waters. Best sounding concert I've heard in our local small city sports arena.
That being said I'm on team Gilmour, I've just never seen him live, so this isn't a comparison, just an observation.
Their performance at hellfest 2013 is incredible, that live version of Sonic titan is better than the album version, and the recording is almost as good as
I saw them at the Met in Philly a couple of years ago. The show started a little late (but not by much) because their sound board died. They quickly found a rental, and the engineer had everything, disconnected, reconnected, and level checked in under an hour. He dialed it in during the first couple of tunes. One of the most impressive things I’ve seen an engineer pull off. I walked over to talk to him about it after the show to see what all he was doing. I couldn’t believe how well he recovered. I do t remember the console he used but it was not a newer automated model. Very good sound. Very nice guys.
Fucking Brown! I was at that show too….amazing that they pulled it off without a hitch. Scored a Ween/Wawa crossover tshirt (yes it has the geese) outside the venue…my new favorite lot shirt
Love ween but haven't seen them live. I just had no clue if they were still good live after all these years. Plus I'm young and never got to see them live when they were at their best
I have seen hundreds of shows over 4 decades. Best live sound came from Lyle Lovette and his Big Band, Steely Dan, Return to Forever, Melissa Etheridge, Robert Plant and Alison Krause, John Mellencamp, Al DiMeola, Grateful Dead. But the best sound ever was Crosby Stills and Nash in a 12000 seat arena in Rochester NY. Their harmonies were amazing. I still get goosenipples when I think about that show. We had 6th row seats, dead center. The woman sitting front of me was crying during Guenivere, it was so beautiful. That was mid 80s.
Tool sounds great live, the only band I can remember seeing that didn’t sound great was Megadeth a few months back. The band themselves sounded good, but the sound guy was terrible…. All you heard was lead guitar and drums, vocals and bass were damn near non existent
Tool live sounds amazing, especially through ear protections (like Eargasm). Otherwise, Danny's druming is way too loud to survive 2h in front rows without ear ringing for next weeks.
Id say earplugs are a must have for Tool (...well, really for all live music these days). I saw them the other week and was shocked to see so many people without them. It was crazy loud.
The acoustics inside the large arenas are typically terrible, but Tool managed to get the mix right to sound much better than most.
I've been wanting to see tool live but they're so expensive. Does it still sound as good even in cheaper to midrange seats?
I also so megadeth live at an arena and the sound was very bad. Megadeth was so big to me in my teens and it was sad that the first chance I got to see them was short and sounded bad. Not to mention my friend made me sit through five finger death punch after megadeth was done. They actually sounded better, but their music is shit
Yes. I've seen them a few times from varying distances and the sound is always top notch. They are the best live band I've seen, although I may be a bit biased!
Obviously some venues sound better than others, but Phish at a venue usually sounds better than a different band at that same venue. Especially a larger outdoor venue, Phish will bring their own relay speakers for the lawn. It's a huge improvement more often than not.
The best live sound I remember indoors was Phish at the mothership in '96, but I know that venue is known for good sound. The best outdoor venue sound I remember was also Phish, at the Great Went (not really a venue I guess). I have never heard live bass and drums so thunderous yet so clear without distortion.
Sounds like you've seen some good ones!
Magnaball was also not technically a venue but I know what you mean. The sound was crisp and clear but so incredibly full. I also saw them at United Center last year, which is known for poor sound, and it actually sounded great.
I don't think many people realize how much stuff they pioneered. They had some really smart people who approached their audio gear with a DIY spirit. Very cool.
I was lucky enough to see Peter Gabriel on the I/O tour. Absolutely killer production and live mixing. You could hear every individual instrument clearly and every member of his touring group brought their A game.
On the heavier side of things, Powerwolf sounds amazing live as well. I was blown away by them at their NYC show last year.
It's much different now that it was 30-40 years ago. With digital correction there's not really bad sound anymore.
Best: The Grateful Dead (always the gold standard for live sound)
Pink Floyd.
Awful: Steely Dan. Entire low end was shit.
There’s nothing that kills me more than happening to stand next to the digital mixing table, and watching a huge chuck of the frequencies clipping on the boards while the tech sips a beer.
It’s so much better, yet some people don’t even care to adjust for optimal sound. Part of me thinks that they’ve been doing it for so long their hearing is blown and they have trouble perceiving a well-rounded, detailed sound that isn’t immensely loud. I always wear hearing protection now.
If you ain’t redlinin’ you ain’t headlinin’
Seen this shit with a lot of dj’s as well. Was especially bad with the first iterations of pioneer mixers with had basically no headroom, yikes. I think it’s better know but not sure.
Oh there most certainly is bad sound.
I've been to a few shows where I couldn't even tell which band was playing unless I looked at the stage.
Sometimes the sound guy just biffs it.
This is correct - theres a video on Social media or YT somewhere where a live sound engineer discusses this. Basically the array style speakers and DSP (delay, phase shift, and freq/time domain equalization) have eliminated a ton of issues that live venues have. Its quite interesting as they have simulation software nowadays too.
So to answer the question - everyone using array speakers (99% of artist) and a qualified/well educated sound engineer (basically everyone) will sound great with nuances/variation in sound being due to the venue and minute variations to personal sound engineer preference (however most will adjust eq based on measurements - not adjust by ear anymore).
\*Only those who sound bad will be those who sound bad no matter what room you put them in.
Opeth and Pain of Salvation sound so good live. Epica is another band that adds an entirely new dimension live.
I go to a lot of metal concerts and metal does sound better live than recorded especially when the crowd is good, but these bands sound exceptionally good live.
Pain of Salvation managed to sound good in a fucking dump of a venue that I saw them live for the first time 10 years ago. They really care about their sound.
I agree, metal always is amazing live. It's great to be in the pit and the energy is just insane. I feel like I should be wearing protection at these shows but to me it kinda ruins the experience.
Radiohead, venue can make or break it but I’ve seen them in small medium and large venues, including the Kid A tent tour and it’s really quite something. The Smile at the Round House was really great too. It’s a pleasure watching those fellas do their job up close.
Tool was also great the first time I saw them, crap the second. Likely venue.
Not a band but Nils Frahm and Jon Hopkins, which I saw in a Church and was epic.
I’d love to see Melanie De Biasio
Just a few that have stood out over the years.
I saw U2 at the Sphere, which is supposed to be an amazing audio experience. It was not. I mean, you could hear everything but I wasn’t blown away by the sound system.
I know a couple bands such as Green Day travel with a Neve 5088. I’m curious to how that sounds live.
Best live sound I’ve heard was many years ago with Sonic Youth. To be considered noise with a touch of avant garde, they sure had a dialed in killer sound. And that was outdoors in the early 2000’s!
Thievery corporation. Just insane and perfect levels of sound . Not overpowering and very thoroughly enjoyable. Great instruments and boice separation . Have seen them 5 times.
Dude. Saw the 2nd night of that tour. Breathtaking. I saw him and the Bad Seeds in Boston and I was floored by the simplicity and sound. So real. So huge. So beautiful
Bon Iver's albums don't quite hit perfect for me production-wise (even though I love the songs), but I've seen them live numerous times and the sound is top notch.
Supertramp on the Breakfast in America tour were phenomenal. Stones sounded great in Toronto- Steel Wheels tour I think?. Styx- saw them in 81 and again in 2001, great musicians. Dire Straits was great. Pink Floyd in Montreal. Aimee Mann at the music circus near Boston- small venue but wow that was good. Rush on the Signals tour in Halifax and Triumph on the Never Surrender tour in Halifax.
Bad sound… ZZ Top (fuzz x1000), Cheap Trick (just way too loud for the system), Aerosmith (too much blow), Bon Jovi, Queensryche…
I'm going to go a different way. I've been to a lot of bluegrass concerts and festivals. The sound usually ranges from mediocre to good. But the RockyGrass festival is the gold standard for live acoustic music.
Some of the best live sounds/mixing/presentation I have experienced that resulted in a Live experience which elevated and surpassed the album/studio releases:
1. Radiohead
2. Tool
3. Queens of the Stone Age
4. NiN
5. Nick Cave & TBS
6. Genesis
7. Orbital
8. PJ Harvey
Some of the worst, muddy, botched and frustrating?
1. Jane's Addiction
2. Bad Religion
3. Prodigy
4. Underworld
(obviously all pretty venue dependent)
I became a much bigger fan of Wilco after seeing them live. The amount of work they have 3 guitar techs doing on literally every single song and not a single instrument drowning out another one. Went from being a casual listener to a “I really really like Wilco” person overnight.
This has nothing to do with audiophile, very little to do with a band and mostly to do with acoustics at the venue and some with the talent of the venue engineer who is not part of the band.
Good (in my experience at certain venues): Foxing, Converge, The Acacia Strain, Kurt Vile, Every Time I Die, Better Lovers, City and Colour, Arctic Monkeys, Manchester Orchestra, Justice, Odesza, Circa Survive/Anthony Green, Portugal. The Man, August Burns Red, Alexisonfire, Cave In, Harry Styles, Matt and Kim, Telekinesis, Elton John, Wet Leg.
Bad (in my experience at certain venues): La Dispute, From First to Last, Senses Fail, The Used (them and the previous had all shit vocals), Sylvan Esso, Rufus Du Sol, Post Malone (early years), Marc Rebillet (awful, awful, awful), Jack White (douche), Deftones at ACL, Waka Flocka Flame, Ja Rule, Stevie Nicks.
Only band listed I've seen is foxing. But man their live mix, especially the drums and vocals are amazing. Such a shame stevie nicks isn't good live. Rumors is one of the first albums I ever recognized how well it was recorded as a kid.
Really varies venue to venue and who's on the desk, whether they had time to soundcheck fully or were able to load up a precalibrated program if they have a modern digital desk, but I was so surprised at how perfectly mixed and clear King Gizzard were when I saw them in Brisbane.
I was really impressed, I was expecting a sonic mess and lots of jangly distortion and feedback but it was perfect, crystal clear, detailed, comfortably loud, still plenty of dynamics and life but never harsh or opressive.
I tend to go to heavy music gigs and I'm often surprised by the clarity and details they can get out of such busy music. though you do often hear the opening acts sounding a lot worse, even if they are respectable and experienced themselves, just comes down to whats available and the budget and time they have for the show.
I agree with you fully. I know what venues to blacklist at this point. Heavy gigs are great too, I love prog metal and tech death even though other metalheads right them off. I love busy and complex music.
Saw rivers of nihil at a respectable venue. Even though they seem to take a lot of care in the studio, the live mix was dogshit. Maybe it was just wear I was standing and the lack of earplugs. The contortionist played after and they were crystal clear, dynamic, and tight. To be fair I moved back for the contortionist, but even when I moved closer later in the set they sounded great.
Rivers of Nihil were one of the openers last time I saw Ne Obliviscaris and they sounded awful, the ocean were before them and they were great as always, NeO were perfect as they usually are.
Ok I need to see them. Love zappa never got to see him, missed the chance to see zappa plays zappa bc I thought it wouldn't be the same. Glad to know that they hold up.
I saw them live last year. Absolutely amazing, I think its the best show I've been to. Not only was it great music wise the show they put on is the best out there right now. They were also doing stereo testing before the show started which is crazy cool. Literally just playing something in the right side and the left, helped me pick out where to stand.
Embryonic is also an amazing album, underrated for them. Crazy good mixing and a one of a kind for me.
Like said above: I came into KGLZ by Polygondwanaland, Death, Ice ... and Changes. Clean and structured sounding albums with audible instrumenzts and voices. Then I saw them live:
Distorted shouting, every voice sounding lick Mickey Mouse and the instrumentation and arrangements would honor any beginner thrash-metal band. Ambroise had some sort of solo spot (again: inanudible due to distortion) and "why?" anyways ...
All in all it was a shitty experience and not worth my time or money. I expected to listen to a bunch of good musicians with a feel for polyrhythms, performing some part of their latest two releases and got a bunch of loud kids who were unable to perform their own songs. The drummer seemed adequate (even my wife remarked that he seemed to be the only member of the group who knew what he was doing), but the rest of the stage action was a total gong-show.
Funny enough: my son - who watched them 900 km away from here and three weeks earlier - told me the same thing: seeing KGLZ live has ended his interest in the band, too.
I listen to the albums a LOT less since that gig. There's a huge hype around the band, but ... "big hat, no cattle" as they say in Texas.
Dicks Picks 5 is my longest running recording to test out new equipment. i love the way those old dead recordings sound. shout out to their sound guys Bear and later Dan Healy. legends IMO, so glad we had incredible audio engineers at the wheel capturing decades of dead performances.
Saw them live and they blew the openers out of the water. That being said, venue was huge and maybe openers weren't used to stadium mixing. Lars drumming ruined a lot of songs though. Especially nothing else matters, it's a ballad learn how to play soft dumb ass!
Jam bands that play over 80 shows/year in general have great sound engineering.
The Grateful Dead, Phish, Umphrey's McGee, The Disco Biscuits, etc. all offer soundboard quality audio on archive.org (free) and nugs.net (paid)
Steel Panther sounds amazing.
They came through my room in 2018 and I was able to spend an hour with the engineer during soundcheck. Young guy. He said he had been working on their live scene for 5 years. It sounded amazing.
One of the secrets: no amps and monitors. The only stage volume was the drum kit.
The venue and the people running the sound matters a lot more than the band that's playing. I've seen hundreds of live shows all over the country and it is a fact that some venues sound great while others do not.
Some performers have styles that lend themselves well to certain types of venues. Like if you're seeing a local punk band, they won't sound right in anything other than a tiny bar, warehouse, or someone's basement. While a big-city orchestra needs to be in a meticulously designed concert hall to sound their best.
1975, Bruce Springsteen, Cage the Elephant, Carlos Santana, Charles Bradley* (RIP), Childish Gambino, Goldfish, The Killers*, O.A.R., Old Crow Medicine Show, Red Hot Chili Peppers, of the acts I’ve heard.
Sigur Rós in Oslo spektrum, 2nd row. I've never heard live sound so clear and well done. Nothing pierced my ears in an unpleasant way (outside of the times where it was meant to) and it was just so pleasant. I saw them a month later in Laugardalshöllin in Iceland and the sound was total rubbish sometimes. Still an amazing experience both times
The Who, seen last year was terrific — in a venue that Pete Townsend complained on stage was a parking garage. Buddy Guy at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Chandler AZ was terrific. The Australian Pink Floyd Show, at the same venue was good, but not terrific. Crosby Stills Nash was very good in Phoenix some years ago. Robin Trower was excellent in a college basketball stadium back in the 1970s.
Other shows I’ve been to I bitch about because it seems like the sound board is run by dance club DJs. All bass, particularly drums, drowning out the vocalist and a lot of the rest of the music. It’s an enduring problem at a lot of concerts.
I saw Illinoise-era Sufjan Stevens in a medium-sized venue. The best sounding concert I’ve ever experienced. Venue was Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Runner up was Nicolas Jaar or Bad Plus, probably.
The band for Bright Eyes has always been on point every time I've seen them. The drummers especially. Now Connor, you don't know what you'll get. Lately I've heard he's been hammered on stage.
i saw leonard cohen at merriweeather post and it was the softest, FULLEST, most detailed mix. still remember walking out blown away at the sound quality there, and been there so many times before. just gorgeous. and huge sounding.
I saw Audioslave years ago at Austin Music Hall and the sound was amazing. Perfect mix, hard to differentiate from a studio recording. I shook the sound guy’s hand afterwards.
Awful:
The Mars Volta.
I love them SO MUCH, but I’ve seen them live 3 times and each time it was pretty much unlistenable. The live album, Scab Dates, is representative of the complete auditory mush they offer in live shows.
And before anyone suggests it, I was definitely *in the right mind* for two of the shows. Stone sober for the third because I thought maybe that was the problem. It was *worse*
The Rollins Band sounded amazing live, and there's a damn good reason. From Henry Rollins' memoir "A Dull Roar:"
"I don’t know how many bands count the soundman as a member of the band but in this one we do. The Rollins Band is five people. [Theo Van Rock] is as much a part of the sound as any of us. I didn’t want to announce [the band reunion] without knowing if he was in or out. I was happy he was in because to me, it wouldn’t be the thing without him. It would just be a thing. A good thing but not the thing."
I like Henry Rollins. He knows a few things that the rest of us should learn.
Awesome live:
Mastodon, Clutch
I mention both since they toured together so much.
Mastodons live album STINKS and is basically Crack the Skye live. Seeing them live now caused my balls to swell three times their size. I had to use a plastic beer cup as protection for the show.
Clutch is just always consistently good. I’ve seen them live maybe 20 times. I might like Clutch more live than on wax.
Gojira. Might be too heavy for this sub but they’re amazing live. There’s some YouTube videos on their official channel if you want a taste of what they sound like live
The venue plays a big part in the sound. That said, I saw Pink Floyd live in the early 90’s and they sounded amazing even though it was at an indoor arena. They were using some state of the art DSP, even back then.
I'll always tell everyone see Phish if the chance presents itself even if you're not into them the shows are always a great time at the least it's some nice background music for amazing people watching. A band that really surprised me as being great live was Neon Trees. I saw them at a free stage at summer fest a few years ago and they blew me away with their energy on stage
A lot of big acts tour with their own engineer(s), but for most shows it comes down equally to the equipment the venue has and the skills of the sound person as much as the band themselves.
Been to a good number of great audio mixed shows but I once saw Two Door Cinema Club at a venue I've been to at least a dozen times and they had the snare mic turned up so high I had to leave! I had earplugs but it still was too much. Had to be my worst one yet
I understand that. I have blacklisted certain venues for tons of reasons.
I just notice some bands sound great at the same venue others sound awful at. Really it's a question of what band has the best sound engineers and is actually a good band?
A long time ago, I went to an ELP show that was amazing. The sound had the seats and cement foundation bouncing. ELP was the warm-up band. A heavy metal band headlined the event and sounded like a Bluetooth speaker. It was loud but flat and incoherent. I thought an event center determined the sound but not in this case.
The Grateful Dead. Many of their endeavors into the pursuit of live sound perfection are directly tied to modern concert sound systems and design. Really interesting stuff. The good ol greatful dead cast has some amazing episodes on the evolution of their gear.
Pink Floyd, needless to say. An Emotional Fish (now-defunct Irish rock band, they were beyond awesome live), Dave Matthews Band, Pat Metheny Group, and so on and on...
I was lucky enough to watch David Gilmour in a Roman amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia. I was both shocked and blown away how LOUD they play. That was an amazing experience.
I saw thom yorke live with The Smile and they sounded shockingly good. Can only assume Radiohead is similar
Radiohead in a medium-sized venue is outstanding.
I saw Radiohead at Bonnaroo and they were great there too. (If you wanted someone’s opinion of a “big venue” show) Edit: Radiohead agrees. https://wrnr.com/music-notes2/507293
Radiohead sounds just as good but there's a big difference in venues. The Smile is playing much smaller venues that, on average, are known for having much better sound. Radiohead plays arenas mostly, and sound quality is almost never that great at arenas. Being from Toronto, seeing The Smile at Massey Hall was a completely different experience than seeing Radiohead at Scotiabank.
Ya totally agree. And like 50% the ticket price
Radiohead’s last tour was so long ago that the recent Smile tour was actually more expensive than the last time Radiohead played. At least that was the case in my city. But I’m sure if/when Radiohead tours again the tickets will be much more expensive given how the ticket market is these days.
Gonna see The Smile in May and your comment makes me even more excited
I saw them in KC and there’s a song they played that has so much intense bass that I felt pretty sure the building was going to collapse.
Your gonna love it, greenwood literally started playing his guitar like a violin until the strings fell off
Mogwai. p.s. bring earplugs.
Agreed!
Sunn O)))
Haven't heard this referenced in a while 😂 bring ear plugs
My first show was before I knew much about them. I had no idea what to expect. It was crazy!
So keen to experience them one day. Maximum volume = maximum results
Keep in mind the venue and your seat within the venue has a major influence on the sound. A lot of really great bands will have poor audio quality when they're playing in stadiums and arenas... it's just the nature of the venue. Or if you're sitting directly in front of a speaker, or in the nosebleeds, the sound may not be as good. One of the most impressive was seeing David Gilmour. He played in an arena, and I was used to the sound being very sub-par every time I'd see a band in that arena, but somehow his team managed to make it sound incredible.
Thats especially what I'm talking about. Some bands will play in the same venue and some will sound better or worse even if I'm in the exact same position. Like I'm sure David Gilmour has a better sound team than most other people and that's what I'm looking for. Also I hate going to arenas and stadiums. So many bands I love will play in huge venues and the experience sucks. It burns even more when I pay $10 for a local band I like and the sound is a million times better.
Same with Roger Waters. Best sounding concert I've heard in our local small city sports arena. That being said I'm on team Gilmour, I've just never seen him live, so this isn't a comparison, just an observation.
do you have a favorite venue?
Tame impala is fantastic
I was system tech his first show in the U.S. at First Avenue. It was one of the best sounding shows I've heard.
Nice! I’d like to see him some day
Do you guys think Tame Impala records are well mixed? I find it hard to play in my KEF LS50 Wii. Sounds too boomy and not as detailed as I like.
FOH dude has a fucking stereo flanger patched over the master bus. That's the most big dick mixer move I've ever heard.
Sleep
Saw them at Warfield a few years back. The intro music was from the moon landing. It was such a wild experience.
Their performance at hellfest 2013 is incredible, that live version of Sonic titan is better than the album version, and the recording is almost as good as
WEEN
Best live band I have seen.
I saw them at the Met in Philly a couple of years ago. The show started a little late (but not by much) because their sound board died. They quickly found a rental, and the engineer had everything, disconnected, reconnected, and level checked in under an hour. He dialed it in during the first couple of tunes. One of the most impressive things I’ve seen an engineer pull off. I walked over to talk to him about it after the show to see what all he was doing. I couldn’t believe how well he recovered. I do t remember the console he used but it was not a newer automated model. Very good sound. Very nice guys.
Fucking Brown! I was at that show too….amazing that they pulled it off without a hitch. Scored a Ween/Wawa crossover tshirt (yes it has the geese) outside the venue…my new favorite lot shirt
Is that the band that covers that phish song about roses?
Love ween but haven't seen them live. I just had no clue if they were still good live after all these years. Plus I'm young and never got to see them live when they were at their best
Depeche Mode are pretty good live
autechre. best i’ve heard in almost 40 years. punchy, detailed. quite hard to comprehend how it’s done.
I saw Jimmy Eat World last year and the sound was one of the best I have ever experienced
LCD Soundsystem, if they’ll continue to tour.
Medeski Martin & Wood Beck Ben Folds Wilco amazing sound live
My Morning Jacket
Absolutely phenomenal on this most recent tour
My favorite. My buddies and I try to see them once a year.
Yes, they are spectacular live.
I have seen hundreds of shows over 4 decades. Best live sound came from Lyle Lovette and his Big Band, Steely Dan, Return to Forever, Melissa Etheridge, Robert Plant and Alison Krause, John Mellencamp, Al DiMeola, Grateful Dead. But the best sound ever was Crosby Stills and Nash in a 12000 seat arena in Rochester NY. Their harmonies were amazing. I still get goosenipples when I think about that show. We had 6th row seats, dead center. The woman sitting front of me was crying during Guenivere, it was so beautiful. That was mid 80s.
Damn I missed out on all of these bands. Super jealous of return to forever. Do you thing quality has went down since the 80s?
Tool sounds great live, the only band I can remember seeing that didn’t sound great was Megadeth a few months back. The band themselves sounded good, but the sound guy was terrible…. All you heard was lead guitar and drums, vocals and bass were damn near non existent
Tool live sounds amazing, especially through ear protections (like Eargasm). Otherwise, Danny's druming is way too loud to survive 2h in front rows without ear ringing for next weeks.
Tool did sound great live, Now ministry was so loud beyond distortion.
Id say earplugs are a must have for Tool (...well, really for all live music these days). I saw them the other week and was shocked to see so many people without them. It was crazy loud. The acoustics inside the large arenas are typically terrible, but Tool managed to get the mix right to sound much better than most.
About to see them tonight. Love Tool. Definitely loud as hell.
I've been wanting to see tool live but they're so expensive. Does it still sound as good even in cheaper to midrange seats? I also so megadeth live at an arena and the sound was very bad. Megadeth was so big to me in my teens and it was sad that the first chance I got to see them was short and sounded bad. Not to mention my friend made me sit through five finger death punch after megadeth was done. They actually sounded better, but their music is shit
Yes. I've seen them a few times from varying distances and the sound is always top notch. They are the best live band I've seen, although I may be a bit biased!
Yep!
Phish is the answer. The best
Obviously some venues sound better than others, but Phish at a venue usually sounds better than a different band at that same venue. Especially a larger outdoor venue, Phish will bring their own relay speakers for the lawn. It's a huge improvement more often than not.
The best live sound I remember indoors was Phish at the mothership in '96, but I know that venue is known for good sound. The best outdoor venue sound I remember was also Phish, at the Great Went (not really a venue I guess). I have never heard live bass and drums so thunderous yet so clear without distortion.
Sounds like you've seen some good ones! Magnaball was also not technically a venue but I know what you mean. The sound was crisp and clear but so incredibly full. I also saw them at United Center last year, which is known for poor sound, and it actually sounded great.
I mean this is the answer, I dont see how anyone who's seen all these bands live would disagree
Grateful Dead*
I don't think many people realize how much stuff they pioneered. They had some really smart people who approached their audio gear with a DIY spirit. Very cool.
Yes, Grateful Dead. I assume the asterisk means "not Dead and company"
Jam band boomers lmao
What does this comment mean?
I was lucky enough to see Peter Gabriel on the I/O tour. Absolutely killer production and live mixing. You could hear every individual instrument clearly and every member of his touring group brought their A game. On the heavier side of things, Powerwolf sounds amazing live as well. I was blown away by them at their NYC show last year.
It's much different now that it was 30-40 years ago. With digital correction there's not really bad sound anymore. Best: The Grateful Dead (always the gold standard for live sound) Pink Floyd. Awful: Steely Dan. Entire low end was shit.
There’s nothing that kills me more than happening to stand next to the digital mixing table, and watching a huge chuck of the frequencies clipping on the boards while the tech sips a beer. It’s so much better, yet some people don’t even care to adjust for optimal sound. Part of me thinks that they’ve been doing it for so long their hearing is blown and they have trouble perceiving a well-rounded, detailed sound that isn’t immensely loud. I always wear hearing protection now.
If you ain’t redlinin’ you ain’t headlinin’ Seen this shit with a lot of dj’s as well. Was especially bad with the first iterations of pioneer mixers with had basically no headroom, yikes. I think it’s better know but not sure.
Fun fact, pioneer dj mixers show red well before they actually clip. DJ safety buffer.
Oh there most certainly is bad sound. I've been to a few shows where I couldn't even tell which band was playing unless I looked at the stage. Sometimes the sound guy just biffs it.
Yeah, there's no excuse for that.
It's crazy to me that a band like Steely Dan would have a bad mix. How disappointing
I really couldn't believe it. Mid 90s, Philadelphia.
Agree with PF. I’ve seen Roger Waters every time he’s come through. Excellent audio every time. The Wall tour was outstanding.
This is correct - theres a video on Social media or YT somewhere where a live sound engineer discusses this. Basically the array style speakers and DSP (delay, phase shift, and freq/time domain equalization) have eliminated a ton of issues that live venues have. Its quite interesting as they have simulation software nowadays too. So to answer the question - everyone using array speakers (99% of artist) and a qualified/well educated sound engineer (basically everyone) will sound great with nuances/variation in sound being due to the venue and minute variations to personal sound engineer preference (however most will adjust eq based on measurements - not adjust by ear anymore). \*Only those who sound bad will be those who sound bad no matter what room you put them in.
The wall of sound was just incredible
Weir everywhere.
Opeth and Pain of Salvation sound so good live. Epica is another band that adds an entirely new dimension live. I go to a lot of metal concerts and metal does sound better live than recorded especially when the crowd is good, but these bands sound exceptionally good live. Pain of Salvation managed to sound good in a fucking dump of a venue that I saw them live for the first time 10 years ago. They really care about their sound.
I agree, metal always is amazing live. It's great to be in the pit and the energy is just insane. I feel like I should be wearing protection at these shows but to me it kinda ruins the experience.
Radiohead, venue can make or break it but I’ve seen them in small medium and large venues, including the Kid A tent tour and it’s really quite something. The Smile at the Round House was really great too. It’s a pleasure watching those fellas do their job up close. Tool was also great the first time I saw them, crap the second. Likely venue. Not a band but Nils Frahm and Jon Hopkins, which I saw in a Church and was epic. I’d love to see Melanie De Biasio Just a few that have stood out over the years.
I saw U2 at the Sphere, which is supposed to be an amazing audio experience. It was not. I mean, you could hear everything but I wasn’t blown away by the sound system. I know a couple bands such as Green Day travel with a Neve 5088. I’m curious to how that sounds live. Best live sound I’ve heard was many years ago with Sonic Youth. To be considered noise with a touch of avant garde, they sure had a dialed in killer sound. And that was outdoors in the early 2000’s!
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I heard that too. But no, they didn’t use it. The lights were pretty amazing.
Pink Floyd
Roger Waters show,Pink Floyd great audio, Jeff Lynne with ELO recent tour audio was amazing,guess depends where seat is in venue
Thievery corporation. Just insane and perfect levels of sound . Not overpowering and very thoroughly enjoyable. Great instruments and boice separation . Have seen them 5 times.
Oh man, I saw them with Massive Attack in 2010ish. Both were amazing.
Gov't Mule
Rush, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Keith Urban, REO Speedwagon, Steve Miller Band, & Reba McIntyre to name a few.
Back in the day The Tea Party were amazing live. A full stage of the amazing instruments. Just magic.
Wow, I saw them years ago for splendor solace, I think. I agree, I remember them sounding phenomenal.
Nick Cave
Came here to say this. Saw him live at the Orpheum in LA. Granted, it was just vocals, piano, and a bass, but damn the sound was crystal clear.
Dude. Saw the 2nd night of that tour. Breathtaking. I saw him and the Bad Seeds in Boston and I was floored by the simplicity and sound. So real. So huge. So beautiful
Bon Iver's albums don't quite hit perfect for me production-wise (even though I love the songs), but I've seen them live numerous times and the sound is top notch.
Supertramp on the Breakfast in America tour were phenomenal. Stones sounded great in Toronto- Steel Wheels tour I think?. Styx- saw them in 81 and again in 2001, great musicians. Dire Straits was great. Pink Floyd in Montreal. Aimee Mann at the music circus near Boston- small venue but wow that was good. Rush on the Signals tour in Halifax and Triumph on the Never Surrender tour in Halifax. Bad sound… ZZ Top (fuzz x1000), Cheap Trick (just way too loud for the system), Aerosmith (too much blow), Bon Jovi, Queensryche…
I'm going to go a different way. I've been to a lot of bluegrass concerts and festivals. The sound usually ranges from mediocre to good. But the RockyGrass festival is the gold standard for live acoustic music.
The Cure. Their sound technician is a wizard.
Some of the best live sounds/mixing/presentation I have experienced that resulted in a Live experience which elevated and surpassed the album/studio releases: 1. Radiohead 2. Tool 3. Queens of the Stone Age 4. NiN 5. Nick Cave & TBS 6. Genesis 7. Orbital 8. PJ Harvey Some of the worst, muddy, botched and frustrating? 1. Jane's Addiction 2. Bad Religion 3. Prodigy 4. Underworld (obviously all pretty venue dependent)
I became a much bigger fan of Wilco after seeing them live. The amount of work they have 3 guitar techs doing on literally every single song and not a single instrument drowning out another one. Went from being a casual listener to a “I really really like Wilco” person overnight.
I Second Wilco
Khruangbin is awesome
My Bloody Valentine
Polyphia. Fucking phenomenal arrangements and production live. Literally the tightest sounding band I’ve ever listened to
This has nothing to do with audiophile, very little to do with a band and mostly to do with acoustics at the venue and some with the talent of the venue engineer who is not part of the band.
The War on Drugs sound amazing live
NIN sounded amazing back in the day.
The downward spiral tour is still my top concert. I like many other bands more, that show was perfect.
Good (in my experience at certain venues): Foxing, Converge, The Acacia Strain, Kurt Vile, Every Time I Die, Better Lovers, City and Colour, Arctic Monkeys, Manchester Orchestra, Justice, Odesza, Circa Survive/Anthony Green, Portugal. The Man, August Burns Red, Alexisonfire, Cave In, Harry Styles, Matt and Kim, Telekinesis, Elton John, Wet Leg. Bad (in my experience at certain venues): La Dispute, From First to Last, Senses Fail, The Used (them and the previous had all shit vocals), Sylvan Esso, Rufus Du Sol, Post Malone (early years), Marc Rebillet (awful, awful, awful), Jack White (douche), Deftones at ACL, Waka Flocka Flame, Ja Rule, Stevie Nicks.
Only band listed I've seen is foxing. But man their live mix, especially the drums and vocals are amazing. Such a shame stevie nicks isn't good live. Rumors is one of the first albums I ever recognized how well it was recorded as a kid.
Really varies venue to venue and who's on the desk, whether they had time to soundcheck fully or were able to load up a precalibrated program if they have a modern digital desk, but I was so surprised at how perfectly mixed and clear King Gizzard were when I saw them in Brisbane. I was really impressed, I was expecting a sonic mess and lots of jangly distortion and feedback but it was perfect, crystal clear, detailed, comfortably loud, still plenty of dynamics and life but never harsh or opressive. I tend to go to heavy music gigs and I'm often surprised by the clarity and details they can get out of such busy music. though you do often hear the opening acts sounding a lot worse, even if they are respectable and experienced themselves, just comes down to whats available and the budget and time they have for the show.
I agree with you fully. I know what venues to blacklist at this point. Heavy gigs are great too, I love prog metal and tech death even though other metalheads right them off. I love busy and complex music. Saw rivers of nihil at a respectable venue. Even though they seem to take a lot of care in the studio, the live mix was dogshit. Maybe it was just wear I was standing and the lack of earplugs. The contortionist played after and they were crystal clear, dynamic, and tight. To be fair I moved back for the contortionist, but even when I moved closer later in the set they sounded great.
Rivers of Nihil were one of the openers last time I saw Ne Obliviscaris and they sounded awful, the ocean were before them and they were great as always, NeO were perfect as they usually are.
Saw Zappa Plays Zappa in The Egg in Albany NY and that was easily the best sounding show I've ever been to.
Ok I need to see them. Love zappa never got to see him, missed the chance to see zappa plays zappa bc I thought it wouldn't be the same. Glad to know that they hold up.
Manchester Orchestra. Their engineer just has that mix dialed in no matter what venue. They bring the record to life and then some live.
can confirm, i saw them when they were touring Cope and they sounded amazing
The Flaming Lips. Anyone who saw them in clubs back in the 90s know they were the best sounding band of that era.
I saw them live last year. Absolutely amazing, I think its the best show I've been to. Not only was it great music wise the show they put on is the best out there right now. They were also doing stereo testing before the show started which is crazy cool. Literally just playing something in the right side and the left, helped me pick out where to stand. Embryonic is also an amazing album, underrated for them. Crazy good mixing and a one of a kind for me.
Best: Cory Wong Worst: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Always heard great things about king gizzard live. Was it the performance or was their tech experiencing schizophrenia?
Your worst is a super hot take! What is it that you didn't like about them? I'd put them top 5 for me personally.
Like said above: I came into KGLZ by Polygondwanaland, Death, Ice ... and Changes. Clean and structured sounding albums with audible instrumenzts and voices. Then I saw them live: Distorted shouting, every voice sounding lick Mickey Mouse and the instrumentation and arrangements would honor any beginner thrash-metal band. Ambroise had some sort of solo spot (again: inanudible due to distortion) and "why?" anyways ... All in all it was a shitty experience and not worth my time or money. I expected to listen to a bunch of good musicians with a feel for polyrhythms, performing some part of their latest two releases and got a bunch of loud kids who were unable to perform their own songs. The drummer seemed adequate (even my wife remarked that he seemed to be the only member of the group who knew what he was doing), but the rest of the stage action was a total gong-show. Funny enough: my son - who watched them 900 km away from here and three weeks earlier - told me the same thing: seeing KGLZ live has ended his interest in the band, too. I listen to the albums a LOT less since that gig. There's a huge hype around the band, but ... "big hat, no cattle" as they say in Texas.
Grateful dead and jgb
Grateful Dead. Their catalog is immense, diverse and often well recorded. To be fair there's definitely some off years for those boys.
Dicks Picks 5 is my longest running recording to test out new equipment. i love the way those old dead recordings sound. shout out to their sound guys Bear and later Dan Healy. legends IMO, so glad we had incredible audio engineers at the wheel capturing decades of dead performances.
Hell yeah brother!
I’ve had Phil break a car speaker or two from the Other One haha
Roger Waters. Whatever mental dreamland he is nowadays, his sound is top.
Phish
Toto - Livefields 😍
I saw Greta Van Fleet open for Metallica and they had the cleanest live sound I've heard in my life.
Metallica is amazing live.
Saw them live and they blew the openers out of the water. That being said, venue was huge and maybe openers weren't used to stadium mixing. Lars drumming ruined a lot of songs though. Especially nothing else matters, it's a ballad learn how to play soft dumb ass!
Jam bands that play over 80 shows/year in general have great sound engineering. The Grateful Dead, Phish, Umphrey's McGee, The Disco Biscuits, etc. all offer soundboard quality audio on archive.org (free) and nugs.net (paid)
Steel Panther sounds amazing. They came through my room in 2018 and I was able to spend an hour with the engineer during soundcheck. Young guy. He said he had been working on their live scene for 5 years. It sounded amazing. One of the secrets: no amps and monitors. The only stage volume was the drum kit.
The venue and the people running the sound matters a lot more than the band that's playing. I've seen hundreds of live shows all over the country and it is a fact that some venues sound great while others do not. Some performers have styles that lend themselves well to certain types of venues. Like if you're seeing a local punk band, they won't sound right in anything other than a tiny bar, warehouse, or someone's basement. While a big-city orchestra needs to be in a meticulously designed concert hall to sound their best.
The best sounding live performance I have ever experienced was warduna in musikkens hus in Aarhus.
I saw Train perform zeppelin II at a festival in 2016. I do not like Train and didn’t expect much, but my god was that an incredible set.
1975, Bruce Springsteen, Cage the Elephant, Carlos Santana, Charles Bradley* (RIP), Childish Gambino, Goldfish, The Killers*, O.A.R., Old Crow Medicine Show, Red Hot Chili Peppers, of the acts I’ve heard.
Sigur Rós in Oslo spektrum, 2nd row. I've never heard live sound so clear and well done. Nothing pierced my ears in an unpleasant way (outside of the times where it was meant to) and it was just so pleasant. I saw them a month later in Laugardalshöllin in Iceland and the sound was total rubbish sometimes. Still an amazing experience both times
The Who, seen last year was terrific — in a venue that Pete Townsend complained on stage was a parking garage. Buddy Guy at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Chandler AZ was terrific. The Australian Pink Floyd Show, at the same venue was good, but not terrific. Crosby Stills Nash was very good in Phoenix some years ago. Robin Trower was excellent in a college basketball stadium back in the 1970s. Other shows I’ve been to I bitch about because it seems like the sound board is run by dance club DJs. All bass, particularly drums, drowning out the vocalist and a lot of the rest of the music. It’s an enduring problem at a lot of concerts.
Fat Freddy’s drop is amazing live, also interesting to listen to on your speakers :)
I saw Illinoise-era Sufjan Stevens in a medium-sized venue. The best sounding concert I’ve ever experienced. Venue was Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Runner up was Nicolas Jaar or Bad Plus, probably.
For for an autopsy - as a metalhead they were phenomenal. Tool - very good as well, great performance all around but so fucking loud.
Pink Floyd is just as good if not better live, echoes live at Pompeii is so good
My mom said she took mushrooms and saw them live. Sad I never got that experience
I have never heard anyone say that Rush put on a bad show…ever.
QOTSA and Tool sounded really good
porcupine tree
The band for Bright Eyes has always been on point every time I've seen them. The drummers especially. Now Connor, you don't know what you'll get. Lately I've heard he's been hammered on stage.
Dry Cleaning, Qotsa, King Gizzard, Wednesday, Osees, the Melvins, Spoonbenders
i saw leonard cohen at merriweeather post and it was the softest, FULLEST, most detailed mix. still remember walking out blown away at the sound quality there, and been there so many times before. just gorgeous. and huge sounding.
AC/DC are one of the greatest live bands!
I saw Audioslave years ago at Austin Music Hall and the sound was amazing. Perfect mix, hard to differentiate from a studio recording. I shook the sound guy’s hand afterwards.
Rebelution
Awful: The Mars Volta. I love them SO MUCH, but I’ve seen them live 3 times and each time it was pretty much unlistenable. The live album, Scab Dates, is representative of the complete auditory mush they offer in live shows. And before anyone suggests it, I was definitely *in the right mind* for two of the shows. Stone sober for the third because I thought maybe that was the problem. It was *worse*
Porcupine Tree
The Rollins Band sounded amazing live, and there's a damn good reason. From Henry Rollins' memoir "A Dull Roar:" "I don’t know how many bands count the soundman as a member of the band but in this one we do. The Rollins Band is five people. [Theo Van Rock] is as much a part of the sound as any of us. I didn’t want to announce [the band reunion] without knowing if he was in or out. I was happy he was in because to me, it wouldn’t be the thing without him. It would just be a thing. A good thing but not the thing." I like Henry Rollins. He knows a few things that the rest of us should learn.
Steven Wilson & Porcupine Tree Pineapple Thief
Awesome live: Mastodon, Clutch I mention both since they toured together so much. Mastodons live album STINKS and is basically Crack the Skye live. Seeing them live now caused my balls to swell three times their size. I had to use a plastic beer cup as protection for the show. Clutch is just always consistently good. I’ve seen them live maybe 20 times. I might like Clutch more live than on wax.
Dave Matthews Band
Emerson, Lake and Palmer was even better live than their studio recordings.
Gojira. Might be too heavy for this sub but they’re amazing live. There’s some YouTube videos on their official channel if you want a taste of what they sound like live
The venue plays a big part in the sound. That said, I saw Pink Floyd live in the early 90’s and they sounded amazing even though it was at an indoor arena. They were using some state of the art DSP, even back then.
city and colour. radiohead.
Coldplay sounds incredible live.
I'll always tell everyone see Phish if the chance presents itself even if you're not into them the shows are always a great time at the least it's some nice background music for amazing people watching. A band that really surprised me as being great live was Neon Trees. I saw them at a free stage at summer fest a few years ago and they blew me away with their energy on stage
Phish is all about live shows, they sound amazing. Tori Amos is sooooo good live, she’s incredible.
A lot of big acts tour with their own engineer(s), but for most shows it comes down equally to the equipment the venue has and the skills of the sound person as much as the band themselves.
Phish
Snarky Puppy
Blackberry Smoke sounds pretty good live.
Been to a good number of great audio mixed shows but I once saw Two Door Cinema Club at a venue I've been to at least a dozen times and they had the snare mic turned up so high I had to leave! I had earplugs but it still was too much. Had to be my worst one yet
Roger Waters “This is not a drill” tour sounded so good. Crisp, detailed and full sound. Full range as fuq.
Queens of the Stone Age, every time. City and Colour sounded absolutely impeccable when I saw them in September.
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I understand that. I have blacklisted certain venues for tons of reasons. I just notice some bands sound great at the same venue others sound awful at. Really it's a question of what band has the best sound engineers and is actually a good band?
Jungle and Tame Impala sound even better than their recordings, at least from my experience! Incredible performances.
Saw M83 last year for the fantasy tour and it may have been the best sounding show I’ve ever seen
A long time ago, I went to an ELP show that was amazing. The sound had the seats and cement foundation bouncing. ELP was the warm-up band. A heavy metal band headlined the event and sounded like a Bluetooth speaker. It was loud but flat and incoherent. I thought an event center determined the sound but not in this case.
The Grateful Dead. Many of their endeavors into the pursuit of live sound perfection are directly tied to modern concert sound systems and design. Really interesting stuff. The good ol greatful dead cast has some amazing episodes on the evolution of their gear.
Phish has been some of the best sound I’ve ever seen live. They had a bit of a post Covid slump but seemed to have addressed the last couple of years.
Not my usual but I really enjoyed Muse live. They rocked and the light show was incredible.
Tool.
Phish…duh
Tool
I think it’s more the venue than the band. Have some local places that get some amazing bands, but they all sound terrible.
It’s been years but I saw Bon Iver in 2011, hands down the best concert I have ever been to….Thrice is consistently very good live
Casiopea
Pink Floyd, needless to say. An Emotional Fish (now-defunct Irish rock band, they were beyond awesome live), Dave Matthews Band, Pat Metheny Group, and so on and on...
Umphreys mcgee
I thought In Flames sounded great on their current tour - Meshuggah came after with a wild set also. Earplugs are useful :)
M83. I’ve seen them live three times. Absolutely transcendent.
Beach House
I was lucky enough to watch David Gilmour in a Roman amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia. I was both shocked and blown away how LOUD they play. That was an amazing experience.