Metallica concert in Chicago-bad acoustics, very bad

[crow01]

Allstate Arena-Chicago

Getting there by train not that bad. Actually it was better than I thought. They had buses from the train to the arena, and they were on time.

I heard parking there was a mess, so I don't know.

Anyways...

I got there just in time to listen to Machine Head. I was way up but I could see fine since the stage is right in the center of the arena.

I could hear the bass drum and the low frequencies of the bass. So yeah I could feel the music, but I could not hear at all the melodies, the solos, the singing.

I am not too familiar with Machine Head, but I would have loved to hear the solos. I only heard them buried in the mix.

I thought maybe they fixed this for Metallica...

Nope they didn't. Maybe it wasn't the mix. Maybe it was the acoustics of this place. Same i could only hear and feel the bass drum.

I couldn't hear most of the bass, solos and singing. Just cause I knew the songs I could distinguish where the solos would be. Someone not too familiar with the music, would be like...I just hear noise.

Specially for:
- For whom the bell tolls: The bass intro. Couldn't hear it.
- One: The guitar solos. Nothing either.
- Fight fire with fire. My favorite are the guitar solos. Couldn't hear them.
- That new song they play on the radio. All I heard was big noisy buzz.

i think some of the songs I was able to hear clearly were:
- master of puppets
- nothing else matters
- sanitarium

I left during Seek and destroy, went to the bathroom, and realized you could hear better there.

I would say, stay away from this venue Allstate Arena, not the best place for a metal concert. So i guess I won't be going to Slipknot.

Maybe on the ground level you could hear better? I don't know...

[BassScum]

Yeah, That's the way it is at just about every arena. I've seen Metallica at several different venues some were great others were poor. Through the years if found out that at big arena style venues sitting close to the sound board (if lucky enough) usually has the best sound. Makes sense, their controlling it to their ears at that spot. I much more prefer small venues made strictly for music entertaiment with capacity < 5000 people. Most casino venues in so cal are that size and the sound is great wherever you sit/stand. A great one is at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas and the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.

[Treva]

So you couldn't hear Metallica ?!
Lucky guy ! lol

[SirCanealot]

Originally Posted by Treva

So you couldn't hear Metallica ?!
Lucky guy ! lol

LOL!

[Valerus]

All the more reason to see other bands...elsewhere!



Or something. I was going for a semi-Metallica insult, while being witty about it. I just failed regardless. I'm leaving now. lol

[Baryonyx]

My friend asked me last night if I wanted to go and see Metallica live, so we checked out if there were any tickets left. Back of the arena for £82 a seat. WTH!

Now, my friend is malaysian so isn't familar with the local sound sucking arena. I was lucky when I saw RUSH and Kanye West there that I was very near the front where the sound was good, at the back it's just a mush of reverberating noise. So sadly, I don't expect the Metallica show will be much good anywhere except right at the front!

[PBass101]

I saw Metallica at the Scottrade Center. Everything sounded really good, actually...except that you could not hear the bass. At all. Lars' damn floor toms and bass drums drowned it out completely. James' vocals were actually surprisingly good, guitar's were all there, but no bass to speak of, even during the "solo" segment. Bottom line is that they pump too much sub-lows in order to get the chest-thumping boom that they think people want.

Now, you wanna hear about a bad gig: Rush, United Center, last summer. That was horrible (the accoustics, not Rush ) Volume fluctuations throughout the entire show, the first four songs were about half the volume as the encore, which was cranked to ear-pain levels, sounded terrible - no vocals, no bass presence at all (Geddy, noooo!) The whole mix sounded like muck.

Funny, because I saw Roger Waters at the same gig and it was great, but then again he owns his own PA system and has the best engineers in the business...

[johnnyflats]

I'm not a metallica fan myself but my best mate is, he"s going watching them at the MEN Arena, manchester, uk, next month, he"s been after going for years, not really my cup of tea ( give me sabbath any day ).
My mate can moan for england so if the gig is anything but perfect ( and i mean perfect )then it gives my mate any excuse to moan about it.
My mate is the sort of fella to moan if the solo is slightly off and the drum beat doesnt sound right.
When i say he can moan, i mean he will phone the arena and complain about the concert just for the sake of it and he will do it a month after the concert finishes.
On a good note, i'm babysitting for him for the price of a tour teshirt.
Yes im cheap but i dont care.
rock n roll

[jmcgliss]

This is just sad. Even a small outdoor amphitheatre, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in summer, managed to drag Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick into the mud. What a waste of the excellent rolling trolly of vintage amps he played through.