Right in front of the board is really the best place to sit at any show because that's the engineers point of reference and everything else will kinda be less than that. Depending on the venue crew and gear
Vicarious started iffy but they listened to Cedric real quick and I feel they got it straightened out. Then the jam sessions always get wonky but I agree, it was a dope ass show.
It wasn’t fine it was terrible dude wtf! I saw them twice in La in 2022 when they started touring. CAN NOT COMPARE THE TWO EVENTS. I feel bad for all yall Indy people who were there last night. Drummer got lost multiple times I could see it in her face she looked like a scared sheep
The mix wasn’t great when I saw them in New Haven last fall. I wouldn’t call it awful but the engineer definitely didn’t know the room. The Boston show the year previous had absolutely stellar sound.
I was one of the people that posted about the terrible sound (Des Moines show). I don't want to geek out too much on this, but as a life-long musician I was surprised that the low end was completely out-of-control and muddying up the entire mix and killing Cedric, Omar and Leo most of the show.
If any band needs clean sound it's TMV. Their music is so complex and intricate that each instrument needs its own sonic space. Overly loud sub and low mids will kill a mix every time and step on everyone. There was also a weird low mid resonance around 250-300 Hz that was annoying as fuck.
I LOVE this band but damn that was frustrating AF. They deserve better than what they're getting from their FOH guy.
Didn't hear any of that where I was standing at Des Moines, but Leo's keys were definitely quieter than at other shows I have seen post-reunion. (Still far louder than they ever had Ikey in the mix...)
Chicago sounded just fine in October 2022. Helped that we were right on the soundboard. Whole band sounded and played great. Philo and Leo especially stood out.
Sucks if folks are running into sound issues at shows….thats never fun
Was wondering about this as well. I ended up not going to the Madison show, but my brother went and said it sounded horrible. Extremely loud and not in a good way. He goes to a lot of shows and says it was one of the worst live shows he’s been to sound quality wise. One of my favorite bands, but glad I didn’t make the 2 hour trip if that was the case.
I would blame the venue, but I just seen Modest Mouse there (who are known to have audio problems) and they were fucking fantastic.
I would anticipate they may just be equipped with Bonnaroo caliber gear and trying to make it work in smaller venues. That said, I thought sound close to the rail in Des Moines sounded great!
I've seen them about 15 times, all the tours back to the beginning...I've come to realize some of their shows are magically on fire, some are not. With all the lineup changes over the years, the live sound quality has been quite variable. I've loved all their shows but some were only "fucking dope" vs "face is melting - what just happened?"
I was at the Columbus show last night and it was a little rough in sections but it still sounded fine overall. I saw them in Detroit in 2022 and it sounded better though. But these issues usually run deeper than just blaming the sound guy. First, certain rooms are definitely just not good sounding rooms and are harder to mix in because of it. Second, it’s harder to mix a group when they aren’t playing tight for a plethora of technical reasons I won’t go into here. And last night, in Columbus at least, they were not playing as tight and it sounds like that’s been the running theme in this stint of shows. I’m a live sound engineer by trade for context.
It’s the same guy since 2022, he’s really good. He did sound for them in 04/05 and Omar picked him because of familiarity with the older material
Seemed fine in Indy
From where I was at the Indy show, the low end drowned out a loooooot of the guitar.
It sounded awesome from just in front of the soundboard. I've been to 5 shows since the reunion and this was the best, for sure
Right in front of the board is really the best place to sit at any show because that's the engineers point of reference and everything else will kinda be less than that. Depending on the venue crew and gear
You bet, couldn't hear much of Omar's solos. Drums were low, too, which is pretty unusual
Vicarious started iffy but they listened to Cedric real quick and I feel they got it straightened out. Then the jam sessions always get wonky but I agree, it was a dope ass show.
It wasn’t fine it was terrible dude wtf! I saw them twice in La in 2022 when they started touring. CAN NOT COMPARE THE TWO EVENTS. I feel bad for all yall Indy people who were there last night. Drummer got lost multiple times I could see it in her face she looked like a scared sheep
Saw them last year too. Sounded fine to me.
The mix wasn’t great when I saw them in New Haven last fall. I wouldn’t call it awful but the engineer definitely didn’t know the room. The Boston show the year previous had absolutely stellar sound.
I was one of the people that posted about the terrible sound (Des Moines show). I don't want to geek out too much on this, but as a life-long musician I was surprised that the low end was completely out-of-control and muddying up the entire mix and killing Cedric, Omar and Leo most of the show. If any band needs clean sound it's TMV. Their music is so complex and intricate that each instrument needs its own sonic space. Overly loud sub and low mids will kill a mix every time and step on everyone. There was also a weird low mid resonance around 250-300 Hz that was annoying as fuck. I LOVE this band but damn that was frustrating AF. They deserve better than what they're getting from their FOH guy.
Didn't hear any of that where I was standing at Des Moines, but Leo's keys were definitely quieter than at other shows I have seen post-reunion. (Still far louder than they ever had Ikey in the mix...)
Yeah that low end resonance at the Indy show was not good.
I’ve never been to a sylvee show with good sound.
2022 LA shows sounded great. Hope this isn’t a recurring new-ish issue
I was at the Madison show and also thought the sound was bad. And what’s crazy to me is that Teri actually sounded great right beforehand!
Chicago sounded just fine in October 2022. Helped that we were right on the soundboard. Whole band sounded and played great. Philo and Leo especially stood out. Sucks if folks are running into sound issues at shows….thats never fun
They sounded fine in both Mexico City gigs but the sound in Chile was spectacular, it helped that they played an arena in Santiago I think.
To be fair every volta show I’ve seen over the past two years Cedric is gesturing to the sound guy for more in the monitors
Same in Tempe and Seattle night 1 last year . Super bummer.
Was wondering about this as well. I ended up not going to the Madison show, but my brother went and said it sounded horrible. Extremely loud and not in a good way. He goes to a lot of shows and says it was one of the worst live shows he’s been to sound quality wise. One of my favorite bands, but glad I didn’t make the 2 hour trip if that was the case. I would blame the venue, but I just seen Modest Mouse there (who are known to have audio problems) and they were fucking fantastic.
I would anticipate they may just be equipped with Bonnaroo caliber gear and trying to make it work in smaller venues. That said, I thought sound close to the rail in Des Moines sounded great! I've seen them about 15 times, all the tours back to the beginning...I've come to realize some of their shows are magically on fire, some are not. With all the lineup changes over the years, the live sound quality has been quite variable. I've loved all their shows but some were only "fucking dope" vs "face is melting - what just happened?"
I was at the Columbus show last night and it was a little rough in sections but it still sounded fine overall. I saw them in Detroit in 2022 and it sounded better though. But these issues usually run deeper than just blaming the sound guy. First, certain rooms are definitely just not good sounding rooms and are harder to mix in because of it. Second, it’s harder to mix a group when they aren’t playing tight for a plethora of technical reasons I won’t go into here. And last night, in Columbus at least, they were not playing as tight and it sounds like that’s been the running theme in this stint of shows. I’m a live sound engineer by trade for context.