A Message For Joe (Page 1 of 3)

It's been stated a few times; over in the show reviews.
Best sound seems to be focused in the first handful of rows

if you're up in the balcony then it does seem the SPL's are a bit high.
Don't know why the let the FOH line array's get the best of them esp up in the balcony.

I've seen him from mid-floor and centre balcony and 2nd row centre.

The only time that I thought it was way over powering was in the balcony where the line array of house just blew the ears off.
Don't know how much control Joe's crew has over the main sound but it's a common theme in show reviews comments.
The 2nd row centre sound was absolutely amazing.

have 3rd row just stage-right of centre section for May2014.. can hardly wait.

Interesting it was so loud where you were. We were in the 5th row and didn't find it too loud at all. Everything was clear and distinct and not overpowering. Maybe it went up and over our heads. Haven't ever used them for any of Joe's shows, but earplugs are a good idea if you are ever concerned it might be too loud.

This thread makes perfect sense...in May, 2012, I had a photo pass for Joe's performance in Providence, and the stage mix sounded perfect during the first three songs when I was at the stage. Our seats were in the center of the orchestra section, and as the night went on, the sound kept getting louder - so much so that you couldn't even distinguish Joe's vocal during "Dislocated Boy", which was a terrible shame to miss.

We have tickets in the 7th row for his return visit in May of 2014 - I'm hoping our proximity to the stage will keep us "under" the main FOH system projecting into the venue, and improve the quality of the sound.

The tendency for the volume to ramp up as the night moves on is not unique to Joe's shows at all....it seems to be something the FOH crew does at nearly all venues for all artists, and ruins the sound at all of them. Guys - you do your initial setup during soundcheck, and then fine tune during the first couple songs to compensate for the audience being in place. Once you've dialed it in, and it sounds good, LEAVE IT ALONE!

This topic has been going on for many, many years.  Not judging people's perceptions in the slightest, as far as right or wrong, because if you think it is too loud, it IS too loud...for YOU.  Period.  That said, again, not assuming anything, but in the past there has been a pattern of first time attendees logging in to register just a complaint(/suggestions).  Of course it is a major attention getter, and (usually) not intended to be anything but helpful. This goes back at least 10 years.  For a third time, not judging validity regarding a person's personal perception.  However, hearing of an average person affects an entire performance's perceived sound field characteristics, just as much (or more in many cases) as room acoustics (acoustics and physical seating/standing positions can certainly be a contributing, or the culprit, putting bad audio juju on a single person or group position).  I really don't feel the need to roll out some of my hearing vs. age past posts (I cannot even list all my past posts, let alone pull them up from a list easily, and search function, is, well, quite limited at times ), but sufficient to say if you are over 30, your biophysical hearing is, objectively, somewhat different than the person next to you.  Bottom line, though, hearing perception is subjective. 

Technical details are just more aggravations.    The "up and over heads" relates to stage monitoring levels for Joe Bonamassa and the band are kept comparatively low...this does afford some very lovely and reasonable/comfortable levels, not just for them, but for some "upfront" audience members-but, on the other hand, there often is/can be phase problems and other wave interactions.  They may be less disruptively unpleasant than an overwhelming volume level, critically speaking. 

Mounted speaker arrays are not always going to mean lousy sound further back.  In fact, in my opinion, they often can offer some of the very best sound available.  Never eliminate room acoustics from being problematic.  And to lay blame on the mixer position(s) could be valid, but can also be terribly unfair to someone doing their (always difficult) job the best possible way.

My experience has been seeing more young people with hearing protection at Joe Bonamassa concerts, even up front.  Those doggone baffles Joe uses realistically are beneficial, especially to "up front" positions.  But all that huge sound cranking out of the top edges can possibly wreak havoc somewhere in a music hall, and it just might be where you are located.  And as an aside, I don't have recollection of Joe Bonamassa's concerts having a continual edging up of the faders beginning to end.  Last song and encore....that's a different story...that is even closer to universal. 

All the above set aside, I continue to recommend everyone bring some form of hearing protection!  I usually have extra on hand and only a very few have gone on to use them when offered, and then usually removed later.  So far.  I have occasionally inserted some myself, in fact, but only as monitoring how things sound with them in...I find in or out satisfactory, not exactly equal (uhm, I prefer loudER).  However, I would be remiss to not mention that sometimes those cheap foam plugs work just dandy on cutting just enough bass and volume to somewhat aid in better hearing clarity of the vocals!!!

It is extremely difficult to please everyone, but everybody should always feel totally FREE to speak up here if things didn't sound good to you.  You may be alone, but you also never know, it may be like the story of the emperor's shiny hiney in the breeze instead of being as lusciously attired as expected!

Rock ON & Keep the Faith,
Rocket

"He still doesn't charge for mistakes! "
http://jbonamassa.com/tour-dates/
"Everybody wants ta get inta the act!"
“Now, this isn’t your ordinary party crowd, here.  I mean, there are professionals in here.”

Yep.  Always bring plugs to any live concert.  You never know where the sound will be focused relative to your seats.

I recently discussed this issue in a Show Review and Set Lists thread (Prague – a tale of two gigs) from a song arrangement/set list perspective rather than as a pure technical issue. When we saw Joe in spring we had similar sound problems, but only on what I call the full band/rocky numbers (John Henry, Slow Train, etc), where the rhythm section plays at the same volume as Joe, creating a very loud wall of sound that tends to drown out the vocals and the guitar (maybe not in the first couple of rows, but everywhere else in the venue). However, when Joe was playing either acoustic or more solo numbers, where the focus was on him and his guitar and the band were quieter than him, there were no such problems.

In spring there were only a couple of these full band/rocky numbers in the set as Joe played a lot more solo bluesy stuff (Stop, Asking Around for You, Midnight Blues, Django, Mountain Time, Lonesome Road Blues, etc, etc) and solo rock stuff (Just Got Paid, Young Man Blues), where these sound problems didn't apply, so overall the sound was great and a couple of ‘wall of sound’ songs was a small price to pay. The concert was a real success.

However, in Prague a few weeks ago, the set was the complete opposite and was almost totally dominated by full band/rocky numbers and only two solo numbers (Midnight Blues and Sloe Gin). The set didn’t go down particularly well at all and it wasn’t because Joe or the band played badly – the problem was that the rocked-up set created nearly two hours of loud wall of sound noise, which didn’t really showcase Joe’s talents in any meaningful way, as the vocals and guitar were constantly being swamped. There were similar complaints throughout the Europe tour from different venues, with people even walking out of some concerts before the end (as also happened in Cleveland). The couple sitting next to me in Prague didn’t applaud one single electric song until Midnight Blues came along after an hour or so...and I’ve never seen that kind of thing at one of Joe’s gigs before.

I believe that if Joe had played a more balanced set, with more of his popular, quieter, more solo bluesy numbers, and less of an all-out full band/rocky set, there wouldn’t have been this problem to anything like the same extent and everyone would have had a good experience, not just those who could afford the more expensive seats at the very front.  In spring, Driving Towards the Daylight and Dislocated Boy were played acoustically and got a great reception, in Prague they were given the full band /rocky treatment and got only muted applause...go figure.

Good posts, both from Bluemac and Rocket. Earplugs, I tend to find my mp3 in ears work fine when necessary to use them, which unfortunately, at most gigs these days one must.

I agree also with the increasing volume. How many times have I experienced great sounds for 3 songs only for it to be tinkered away in increased volume as the show progresses!

I recently saw Peter Gabriel at the O2 in Hamburg. Not your average rock gig by any means - Mr. Gabriel. My last time at the O2 in HH was for Metallica. A worse aural experience I have never had, except for the support band Diamond Head, for whom the sound was even more terrible. The only acceptable place to hear this gig was as far back and as high as possible.

Peter Gabriel was however, sublime. Different stage set up, not 'in the round' as with Metallica, but the place was still ram full. Perfect sound. Of course, Gabriel is no 'wall of sound' music, well in a few places sure, but overall, the sound is as much about texture as anything else.

No ear plugs, no headache, just music as well reproduced live as it is possible to get.

Rocket is right, of course. It is a subjective thing; the individual 's capacity, the room, and so on and so on..............but the trend for me is disturbing. The better the technology, the worse it sometimes is.

This is a valid thread, no doubt about it and one the artist needs to be aware of. Black Star Riders are playing in Hamburg tonight and I won't be going, because I know they will be ear-splittingly loud and I won't get to hear Ricky Warwick's vocals at all. It was the same when they came as Lizzy a couple of years back. Their forum noted it back then, but nothing changes.

I won't pay good money for crap attention to detail - not when it is my hearing at stake and my enjoyment of the event.

Maybe Joe's voice was shot for one night and he didn't want to cancel...so no amount of anything would help his vocals beyond a no show...

Jane the BCC issue you refer to is spot on for my experience.  The sound was oven-cranked for "Burn" in my opinion only, and turned up extra loud in fact.  It was painful subjectively for me to listen to, as well as in physically manifested fact, at one of the first gigs in England, where it all passed my threshold of pain at a few precise junctures, Glenn showing off and in other instances when there was zero singing and the overall sound was similar to taking (unexpected) punches for me.  I had wax and no water in my ears...

Early planning / ear-ly planning, note to self (selves): BE SAFE! (especially independently thinking teens!!!!!!!!!!!)

Rock ON & Keep the Pain Free Faith,
Rocket

"He still doesn't charge for mistakes! "
http://jbonamassa.com/tour-dates/
"Everybody wants ta get inta the act!"
“Now, this isn’t your ordinary party crowd, here.  I mean, there are professionals in here.”