Brian Fallon mic too low during live shows

Last few times I saw Gaslight I could barley hear Brian over the instruments. I remember at one of the Pier 26 shows last year after the first song he asked the crowd and they pleaded to increase the volume on his mic. Once they did that, the show was awesome.

was just wondering if anyone else ever felt like his voice was too low?

I remember a show in Luxembourg where they started with High Lonesome and his mic was totally off so no one understood anything plus for some reason even most of the crowd didn't recognize this was High Lonesome so it was a bit confusing till at the middle of the song they got it fixed.
And i thought the sound-mixing in generell was totally off. Alex R. and Brian were way too low and Brian was kinda mixed INTO the sound not Over it.

Hanswurst wrote:

I remember a show in Luxembourg where they started with High Lonesome and his mic was totally off so no one understood anything plus for some reason even most of the crowd didn't recognize this was High Lonesome so it was a bit confusing till at the middle of the song they got it fixed.
And i thought the sound-mixing in generell was totally off. Alex R. and Brian were way too low and Brian was kinda mixed INTO the sound not Over it.

I was also at that show

Anya_TGA wrote:

Hanswurst wrote:

I remember a show in Luxembourg where they started with High Lonesome and his mic was totally off so no one understood anything plus for some reason even most of the crowd didn't recognize this was High Lonesome so it was a bit confusing till at the middle of the song they got it fixed.
And i thought the sound-mixing in generell was totally off. Alex R. and Brian were way too low and Brian was kinda mixed INTO the sound not Over it.

I was also at that show

cool

didn't recognize you than, eh?
i think those are moments a dimestoresaints-shirt really would be appreciated  

It was super low at the Bosstones birthday thing in Boston too. Another thing is the audience can sort of drown him out, especially if you are close to the front. I've seen a ton of bands in my life, but very few with the kind of passion Gaslight fans have. I could barely hear him at the Middle East awhile ago, because the entire crowd was singing every word. Loudly. Which is awesome, but the sound folks surely can hear he's not being heard.

infoghost wrote:

It was super low at the Bosstones birthday thing in Boston too. Another thing is the audience can sort of drown him out, especially if you are close to the front. I've seen a ton of bands in my life, but very few with the kind of passion Gaslight fans have. I could barely hear him at the Middle East awhile ago, because the entire crowd was singing every word. Loudly. Which is awesome, but the sound folks surely can hear he's not being heard.

Oh I def don't doubt the crowd partly drowns him out but I even noticed it on the slower songs like Blue Jeans. Just something that's always kinda bugged me. lol

Hanswurst wrote:

Anya_TGA wrote:

Hanswurst wrote:

I remember a show in Luxembourg where they started with High Lonesome and his mic was totally off so no one understood anything plus for some reason even most of the crowd didn't recognize this was High Lonesome so it was a bit confusing till at the middle of the song they got it fixed.
And i thought the sound-mixing in generell was totally off. Alex R. and Brian were way too low and Brian was kinda mixed INTO the sound not Over it.

I was also at that show

cool

didn't recognize you than, eh?
i think those are moments a dimestoresaints-shirt really would be appreciated  

yeah that's true xD
I stood in the second row with my twin-sister xD

Can't speak to the sound on EU tours as I've never been; but I've seen TGA multiple times in Northern CA, as well as CO, AZ, IL, and multiple in NJ. Mentioning the swath of shows is merely to qualify my observational statement that typically their sound engineer is off stage left or stage right (venue depending) versus centered, half-way or two-thirds of the way through the house.  

It is my personal and professional opinion this is why the mix is off, whether that be Brian's vocals are too low, Levine's bass is too overpowering, whatever. Now matter how much a professional, a person cannot engineer properly from a single angle, particularly an angle residing behind the speaker output. Even if you EQ from the house during sound checks/rehearsals, a live show is a live show.

The location and structure of the speakers are also venue dependent. Sometimes the sound output is via line arrays, or multiple speakers stacked vertically, aimed and hung properly from truss above stage like at the Fox in Oakland; but sometimes it is four, six, or eight large boxes in combination hung from the truss above stage and placed on the downstage left and right edges, like at the Warfield in SF. Line arrays are best for tiered venues (again like the Fox Oakland and you will always see them in arenas or sheds); but frankly they disperse sound best as they are above the "bags of water", aka members of the audience. Having been on rail at the Fox, Brian's vocals were tough to hear because the first row(s), was directly under the line array and if you're center you can't hear squat. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I am optimistic this new "sound desk" Brian spoke of in his DSS Q&A will help alleviate some of the issues, but its placement makes it all remain to be seen and heard.

The sound desk is intriguing to me too, because I've always felt that their live sound mix has left a lot to be desired. The performance is their, but they don't sound as good as they should. It's often very muddy.

jensomniac wrote:

...... my observational statement that typically their sound engineer is off stage left or stage right (venue depending) versus centered, half-way or two-thirds of the way through the house.  

It is my personal and professional opinion this is why the mix is off, whether that be Brian's vocals are too low, Levine's bass is too overpowering, whatever. Now matter how much a professional, a person cannot engineer properly from a single angle, particularly an angle residing behind the speaker output. Even if you EQ from the house during sound checks/rehearsals, a live show is a live show.

I very much doubt the 'front of house' engineer is mixing the audio for the audience from one side of the stage. You seem to be describing the 'monitor' engineer. He works from stage left or right and only mixes the audio which the performers hear on stage through their monitors.

Every professional band I've ever seen, including Gaslight, have had their front of house mixing done in the middle or last few rows of the audience.

Vader wrote:

jensomniac wrote:

...... my observational statement that typically their sound engineer is off stage left or stage right (venue depending) versus centered, half-way or two-thirds of the way through the house.  

It is my personal and professional opinion this is why the mix is off, whether that be Brian's vocals are too low, Levine's bass is too overpowering, whatever. Now matter how much a professional, a person cannot engineer properly from a single angle, particularly an angle residing behind the speaker output. Even if you EQ from the house during sound checks/rehearsals, a live show is a live show.

I very much doubt the 'front of house' engineer is mixing the audio for the audience from one side of the stage. You seem to be describing the 'monitor' engineer. He works from stage left or right and only mixes the audio which the performers hear on stage through their monitors.

Every professional band I've ever seen, including Gaslight, have had their front of house mixing done in the middle or last few rows of the audience.

Touche. Didn't mean to imply one person was doing both roles, was merely describing what I've witnessed here in the US for FOH mix. The exception being the Stone Pony Summerstage shows in May 2013, where it was two-thirds of the way through the house.

Pop's Nightclub in Illinois is a nightmare venue for a zillion reasons, not the least of which includes poor sight lines and sound abatement - when you can hear the blender at the bar over the band, that's a problem. Is it possible that the myriad other venues TGA plays across the US (and EU) has a more proper set up? Most certainly.  Just offering my observations and opinions.

Apologies, didn't mean to sound snappy, sorry if I did!  

Interesting, maybe they do have a different set up in Europe? Good points and observations anyway.

if i show up to a show and his mic is too loud because of this thread i swear to fuck...

Vader wrote:

Apologies, didn't mean to sound snappy, sorry if I did!

Interesting, maybe they do have a different set up in Europe? Good points and observations anyway.

No worries, mate.   Bottom line for all of us really is "please fix it"!

Labhras wrote:

if i show up to a show and his mic is too loud because of this thread i swear to fuck...

Bravo  

I've thought this but I'm always at the front and when you stand at the front I think the instruments do come through louder. The odd time I've had a seat the singing comes through much clearer further back. Just at shows in general

jensomniac wrote:

Pop's Nightclub in Illinois is a nightmare venue for a zillion reasons, not the least of which includes poor sight lines and sound abatement - when you can hear the blender at the bar over the band, that's a problem. Is it possible that the myriad other venues TGA plays across the US (and EU) has a more proper set up? Most certainly.  Just offering my observations and opinions.

Pop's was the first venue I ever went to. Needless to say, I was glad that all venues weren't like that.

I saw Gaslight at the Firebird in St. Louis once. It was an incredible show, but the vocals weren't very loud. I thought it had a lot to do with speaker arrangement, since it is such a small place, but when I've seen them in other venues I feel like I still notice it a bit. I'm really hoping the sound board makes a difference. Maybe Brian will get his wish and start playing in theaters.

AdamC91 wrote:

jensomniac wrote:

Pop's Nightclub in Illinois is a nightmare venue for a zillion reasons, not the least of which includes poor sight lines and sound abatement - when you can hear the blender at the bar over the band, that's a problem. Is it possible that the myriad other venues TGA plays across the US (and EU) has a more proper set up? Most certainly.  Just offering my observations and opinions.

Pop's was the first venue I ever went to. Needless to say, I was glad that all venues weren't like that.

Eesh, sorry that was the first one for ya!

I saw Gaslight at the Firebird in St. Louis once. It was an incredible show, but the vocals weren't very loud. I thought it had a lot to do with speaker arrangement, since it is such a small place, but when I've seen them in other venues I feel like I still notice it a bit. I'm really hoping the sound board makes a difference. Maybe Brian will get his wish and start playing in theaters.

At this time, I'd rather they invest their production value into a good sound system over the addition of the lights that have been mentioned.  I very much understand how lights help create an ambiance and even tell a story - which, with these songs, I can see the desire - but for me, as long as I can see all the band, I don't need a light show to go with. Clean, good sound is king.

Labhras wrote:

if i show up to a show and his mic is too loud because of this thread i swear to fuck...

c'mon I doubt this thread I made will have any pull on how the sound system is set up lol

But I am glad to see I'm not the only one to find this a consistent problem. I remember at Terminal 5, which I've seen 10 shows there and Gaslight is the only I had a problem with, Brian's voice was too low as was Rosamilia's guitar. Could barely hear certain arrangements he played. It's just a bummer because they sound good, but it just needs to be better arranged. Maybe that new desk will help.

I will say this, I brought someone to the Vintage Vinyl show last week who has never seen Gaslight before and the first thing she said after I asked how it was, was "They sounded great but his voice could have been so much louder, during the low parts you could barely hear him, and that's only in a small record store"

A lot of the times this happens because the venue does not have proper infills to ensure the people at the front can hear as well as the people at the back. Therefore from where the sound-guy is it will sound perfect. I'm sure in venue's 1,000 capacity+ the band is responsible for the P.A but I could be wrong on that one.