Constructive Criticism of Current Tour

[1dancingbear]

I am a long-time EC fan, and new to this board. I saw Elvis' show at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ, earlier this week, and while I thought the show was great, the sound was horrible. We had seats about 20 rows back, dead center, so the sound should have been optimal there, but the mix was bad, as was the tone; you could barely hear Elvis' guitar and when you could, the tone was shrill. Overall, the sound was very unbalanced.

A friend saw his show recently at the Beacon Theater in New York, and had the same experience - sub-standard sound.

Still, I loved the show and the setlist was outstanding!

[Emotional Toothpaste]

The dancing girls are a little too hot and slightly distracting. Only complaint.

[sulky lad]

Good to see what your priorities are "Emotional "" - brilliant summary !
Hasn't the sound mix been a problem for Elvis over all the years - particularly after IB when Elvis had a greater depth to his songs and a need for slower more reflective material. One of the best tours that I saw here in the UK for sound mix was the 1999 Costello/Nieve tour ( and I saw quite a few on that trek around the island and the simplicity of the piano - guitar combo made it beautiful to listen to. Band performances always seem to suffer although (as I hope Jeremy will concur) the mixes on last year's Sugarcanes shows were fine too.

[docinwestchester]

Agree about Red Bank. The sound in the loge section was god awful, and my recorder caught every nuance of that awfulness. However, the sound of Bridgeport bootleg is fantastic, which indicates to me that their sound system was far superior. Beacon was somewhere in between, again as you can hear on the TaperAdvocat's bootleg.

So I guess it's a mixed bag as far as quality of sound goes.

[Jack of All Parades]

Welcome to the board. Now you are in the 'lion's den' as people here are passionate about their sound. Only saw the one show in Boston in May and though only 7 rows from the stage off to the right the sound was definitely washed out- EC's guitar was near to non existent to my ears for most of the evening. I attribute it to differing accoustics in different venues. Perhaps I am wrong as it seems to be prevalent given the preceding posts. It has to be hard to control the sound spread from venue to venue particularly when the performance is pitched to a greater volume through most of the performance.

[scamp]

The sound is hit and miss but I judge more on performance. I don't think EC takes much consideration for sound otherwise he would have traveled with his own system early on. He focuses on song writing so I'll be satisfied with that.

[verbal gymnastics]

The only criticism I've got is that it hasn't come to the UK.

Elvis seems to only predominantly want attractive female spinners which rules me out on 2 counts when he does come over.

[Jeremy Dylan]

Band performances always seem to suffer although (as I hope Jeremy will concur) the mixes on last year's Sugarcanes shows were fine too.

The mix on the Liverpool show was absolutely perfect - incredible balance and clarity.

I've only seen him with the Imposters once, but there were definitely some issues at the Sydney show with the level of Dr. Nieve. in the mix.

[bronxapostle]

Agree about Red Bank. The sound in the loge section was god awful, and my recorder caught every nuance of that awfulness. However, the sound of Bridgeport bootleg is fantastic, which indicates to me that their sound system was far superior. Beacon was somewhere in between, again as you can hear on the TaperAdvocat's bootleg.

So I guess it's a mixed bag as far as quality of sound goes.

you know doc, my "VERY magical, poor sound correcting" SONY analog cassette recorder has indeed amended EVERY audio imperfection that all four of our ears heard sitting in the loge that night. the mix, the clarity, the vocals (which at times were DEEPLY buried in the theatre) and general sonic aura have hereby elevated the way i felt in person about that show that night! please, when i brag, i am bragging about my machine, NOT me....THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST RECORDINGS by SONY and bronxapostle!!! i will insist on a poll, with YOUR opinion firstly: what's better sounding from this night recorded from the same exact vantage point: ANALOG or DIGITAL??? want to pick up in elmsford tomorrow doc???? ill pm you!