Article: Live Rock For The Audiophile

[ednaz]

I've long known that the sound up close is way better than back where the PA system is your primary sound system. Other than for bands like Cactus or the MC5, it's also nowhere near as body-tunneling loud. That may be why despite going to several concerts a month for years and years, my hearing is still exceptionally good in my 60s. (I also used to wear earplugs when performing, monitors deafened a lot of my friends...)

 

The one exception to that was when a few bands toured with quadrophonic sound. If you weren't back far enough to be hearing the front PA systems, the sound mixing and behavior didn't make sense at all. Oddly, the most engaging place for the quadrophonic concerts was OUTSIDE of the quad zone - music meandered or danced around in front of you then. I laughed my way through most of an ELP quadrophonic concert - they did a lot of fun stuff.

 

The superior quality of stage sound versus PA sound is one reason I don't go to live arena or even large stage shows any more. The cost to be up close verges on obscene for most bands, and the robot buyers gut the close up ticket pool.  After not enjoying a couple of very expensive concerts, I stopped going to rock concerts. With jazz concerts, they still play a lot of venues where you can sit so close you're hearing the music like you're one of the band.  That's my kind of engagement.

 

For rock, concert videos, my big screen TV and my 7.1 audio setup are just fine for me now.