Just because its funny

Eagles Soared... but left a sour taste, sort of...

We'll, we just got back from our Eagles Concert trip... and, without a doubt, they sounded fantastic... Absolutely flawless... but if I had to be totally honest, part of the experience left me slightly disappointed..

I Like Sam Roberts, had'nt really heard to much of the other lady who opened, but I'm HUGE fan of John Forgety... And having already seen the Eagles in 2005 I was looking forward to Forgety every bit as much, if not more then the Eagles...

Anyway... flash forward to the Eagles.. their sound was, well... Immaculate... You could hear every note, every instrument, every breath, every instrument... just like a Great CD or DVD recording... And it stands to reason... I mean they are one of the Greatest Bands in the World, Certainly in my top 5 of all time favorites... so I'd assume they have the best gear, and the best road crew and sound techs....

So, Sam Roberts was good.... but a little loose... First song had no bottom end, but by the time the 2nd song was 2 bars in, they found it.. and it got better... but I have to believe he'd sound better if he was headlining... then the lady got up... and her sound was a little better.. and even though I got caught napping through some of her set, I did enjoy it (hey, I was heavily medicated with pain killers, so cut me some slack)

But when Forgety got up, and I saw Kenny Aronoff take the stage... I stood up...

Now, I'll preface my comments by saying, first off, that John didn't play well for a man in his 60's, no not at all... He Played, Sang and Moved so F-king FANTASTIC that he'd put most men in their 20's to shame... he was just unbelievably GREAT... but (and here it comes) the sound mix lost the bass guitar completely, intermitantly left out some of the harmonies, and 2ndary instruments, and on occasion, something was too loud, other stuff too low... The latter of which I could forgive, but leaving the bass completely out of the mix is unforgivable...

Now, before you say.. "Rob, your just being nit picky"... No, I'm not.. it was gone... So i thought... "shit happens" give it a song or two.. they'll trace it down to a bad cable, d.i., or bad channel, swap it out, and get er running within a song or two..... but it didn't happen... ok. maybe its the amp??? ok... well with all that gear and technology, and arguably the best road crew in the world, you can swamp an AMP, Cables, DI and Channel within the space of 2 songs.... so I waited for the rescue... but it never came...

Which leaves me to question... "Why?" there are only one of two possible options as to why....

A) the sound crew sucks ass... and just didn't know, or were incapable of fixing it...
or
B) that the mix was deliberately sabotaged....

Now... I've heard stories about being "the opening act" and have always hoped they were Myths.. but sadly, not always.. Gowan did it to the Spoons in the 80's, (at least thats my opinion) and I believe the Eagles did it to Forgety on Saturday night?? which begs the question... Why???

Were they afraid of being upstaged by Forgety? I mean.. insofar as Stage presence and Energy.... the guy could play through a ghetto blaster and STILL get the crowd on their feet... and, yes, some Eagles music is "easy listening" but as a fan of both, for me... it cause me to loose some respect for the Eagles as musicians...

Now don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan... they are all f--king musical geniouses (yes, I know I can't spell) and they've built one of the most if not THE most successful musical franchises in History... For me, my top 10 are (not in order) Pink Floyd, Eagles, Forgety, Alman Bros, Boston, Journey, Bob Seger, and, ok.. maybe I have a rotating top 20 thats hard to nail down.... so forget the rest for now... But my point is that, if I think the Eagles are great, and 90% of everyone on the planet feels the same way... and they have top billing, what could they possibly have to gain from deliberately making the sound crew hold back on their abilities for Forgety and the other acts??? vanity? fear? I mean come of it?? Your the f--king Eagles, NO one can one up that... but there it was.... ...

So, had I only heard the Eagles, and not the proceeding acts... again, truly masterfull.. a sur-real almost religious audio experience.... But that calibre of tone should not have been held exclusively for them.. They should have shared the limelight, and alloud the sound crew to give their "best" with the other acts as well... you know, be TEAM PLAYERs... ... As I'm 110% sure the sound crew could have done better, but were likely handcuffed....

Oh well.. Who really knows what happened.. thats just my best guess... but there it is...

I will say this, however... As good as it was.... I think Joe Walsh Stole the show (he tends to do that) while not the most dynamic singer int he group, he's got this niche voice that I just love, and someone else said that he's like a puppy thats so ugly he's cute and ya just want to take him home..... so theres that (I think the technical term is Fugly, lol, sorry Joe) But yeah... Joe's appeal is undeniable... and people love to love him.. so to their credit, Don and Glenn gave him time to shine... they did, however, hold Timothy back. letting him sing only one (maybe two) of the songs he sings lead on... (we got to hear more of him on the 05 tour)

that being said... And I'll take heat for this again I'm sure... I will say this..

My opinion, of the best Concert ever (limited to those that I have seen personally) still goes to Bon Jovi, in Montreal, outdoors 2 summers ago.... Now, bear in mind while I Like Bon Jovi, I'm not as big a fan of his music then I am of Floyd, Eagles, etc.... And I've seen Floyd and the Eagles as well.. But Bon Jovi put on a better stage show, not just in terms of sound, Big Screens and effects, but also audience interaction, and the build up.. the opening acts ALL sounded 100% great.. nothing held back... And NICKLEBACK was one of the openers....

so... my top concerts? in order?
1> Bon Jovi
2> Eagles: Farewell 1 tour
3> Pink Floyd, Momentary Lapse of Reason (87)
4> James Brown (Halifax, the year before he died.. it was bare bones, but he KICKED ASS)
5> U2 (06 i think, also Montreal)
6>Elton John (07, Montreal)
7> Australian Pink Floyd (would be higher insofar as sound and quality, but for the fact they are a cover band)
8> Eagles, Moncton, last night
9> Sarah MacLaughlin, Rebecca Cohn, 93
10> Jan Arden (3 concerts so far, truly phenominal talent and gifted songwriter)
11> Bryan Adams
12> Hip
I could go on, but you get the point...

anyway... I'll get off my soap box... sorry.. it still was a great concert.. no mistake.. I was just a little miffed about, well.. no need to for me to be redundant....

I should say though, that Monton puts on a WAY better show then Halifax could ever do at the Commons.. Now, as a Halifax resident... that sucks.... as I means I gotto go back to Moncton, and pay for Hotel as well as the concert.. but its a Fact... the waiting was very tolerable, and totally within reason, the washrooms, bars, food, all decent quality and reasonably speedy.. and the Hill itself is just great... the weather could have been a little better, but that's the risk of outdoor stuff... but the Venue it self, just great... Thumbs up to Moncton, and Donald Tarlton.. the "Concert Experience" was first rate!!!

I think if halifax ever wants to compete, they need to forget the commons, and go somewheres else... Maybe sackville, Maybe dartmouth somewhere with a HILL they can build around... but there I go, up on yet another soap box.... sigh...


moving right along..

I Had a different band in the studio tonight, recording a little 5 song demo for a "Hire this band" cd and also for their myspace page... The Drummer I've heard before, as he fills in for Quntin in DaRock sometimes, but this is his regular band, and I gotta say... wow... these guys were really good!!! it was a lot of fun recording them.

But you won't get any spoilers here... But keep checking their Myspace page... Hopefully, they'll have the finished tunes up there in no more then a week.. Assuming, that is, the Studio doesnt get lazy and procrastinate the mix down...

Overall, a great weekend... a temporary reprieve from all the stress of late.... shit.. there I go reminding myself of all that again.. oh well.. albeit a short term break from reality.. it was a good one.. One day left tomorrow (Natal day) with the Family.. then its back to the trenches... well, sort of.. but thats a story for another day...

Cheers for now..