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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

Gunter,
you hit the nail on the head. The iexperence was second to none. 2 days now and I still have butterflies in my stomach about it. No concert has ever done that for me. It was a masterclass performance.
It was a pleasure to me you and your family. Eva is credit too you, you must be very proud smile

Eva´s Dad wrote:

Came just home from England (and a day of work). I´m astonished that the main issue seems to be the sound in the RAH. I´ve been in venues with a better sound, I´ve been in venues with better views (I sat row 21 arena but worked my way until a not taken place in row 15), but I´ve never been at a concert with a more impressive athmosphere. It is now 2 days passed but images and shivers of happyness keep coming  up. IT WAS A NEARLY OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE. Joe and the band were in brilliant form (I liked the two drummers and the horns), we - the audience- were brilliant as well: standing ovation after standing ovation, RAH was impressive and in an old-fashioned manner elegant. And I liked Eric Clapton being the special guest (and not Gary Moore), they played well together. It was great how Joe gave his reverence  to the older generation and Eric acknowledged the younger one.

So, guys, this evening wasn´t about technical perfection. It was a most memorable event in the life of a great artist and a great night for us having the privilege to be part of it.

Günter

Martin
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38 Reply by Rocket (edited by Rocket 2009-05-07 09:00:03)

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

jim m wrote:

I was in the hall for soundcheck. Having seats in different locations in which to sit. I thought it sounded good from all vantage points from the circle to the stalls and all points inbetween. I did sit for the show in the circle about 3 rows up half way back from the stage. I thought the sound was excellent. A couple of times when the band got loud Joes guitar got lost in the mix and there was not a lot of bottom end I feel because the subs were flown. I thought the natural reverb of the hall was awesome. Joe cut the delay off the guitar and allowed the Hall to impart its own sound to the tone. His tone was absolutely spot on except for a couple of times when it did get thin sounding when the band dynamics increased.

The sound was excellent Jim, not mentioning any names, but great job! Noticed Joe wasn't using delay except the acoustically natural delay of the venue and his great ears, which adjusted the sound both for the live mix and the archived DVD. No easy task even if you are a natural and have golden ears...hftone, engineering wise circular and elliptical large "slappy" (man I hate when us engineers use subjective terms) rooms are the bane, as we know.  I find no fault at this venue for an overall vast majority for this show, the proof will be in the pudding.  Jimi at the San Diego Sports arena (A circular concrete wheel) when it was new I find no fault either.  Who else famously recorded at that venue, and why / why not? Not too many, but Jimi did and watch Metallica on Binge & Purge video...
Rock On & Keep the Faith,
Rocket

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

Paul S wrote:

David, I think you'll always get some complaints when it comes to reviews of the RAH. As someone else said, I couldn't believe tickets were sold in the choir section (behind the band). Those flown speakers will only sound good if you're in front of them. Overall though it was a great night regardless. Great for Joe to have achieved what was no doubt a life long ambition, and great for his fans who were there to share it with him.

Eric C is doing something like two weeks at the RAH soon and you'll pay at least twice as much and have half as much fun - in my opinion smile.

I sat in the choir for a bit during soundcheck. I thought it would make a really unique experience from that vantage point. You got the stage volume which was well blended and the monitors for vocals. I thought it sounded good. I wouldn't of minded sitting there myself.

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  • Registered: 2009-05-07
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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

I have been to the RAH many times .......seen Clapton there 5 or 6 times, Sting, Paul Simon, Everly Brothers Farewell and a good few other acts and with one other exception ( when I was right up in the gods) the sound has been excellent. At least you can always hear the song and differentiate the various instruments.

I have 3 of Joes cd's and like his stuff a lot ..........but Live he was just dreadful. All mainly due to the sound... I was about 25 feet behind the main mixing desk Stalls Row 8 and I could hardly tell what song Joe was playing.
Couldn't tell you whether the Brass was on stage or not.
Paul Jones ( a sensational Blues Harp player ) might as well have stayed at home ... I could not hear a thing !!

It was just a heavy wall of way over-amplified sound.
Someone else has said dangerous levels of sound .I agree with that !

Joe may well have been good .......I could not hear him well enough .and even he seemed to need to shout rather than sing.

It goes down as one of my most disappointing gigs ever.

I've had to listen to Sloe Gin and John Henry this morning to remind myself of why I went to this concert in the 1st place.

Couldn't listen to anything for 2 days as my hearing was so battered.

You can't blame the RAH for it all ......JB has a responsibilty, together with his backline crew to ensure the sound and the mix is good.
A muddy wall over over-amplified mush is not what I expect from any top line musician headlining a show .....anywhere  neutral:|:|

  • Registered: 2009-04-24
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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

strummer07 wrote:

I have been to the RAH many times .......seen Clapton there 5 or 6 times, Sting, Paul Simon, Everly Brothers Farewell and a good few other acts and with one other exception ( when I was right up in the gods) the sound has been excellent. At least you can always hear the song and differentiate the various instruments.

I have 3 of Joes cd's and like his stuff a lot ..........but Live he was just dreadful. All mainly due to the sound... I was about 25 feet behind the main mixing desk Stalls Row 8 and I could hardly tell what song Joe was playing.
Couldn't tell you whether the Brass was on stage or not.
Paul Jones ( a sensational Blues Harp player ) might as well have stayed at home ... I could not hear a thing !!

It was just a heavy wall of way over-amplified sound.
Someone else has said dangerous levels of sound .I agree with that !

Joe may well have been good .......I could not hear him well enough .and even he seemed to need to shout rather than sing.

It goes down as one of my most disappointing gigs ever.

I've had to listen to Sloe Gin and John Henry this morning to remind myself of why I went to this concert in the 1st place.

Couldn't listen to anything for 2 days as my hearing was so battered.

You can't blame the RAH for it all ......JB has a responsibilty, together with his backline crew to ensure the sound and the mix is good.
A muddy wall over over-amplified mush is not what I expect from any top line musician headlining a show .....anywhere  neutral:|:|

This just reiterates the point that it depended completely on where you were sitting. The sound was great from where I was...brass clear as a bell..no problem hearing Paul Jones...Joe sounded fantastic all the way through...it was a little loud at times but it was a ROCK CONCERT. This has to be the fault of the RAH acoustics. So many completely differing opinions can't be the sound guy's fault.

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

I'm sure the sound at some point must have sounded right, but i couldn't hear any lyrics, and barely a tune. what a dissapointment. I've seen gigs there before and these difficulties can be overcome.

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

I was at in the arena in row 10 roughly in the middle and found the sound to be "big" but entirely as expected. It was my first visit to the RAH and for me I just had to be there to see Joe and the boys realise their dream. I had my own feelings that there were bound to be some strong critisisms of the sound in there, it's a huge space and every artist who plays there, whether they are rock or classical, knows that they are going to sound terrible in some areas of the hall. It's inevitable. One thing I have to agree about though is the sale of the choir seats. The sound there is notoriously bad. but you do get to see what the performers see, which maybe compensates. No the experience was wonderful for me. The spendour of the place, the atmosphere, the forum buddies just w i l l i n g Joe to play well. Yes, Joe owned that stage on Monday and rightly so. Eric's appearance just cementing what we have had as our little secret for so long now. Maybe he will surprise us every now and then and pull off the odd gig at places like Pacific Road - I can dream!

Geoff O

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

I was only able to get tickets for the choir seats and subsequently was going to the RAH for the occasion rather than the sound. I didn't have great expectations of the sound having read a few grumbles about the sound at a few of Joes' gigs and the position of the seats I had.

However, the sound, generally from my position was ok it did get a little distorted once or twice and the Brass section was drowned out. The sound from the monitors on stage was fine otherwise I am sure the band would have gotten word to the sound desk. Paul Jones and Eric Clapton sounded fine. It was great looking down on Anton and Bogie playing drums perfectly synchronised.

Do sound engineers keep a log of settings for differing venues rather like racing drivers keep a log of car set ups for different circuits? If so, perhaps Joe could have tapped into Eric Claptons sound engineer who would have greater experience of the RAH.

But I was there and that is what mattered to me and I wouldn't trade it for any other gig just now.

Now Joe is finally getting the recognition he deserves and the venues are going to have to be bigger because of demand he needs to up the level of crew. I still prefer to see bands in small 200-400 capacity venues but for sound and showmanship Joes showing at Bristol Colston Hall last year was for me the best I have seen from him.

45 Reply by eva

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

Are you guys serious?? You walked out of THAT show and all you have to say about it is that the sound was bad?! I honestly can´t believe it ...

Before I read your comments I wanted to mention how great the sound was in my opinion - thanks to a coincidence I watched one half of the show from the arena and the other half from one of the Street Team boxes in the Second Tier. Though the sound was even "bigger" in the arena, it was also excellent from the box seat. Sounds like something must be wrong with my ears if you guys are right ........

This show has definitely NOT deserved that kind of comments. In my eyes Albert Hall was a show of a lifetime - I will never forget this evening in my entire life. It was not only a dream come true for the guys but also for everyone who loves this band ... the first notes of "Django" in the beginning already had me crying. wink
I must have looked like a total idiot when Mr. Clapton really stepped on that stage next to Joe - I wasn´t sure wether I should be grinning from ear to ear or start crying again (do I sound like a crybaby now?!). I probably did both at the same time, because I was just so happy. The atmosphere at that moment was really second to none - everyone jumped to their feet and it felt like the whole arena exploded with cheers. I kept on pinching my mum next to me ... "Mum, it´s CLAPTON - he´s really HERE!!" wink

I have a hard time finding words, because I have already used so many superlatives describing other shows ... so I´ll just use my dad´s words: " IT WAS A NEARLY OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE." Because that´s what it was. Two and a half hours of pure happyness. Shivers, butterflies, crying, laughing and rocking out included. What more can a concert do for you?!

Eva

46 Reply by sander151187 (edited by sander151187 2009-05-07 20:50:07)

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

The people who start bashing Joe are reminding me a bit of this expression:
'With great power comes great responsibility'.
How better known he becomes, the more people will start to bash him. Nothing strange, he'll have to live with this fact.

Sorry for the crippled english, dutchie you know wink.

47 Reply by Rocket (edited by Rocket 2009-05-07 23:49:52)

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

People who go to loud concerts really have to take some responsibility for their own ears.  Although you will not be able to do anything as far as getting a concert mix to "turn up louder", your ears are the final arbiter of how you brain processes the audio / musical input into a psychological response and or reaction.  A baby in the womb will jump very startled at loud sounds.  It has NO control whatsoever over external noise factors. YOU DO. You are ill advised otherwise if you do not only not consider taking ear plugs of some sort, but if you do you didn't actually bring some and then don't try using them from the start if you get the firt 2 taken care of.  There are different grades and you might be surprised on what they can do in QUOTE "DANGEROUS" UNQUOTE levels a couple of you just reported. Complaints of Joe being VERY loud are, sorry folks, not new at all.  In fact they are known to go far back.  Does Joe play too loud? Joe doesn't think so.  I don't think so.  I guess it comes down to personal perspective.  I have always said I like it really loud, and will hang out as close to the so-called dangerous level as possible.  Is my hearing shot already or certainly going to be? Perhaps and  / or only time will tell, but I still like it much louder than most, a fact concerning me that goes back longer than Joe's been alive.  And if you read my San Diego posted review, I who don't take my own well advice had my ears hurt, and I mentioned it.  But it wasn't constant and the day it ever is, from anyone, I may walk out, but I would certainly have protection ready next time...

Rock On and put them dang plugs in,
Rocket

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

Very good point Rocket. These last few months I have been suffering after a gigs (mostly smaller venues). I know carry decibal reducing ear plugs. They cost around 15 quid and well worth it. Once you have them in for 10 mins you hardly notice the difference.
Although I must say I never used them at Joes concerts, I always find his sound to be ear friendly.


Rocket wrote:

People who go to loud concerts really have to take some responsibility for their own ears.  Although you will not be able to do anything as far as getting a concert mix to "turn up louder", your ears are the final arbiter of how you brain processes the audio / musical input into a psychological response and or reaction.  A baby in the womb will jump startles at loud sounds.  It has NO control whatsover over external noise factors. YOU DO. You are ill advised to not only consider taking ear plugs of some sort, bu to actually bring some and try using them from the start.  There are different grades and you might be surprised on what they can do in QUOTE "DANGEROUS" UNQUOTE levels a couple of you just reported. Complaints of Joe being loud are, sorry folks, not new at all.  In fact they are known to go far back.  Does Joe play too loud? Joe doesn't think so.  I don't thibk so.  I guess it comes down to personal perspective.  I have always said I like it really loud, and will hang out as close to the so-called dangerous level as possible.  Is my hearing shot already or certainly going to be? Perhaps and  / or only time will tell, but I still like it much louder than most, a fact concerning me that goes back longer than Joe's been alive.   

Rock On and put them dang  plugs in,
Rocket

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

I totally agree. I saw Dave Hole once in a venue that had its volume at a level which you could talk over(it's now closed)-so it's so disappointing when a venue is too quiet. A friend of mine takes ear plugs to gigs and that must be the best way, as you can't make it louder for those of us who like it loud, but you can choose to protect yourself if you don't.

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

BBJ wrote:

Not much to add to the reviews already posted. Joe was in great form as were the rest of the band.

I didn't have any issues with the sound where I was seated (Circle, Row 1, Section X). In fact, I thought the sound was far better than the Sage in Gateshead. I could hear Joe's vocals quite clearly, this time. The horns occasionally clashed with the guitar but, all in all, it was fine. In terms of volume, I've experienced, a lot louder in smaller venues. It very much seems to be a matter of where you were seated.

I'm with Bomber on the two drummers. I didn't really see the need for this as Bogie is quite capable of managing on his own. If they wanted a fuller sound from the drums then the sound guys should have been able to deal with that from one kit. 

That shouldn't detract from the show, though, which was still a great night's entertainment.  Scott McKeown, the support, wasn't bad, either.

Thanks, Joe and the guys, for another cracking show and some great memories.

My wife and I were seated stage right in the circle.  I agree that the sound wasn't great - i thought in our position that the vocals were lost primarily and drums were dominant throughout but no problms with JB's guitar.  The overall volume did cause 'her in doors' to have a bit of a headache!  But when you've see The Who or Yngwie Malmstein not a major problem!! 

Personally, loved the two drummers but was less bothered by the horn section, since they were there then a good sax solo wouldn't have gone amiss.

As an 'audiophile' hifi fan I can honestly say that Live from nowhere in particular sounds better than any 'real live' gig is ever likely to sound innterms of clarity, separation etc but that's not the point is it?  Being there is what it's all about surely and I for one feel exceedingly priviledged to have been there on what was truly a great night - and truly a step up in terms of venue from my last JB gig at the Holmfirth Picturedome!!  A highpoint in my concert going experiences over the last 30 years.

Oh and I also thought Scott McKeown was good too.

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

In my mind having the sound so loud that it distorts is unprofessional and letting the punters down. By all means have it loud but so loud that it becomes an indecipherable wall of noise is pointless. Why spend years becoming one of the best guitarist to have your skills cancelled out by having the sound poorly projected?

  • From: Belfast
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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

Fair enough, I wasn't there so you're probably right. I went to one gig (The Hoax) where the music was a wall of sound and you couldn't make anything out, that indeed was rubbish. Just on the whole when people complain of loudness I fear that they are being over the top about it and that there views will lead to more and more restrictions.

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

eva wrote:

Are you guys serious?? You walked out of THAT show and all you have to say about it is that the sound was bad?! I honestly can´t believe it ...

This show has definitely NOT deserved that kind of comments.
Eva



People are entitled to their opinions, whether or not you agree with them. What is the point of having reviews if people cannot say what their experience was? Do you really want every review just to say Joe was brilliant, irrespective of the actual gig itself? Only governments can make rules like that:D

The bottom line is that Joe at 75% is better than most others at 110%. It is just that the expectation has been lifted a little bit higher with each tour and so the fans get harder to please. That is natural and it happens to all the major artists. I'm sure Joe will learn from this and next time he plays RAH it will be better.


Bomber

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Re: Royal Albert Hall 4/5/9

Ive read some of the reviews...from my seat (front row on the right) the sound was incredible!!....when Scott came on to do his set I was very worried, I couldnt heart any of his vocals clearly at all...but when JB walked out there (my gawd the man looked amazingly handsome and stunning in the suit) all my worries were at ease...Im sorry for those that had a different experience than I , Ive been in your shoes many a time.....when Eric came on stage I dropped my head in my hands in disbelief, I cant put down the words to explain how proud and honored I was to have been there.....nothing in the rest of my musical adventures will top that night.....congratulations to Joe, his family, friends and of course the band....AMAZING!

One burned out Californian,

Shreddy