October 01, 2007
The Concert Experience
On Saturday, I attended the Dave Matthews Band concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater. Like most live concerts, when I go, I reminded how different I am from the masses. First, there is my reaction to the sound. The (literally) deafening sound didn't bother me. After all, you expect it from an outdoor concert. What got to me was the sound clipping, which was extremely noticeable on the bass drums and generally present across the spectrum, although less pronounced. It got me wondering. Who is responsible for the sound? Is it the venue? The artist? I would tend to think the later, because when I attended an Eagles concert, it was audibly brilliant. Of course, not all bands are as meticulous when it comes to sound. It is no wonder their concert DVD's are considered some of the best live albums in terms of audio quality and it is no wonder I am a big fan of their music because of that fact.
Anyway, back in the day, I downloaded a bunch of Dave Matthews Band concert recordings (which the band allows fans to tape and distribute free of charge). Some recordings are excellent. Many are mediocre. Most of the mediocre recordings sound so because there is no dynamic range in the recording. It was one fat blob of sound pressure coming at you. Clipping is everywhere. I always thought that the lack of dynamic range on the recording was an artifact of the recording equipment. After all, not many microphones have decent sensitivity at the decibels encountered at live concerts. But, after my recent experience, I'm thinking that the problem isn't necessarily the recording equipment, but the sound produced at the venue. Whatever the reason, I knew that the volume at the concert was too loud for my personal liking, so I loosely inserted a pair of earplugs in order to prevent permanent hearing loss. I got a few weird looks from fellow concert-goers, but at least my hearing was safe. Aside from lightly diminished highs, the earplugs had littler effect on the overall concert experience.
Speaking of the concert experience, it is understood that most concert-goers will be drinking (I think I read somewhere that venues are purposefully designed to have poor traffic flows in order to give people more time to sober up before hitting the open road). Given that people will be drinking and given the high variance in population that will be attending concerts, I am somewhat surprised at the lack of alcoholic beverage choice at the venues. You can seemingly only find American Piss Beer. Why people drink that crap, I don't know. The masses are ignorant, I suppose. Anyway, I refused to drink it, so no buzz at the event for me :( Anyway, this gripe about music venues applies to most any venues and since it probably has its root in corporate sponsorship, I don't foresee any change soon. Oh well.
Enough with my personal observations that separate me from the pact. On with the general ones.
First, was my observation that the cross-section of the audience was a lot more fair-skinned than Silicon Valley. At first, I didn't notice the disparity (probably because I was brought up in a predominantly non-diverse area and lack of diversity was normal), but at some point during the concert, I remember looking back at the crowd, seeing a bunch of pale faces, and thinking, "this doesn't seem normal." Indeed it wasn't. Upon closer inspection, I could probably count with my fingers and toes the number of non-white-skinned individuals within 50 ft in all directions. Here we were, in the middle of an extremely diverse part of the country, with practically no evidence to support that claim. Go figure.
As for the concert itself, it was enjoyable. There were a few songs I had never heard before (I haven't listened to any of the band's albums since "Everyday"), so I was trying to just enjoy the experience during those. Of course, the Dave Matthews Band is famous for spicing up their songs on the tour, so many of these songs turned into jam sessions, which anyone can enjoy. I was pleasantly surprised when the band started playing "Old Blackwater" by the Doobie Brothers. That was definitely a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure how many people there could cite the Doobies as the original artist, but they sure knew the lyrics!
All in all, a good concert experience. Now, if only every concert was audibly pleasurable and decent alcoholic beverages were served. I won't hold my breath.
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