too much production and not enough ability

[dragonfu]

i've really been disappointed with most of the live shows i've been to lately. the groups just suck live. the studio production on their cd's is so perfect they can't reproduce it or even get it close live. at first i thought it was just an off night but after talking to others that have seen these same bands it seems to be the norm. i'm really getting tired of buying tickets for half ass bands.
The older groups that i've seen live such as Motorhead, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Stones, Eagles, Allman Bros, ZZ Top, and Mountain are incredible live. they are from the time that the ability to give their fans a killer show was more important than just cd(lp) sales.
is this the future of music?

 

[Manga-San]

Go see Symphony X. Amazing stuff live...

 

[Ol' Dirty Bastard]

Dimmu Borgir might be overproduced, but they've pulled it off amazingly well live everytime that I've seen them. Then there are bands like Amorphis that are even more incredible live than on record. I wish they would quick put a live album out.

 

[SculptedCold]

yesm, i know what you mean. there are exceptions of course. opeth are meant to be amazing live (when are they gonna release a farkin' live DVD?!?!?!) erm, hmmmmm. I've not seen that many bands live to be honest, but of the bands i've seen, I can say that December, Stampin' Ground and American Head Charge are better live than on disc.

I can tell ya, The Berzerker and The Haunted are not as good live! The Berzerker's vocals sound like shit live (they're gonna be even worse now that the bassist has left; he was a great vocalist) and the drummer/s makes a few subtle changes to the drumtracks. Most noticably on Reality. Some of the strokes in that drumtrack were cut in half! Inexscusable!

and The Haunted, pah, overrated or what. Marco Aro has limited power live, and bah, I've seen 'em myself and i've got the DVD and I can almost never hear the nuances of the songs! Plus their 'solos' (5 second leads more like) are shit. They had a pretty good stage presence though; mostly due to Jensen's uber coolness.

 

[Ol' Dirty Bastard]

and The Haunted, pah, overrated or what. Marco Aro has limited power live, and bah, I've seen 'em myself and i've got the DVD and I can almost never hear the nuances of the songs! Plus their 'solos' (5 second leads more like) are shit. They had a pretty good stage presence though; mostly due to Jensen's uber coolness.

Have you seen Witchery live?

 

[SculptedCold]

Nup! Why?!

 

[Ol' Dirty Bastard]

Nup! Why?!

I dunno. Thought you would have because of Jensen or something. They're pretty static live. They just stand there. They play well enough though.

 

[Nightmarez]

I haven't seen that many bands live either, so I will retract a comment until after October when I see Nile live! :Spin: Oooh... I can hardly wait.

 

[SculptedCold]

I can't wait to see Grave, December (for the third time) and finally....MuDvAyNe!! Yesssssssssssm! I'll get to see Metallica too. Wooopiee farkin' DO.

 

[Benzine]

Go see Symphony X. Amazing stuff live...

Yeah do that. Do it now. I saw them in the electric ballroom in london with stratovarius and Symphony X were the best. The double bass pedal made my chest hurt lots

 

[FailingAcension]

Most all of the bands I've seen live did a great job. Especically Nile, Dimmu, Cryptopsy and Origin to name my favorties.

 

[TekChef]

I second the Haunted being static live...Jensen was cool to watch though..he was way into it!

The older bands you talk of made their way by playing live..it used to be that to get somewhere, you had to play your ass off all over the place to get attention. Times have changed....but the bands that can do it well live will have more fans overall.
After seeing the formentioned The Haunted live, I don't know if I will go see them again. On the other hand, last Dec. in San Fran, Arch Enemy blew the roof off the place...I will be seeing then again ASAP!

 

[LuminousAether]

Samael, Tomahawk, and the Melvins are all awesome bands live. Some people just don't like concerts, maybe you are one of them.

 

[Orome]

I mention Blind Guardian. Their new album is very complex, but they manage it with the help of their fans that the songs kick ass live.

 

[AndICried]

Essentially, some songs are best on album, and some are best live. I don't think you can say one type is better than the other. You can do things live which cannot be achieved in the studio and vice versa.

 

[dragonfu]

Some people just don't like concerts, maybe you are one of them.

I love concerts and thats what's wrong.
I've seen groups that kill live, from the groups that I mentioned at the start of this thread to groups like Girlschool, Saxon, Savoy Brown, and Humble Pie.
I've also been disappointed by Soilwork, Corrosion of Conformity, Queens of the Stone Age(free tickets), Staind(free tickets), Cradle of Filth(I was told it was a just a bad night), and Dio just to name a few.

Essentially, some songs are best on album, and some are best live. I don't think you can say one type is better than the other. You can do things live which cannot be achieved in the studio and vice versa.

I'm not saying that one is better than the other. I'm saying that they sound like ordinary, or worse, club bands when they don't have the ability to change their music and voices. There are very, very few things that cannot be done in the studio. That is why groups that are terrible live sound so good on cd.
There are groups that I will still buy on cd but would only go to see them live again if I won tickets and had nothing else going on, like needing to mow my yard

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Samael, Tomahawk, and the Melvins are all awesome bands live. Some people just don't like concerts, maybe you are one of them.

Melvins

 

[Dead Winter]

Nile and Dark Tranquility were brilliant live. Nile was one of the many bands to play at Day at the Border, and they only got to play like 20 minutes, but they owned the stage for the rest of the day. They should've headlined. Dark Tranquility was fucking amazing live...super nice guys too.

 

[Trench]

Of the bands I've seen live the good ones were:

Nevermore (this was when Curran was in the band, he was everywhere and the other band members had really great stage presence. The music was perfectyl performed)

Nile (Devastating)

Blind Guardian (These guys pull off their stuff perfectly, even the newer stuff sounds great live)

Shadows Fall (Great live band)

Goatwhore (these guys are brutal live, they completely destroy)

Dimmu Borgir (fun to watch live, the sound quality was pretty bad when I saw them so I couldn't make out what they were doing too well )

aside from those bands I would have to say the old school bands I've seen:
Slayer, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Kiss have all been flawless.

 

[666 - LeviathaN - 666]

Black Label Society fucking tears it up live. that concert, and being 5 feet from zakk wylde, was my coolest experience that i can remember. BLS is definately a live band, tons of energy. Zakk improvises on a lot of the solos, but it just makes it that much cooler.