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Observations from a recent metal show

scuzzy

scuzzy

Feb 15, 2006
6,117
1
15,064
Troy, MO
#1
Let night I went to a local metal show. I was introduced to a Scottish metal group, Bleed from within. They were great. Not new, but new to American soil touring.

Takeaways from their set.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tight, clean, very tastefully done tracking/triggering
  • Bassist playing a beautiful high end ibanez 5 string soundgear, 34" scale
Devil wears Prada went next.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tracks were a bit overdone and obvious
  • Sound mix was strange
  • Bassist played Dingeall D-Roc 4&5, but his tone was very muffled.
  • Guitarists played Dunable and Reverend!
Headliner August burns red
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Great sound, tight, clean
  • Kiesel basses, and one guitarist. Lead guitar had beautiful gold metal flake Ibanez
No amps at all. I didn't see a pedal board either. I think they ran there entire sets through processors (likely fractal), controlled by midi/computers. They interacted, played skillfully, focused on the crowd, and no one knew the better.

This is the present and the future. Flame on, old farts! :woot:
 
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#3
Well as a Certified Old Fart (actually, I prefer 'that old SOB') ya got to remember that those of us who began playing in the Pleistocene, these modern methods weren't even dreamed of, much less fielded as normal as they are now. Makes a lot more sense than having big amps blasting into every mic on stage, although, big amps and playing in the middle of that hurricane can be a real gas . . . . In the best Metal bands, there are some fabulous musicians, good enough to be scary good.

You think an old SOB can get an AARP discount on the tickets or cover charge? Tell me where and when !
 
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#4
scuzzy said:
27426271[/URL], member: 68541"]Let night I went to a local metal show. I was introduced to a Scottish metal group, Bleed from within. They were great. Not new, but new to American soil touring.

Takeaways from their set.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tight, clean, very tastefully done tracking/triggering
  • Bassist playing a beautiful high end ibanez 5 string soundgear, 34" scale
Devil wears Prada went next.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tracks were a bit overdone and obvious
  • Sound mix was strange
  • Bassist played Dingeall D-Roc 4&5, but his tone was very muffled.
  • Guitarists played Dunable and Reverend!
Headliner August burns red
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Great sound, tight, clean
  • Kiesel basses, and one guitarist. Lead guitar had beautiful gold metal flake Ibanez
No amps at all. I didn't see a pedal board either. I think they ran there entire sets through processors (likely fractal), controlled by midi/computers. They interacted, played skillfully, focused on the crowd, and no one knew the better.

This is the present and the future. Flame on, old farts! :woot:
Click to expand...
Yeah, miming to tracks is not new to live performances, as is lip syncing the age old art of audio slight of hand.

Playing skillfully for appearances sake, as opposed to actually performing?

From top o the pops “live” music video shoot, “concert”performances

One can never be entirely certain in this day and age what is really coming out if the PA.

remember Milli Vanilli?
 
Last edited:
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#6
/\/\3phist0 said:
Yeah, miming to tracks is not new to live performances, as is lip syncing the age old art of audio slight of hand.

Playing skillfully for appearances sake, as opposed to actually performing?

From top o the pops “live” music video shoot, “concert”performances

One can never be entirely certain in this day and age what is really coming out if the PA.

remember Milli Vanilli?
Click to expand...
They weren't miming, they were playing, and doing it very skillfully. But you can tell the items on tracks at certain points. Such as sub hits, strings, etc. Some do it well, some overdo it.

You can play an instrument live, skillfully, energetically, and still employ a track to augment the sound closer to the album.
 
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#9
scuzzy said:
Let night I went to a local metal show. I was introduced to a Scottish metal group, Bleed from within. They were great. Not new, but new to American soil touring.

Takeaways from their set.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tight, clean, very tastefully done tracking/triggering
  • Bassist playing a beautiful high end ibanez 5 string soundgear, 34" scale
Devil wears Prada went next.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tracks were a bit overdone and obvious
  • Sound mix was strange
  • Bassist played Dingeall D-Roc 4&5, but his tone was very muffled.
  • Guitarists played Dunable and Reverend!
Headliner August burns red
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Great sound, tight, clean
  • Kiesel basses, and one guitarist. Lead guitar had beautiful gold metal flake Ibanez
No amps at all. I didn't see a pedal board either. I think they ran there entire sets through processors (likely fractal), controlled by midi/computers. They interacted, played skillfully, focused on the crowd, and no one knew the better.

This is the present and the future. Flame on, old farts! :woot:
Click to expand...
That’s like sooo 2021. The latest thing is AI generated music, didn’t you know? All backing tracks with no humans. Your cutting edge metal show is stuck in the past.
 
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#12
Amps on big stages have been obsolete for a long time. We all know they're mostly props when we see them, right? Good on these guys for giving up that pretense.

As for backing tracks, people pay to hear the songs like they heard them streaming. "Give the people what they want" is a solid, time-tested entertainment business strategum.
 
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#13
Pings Bass said:
Amps on big stages have been obsolete for a long time. We all know they're mostly props when we see them, right? Good on these guys for giving up that pretense.

As for backing tracks, people pay to hear the songs like they heard them streaming. "Give the people what they want" is a solid, time-tested entertainment business strategum.
Click to expand...
A very pragmatic response!

The backline turnover was swift with only the drums needing to move. I'm sure all the stage hands and sound engineers enjoy this approach as well. Save pre-sets for each band on the digital console and get rolling!
 
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#15
scuzzy said:
Let night I went to a local metal show. I was introduced to a Scottish metal group, Bleed from within. They were great. Not new, but new to American soil touring.

Takeaways from their set.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tight, clean, very tastefully done tracking/triggering
  • Bassist playing a beautiful high end ibanez 5 string soundgear, 34" scale
Devil wears Prada went next.
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Tracks were a bit overdone and obvious
  • Sound mix was strange
  • Bassist played Dingeall D-Roc 4&5, but his tone was very muffled.
  • Guitarists played Dunable and Reverend!
Headliner August burns red
  • Not an amp to be seen
  • Great sound, tight, clean
  • Kiesel basses, and one guitarist. Lead guitar had beautiful gold metal flake Ibanez
No amps at all. I didn't see a pedal board either. I think they ran there entire sets through processors (likely fractal), controlled by midi/computers. They interacted, played skillfully, focused on the crowd, and no one knew the better.

This is the present and the future. Flame on, old farts! :woot:
Click to expand...
What was the venue?
Judging by the second band and headliner, I'm assuming something theater sized?
More metal bands are going this route since it reduces touring costs significantly, and is an easy setup. Even big, signed bands that have been around for decades can end up with a 30 minute slot. So lugging around a bunch of gear doesn't make a ton of sense.
Unfortunately for smaller bands like mine, the venues are a gamble. You never know what kind of PA they have, or if the sound guy even cares. I've had venues say everyone is getting the same setup, same mix, no in ears. I've had venues with PA that is only for the vocals and nothing else.
 
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#16
I'm happy for things to lean this way. Metal shows for a while were guitars cranked so loud it sounded like white noise over vocals that could not be understood. I saw Sevendust in early 2000s and it took me a bit to figure out what song they were doing because the noise obscured the notes being played.

I'm guessing the differences you heard were in the hands of whoever was the tech on the instruments, and the person on the mixer. Better that than a bunch of uncontrolled noise IMO.
 
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#17
socialleper said:
Unfortunately for smaller bands like mine, the venues are a gamble. You never know what kind of PA they have, or if the sound guy even cares.
Click to expand...
That’s really what it’s all about. I play in small bands at small, local venues. I usually use the house backline but I still have to bring my own amps to some shows. Monitors are almost always wedges. Setting up a workable in-ear solution would be too involved for the short sets and changeovers at rock & roll bars.

I’m getting old but that’s not the reason I’m still using amps and stage monitors. Going ampless and using in-ears sounds like a great idea to me but small venues really just aren’t set up for that type of arrangement the way real road houses are and putting a viable ampless system together takes resources that most small bands don’t have.

Years ago small bands couldn’t afford to use big amplification on stage. Now they can’t afford not to!
 
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#18
/\/\3phist0 said:
Yeah, miming to tracks is not new to live performances, as is lip syncing the age old art of audio slight of hand.

Playing skillfully for appearances sake, as opposed to actually performing?

From top o the pops “live” music video shoot, “concert”performances

One can never be entirely certain in this day and age what is really coming out if the PA.

remember Milli Vanilli?
Click to expand...

That is not what is happening here. They are using tracks in addition to live performance. I'm curious if they are using wedges or IEM.
 
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#19
scuzzy said:
This young up and coming band uses no amps, no pedals, and runs everything though digital processors that are electronically controlled throughout the performance as well.



Bunch of mimes!
Click to expand...

Is it miming, or simply a surer way to remove any acoustic problems with any number of venues?

High tech acing out old school. Fans expect to hear close to what the recordings are. Way over my head technically but, impressive and necessary to stay relevant.
 
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#20
aprod said:
That is not what is happening here. They are using tracks in addition to live performance. I'm curious if they are using wedges or IEM.
Click to expand...
How are you certain it’s not? Exactly what’s going on? Only the bands know, I’ve seen plenty of pantomiming “in concert “ in all styles of music.
 
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