Great show, Opeth were in fine form, tight and charismatic and definitely in the mood to play, they are a class act all the way.
However, I was quite disappointed. Not with Opeth at all, with the sound.
Seriously, I think some "sound guys" would be better replaced by a stoned chimp with a glow in the dark butt-plug. Maybe not in this case.. but overall. And I don't think I'm just overly anal, though perhaps I've come to expect more than some people.
The sound was incredibly muddy and boomy, and I feel I've been to enough concerts to be confident in what I'm saying here. To simulate this sound, if you have a descent stereo with an EQ or just imagine what I'm saying, put on some big headphones and crank it up real loud, or turn up your speakers really loud so that they are being pushed/peaked a little, then turn up the mid-bass frequencies on the EQ all the way up. Doesn't that sound like shit? Now imagine about 3 times as muddy, that's how the show sounded.
I tried moving around to different areas and everything, though I didn't try the balcony, maybe I should have, there were just so many people it was hard to move. Anyway, no matter where I went on the floor it sound dirty and muddy, and I think there was no need for that. I think Opeth deserve better than that bullshit.
It was so bad that there were times when I couldn't even hear stuff they were doing. Like, if there was a guitar run and a drum roll at the same time (like in Deliverance for example) then there was just too many conflicting overtones, nothing sounded clear or separated, it was just a big fucking pile of horrible noise.
I feel that with the exception of the clear tone mellow parts (which were ok, still muddy though), the entire show was spoiled by the bassy mud. Even Mike's voice wasn't immune to the muddiness. Instead of sounding clear, organic, expansive, and dynamic with his growls, like he truly does live, just like on the album, it sounded all mid-range'ish and compressed. Mikael does NOT sound like that.
Martin's snare drum was often non-existant, lost in the mud. Whenever Martin laid on with the double kicks it created so much mud that it just sound like a pile of crappy rumbling.
What the hell is wrong with the fucks who do the sound checks and set the levels? Could they be that stupid? Hmm.. I don't see why not.
Pardise Lost's set was muddy as hell too, but nowhere nearly as muddy as Opeth's. What a mess.
Anyway, don't mean to blame the sound guy (that's a lie, hehe), I know there could've been other reasons, like maybe the equipment sucked and that was the best they could do, or maybe they've all gone deaf and it's not their fault. I think it's more likely though that the sound guy is a few shots short of a load.
It's not the venue. It's not like they were playing in a mostly empty school gym, which is hopeless. I've seen lots of other bands play there, and they ALL sounded amazing, clear, clean, no mud. So I don't think there's any excuse.
I feel sorry for all you guys that didn't have the chance to see Opeth during their last show in Toronto before this one. It was much much much better. The sound was absolutely perfect and you could actually hear what they were doing it. It kind of pisses me off cuz I feel that many of you will walk away from this show thinking that it was a fair representation of what Opeth sounds like live. Let me tell you seriously, it's not. The really good show that they played at the Reverb last year was much cleaner, like CD quality even (I'm serious). Opeth are capable of sounding every bit as amazing as they do on the CD's, seriously.
Anyway, I don't want to be a downer, just being honest and saying something I feel needed to be said. I think Opeth are the greatest and I think they put on an incredible show last night to that huge (about 900+?) crowd or adoring fans. I really like how much love and respect the fans showed the band and how Mikael and the guys were so appreciative and genuinely affected by it. With so many people showing that much fanaticism, you'd have to be made of stone to not feel it, hehe.
I think Opeth deserve better equipment and/or a better sound man.
Satori
However, I was quite disappointed. Not with Opeth at all, with the sound.
Seriously, I think some "sound guys" would be better replaced by a stoned chimp with a glow in the dark butt-plug. Maybe not in this case.. but overall. And I don't think I'm just overly anal, though perhaps I've come to expect more than some people.
The sound was incredibly muddy and boomy, and I feel I've been to enough concerts to be confident in what I'm saying here. To simulate this sound, if you have a descent stereo with an EQ or just imagine what I'm saying, put on some big headphones and crank it up real loud, or turn up your speakers really loud so that they are being pushed/peaked a little, then turn up the mid-bass frequencies on the EQ all the way up. Doesn't that sound like shit? Now imagine about 3 times as muddy, that's how the show sounded.
I tried moving around to different areas and everything, though I didn't try the balcony, maybe I should have, there were just so many people it was hard to move. Anyway, no matter where I went on the floor it sound dirty and muddy, and I think there was no need for that. I think Opeth deserve better than that bullshit.
It was so bad that there were times when I couldn't even hear stuff they were doing. Like, if there was a guitar run and a drum roll at the same time (like in Deliverance for example) then there was just too many conflicting overtones, nothing sounded clear or separated, it was just a big fucking pile of horrible noise.
I feel that with the exception of the clear tone mellow parts (which were ok, still muddy though), the entire show was spoiled by the bassy mud. Even Mike's voice wasn't immune to the muddiness. Instead of sounding clear, organic, expansive, and dynamic with his growls, like he truly does live, just like on the album, it sounded all mid-range'ish and compressed. Mikael does NOT sound like that.
Martin's snare drum was often non-existant, lost in the mud. Whenever Martin laid on with the double kicks it created so much mud that it just sound like a pile of crappy rumbling.
What the hell is wrong with the fucks who do the sound checks and set the levels? Could they be that stupid? Hmm.. I don't see why not.
Pardise Lost's set was muddy as hell too, but nowhere nearly as muddy as Opeth's. What a mess.
Anyway, don't mean to blame the sound guy (that's a lie, hehe), I know there could've been other reasons, like maybe the equipment sucked and that was the best they could do, or maybe they've all gone deaf and it's not their fault. I think it's more likely though that the sound guy is a few shots short of a load.
It's not the venue. It's not like they were playing in a mostly empty school gym, which is hopeless. I've seen lots of other bands play there, and they ALL sounded amazing, clear, clean, no mud. So I don't think there's any excuse.
I feel sorry for all you guys that didn't have the chance to see Opeth during their last show in Toronto before this one. It was much much much better. The sound was absolutely perfect and you could actually hear what they were doing it. It kind of pisses me off cuz I feel that many of you will walk away from this show thinking that it was a fair representation of what Opeth sounds like live. Let me tell you seriously, it's not. The really good show that they played at the Reverb last year was much cleaner, like CD quality even (I'm serious). Opeth are capable of sounding every bit as amazing as they do on the CD's, seriously.
Anyway, I don't want to be a downer, just being honest and saying something I feel needed to be said. I think Opeth are the greatest and I think they put on an incredible show last night to that huge (about 900+?) crowd or adoring fans. I really like how much love and respect the fans showed the band and how Mikael and the guys were so appreciative and genuinely affected by it. With so many people showing that much fanaticism, you'd have to be made of stone to not feel it, hehe.
I think Opeth deserve better equipment and/or a better sound man.
Satori
