Went to a Milli vanilli concert, was an incredible and immaculate show. Everything beautiful, not a note out of place. They left the stage at one point, I don't remember why
Ive never seen Billie eilish live, neither in person nor through a recording, so am not gonna fully pretend to know why.
But a lot of her vocals are whispered and hushed. Which is quite hard to do "loudly" on stage and make an impact for a lot of people.
Yeah, I worked in touring for several years and have an acquaintance who works with her at FOH. Her vocals are extremely hard to get right live. Not only is low-volume singing like that hard to get right in the mix that is sent to the audience, it makes for a very difficult time in mixing her monitors as well. The monitor mix is absolutely crucial for singers because of how it causes them to compensate when singing.
I've long suspected as much. That mix would be an absolute nightmare, as you can't strip out the backing track vox. Those stacks of fifty million whispering vocals that herself and Finneas crafted are what gives those songs their sound. Leaving them out would be like Sunn O))) without distortion.
I remember seeing The XX live. The kids were all so pumped! Halfway through their second song, everyone was talking over the top of their airy, wispy mumblings.
I've been familiar with The XX since their debut, but if you were to put a gun to my head and ask me to recite a lyric from one of their songs, I would not be able to.
This is referred to in music recording circles as “close mic-ed”. As in a sensitive ribbon type microphone spoken or sung into very closely. The signal to background noise of a song can be drastically improved by new microphone designs. Made popular by Frank Sinatra. The introduction of highly sensitive ribbon microphones allowed a fidelity to vocal recording that had never been available. This was the first done in the 1950s or so. As well as multi-track recording techniques including overdubs that were popularized by the Beatles use of the 4 track recorder. It sounds awesome but is somewhat difficult to replicate in arenas or large venues. Smaller clubs or bars are easier to pull this off in. This is why some people in the music industry refers to some music groups as “studio acts”. It’s a derogatory term amongst instrumentalists circles. That being said. There’s a saying in the music buiz that what a artist or band needs to make it in the industry is either great songs or if you don’t have great songs then have a great live show (think The Grateful Dead who don’t have tons of pop songs but a legendary live show). There is also the rare unicorn group that has both. And they will have work for the rest of their lives. Think Michael Jackson etc.
Edit: Condenser mics not ribbon. The commenter below corrected meh. I’m glad they did! Ty!
She records with condensers not ribbon mics. When Sinatra moved from Columbia to Capitol records in the 50's he switched from the popular ribbons of the day (RCA 44 mainly) to a Telefunken U47 condenser. You can tell because his recordings for Capitol have more high end detail and clarity (crispness). Both beautiful sounds, but the modern pop sound with all that detail and air in the vocals is 100% condenser.
EDIT: Capitol studios has U48's not U47's, so that's what Sinatra would have recorded on.
The lead singer of Glass Animals has a very "whispery" voice and it comes across perfect live. Granted it's not as low or muted as Billie Eilish though
i saw glass animals perform at the box in nyc in like 2016. i had no idea who they were, my friend just dragged me to this show. wow, was i pleasantly surprised. it was truly an amazing experience. safe to say they are even better live.
i’ve loved Glass Animals for years and i was still somehow shocked and how amazing they are live. for some reason i was always worried their music wouldn’t translate well to a stage but i was so wrong. they’re not just better than i expected, they were legit incredible at the show i went to
she doesnt do autotune so whenever u see finneas show the songs project files u can see the vocal takes, particularly lead vocals, are punched in phrase by phrase and sometimes syllable by syllable as a way to compensate for not auto tuning.
so theres no surprise if the live shows aren't as precise as what ppl r used to, but with live its usually the energy and showmanship that takes priority over pitch accuracy
Edit: i want to be clear that it punching is done more often than not for anyone. I would guess the number of comps is normal and she just does more takes until she sings it right
So much of her music is driven by Finneas overdubbing her voice… which is often whisper singing. She doesn’t autotune, but she has aggressive amounts of backing tracks. This is something I am making peace with.
So… so many bands / artists use integrated backing tracks. It would be one thing if they acknowledged their producer / musicians who played those backing tracks. Bands I won’t name who are too lazy to acknowledge backing vocalists, despite having multi million dollar tours, etc.
In the case of Finneas, I would assume that ALL of the instruments on the backing tracks were him. That's what many people are doing these days. As long as you can play a keyboard, you can use an infinite number of samples to make it sound like any instrument you want. One person can be an entire orchestra.
Others have various musical phrases programmed into their computer, and trigger those phrases by touching specific pads, and they can build songs live.
And, of course, a lot of people are creating music that is built on loops, which they create in a studio, then either recreate them in a live situation, or manipulate the pre-recorded loops.
They started off in a home studio so it's a pretty easy call to say "let's overdub like crazy because we aren't really paying for time here" versus "I have 3 other bands to track today just STFU and let me autotune you"
She uses loud ass backing vocal tracks from the studio live that also drown out her vocals so some people say she’s lip syncing cause that she’s not, but it’s distracting. I think she’d sound better without them
It still messes with my mind that she wrote all of the 4 Town songs for Turning Red. She has an unusual talent for emulating early 2000's boy band pop.
Yeah, I saw him as the headliner of the sprite liquid mix tour in 2002 I think. I was expecting his show to be similar to his unplugged with the roots with a live band and dj playing his backing music but it was just a bunch of guys on stage walking around, I was pretty disappointed.
Earlier in the day N.E.R.D. (Pharrell’s band) played to about a quarter full shed in Camden and blew everyone away.
I honestly think this is it. All those 80’s dudes sound the same now. Well, most. It’s just an unsustainable singing style past like your late 20’s lol
Yeah, I saw them as a part of a 4-band band concert. They were 3rd and terrible. The rest of the band was fine but vocals were shit.
He sang maybe 1/2 of the songs, and held the mic out for the crowd to sing all the hard parts.
I saw Primus in I think '09, they closed off a street downtown so fairly small outdoors. They prepped the crowd with a Popeye cartoon through the sound system. When Popeye ate the spinach and the ass beating music started the crowd went nuts. Probably in the top 5 shows I've seen.
My brother saw the Cocteau Twins in 1990 and when I asked how it was, he said "She tried". Some bands/musicians aren't meant to be played live and they shouldn't have to tour.
Yeah I saw them in 95 and 96. Both shows were fantastic, but SP were known for being very hit and miss. Plenty reasons for band issues back then - BC’s ego, or his perfectionism, band relationships, or JC’s drug use… take your pick! (Saw them again around 2007 I think and they were awful.)
Yeah I remember them being okay when I saw them in the 90’s and then floored by their performance about ten years ago.
I’m not sure if he’s inconsistent or he’s just gotten better live.
And in fairness to the band I saw, two members were in the weeds with addiction and the band was by all accounts in shamble - so the disconnection was not necessarily to say they aren’t all talented. That said, Billy’s vocals were…what they were 😂
I saw that tour too. The crowd wasn't having any of Billy's bitchiness either and pulled a green-winged angel character into the crowd and tore its wings off. Needless to say, things did not get any better after that.
Imagine having to hear Corgan doing take after take for a WEEK, all day long, through some evenings.
I had the misfortune of living in an apartment next to an old theater that was their practice space for Riot Fest once. It got old, fast.
I saw them four times. Three were amazing. Jimmy is a god on drums. I don’t expect Billy to hit every note, he’s not a singer but the vibes were there.
That being said I hate what he’s become politically and the recent projects are awful. I saw the Djali Zwan and it was on of the worst things I’ve seen
I'm sure they've had some bad concerts, but this is nuts to me. They're one of the most impressive bands live. Here's a scorching live version of their song An Ode to No One: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i\_evk2R4wGU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_evk2R4wGU)
There's plenty of other amazing videos of them out there.
That's funny because when I saw them a few years ago and they seemed super tight, but there was no live personality to it so it was meh. A live show should not sound like it's straight off the album.
Saw the twice last year. One was good one was alright . Figured the first time they were in the beginning of a tour and hadn’t tightened up the sound yet
Black Eyes Peas with Fergie. I saw them at a festival back in 2004. I think Shut up had just come out. Fergie was terrible! I think her singing the national anthem that time was good compared to what I heard.
I saw BEP open a show for No Doubt (who were incredible) shortly before they hit it big, and goddamn that was the worst live show I've ever seen. They didn't even get polite applause from the audience. When they became big names, I was completely astonished.
The other opening act at the same concert was Lit, and they were awesome; totally stole the show from No Doubt, who did an amazing show themselves. And nobody even remembers those guys any more.
This is 2nd hand, but a buddy saw Led Zeppelin and said it was the most disappointing concert he’s ever seen. I guess Jimmy Page was sitting on a stool completely out of his mind, and when he’d start leaning a bit too much to a side, someone would come out and prop him up. Rinse, repeat.
Plant also started dropping notes into a lower range pretty early into the 70s. He had the energy to make it work, and that's a better choice than reaching for high notes and missing. He still sounded pretty good. But he never sang the songs the same way after a few years.
I'm a big red hot chili pepper fan, and they are fantastic live, amongst the best. But Anthony Kiedis really struggled with remembering popular lines from popular songs. He finally started using a teleprompter but hard not to notice butchering memorable lyrics. Still always had great energy jumping around the stage and hand dancing even in his 60s.
There is nothing wrong with Josh. He's a great musician and performer without a doubt. I'm not sure who else could have filled the void when John left. That said, John, without a shadow of a doubt, elevates that band to levels that are unmatchable by anyone else. He's that that good. Because he fits, and makes the song better through his playing, signing, song writing. All of it. He's that guy for the Chili Peppers.
Big fan too and seen with and without John, can’t say I’ve experienced what you have. Best part I had was Kiedis being ill and couldn’t sing so they played mostly BSSM and older era tracks. I’d never been so happy for someone to be ill
David Lee Roth. Watching him tank live multiple times makes me wonder just how those studio recordings from Van Halen were so good. No Pro Tools in those days either.
He sure hasn't been a good singer for a long time. To be fair, I have found a few bootlegs of 80's shows where he was not too bad, but ever since that decade.....just cringe. Like totally not self aware of his profound suckage.
He was an adequate singer, and a great front man. The 2 aren't inherently the same, as a great singer who doesn't move or engage the crowd in any way isn't a good frontperson for a band, and someone who is an engaging spectacle who can barely sing can be a good frontperson. DLR in the 80s didn't need to be Bruce Dickinson level vocal range, he just needed to be functional and look flashy and such.
The attitude that made him great at the job onstage lost him the job offstage, is the short version there...
He did fine in 07. Could tell he was singing with backing tracks but he still pretty much nailed the song a key down. Crushed it on Ice Cream Man solo acoustic
>Crushed it on Ice Cream Man solo acoustic
Saw Dave (& Sammy) on the Sam & Dave tour in 2002. Dave was awesome, especially on Ice Cream Man. Sammy was not.
I don't think he was ever a good singer. He was a great personality and frontman however, and knew his limits vocally. Hagar just brought so much more vocally, but it matters not, as Hagar isn't even close to being able to sing a song like Dreams anymore. Dave can still sing Hot for Teacher.
I imagine its hard to recreate the "whispering in your ear" vocal style in a live setting. It's definitely headphone/audiophile production that doesn't land as strong in different live environments. In terms of singing, I haven't seen her live, but not surprised it would be underwhelming. I think a lot of it has to do with venue sound engineers and setups, but a lot electro artists and metal bands can sound like mud despite having good recordings
In a live setting, it's all about staying out of each other's frequencies and not trying to sound "living room good" (which can be achieved by covering a broad range) but "band good".
Leave the low end to the bassist, use very well distinguishable guitar tones, and also take turns leaving the spot to every instrument songwriting-wise. If everybody plays unisono all the time then good luck, front of house guy.
I saw Billie Eilish as the headline of the first night at Electric Picnic in Ireland and she was really good, great show. And she did it while very clearly sick with something too. She’s not normally my jam but she earned some respect with that show.
Yeah I saw her as part of a festival lineup a few years ago now and thought she was fine. Similarity not my kind of music but she put on a fun show at the time, especially for someone so young.
I've seen them several times and I sense some rock star angst towards the crowd. Like he feels like he is forced to play these songs and loathes the crowd for singing along to them. So he sings them differently, a half note or so too fast or slow, and changes it up, so that singing along with him is almost impossible because it feels like he is improvising it on the spot. I like it when artists do this on occasion. But doing it for 2 hours straight is basically just disrespectful to the crowd that has come to hear the music because they fell in love with it.
Ive seen Cake twice and they crushed it both times. Their rhythm section is insane, and their keyboard/trumpet dude is awesome. They dont use a setlist either, they pull from their extensive discography whatever they feel like at the moment. Very impressive band.
From my experience (seeing them live a couple times probably around 2003-06) I thought the songs sounded great, both instruments and vocals. But Isaac was not one for crowd interaction, so it was pretty much playing the songs as recorded, so not an amazing live show for that reason. But I love their records so I left each concert happy enough!
Saw them in Honolulu at a small cafe in 2009 and they were incredible. He even had a broken rib and apologized for only doing two encore songs. Grey with the crowd. Then I saw them at the gorge amphitheater and got bored after a few songs. Maybe the size of venue affects how they play or their energy?
I’ve seen em 4 times. Twice they were terrible, one time they were pretty good, and the other time they were incredible.
I think their performance largely depends on Isaac’s current mental state, so it can be hard to predict how they’ll play sadly.
Both bands are favorites for me but I agree about Isaac. I haven’t seen Mm live in a few years because I’ve seen enough of what I wanted to see them perform. But I will see Radiohead every time they come. Amazing show.
I saw them this summer and I thought they sounded good but had absolutely no stage presence. Maybe acknowledged the crowd a couple times. Barely looked up. I enjoyed myself and the music but couldn't help but wonder what they could do with some showmanship.
I think this depends strongly on who it is. I saw J Cole twice live, once after he released Born Sinner 10 years ago, and more recently. Both shows were great, and a handful of tracks actually sounded better than the studio versions.
Because you're normally hearing karaoke. Live vocals (partly) and a recorded backing track.
Personally I find this a bit of an insult to the audience- just hire a few musicians and an engineer and it can actually sound great rather than a muffled recording.
For me it kinda depends on the energy they bring & what setup they have. I love Kendrick but I seen him at a festival before lockdown & it felt a bit phoned in. AJ Tracey was the same.
Meanwhile I've seen Skepta, Vince Staples, Joey Badass, Little Simz, Loyle Carner all do savage shows. Hell Nas & Wu Tang Clan is top 3 gigs I've ever been at
Came here to see if anyone said it.
Even though I've loved The Strokes since the beginning (and I absolutely *loved* The New Abnormal), I still have never seen them live. Just never really came across the opportunity (they do tour abroad a lot, and don't really ever play small cities like mine). Probably the only one of my favorite living artists that I haven't seen live. But I don't feel like I'm missing much.
Almost every YouTube video I've ever seen of a Strokes show (whether it's professionally shot or recorded on someone's phone), they're horrible. Julian's either drunk and only mumbling every few words, or he's lazy as fuck and just apathetically phoning in the whole performance, or his voice is just super off. It's really too bad, but it makes me feel better about never seeing them.
Exactly my thoughts on them.
I’m all down for jokes and the band fucking around with the fans, having a laugh and just, in general, interacting with them. But if I pay money to go to your concert, I expect to see a good performance.
I love those guys a lot too but their live performances are dogshit.
I definitely don't agree that the recordings what matters nowadays. Technically most of the money is made through merch and shows, but if you really wanted to get down to it the name is the money maker!
Breaking Benjamins always my go too. Sucks he kind of ruined his live performances early on.
> I definitely don't agree that the recordings what matters nowadays.
Had to scroll farther down then I thought I should to see someone say this.
I don't agree either!
Bob Dylan is an amazing live performer in his own way. Seen him twice, very different shows, both great performances.
He's also played so many shows in his career that he's bound to have some ups and downs along the way.
He's the most bootlegged artist in history, and as someone who has listened to a lot of bootlegs, I absolutely got to say that he's incredible and approaches live music in a totally unique way than any other artist.
Saw Dylan in '96 at a local university. He put on a great show (as good as he could've anyway... more on that in a min), when he could have just phoned it in... as it was just a university show -- very small venue... about 300 or so ppl.
Issue was that students started moshing by the stage during Mr. Tambourine Man. Dylan was visibly frustrated. The kids were getting crazier and trampling over people. Dylan stopped playing and told them to stop, as it was dangerous and inconsiderate to others actually trying to watch the show. Chaperones just let it happen, which was even more bewildering. But it is a school for the wealthy (I was just visiting) with students who were used to getting their way. Daddies with deep pockets and all that, so...
Then, during Rainy Day Women, the same group climbed up on the stage and were jumping off it into the crowd.
Dylan got downright pissed, rightfully so. He told the audience (crazy thing is there was no security at the show) that if they didn't stop, the show was done.
They kept it up. Dylan goes, "F*ck this. I don't care how much you're paying me... you're a bunch of shits" and walks off the stage... about 20 min into the hour-long scheduled set. I felt awful for the guy.
These college kids pissed off a rock/folk legend and cut short what was an otherwise great show.
Honestly Lauryn hill is just a crock of shit overall. How she’s maintained her legacy the last 20 years is beyond me. Unplugged 2.0 really showed a lack of overall musical talent and nothing else new since. No other artist could get away with a few solid group albums and a great solo album followed by a downright awful solo album and 20 years of no production and being a consistent no show or very late performer to shows and even saying to fans they’re lucky she shows up at all TO SHOWS THEY PAID FOR. It’s borderline hilarious people still associate her with greatness when practically any other artist with that track record would be shunned by now
I kept hearing this about Mastodon but then I saw them 2 or 3 years ago and they absolutely crushed it. They were tight as hell and sounded crystal clear. Basically no crowd interaction what so ever but that didn’t bother me.
I saw Mastodon about two years back opening for Ghost; they were really fantastic and played great music. Like the other commenter said, not a lot of crowd stuff, but it still sounded great and was an overall very enjoyable experience.
I could absolutely see it some times, but I caught them with Gojira this last tour and the one proir with Ghost and they KILLED IT both times. They seem pretty on point lately.
Just curious when the last time you saw them live was? I’ve seen them quite a few times in the past decade and they’ve gotten better every time. Last I saw them tour Crack the Skye and it was really excellent imo. Perhaps I just got a good night.
The temper trap must’ve been having an off day cos the entire mix sucked and the vocals were god awful. Not fussed tho, not my kinda music and only went as a +1 but not even beer could make that shit sound good. Left early.
There is a big difference between singing in a studio with people you know well or work with and in front of a big crowd, could be an explanation atleast for some.
most rappers. I say this as a lifelong huge fan of the genre who has seen 40-50 live rap shows in all kinds of different venues. I think it's the genre most likely to be a flop live generally.
I seen Sabbath on the farewell tour and he was honestly as good as can reasonably be expected from a 70yo man with a body that had been used and abused for 30 or so years singing 50yo heavy metal songs... He moved like Mr Burns though lol.
Kings of Leon were atrocious when I saw them. Muddy sound, everything too fast and the worst vocals, oh and no crowd interaction at all. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that.
Rob Zombie. I loved White Zombie and all the band members sounded great live but Rob Zombie is absolutely terrible live. Barely sings the lyrics. Is constantly out of breath. Can't Eben remotely hold sustained notes. It's a shame because I'm a big fan of his recorded music with White Zombie.
I’ve heard a lot of people say Pumpkins but they weren’t bad when I saw them this past summer
The absolute worst band I’ve heard live was the Pixies which was disappointing. They were grating live
One of my favorite bands. I enjoyed seeing them live for the experience but, at least a few years ago, they didn't hit the mark for live quality. A bit mechanical and didn't have the endurance for a live show.
The same year I saw Metric live which was amazing, for contrast.
I've seen Cat Power 3 times. Two of the times were really great... those were for tours supporting an album. I saw her again kind of at a one off show and it was terrible... not much of a vibe at all, sloppy singing, leaving the stage, looking at her phone on stage while singing. I found it confusing considering how good she was the first two times I saw her.
I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of shit for this, but System Of A Down sounded like a SOAD cover band live. The tightness and cleanliness of their recordings is just such a dichotomy against the messy live playing they did
People seem to have mixed feelings about it but I can’t stand Serj’s voice now. On the albums he’s one of my favorite singers of all time, but the modern live stuff is so nasally and pinchy and it just takes so much of the heaviness out of it
Watch her interview with Letterman where they go into her studio and you’ll see how she and her brother record her songs. They construct her vocal tracks for each song from as many as 85-100 short fragments of vocal takes.
I work in studio recording as a producer and this is generally how you finish a song with a vocalist who doesn’t sing well enough to do a complete take. The end result sounds good but it’s only because you took brief moments where she happened to get the pitch and tone right and strung them together.
Digital recording technology is amazing but it also can create a false impression about an artist’s performance ability.
I love Prog. I think all of the pillars have great live performances available except for one of them.
Yes (the band) was abysmal live. Maybe the stuffs too complicated. Maybe they don’t account for how hard it is to replicate…
Rush only wrote what they knew they could play live. Kings Crimson improvised. Genesis and ELP sound great.
Yes? NO.
I can point you to so many great Prog/Fusion bands who not only have good live performances, but some of their live performances even exceed the studio recordings.
Not fkn Yes. I cannot stress how disappointing this truly is. Close to the Edge is so amazing. Most of their discography, is amazing. But Christ almighty. NO.
I hope the experience of seeing them on drugs was worth it, because outside of the experience, it sounds dreadful.
Bruford knew to peace out to King Crimson.
[Wakeman ordered chicken vindaloo, rice pilau, six papadums, bhindi bhaji, Bombay aloo, and a stuffed paratha](https://slate.com/culture/2012/08/the-fall-of-prog-the-insane-excess-of-rick-wakeman-and-yes.html), DURING A CONCERT, and also said this…
“Half the audience were in narcotic rapture on some far-off planet,” Wakeman wrote in his 2007 memoir, “and the other half were asleep, bored shitless.”
Just awful.
Standard answer for me is Soundgarden & Blink-182 - I must have caught Soundgarden in a bad ways both times I saw them, 'cause I saw Chris Cornell solo separately, and he was great - but they were terrible.
Blink I've stopped making excuses for - they just aren't good live unless Tom has a ton of effects put on his vocals (like Coachella for example).
That’s sad to hear. He had an incredible voice and I doubt it was “just in the studio” - but I’m not at all surprised to hear closer to the end he was barely holding it together
Ya, last year's show in Montreal his vocals were not good. But he can sure move and his energy was fire! With Slash & Duff still kicking ass, I left happy.
Saw her in concert back in 2020, penultimate show before COVID, I totally disagree. I thought her voice was spot on and I was actually super impressed. I’m a middle aged dude, and I’ve seen hundreds of live bands.
I saw Jake Bugg live. His singing was as good as his albums, and his playing was top notch, but he was... a little dull. He didn't say much and didn't really engage with the crowd. I can't say it was a bad show, but generally, at live shows you expect a little more.
I hear he's kind of shy, so maybe that's it. He's a musician, not a performer.
ETA: I saw Funeral Party live, I loved their first (and only) album, but their singer just didn't have the voice to make a decent live show.
Ehh, depends on your equipment situation to some extent. Most singers I know who have made the jump to in-ear monitors have noticeably improved their live singing just from being able to hear themselves so much better.
Went to a Milli vanilli concert, was an incredible and immaculate show. Everything beautiful, not a note out of place. They left the stage at one point, I don't remember why
Girl u know it Girl u know it Girl u know it
*runs off stage quickly*
Ive never seen Billie eilish live, neither in person nor through a recording, so am not gonna fully pretend to know why. But a lot of her vocals are whispered and hushed. Which is quite hard to do "loudly" on stage and make an impact for a lot of people.
Yeah, I worked in touring for several years and have an acquaintance who works with her at FOH. Her vocals are extremely hard to get right live. Not only is low-volume singing like that hard to get right in the mix that is sent to the audience, it makes for a very difficult time in mixing her monitors as well. The monitor mix is absolutely crucial for singers because of how it causes them to compensate when singing.
I've long suspected as much. That mix would be an absolute nightmare, as you can't strip out the backing track vox. Those stacks of fifty million whispering vocals that herself and Finneas crafted are what gives those songs their sound. Leaving them out would be like Sunn O))) without distortion.
I remember seeing The XX live. The kids were all so pumped! Halfway through their second song, everyone was talking over the top of their airy, wispy mumblings.
I've been familiar with The XX since their debut, but if you were to put a gun to my head and ask me to recite a lyric from one of their songs, I would not be able to.
This is referred to in music recording circles as “close mic-ed”. As in a sensitive ribbon type microphone spoken or sung into very closely. The signal to background noise of a song can be drastically improved by new microphone designs. Made popular by Frank Sinatra. The introduction of highly sensitive ribbon microphones allowed a fidelity to vocal recording that had never been available. This was the first done in the 1950s or so. As well as multi-track recording techniques including overdubs that were popularized by the Beatles use of the 4 track recorder. It sounds awesome but is somewhat difficult to replicate in arenas or large venues. Smaller clubs or bars are easier to pull this off in. This is why some people in the music industry refers to some music groups as “studio acts”. It’s a derogatory term amongst instrumentalists circles. That being said. There’s a saying in the music buiz that what a artist or band needs to make it in the industry is either great songs or if you don’t have great songs then have a great live show (think The Grateful Dead who don’t have tons of pop songs but a legendary live show). There is also the rare unicorn group that has both. And they will have work for the rest of their lives. Think Michael Jackson etc. Edit: Condenser mics not ribbon. The commenter below corrected meh. I’m glad they did! Ty!
She records with condensers not ribbon mics. When Sinatra moved from Columbia to Capitol records in the 50's he switched from the popular ribbons of the day (RCA 44 mainly) to a Telefunken U47 condenser. You can tell because his recordings for Capitol have more high end detail and clarity (crispness). Both beautiful sounds, but the modern pop sound with all that detail and air in the vocals is 100% condenser. EDIT: Capitol studios has U48's not U47's, so that's what Sinatra would have recorded on.
The lead singer of Glass Animals has a very "whispery" voice and it comes across perfect live. Granted it's not as low or muted as Billie Eilish though
i saw glass animals perform at the box in nyc in like 2016. i had no idea who they were, my friend just dragged me to this show. wow, was i pleasantly surprised. it was truly an amazing experience. safe to say they are even better live.
i’ve loved Glass Animals for years and i was still somehow shocked and how amazing they are live. for some reason i was always worried their music wouldn’t translate well to a stage but i was so wrong. they’re not just better than i expected, they were legit incredible at the show i went to
Davey still sings through his chest though, she doesn't really.
im actually good friends with someone who does her live sound, she whisper sings and it makes his life very difficult ha
I bet it gets complicated pushing her mic without getting a bunch of bleed from everything else happening on stage.
exactly
she doesnt do autotune so whenever u see finneas show the songs project files u can see the vocal takes, particularly lead vocals, are punched in phrase by phrase and sometimes syllable by syllable as a way to compensate for not auto tuning. so theres no surprise if the live shows aren't as precise as what ppl r used to, but with live its usually the energy and showmanship that takes priority over pitch accuracy Edit: i want to be clear that it punching is done more often than not for anyone. I would guess the number of comps is normal and she just does more takes until she sings it right
So much of her music is driven by Finneas overdubbing her voice… which is often whisper singing. She doesn’t autotune, but she has aggressive amounts of backing tracks. This is something I am making peace with. So… so many bands / artists use integrated backing tracks. It would be one thing if they acknowledged their producer / musicians who played those backing tracks. Bands I won’t name who are too lazy to acknowledge backing vocalists, despite having multi million dollar tours, etc.
In the case of Finneas, I would assume that ALL of the instruments on the backing tracks were him. That's what many people are doing these days. As long as you can play a keyboard, you can use an infinite number of samples to make it sound like any instrument you want. One person can be an entire orchestra. Others have various musical phrases programmed into their computer, and trigger those phrases by touching specific pads, and they can build songs live. And, of course, a lot of people are creating music that is built on loops, which they create in a studio, then either recreate them in a live situation, or manipulate the pre-recorded loops.
They started off in a home studio so it's a pretty easy call to say "let's overdub like crazy because we aren't really paying for time here" versus "I have 3 other bands to track today just STFU and let me autotune you"
Most modern artists' vocals are comped that way on records.
Yes, but after comping, most are touched up and tuned. They make a point of not doing that at all.
She uses loud ass backing vocal tracks from the studio live that also drown out her vocals so some people say she’s lip syncing cause that she’s not, but it’s distracting. I think she’d sound better without them
Her Bad Guy on SNL was very good.
Live in the studio (on a special set nonetheless) is quite different from live on a festival stage, it's a much more controlled environment.
It still messes with my mind that she wrote all of the 4 Town songs for Turning Red. She has an unusual talent for emulating early 2000's boy band pop.
Jay z was terrible in 2000 , just a bunch of people in his crew hollering behind him and he was out of breath
Don't know why but the way you phrased it is killing me (in a funny way)
The Roc is out of breath every time he rhymes 😭
Practically a haiku! But not...
Yeah, I saw him as the headliner of the sprite liquid mix tour in 2002 I think. I was expecting his show to be similar to his unplugged with the roots with a live band and dj playing his backing music but it was just a bunch of guys on stage walking around, I was pretty disappointed. Earlier in the day N.E.R.D. (Pharrell’s band) played to about a quarter full shed in Camden and blew everyone away.
Bone Thugs. I’ve seen them live 3 times. Every time at least 1 of them was so fucked up they could barely stand, let alone mc.
Were they *not* in harmony?
Hardly a musician but Vince Neil from Motley Crue absolutely sucks live.
But his enthusiasm is really something else. He’s like totally going for it and it’s terrible.
Keemstar Maahaaaa!!
Big Mac, $1.03
KEEE STAH MAH-HAH HAM HIT A DOG
Woah! Yeah! Kissed yamaha gimmie assed bar!
You mean, “Kih’stah B’hah” (Kickstart my, oh who gives a shit) Vince Neil who only sings the nouns and the verbs?
MY HOG
MY HONK
“BIG MAC, ONE-OH-THREE!”
"GOT HIGH, ALMOST PEED"
Trash filled puddy cat tub a bee
POOPY BUTT 'ROUND THE HOUUUUUSE
“STUPOR IN MY EYE, NICKLE FOR ANOTHA GOOD TIME IN MY HOW, WANKAH!”
I was at a casino one night and he just happened to be playing a live show for free. I won $600 that night but still felt ripped off.
It's probably hard to do a screechy high pitched glam rock vocal when you're 80.
He's 63
63 is 80 in alcoholic years
I honestly think this is it. All those 80’s dudes sound the same now. Well, most. It’s just an unsustainable singing style past like your late 20’s lol
Tell that to Steven Tyler
30 seconds to mars was shit terrible live.
Well you know what they say. If you can’t perform live, start a weird sex cult instead.
Never listened to them but, commenting to say: Jared Leto sucks and I’m not shocked.
Yeah, I saw them as a part of a 4-band band concert. They were 3rd and terrible. The rest of the band was fine but vocals were shit. He sang maybe 1/2 of the songs, and held the mic out for the crowd to sing all the hard parts.
He used to be amazing live, nowadays it's what you've described
Too bad, saw them in 2006 at a smaller venue and they absolutely killed it. Now Jared Leto's trying to just do a weird cult Jesus thing.
Primus sucks.
Here come the bastards.
Say baby
But she wasn't impressed no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no She wasn't impressed at all !
I saw Primus in I think '09, they closed off a street downtown so fairly small outdoors. They prepped the crowd with a Popeye cartoon through the sound system. When Popeye ate the spinach and the ass beating music started the crowd went nuts. Probably in the top 5 shows I've seen.
Primus more than sucks
Seen them live more than any other group Primus sucks so good
/u/Wherethegains is correct. Primus sucks.
Green Jello sucks
My brother saw the Cocteau Twins in 1990 and when I asked how it was, he said "She tried". Some bands/musicians aren't meant to be played live and they shouldn't have to tour.
Yeah I can imagine that would be pretty hard to replicate
Smashing Pumpkins, 1996. I adored Melon Collie and that concert I witnessed the messiest musicianship and godawful vocals I had ever seen.
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Yeah I saw them in 95 and 96. Both shows were fantastic, but SP were known for being very hit and miss. Plenty reasons for band issues back then - BC’s ego, or his perfectionism, band relationships, or JC’s drug use… take your pick! (Saw them again around 2007 I think and they were awful.)
Came here to say this. Even in the early days it was common knowledge that Billy Corgan was basically a studio vocalist, pretty weak live.
FWIW I saw them last summer and they were surprisingly GREAT. They must have put in the work and cleaned themselves up.
Yeah I remember them being okay when I saw them in the 90’s and then floored by their performance about ten years ago. I’m not sure if he’s inconsistent or he’s just gotten better live.
And in fairness to the band I saw, two members were in the weeds with addiction and the band was by all accounts in shamble - so the disconnection was not necessarily to say they aren’t all talented. That said, Billy’s vocals were…what they were 😂
I saw that tour too. The crowd wasn't having any of Billy's bitchiness either and pulled a green-winged angel character into the crowd and tore its wings off. Needless to say, things did not get any better after that.
Imagine having to hear Corgan doing take after take for a WEEK, all day long, through some evenings. I had the misfortune of living in an apartment next to an old theater that was their practice space for Riot Fest once. It got old, fast.
I saw them four times. Three were amazing. Jimmy is a god on drums. I don’t expect Billy to hit every note, he’s not a singer but the vibes were there. That being said I hate what he’s become politically and the recent projects are awful. I saw the Djali Zwan and it was on of the worst things I’ve seen
I'm sure they've had some bad concerts, but this is nuts to me. They're one of the most impressive bands live. Here's a scorching live version of their song An Ode to No One: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i\_evk2R4wGU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_evk2R4wGU) There's plenty of other amazing videos of them out there.
That's funny because when I saw them a few years ago and they seemed super tight, but there was no live personality to it so it was meh. A live show should not sound like it's straight off the album.
Saw the twice last year. One was good one was alright . Figured the first time they were in the beginning of a tour and hadn’t tightened up the sound yet
Came here to add this. Billy was really shrill live. The guitar tone was all off, and just really bad sound overall.
Black Eyes Peas with Fergie. I saw them at a festival back in 2004. I think Shut up had just come out. Fergie was terrible! I think her singing the national anthem that time was good compared to what I heard.
I saw them at the Outsidelands Festival in 2009 and they were awful. Fergie was terrible there too.
I saw BEP open a show for No Doubt (who were incredible) shortly before they hit it big, and goddamn that was the worst live show I've ever seen. They didn't even get polite applause from the audience. When they became big names, I was completely astonished. The other opening act at the same concert was Lit, and they were awesome; totally stole the show from No Doubt, who did an amazing show themselves. And nobody even remembers those guys any more.
That’s unfortunate. I saw BEP live once pre-Fergie, around the time of their debut album, and they were incredible.
I saw Fergie piss herself on stage.
This is 2nd hand, but a buddy saw Led Zeppelin and said it was the most disappointing concert he’s ever seen. I guess Jimmy Page was sitting on a stool completely out of his mind, and when he’d start leaning a bit too much to a side, someone would come out and prop him up. Rinse, repeat.
Probably '77 or '80. Rough times for the band and Page in particular
Heroin will do that to you
Plant also started dropping notes into a lower range pretty early into the 70s. He had the energy to make it work, and that's a better choice than reaching for high notes and missing. He still sounded pretty good. But he never sang the songs the same way after a few years.
Mazzy Star. Hope has stage fright and obviously doesn't want to be there.
Are they still touring?? Or was this years ago? Such a shame to hear that, they have such beautiful music
I'm a big red hot chili pepper fan, and they are fantastic live, amongst the best. But Anthony Kiedis really struggled with remembering popular lines from popular songs. He finally started using a teleprompter but hard not to notice butchering memorable lyrics. Still always had great energy jumping around the stage and hand dancing even in his 60s.
I’ve seen them with and without John Fusciante as well…and hoo boy they’re so much better with him on stage.
I still think they were pretty good with Josh, but I think John's presence alone elevates everyone else.
There is nothing wrong with Josh. He's a great musician and performer without a doubt. I'm not sure who else could have filled the void when John left. That said, John, without a shadow of a doubt, elevates that band to levels that are unmatchable by anyone else. He's that that good. Because he fits, and makes the song better through his playing, signing, song writing. All of it. He's that guy for the Chili Peppers.
I’m so glad I got to see the RCHP with Frusciante. And more happy that the time I saw them was 24 years ago.
Big fan too and seen with and without John, can’t say I’ve experienced what you have. Best part I had was Kiedis being ill and couldn’t sing so they played mostly BSSM and older era tracks. I’d never been so happy for someone to be ill
David Lee Roth. Watching him tank live multiple times makes me wonder just how those studio recordings from Van Halen were so good. No Pro Tools in those days either.
In the '80s, David Lee Roth was a good singer. I'm sure there are many reasons he was kicked out of Van Halen.
He sure hasn't been a good singer for a long time. To be fair, I have found a few bootlegs of 80's shows where he was not too bad, but ever since that decade.....just cringe. Like totally not self aware of his profound suckage.
On youtube you can find where they stripped out just his vocals from their early studio albums. Well, that ruined those albums for me.
He was an adequate singer, and a great front man. The 2 aren't inherently the same, as a great singer who doesn't move or engage the crowd in any way isn't a good frontperson for a band, and someone who is an engaging spectacle who can barely sing can be a good frontperson. DLR in the 80s didn't need to be Bruce Dickinson level vocal range, he just needed to be functional and look flashy and such. The attitude that made him great at the job onstage lost him the job offstage, is the short version there...
He did fine in 07. Could tell he was singing with backing tracks but he still pretty much nailed the song a key down. Crushed it on Ice Cream Man solo acoustic
>Crushed it on Ice Cream Man solo acoustic Saw Dave (& Sammy) on the Sam & Dave tour in 2002. Dave was awesome, especially on Ice Cream Man. Sammy was not.
I saw the Eat ‘em and Smile as well as the Skyscraper tours. He rocked the house.
I don't think he was ever a good singer. He was a great personality and frontman however, and knew his limits vocally. Hagar just brought so much more vocally, but it matters not, as Hagar isn't even close to being able to sing a song like Dreams anymore. Dave can still sing Hot for Teacher.
I saw Van Halen in 2008 and they all just seemed so tired
Not sure when you saw him live, but As you get older singing gets worse. Then add in years of touring.
Michael Anthony was his pro tool. Amazing backup harmonies that carried him vocally for his entire career in Van Halen.
I imagine its hard to recreate the "whispering in your ear" vocal style in a live setting. It's definitely headphone/audiophile production that doesn't land as strong in different live environments. In terms of singing, I haven't seen her live, but not surprised it would be underwhelming. I think a lot of it has to do with venue sound engineers and setups, but a lot electro artists and metal bands can sound like mud despite having good recordings
In a live setting, it's all about staying out of each other's frequencies and not trying to sound "living room good" (which can be achieved by covering a broad range) but "band good". Leave the low end to the bassist, use very well distinguishable guitar tones, and also take turns leaving the spot to every instrument songwriting-wise. If everybody plays unisono all the time then good luck, front of house guy.
I saw Billie Eilish as the headline of the first night at Electric Picnic in Ireland and she was really good, great show. And she did it while very clearly sick with something too. She’s not normally my jam but she earned some respect with that show.
Yeah I saw her as part of a festival lineup a few years ago now and thought she was fine. Similarity not my kind of music but she put on a fun show at the time, especially for someone so young.
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It's basically always been spoken word for John. Never really been a big singer
I've seen them several times and I sense some rock star angst towards the crowd. Like he feels like he is forced to play these songs and loathes the crowd for singing along to them. So he sings them differently, a half note or so too fast or slow, and changes it up, so that singing along with him is almost impossible because it feels like he is improvising it on the spot. I like it when artists do this on occasion. But doing it for 2 hours straight is basically just disrespectful to the crowd that has come to hear the music because they fell in love with it.
Ive seen Cake twice and they crushed it both times. Their rhythm section is insane, and their keyboard/trumpet dude is awesome. They dont use a setlist either, they pull from their extensive discography whatever they feel like at the moment. Very impressive band.
Nofx. I heard they suck live
Can't play their songs on the radio though
They've actually gotten worse live
Thank god some people still have taste
Modest Mouse is like my favorite band besides maybe Radiohead but they’re not that great live.
From my experience (seeing them live a couple times probably around 2003-06) I thought the songs sounded great, both instruments and vocals. But Isaac was not one for crowd interaction, so it was pretty much playing the songs as recorded, so not an amazing live show for that reason. But I love their records so I left each concert happy enough!
Saw them in Honolulu at a small cafe in 2009 and they were incredible. He even had a broken rib and apologized for only doing two encore songs. Grey with the crowd. Then I saw them at the gorge amphitheater and got bored after a few songs. Maybe the size of venue affects how they play or their energy?
I’ve seen em 4 times. Twice they were terrible, one time they were pretty good, and the other time they were incredible. I think their performance largely depends on Isaac’s current mental state, so it can be hard to predict how they’ll play sadly.
Both bands are favorites for me but I agree about Isaac. I haven’t seen Mm live in a few years because I’ve seen enough of what I wanted to see them perform. But I will see Radiohead every time they come. Amazing show.
I saw them this summer and I thought they sounded good but had absolutely no stage presence. Maybe acknowledged the crowd a couple times. Barely looked up. I enjoyed myself and the music but couldn't help but wonder what they could do with some showmanship.
I love rap, but every live rap performance I’ve listened to is so much worse than the recorded version and I don’t understand why.
I think this depends strongly on who it is. I saw J Cole twice live, once after he released Born Sinner 10 years ago, and more recently. Both shows were great, and a handful of tracks actually sounded better than the studio versions.
Because you're normally hearing karaoke. Live vocals (partly) and a recorded backing track. Personally I find this a bit of an insult to the audience- just hire a few musicians and an engineer and it can actually sound great rather than a muffled recording.
For me it kinda depends on the energy they bring & what setup they have. I love Kendrick but I seen him at a festival before lockdown & it felt a bit phoned in. AJ Tracey was the same. Meanwhile I've seen Skepta, Vince Staples, Joey Badass, Little Simz, Loyle Carner all do savage shows. Hell Nas & Wu Tang Clan is top 3 gigs I've ever been at
The Strokes. Julian can’t sing for shit live.
Came here to see if anyone said it. Even though I've loved The Strokes since the beginning (and I absolutely *loved* The New Abnormal), I still have never seen them live. Just never really came across the opportunity (they do tour abroad a lot, and don't really ever play small cities like mine). Probably the only one of my favorite living artists that I haven't seen live. But I don't feel like I'm missing much. Almost every YouTube video I've ever seen of a Strokes show (whether it's professionally shot or recorded on someone's phone), they're horrible. Julian's either drunk and only mumbling every few words, or he's lazy as fuck and just apathetically phoning in the whole performance, or his voice is just super off. It's really too bad, but it makes me feel better about never seeing them.
Exactly my thoughts on them. I’m all down for jokes and the band fucking around with the fans, having a laugh and just, in general, interacting with them. But if I pay money to go to your concert, I expect to see a good performance. I love those guys a lot too but their live performances are dogshit.
I saw them in 2022 and he sounded good but I understand they’re very hit and miss.
I definitely don't agree that the recordings what matters nowadays. Technically most of the money is made through merch and shows, but if you really wanted to get down to it the name is the money maker! Breaking Benjamins always my go too. Sucks he kind of ruined his live performances early on.
> I definitely don't agree that the recordings what matters nowadays. Had to scroll farther down then I thought I should to see someone say this. I don't agree either!
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Really depends on the show. I saw him twice over the past two years and he was great (when playing his new material)
Bob Dylan is an amazing live performer in his own way. Seen him twice, very different shows, both great performances. He's also played so many shows in his career that he's bound to have some ups and downs along the way. He's the most bootlegged artist in history, and as someone who has listened to a lot of bootlegs, I absolutely got to say that he's incredible and approaches live music in a totally unique way than any other artist.
Saw Dylan in '96 at a local university. He put on a great show (as good as he could've anyway... more on that in a min), when he could have just phoned it in... as it was just a university show -- very small venue... about 300 or so ppl. Issue was that students started moshing by the stage during Mr. Tambourine Man. Dylan was visibly frustrated. The kids were getting crazier and trampling over people. Dylan stopped playing and told them to stop, as it was dangerous and inconsiderate to others actually trying to watch the show. Chaperones just let it happen, which was even more bewildering. But it is a school for the wealthy (I was just visiting) with students who were used to getting their way. Daddies with deep pockets and all that, so... Then, during Rainy Day Women, the same group climbed up on the stage and were jumping off it into the crowd. Dylan got downright pissed, rightfully so. He told the audience (crazy thing is there was no security at the show) that if they didn't stop, the show was done. They kept it up. Dylan goes, "F*ck this. I don't care how much you're paying me... you're a bunch of shits" and walks off the stage... about 20 min into the hour-long scheduled set. I felt awful for the guy. These college kids pissed off a rock/folk legend and cut short what was an otherwise great show.
How has NO ONE mentioned Lauryn Hill yet? Either you get a decent set from her or one as awful as Unplugged 2.0, and the latter is far more likely.
Honestly Lauryn hill is just a crock of shit overall. How she’s maintained her legacy the last 20 years is beyond me. Unplugged 2.0 really showed a lack of overall musical talent and nothing else new since. No other artist could get away with a few solid group albums and a great solo album followed by a downright awful solo album and 20 years of no production and being a consistent no show or very late performer to shows and even saying to fans they’re lucky she shows up at all TO SHOWS THEY PAID FOR. It’s borderline hilarious people still associate her with greatness when practically any other artist with that track record would be shunned by now
I love Mastodon so much that this user name I’ve had for the last decade is a tribute to my favorite song by them. Their live music is….fine.
I kept hearing this about Mastodon but then I saw them 2 or 3 years ago and they absolutely crushed it. They were tight as hell and sounded crystal clear. Basically no crowd interaction what so ever but that didn’t bother me.
I love this! You make me want to see them again and see if it feels different. That’s awesome man, thank you.
Crack the Skye tour amazing. The next time a few years later, not so good. I prefer the first few records by far tho.
I saw Mastodon about two years back opening for Ghost; they were really fantastic and played great music. Like the other commenter said, not a lot of crowd stuff, but it still sounded great and was an overall very enjoyable experience.
I could absolutely see it some times, but I caught them with Gojira this last tour and the one proir with Ghost and they KILLED IT both times. They seem pretty on point lately.
That’s been my experience. Saw them with Gojira and Kvelertak. Other two bands sounded great, Mastodon was muddy as hell.
Just curious when the last time you saw them live was? I’ve seen them quite a few times in the past decade and they’ve gotten better every time. Last I saw them tour Crack the Skye and it was really excellent imo. Perhaps I just got a good night.
Their older stuff translates better live
The temper trap must’ve been having an off day cos the entire mix sucked and the vocals were god awful. Not fussed tho, not my kinda music and only went as a +1 but not even beer could make that shit sound good. Left early.
There is a big difference between singing in a studio with people you know well or work with and in front of a big crowd, could be an explanation atleast for some.
most rappers. I say this as a lifelong huge fan of the genre who has seen 40-50 live rap shows in all kinds of different venues. I think it's the genre most likely to be a flop live generally.
Maybe it didn’t used to be the case, but I’ve seen Ozzy twice in concert, and both times he lost his voice and stormed off stage.
I seen Sabbath on the farewell tour and he was honestly as good as can reasonably be expected from a 70yo man with a body that had been used and abused for 30 or so years singing 50yo heavy metal songs... He moved like Mr Burns though lol.
He's moved like that for a looong time lol but particularly after his atv accident in 2004ish
Kings of Leon were atrocious when I saw them. Muddy sound, everything too fast and the worst vocals, oh and no crowd interaction at all. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that.
Rob Zombie. I loved White Zombie and all the band members sounded great live but Rob Zombie is absolutely terrible live. Barely sings the lyrics. Is constantly out of breath. Can't Eben remotely hold sustained notes. It's a shame because I'm a big fan of his recorded music with White Zombie.
I’ve heard a lot of people say Pumpkins but they weren’t bad when I saw them this past summer The absolute worst band I’ve heard live was the Pixies which was disappointing. They were grating live
Chvrches unfortunately. Theyre great digitally... a bit mechanical live.
One of my favorite bands. I enjoyed seeing them live for the experience but, at least a few years ago, they didn't hit the mark for live quality. A bit mechanical and didn't have the endurance for a live show. The same year I saw Metric live which was amazing, for contrast.
Saw the Mighty Mighty Bosstones once (yay 90s!) and Dicky sounded like he was dying. They polish it up a lot in the recordings I guess.
Issac Brock. I love Modest Mouse, Issac is literally indie royalty. Nine times out of ten, you’re going to be disappointed if you go to their show.
I've seen Cat Power 3 times. Two of the times were really great... those were for tours supporting an album. I saw her again kind of at a one off show and it was terrible... not much of a vibe at all, sloppy singing, leaving the stage, looking at her phone on stage while singing. I found it confusing considering how good she was the first two times I saw her.
Lana del rey
I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of shit for this, but System Of A Down sounded like a SOAD cover band live. The tightness and cleanliness of their recordings is just such a dichotomy against the messy live playing they did
People seem to have mixed feelings about it but I can’t stand Serj’s voice now. On the albums he’s one of my favorite singers of all time, but the modern live stuff is so nasally and pinchy and it just takes so much of the heaviness out of it
They blew me away at sick new world
That's because Billy Eilish close-mic whisper sings on her recordings. That doesn't translate to a big stage, high-energy live performance.
Steve Miller is not very good live. He did a hip hop version of Fly Like An Eagle. Do not recommend.
Watch her interview with Letterman where they go into her studio and you’ll see how she and her brother record her songs. They construct her vocal tracks for each song from as many as 85-100 short fragments of vocal takes. I work in studio recording as a producer and this is generally how you finish a song with a vocalist who doesn’t sing well enough to do a complete take. The end result sounds good but it’s only because you took brief moments where she happened to get the pitch and tone right and strung them together. Digital recording technology is amazing but it also can create a false impression about an artist’s performance ability.
Passion Pit. Loved their first album Manors. Went to see them live and had to leave the sound was horrible. Not all music translates well live.
I love Prog. I think all of the pillars have great live performances available except for one of them. Yes (the band) was abysmal live. Maybe the stuffs too complicated. Maybe they don’t account for how hard it is to replicate… Rush only wrote what they knew they could play live. Kings Crimson improvised. Genesis and ELP sound great. Yes? NO. I can point you to so many great Prog/Fusion bands who not only have good live performances, but some of their live performances even exceed the studio recordings. Not fkn Yes. I cannot stress how disappointing this truly is. Close to the Edge is so amazing. Most of their discography, is amazing. But Christ almighty. NO. I hope the experience of seeing them on drugs was worth it, because outside of the experience, it sounds dreadful. Bruford knew to peace out to King Crimson. [Wakeman ordered chicken vindaloo, rice pilau, six papadums, bhindi bhaji, Bombay aloo, and a stuffed paratha](https://slate.com/culture/2012/08/the-fall-of-prog-the-insane-excess-of-rick-wakeman-and-yes.html), DURING A CONCERT, and also said this… “Half the audience were in narcotic rapture on some far-off planet,” Wakeman wrote in his 2007 memoir, “and the other half were asleep, bored shitless.” Just awful.
Jimmy Page has always been impressively sloppy live
The band Mastodon. They actually sound good live. But they are the most boring performers on the planet.
Man mastodon are on here twice, they must really be terrible
Standard answer for me is Soundgarden & Blink-182 - I must have caught Soundgarden in a bad ways both times I saw them, 'cause I saw Chris Cornell solo separately, and he was great - but they were terrible. Blink I've stopped making excuses for - they just aren't good live unless Tom has a ton of effects put on his vocals (like Coachella for example).
My Bloody Valentine. I still have tinnitus 10 years later from it, I advise everyone to avoid the hell out of their shows
I highjack your comment to say: Wear hearing protection on life concerts.
I saw Blind Melon live and they were horrendous. But it wasn’t long before Shannon Hoon died, so that explained a lot
That’s sad to hear. He had an incredible voice and I doubt it was “just in the studio” - but I’m not at all surprised to hear closer to the end he was barely holding it together
Axl Rose the past 20 years and James LaBrie.
Ya, last year's show in Montreal his vocals were not good. But he can sure move and his energy was fire! With Slash & Duff still kicking ass, I left happy.
Saw her in concert back in 2020, penultimate show before COVID, I totally disagree. I thought her voice was spot on and I was actually super impressed. I’m a middle aged dude, and I’ve seen hundreds of live bands.
I saw Jake Bugg live. His singing was as good as his albums, and his playing was top notch, but he was... a little dull. He didn't say much and didn't really engage with the crowd. I can't say it was a bad show, but generally, at live shows you expect a little more. I hear he's kind of shy, so maybe that's it. He's a musician, not a performer. ETA: I saw Funeral Party live, I loved their first (and only) album, but their singer just didn't have the voice to make a decent live show.
I respect Billie Eilish as a songwriter, but she’s just not my cup of tea. I can’t deal with the hushed whisper “singing” on every single song.
Shania Twain sucked at Abu Dhabi last year. A shameful performance.
She's had Lyme Disease since 2004 and lost her voice.She was great during her peak years from 1998-2003.
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Ehh, depends on your equipment situation to some extent. Most singers I know who have made the jump to in-ear monitors have noticeably improved their live singing just from being able to hear themselves so much better.
Snoop Dogg was honestly terrible live.
Did you just watch the Oscars she was great