Phoenix Gold Phorum

I went to the OAR show at Madison Square Garden. What a waste of money!

First off, I hardly listen to OAR aside from whatever ends up on my friend's mix playlists/cds.

So I went into the concert figuring I was going to enjoy quality music in a world class faciliaty with my buddies. Wrong. Fucking wrong.

I have been to my share of shows from little emo thrash metal bands to A Perfect Circle to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to operas. I have also sat in the best and the worst seats. Tonight we were in bad seats.

Obviously because I do not know OAR at all, I could pretty much objectively analyze the sound quality. Without having already listened to the songs 100s of times like the rest of the crowd, I had no idea how anything was 'supposed' to sound. What I heard was bass guitar, bass drum, snare, some vocals, and a shit load of the God damn improvisational saxophone. Lead and rythm guitar? Nope. Toms, cymbals, hi-hats. Naww.

I figured I must have been in some sort of funky place in the arena so I walked around. Nope. I've heard better sound at church from the worship band.

Of what I did manage to hear. The bass guitar sounded really nice. The bass drum sounded powerful albeit overwheelming. The vocals I did hear were uninteligable. The improv saxophone in any form just sucks. It sounded like a cross between an electric guitar and a harmonica. There was no depth, no live feeling to the sound at all. They might as well have been sending their recording through the stage monitors and arena loud speakers with the levels on the individual instruments randomly scaled.

OAR does not put on a show. They got up, played their music and got down. I am sure they are great musicians but as a live band they blow. The crowd they attract really sucks the most. It was all 15-17 year old girls and their boy friends. Every single one of them was shit faced to the point where at least 4 people threw up around me. Two passed out before the show even started.

Oh about half way through the show, I realized there was a keyboardist there in the back. Never heard it.

Anyway, felt like ranting. I will never go back to MSG for another show ever again.

whats OAR ?

Man I hate it when the sound guy for a band is absolutely talentless. Totally ruins the show. Most of the time I find myself much much much more impressed by the cheap local gigs and smaller bands than big bands in big arenas who don't care about the audience they play for.

stipud wrote:Man I hate it when the sound guy for a band is absolutely talentless. Totally ruins the show. Most of the time I find myself much much much more impressed by the cheap local gigs and smaller bands than big bands in big arenas who don't care about the audience they play for.

Yep. I still remember the sound quality at my first Thorazine show in the Underground. The stage was at the other end of the building than it is today and everything was so nice and crystal clear... and that's saying a lot considering we're talking about Thorazine here! Cryptopsy at the Stetson was also good sound quality although that place isn't tiny.

Isn't tiny? That place was a hole in the wall bar, not an arena. It was a pretttty small venue... probably less people than the average Thorazine show. Cryptopsy wasn't advertised very well... I only found out via their myspace.

Of A Revolution

Great damn band, have you ever seen the live DVD they put out a few years ago?? A 16 minute version of Crazy Game of Poker