I wasn't there on the Saturday and a lot of people do seem a bit miffed by the proceedings but I have to say again that the sound quality on Sunday afternoon was fantastic; the clearest most perfect noise I've ever heard at a gig. Was it different machines? or just plugged in properly? I think the points made about safety are also very significant. But on a lighter note - 2 things. 1. For the first time in my life I picked up a bargain in the new year sales today. I bought this black corduroy outfit for 50% off! So if anyody's having a party and they need someone to lend a certain insouciant glamour then let me know (and I'll ask around...). 2. Also bought Wu-Tang Forever. FANTASTIC. Anybody with the slightest hip in their hop should get it at their earliest. xxxxx John No snogging at new year :(
---------- From: Mark[SMTP:mark@avnet.co.uk] Sent: 02 January 1998 13:55 To: sinister@majordomo.net Subject: Sinister: Telling it how it is.... (Manc gigs)
This post is critical of B&S and technical. Read at your peril!
Congratulations to Paul Clarke for daring to make 90% of the listees cry by saying that Saturday was shit. He is right - they were so bad I almost couldn't be arsed to go to the Sunday gig. He is also correct to say that if they're only going to play a handful of shows a year, the very least they could do is rehearse properly for them.
I'm a concert promoter for a living and a lot of things worried me about the gigs....
The PA was shit. As was the company that supplied it and also the FOH engineer. On the Sunday, two people were sitting on a 100Amp 3 phase cable near to the C-Form / Camlock connectors. Not only is this highly dangerous, it also breaches Health and Safety regulations. As a rule, mains cables should be flown, but if they are laid across the floor, they need to be covered with a carpet or something similar. Someone, could easily have been killed by an electric shock the way the PA crew had left it.
The idea of a circular stack is interesting but not very practical, especially with the hopeless engineers the band had employed. There were 'hotspots' all over the room which meant you had to walk around to find a good spot where you could see AND hear. Delay stacks in all four corners would have improved things as B&S are a very quiet band. Also, one stack doesn't allow for a stereo separation which might have helped relieve the tinny 'vocal PA' style sound.
The PA boxes, aside from being underpowered, were useless for the type of music B&S play. Also, given that Stuart Murdoch has an unusual mic technique (ie. he stands about 4 inches away as though he is scared of it), I don't think a bog standard SM58 was the right choice. It made his voice sound thin and tinny.
The sign of a good Front of House engineer is one who is constantly tweaking things. In a live situation, it is nigh on impossible to attain a 'perfect' sound as the variables are changing all the time. Belle and Sebastian's engineer seemed more concerned with taking photos and chatting to mates. They should have sacked him on the Saturday.
All of this could be overcome by employing a reputable production manager and doing some proper pre-production rehearsals. It's not as if the band's schedule is killing them - they hardly do any promotional work at all - so they've got plenty of time to sort out the live situation. A production manager would ensure the PA is suitable for the band's sound, locate a decent FOH engineer, assist Stuart with his mic problems (the records are great so he obviously doesn't have a problem in the studio), get them some instrument techs to avoid a repetition of the cello debacle and basically shake them up.
I don't want to see them running on stage shouting 'Hey Manchester - we're here to rock you' and playing a polished set with scripted intros to each song. That wouldn't be Belle And Sebastian. Hell, I don't even mind Stuart forgetting the words, that is all part of the appeal. What I do object to is paying twenty quid for two gigs where no thought has been given to the production of the show and someone is pocketing the cash from cutting corners.
Maybe they should think about this and employ some professionals before they next venture out. If they don't, the live audiences will dwindle and they'll be back to playing libraries and cafes where no-one minds if it's shit because they've only paid three quid to get in.
Mark
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