Terrible sound at Glasgow gig, is this par for the course on this tour

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popshopper

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The sound at Hampden park was one of the worst I've ever heard for a professional gig. Bono's vocals were very low in the mix and from my position at the tip of Adam's b-stage the general muddyness of the sound was appalling not helped by a delayed reflection of the main stand.

I saw them in Manchester twice last week and in San Diego eariler in the year both gigs had pretty poor sound at parts especially Manchester but yesterday was terrible.

What's the opinion from people who've seen a couple of shows on the overall sound quality of this tour?
 
popshopper said:
The sound at Hampden park was one of the worst I've ever heard for a professional gig. Bono's vocals were very low in the mix and from my position at the tip of Adam's b-stage the general muddyness of the sound was appalling not helped by a delayed reflection of the main stand.

I saw them in Manchester twice last week and in San Diego eariler in the year both gigs had pretty poor sound at parts especially Manchester but yesterday was terrible.

What's the opinion from people who've seen a couple of shows on the overall sound quality of this tour?
Click to expand...
there are reviews on u2tours.com that say they were by the b stages, and sound was brilliant?
 
i thought manchetser was pretty good as far as outdoor gigs go. stadium gigs are always a bit dodgy anyway. they were built for football not acoustics.
or maybe u2 are renting a cheap system
 
I was at Hampden in the bomb shelter and thought the sound was excellent, only criticism was some of the sound reflection back from the stands. I've seen varied reports though, so looks like there were some bad spots to be in there.
 
twickers 1

i was at the front and the sound wasnt that great either

twickers 2 i was back in the GA and it was much better.
 
The sound on this tour is very poor.
As I've already said the sound engineers should be fired.
I have a Masters in Sound Engineering and the sound is unacceptable.
I was GA just outside the pit in Manchester and the sound was very poor.
Similar complaints in Brussels ,Twickenham ,and Gelsenkirchen.
Its the setup and needs to resolved.
Worst sound I have ever heard at an outdoor concert.
Far too much bass.No clarity.
Like a cheap hi fi.
 
Actually, there was some distortion of the bass near the end of WOWY when Adam was just holing one note over and over, but apart from that I really did enjoy the mix. The drums and bass were just really powerful and on songs like Love or Peace... the sound really blew me away.
 
Have replied eleswhere but i can also agree that the sound was awful and i was right next to the sound desk. So if it sounded bad to me then thats how the sound desk must have heard it (although headphones make a difference). The beat of the drums was bouncing back from the opposite stand and Bonos vocals were very muffled when he spoke. Great show though.
 
Here are some tips for the European outdoor shows...

Do not stand in the middle section (i.e., stage center) of the GA;
Do not stand behind the secondary speakers on the GA floor (too much echo);
Do not stand too close to the stage (seriously, because then you've got U2's regular speakers mounted on the stage competing with the PA speaker-columns on the sides of the stage).

The basics are avoid being too close to the middle, because that's where you're likely to have the left speaker column competing with -- if not cancelling out -- the right speaker column.
 
I find it hard to believe that U2 are struggling with sound quality. What drives me crazy is they have played the majority of these stadiums/arenas multiple times throughout their career.

I can understand poor/inconsistent sound quality 20 years ago but with all the technology and equipment that's currently available there are really no excuses.
 
I thought the sound was really good from where I was (walkway at Edges side). But let it be known that I have been to Hampden before for a concert and that place it NOT suitable for concerts.

Celtic Park would have been much better.
 
TheFly40 said:
I find it hard to believe that U2 are struggling with sound quality. What drives me crazy is they have played the majority of these stadiums/arenas multiple times throughout their career.

I can understand poor/inconsistent sound quality 20 years ago but with all the technology and equipment that's currently available there are really no excuses.
Click to expand...

It's not so much a problem with U2's sound quality, as it is a battle against the physics of sound distortion. The latter has been baffling people since the dawn of time.... :wink:
 
The sound at a rock concert is extremely loud, especially when you are in the GA section or a seated section near the stage. The high decibel level has an effect on your ears.
A lot of this "the sound sucked" can be explained by your own ears because the music may be too loud for you. Try a pair of earplugs and you will be amazed at the difference.
To put it simply, sometimes the sound is too loud for your ears to hear everything correctly.
 
brwh1 said:
i thought manchetser was pretty good as far as outdoor gigs go. stadium gigs are always a bit dodgy anyway. they were built for football not acoustics.
or maybe u2 are renting a cheap system
Click to expand...

I was at Manchester 2 and I have to say it was the worse sounding U2 concert I have ever heard and I have seen 6 shows. And also your point about Stadiums is bollox cos I have seen U2 at Wembley and Elland Road Leeds and the sound was a million times better than it was at Manchester. I agree with the person who said that you could hardly hear Bono's vocals, this was the same where I was at Manchster the mix was terrible although others have said the sound was great at Manchester standing in different places than me. But it was still a U2 show and that is better than any other band even if the sound mix was crap.
 
MTEdge said:
Here are some tips for the European outdoor shows...

Do not stand in the middle section (i.e., stage center) of the GA;
Do not stand behind the secondary speakers on the GA floor (too much echo);
Do not stand too close to the stage (seriously, because then you've got U2's regular speakers mounted on the stage competing with the PA speaker-columns on the sides of the stage).

The basics are avoid being too close to the middle, because that's where you're likely to have the left speaker column competing with -- if not cancelling out -- the right speaker column.
Click to expand...

I guess standing in the car park would be perfect then!:wink:
 
Just back from Glasgow, and thank god it wasn't only me who thought that the sound was awful :sad:

Bono was very low in the mix, and when we could hear him, it was very muffled, there was a serious echo coming from the sound bouncing off the BT Scotland Stand opposite the stage.

Been at lots of stadium gigs over the years and this took the award for the worst sound

:mad:
 
thought the sound was good where i was at hampden(in the middle 5m behind the back of the elipse). I thought the support bands both had bad sound but that is par for the course. there is no way the sound is going to be good everywhere you are in hampden there are far too many variables. I could hear the echo of from the stand during the support bands but not during u2. I thought bono was really clear and I have a few video clips from where i was to proof it!
 
Exactly! At the start of the Glasgow concert I thought the sound was a bit harsh, but it was the same for BRMC and Interpol in their support gigs. After the first couple of songs though the sound became perfect and was brilliant! To be honest this was my first time seeing U2 playing live in front of me, and I was too busy singing along with them to notice any sounds faults! The atmosphere was too brilliant!

Loved the Love and Peace / Sunday Bloody Sunday mix! Fantastic idea!
 
I was in between the 2 b stages and a few metres back. Sound was superb, but I've heard the negative reports about the sound too.

only criticism from my point of view was the sound that seemed to be getting reflected back from the stands behind us.
 
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