Live Sound Quality

[whitebyrd]

hey yall. ive seen the guys a bunch over the years and recently at a gig in the netherlands. i feel like the live performance suffers tremendously under the poor sound quality and its getting worse. i know it doesnt sound good everywhere in the venues but the 013 in tilburg is a really enjoyable club. but this time it was so bad that we have left after about 6 or 7 songs. i was looking up some videos from download festival which is known for a great sound system and top notch performances.. but its even worse. i wonder whats going on. dont they have their own sound technician?
how do you feel about their sound?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J37ubmISmB0

[Crumbso]

I think it used to be worse around 5 or 6 years ago. They've always struggled with Mark's bass-heavy sound in larger venues. The riffs, especially complex downtuned ones, can sound pretty muffled. Myles' adoption of the Tele has helped a little bit and Mark moving over to his PRS amp seems to also be helping a bit, too.

More and more bands are going direct and emulating amps these days because eliminating stage sound can help achieve things that otherwise wouldn't be possible for arena gigs. This could be a solution for AB but they're quite old school guys, so it's unlikely. The issue might be that Mark and Myles are tuning their sound so that it's good on stage, but that doesn't translate to the same out front. Amps and cabs sound enormously different up close compared to far away.

I do think they need to take a look at how they're handling the stereo mix because you can end up with losing either Mark or Myles in the guitar mix if your seat is far off centre in the venue.

Having said all that. I do appreciate how pure AB's approach is. What you're hearing IS the band on stage, not a crappy amalgamation of backing tracks and on-rails sound effects.

[MrK2991]

Last couple time I saw them I was very disappointed in the sound quality. Was just watching the GrassPop performance on YouTube and the sound was terrible. Not sure how it sounded live but it didn’t sound good on YT.

Contrast that with me seeing Thrice a few weeks back. The concert was heavy as all get out, drop tuned baritone guitars and all. It was crystal clear and packed a punch. Amazing sound quality! So it can definitely be done. Not sure why AB struggles so much with their live sound.

The interesting thing is that I don’t think it’s just a LIVE issue. Look at their last few albums. While P&K was certainly an improvement, everything after Fortress has sounded very muddy. Idk what the problem is. But it’s borderline making me lose interest in them as a band.

[maximzub]

Must be just a venue issue, because when I saw them at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago in February, the mix was great. Then again, we were kind of in the dead center of the floor crowd.

EDIT: Myles's guitar solos in Burn It Down and Cry Of Achilles were pretty low in the mix, or so I thought when I was actually at the show. In recordings on both my and my dad's phones, the solos are perfectly audible. Don't know why that is the case, but that was the only complaint I had about their sound.

[Miro]

I read report from last year's Prague gig (which was the one i have attended to) and according to reporter, he got an information that approximately 200 people left in first 20 minutes including the reporter due to absolutely dreadful quality of sound. And guess what, both Mammoth WVH and Halestorm had much better mix than Alter Bridge. In a brand new venue, build mostly for purpose of live concerts and other events...

[whitebyrd]

but the audience does not want to listen to what they sound like on stage. thats why there is a mixer and sound system. we pay money to see and hear a great band but their sound is terrible. its not 1982 anymore.

Having said all that. I do appreciate how pure AB's approach is. What you're hearing IS the band on stage, not a crappy amalgamation of backing tracks and on-rails sound effects.

[Crumbso]

but the audience does not want to listen to what they sound like on stage. thats why there is a mixer and sound system. we pay money to see and hear a great band but their sound is terrible. its not 1982 anymore.

Having said all that. I do appreciate how pure AB's approach is. What you're hearing IS the band on stage, not a crappy amalgamation of backing tracks and on-rails sound effects.

Says you. I do appreciate a purer experience. Could they do it better? Sure, and I hope they do. Do I want an on-rails purely PA and backing track driven arena experience that I can get from every other band? No, not really.

[whitebyrd]

So... basically terrible sound = purer experience and great sound = backing track driven arena experience?
interesting. there's PLENTY bands with a raw oldschool approach that sound WAY better. literally every support band theyve had in the past years blew AB away. halestorm, mammoth, gojira. none of them use tracks.

but the audience does not want to listen to what they sound like on stage. thats why there is a mixer and sound system. we pay money to see and hear a great band but their sound is terrible. its not 1982 anymore.

Having said all that. I do appreciate how pure AB's approach is. What you're hearing IS the band on stage, not a crappy amalgamation of backing tracks and on-rails sound effects.

Says you. I do appreciate a purer experience. Could they do it better? Sure, and I hope they do. Do I want an on-rails purely PA and backing track driven arena experience that I can get from every other band? No, not really.

[whitebyrd]

not a venue issue. this is most likely one of the best sounding, purpose built, venues there is.
did you listen to the video? is that a good mix to you?

Must be just a venue issue, because when I saw them at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago in February, the mix was great. Then again, we were kind of in the dead center of the floor crowd.

EDIT: Myles's guitar solos in Burn It Down and Cry Of Achilles were pretty low in the mix, or so I thought when I was actually at the show. In recordings on both my and my dad's phones, the solos are perfectly audible. Don't know why that is the case, but that was the only complaint I had about their sound.

[Crumbso]

So... basically terrible sound = purer experience and great sound = backing track driven arena experience?
interesting. there's PLENTY bands with a raw oldschool approach that sound WAY better. literally every support band theyve had in the past years blew AB away. halestorm, mammoth, gojira. none of them use tracks.

but the audience does not want to listen to what they sound like on stage. thats why there is a mixer and sound system. we pay money to see and hear a great band but their sound is terrible. its not 1982 anymore.

Having said all that. I do appreciate how pure AB's approach is. What you're hearing IS the band on stage, not a crappy amalgamation of backing tracks and on-rails sound effects.

Says you. I do appreciate a purer experience. Could they do it better? Sure, and I hope they do. Do I want an on-rails purely PA and backing track driven arena experience that I can get from every other band? No, not really.

I said they could do it better, didn't I? I think from my first post here in this thread, you can tell I think there are major problems. I'm not sure why you're arguing against points I haven't made.