Could barely hear Sheehan.... Sad.

[Killed_by_Death]

In a case of Gene Simmons, he gets so much flack for his big mouth, but there's also a lot of envy.
In the case of Mr. Sheehan, I've never known him to run off at the mouth unless it was something helpful.

So my conclusion is that the hate against him is driven more by envy than the hate for Gene.
He's the only bass player I know that does pinch harmonics (besides me) & that probably burns right through the eardrums of traditionalists.

 

[PaulS]

I had no idea Mike sang too. Sorry the mix sucked, nothing more frustrating than shelling out cash to see a fave musician and you cannot even hear them. I like 311 and have seen em a dozen times (or more?) and I doubt there has even been 5 of those shows where I could really hear and appreciate what he was doing.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

Live music mixing, especially for the bigger acts (surprisingly) just keeps getting worse. DJ mix. Too much thump. Billy's tone is entirely predicated on *being* heard, so it's just crazy they'd mess that up so hard.

 

[TolerancEJ]

Many years ago, I went to a Megadeth concert. At the time, Al Pitrelli was playing with them. I had previously enjoyed Al's work with Alice Cooper and I really wanted to hear him perform with Megadeth. If I could place a percentage on the sound, his guitar was only 5-10 percent of the total mix. I barely heard any of Pitrelli's guitar all night. Dave Ellefson's bass was cutting through with more clarity, so that was nice.

 

[Pilgrim]

I saw the Robert Randolph family band and was greatly disappointed because it was brutally loud, to the point that that the music was all low end and had no definition at all. Too loud, too low, all subs and ear damage. I could have slapped the sound mixer.

 

[electracoyote]

That is a damn shame.

I've been fortunate to catch Billy numerous times over the decades with Mr. Big, Steve Vai, and at least one G3 tour. Never a disappointment.

Though I personally find his solo tone ostentatious verging on obnoxious, he knows how to work it well, and the ultimate paradox is how great he sounds in the mix.

And those solos, wow. He is a virtuoso guitarist with a bass rig, and a good sense of how to compose a great tasteful bass line that fits the music perfectly when required. Chops and smarts, it's a rare combination.

 

[Goatrope]

I gave up going to live shows a while ago, mainly after having paid dearly for equally poor sound quality as described by the OP.

I can relate to the frustration. It's maddening, actually, that there's an apparent disregard for the bass sound at so many shows.

HOWEVER, I was recently coaxed, goaded, coerced into going to a Govt Mule show in Tampa on May 1st.

Although it was outdoors, I was shocked at how good they sounded. I was about 10 people back from the stage. Whoever was running sound had as much talent as the band. Not too loud, every instrument balanced, and most importantly (to me ) the bass sounded fantastic.

If you've got the time, give this a listen.



So I'm happy to report that there are still some great live sound experiences out there, rare as they may be.