Great Live Sound Systems, whats your favorite?

[Jimna]

Whats your favorite place to see live music? Is it your favorite because of the room or the system or both? With the level of diversity on this forum in both taste and location there should be some interesting answers.

My favorite room here in the front range is The Fox Theatre in Boulder hands down. It is the best sound system coupled with a well treated room to be the clear best venue. A close second is Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe PA. As for outdoor i have a soft spot for Red Rocks Amphitheater as long as your with in the first 20 rows. RR is such an amazing natural wonder, to me it proves that if there is a God, he likes music.

Not my absolute favorite but a new comer of sorts is in my aim tonight. Im recording a band called The Motet tonight in Denver at a newly remodeled venue called Cervante's Masterpiece Ballroom. They just rebuilt the house sound with Meyer line arrays that sound outstanding along with all new top of the line electronics through out. I usually setup my rig in a safe place with natural barriers from traffic flow, but tonight Im going rogue and setting my rig up dead center of the floor under the disco ball in the sweet spot, i have a gut feeling it will pay dividends. Its a sold out show so it will be a challenge. Depending on my tapes rendered tonight this venue might just rise on my list!

So whats your favorite venue?

 

[Bernard]

I would not call it my favourite venue as I was there just once, but it was definitely the best I have been to - the Musikverein hall in Vienna. It is considered to be the best in the world because of the amazing acoustics.

 

[Jimna]

Perhaps i should have named the thread great live venues, not everything is amplified..oops.

 

[amey01]

Musikverein was great but alas, I've only been there once too. For a regular place (or was regular 'till I moved to Queensland) was The Basement in Sydney for live jazz. Fantastic and intimate venue. Brisbane Powerhouse is similar but not as good. The East Recital Hall in the Sydney Conservatorium is also great.

Shame, but the Sydney Opera House rates as one of the worst places to hear live music I've been to.

 

[churchill]

I also 2nd Red Rocks as a favorite venue. I saw the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" show from row 17 and was blown away!

At the local level we have old theater here called the Avalon that was built in 20's, it was restored and now is a great venue to see acoustic shows. I saw a acoustic Lucinda Williams show that was pretty awesome!

I've got tickets now for the same venue to see Los Lonely Boys, with Alejandro Escovedo and Carrie Rodriguez in February!

 

[repman]

Kleinhans Music Hall > Buffalo , NY awesome acoustics for live music

 

[stuwee]

For a amplified sound system, nothing has outshone The Saint in NYC! Yes, it was a dance nightclub but, the sound was as good as I've heard with a roof over my head :bowdown: to the rest of the show they put on! OMG what fun the 80's were in Manhattan :devil:. Pristine 1st pressing of "Nights in White Satin", the orchestra was in the club. Scarey real.

http://www.saintdisco.com/

For live outdoors, Red Rock hands down for me personally!

 

[Jimna]

well my preliminary observations are that you all need to get out more. jesus, if the only system you hear is yours you all are bound to have bias. go see a show people, get out more! live music is where its at.


support live music!




satch please play my token fade out music...

 

[Scumurculum]

Musikverein was great but alas, I've only been there once too. For a regular place (or was regular 'till I moved to Queensland) was The Basement in Sydney for live jazz. Fantastic and intimate venue. Brisbane Powerhouse is similar but not as good. The East Recital Hall in the Sydney Conservatorium is also great.

Shame, but the Sydney Opera House rates as one of the worst places to hear live music I've been to.

Amey, agree with all the above (well never been to vienna), but have you been to the Tivoli?

Not bad acoustics at all.

Seen many bands there, most recently nick cave and he sounded great.

Seeing Anthony and the Johnsons there was a pretty special experience.
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[amey01]

Amey, agree with all the above (well never been to vienna), but have you been to the Tivoli?

Not bad acoustics at all.

Seen many bands there, most recently nick cave and he sounded great.

Seeing Anthony and the Johnsons there was a pretty special experience.
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No, never been to the Tivoli - yet. Is it safe to frequent the 'Valley?

 

[Jimna]

im just glad to have a bunch of audiophiles play the game. if you even are an audiophile of a fan, just vote! where and when is your best?... please enlighten us. 1 time or a repetitive best of, please do tell. over all audio quality is my goal. satch as a musician your required to answer to the best of your ability.

come on people, if claim you an audiophile that has no favorite... your failing as said audiophile. you have to have something your comparing the best shit against. seriously, get out of the house.

tonight i was at the Fillmore in denver with diminishing returns. that place has a lot of opportunity, but unfortunately, im torn there between good sound and good production value. as a music lover they are equally hard to wade through.

they also made a big deal out of me having a photo pass and then only gave me an 1/2 hr to take pics.

 

[Satch]

Jim,

O.K. rub it in... I don't get out enough.

What makes any particular venue special to me is the overall involvement of the audience and the talent of the musicians. One example would be my local bar, tile floors, sliding glass doors and a dance floor with a hump. When a band starts off the acoustics sound like crap, but when the dance floor fills up, the acoustics change and the musicians start to feed off of the enthusiasm...

I don't have any particular favorite "place" to see a live act, although sometimes late at night, sitting in my Ekornes Stressless Ambassador, I close my eyes and get the eerie feeling that I'm listening to musicians that have been dead for a long time playing live in my living room. ooooOOOOOhhhhHHHHOOOoooooo.....

Ray

 

[TomDac]

Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
The Independant - San Francisco, CA
Slims - San Francisco, CA
Fillmore - San Francisco, CA

All small, nice acoustics.. best shows I ever saw were at these venues. :music:

 

[Jimna]

ive had a few folks tell me Great American Music Hall is a place i need to visit.

 

[Scumurculum]

No, never been to the Tivoli - yet. Is it safe to frequent the 'Valley?

Amey if you are not there Friday or Saturday night, the Valley is fine.

Anyway the tivoli is well away from the night club precinct, its right up near the ekka showgrounds.

 

[slowGEEZR]

I tend to like small venues the best. I've been to Wolf Trap, in the D.C. area quite a few times and for being an outside venue, it had pretty decent sound. The Birchmere music hall, also in the D.C. area had great sound in both of its locations. I find that the type of music I go to listen to seems to have the greatest effect on the sound quality. For example, the Jaxx club plays very loud heavy metal and the sound quality is about what you'd expect for that type of music. But, go to Blues Alley and listen to jazz and the sound is great. Both of these places are in the D.C. area.
Here in the Austin area, there are so many locations to hear live music, some great, others not so much. I like the Saxon Pub for sound quality, as it is not played so loudly as to hurt your hearing and has surprisingly nice acoustics. The Cactus Cafe (at the UT student union!) probably has the best quality of sound and not just because they only have acoustic bands. Some of the most famous places here, (Antone's, Continental Club, etc.) play music very, very loudly, within a not so large confine. I usually get far away from the bands or wear ear plugs if I must watch them. Luckily, there must be at least a hundred restaurants where you can hear live music and mostly there is good sound to be heard.

 

[Jimna]

i do always wear ear protection at live shows that are amplified, as an audiophile i have to protect my hearing. i love my plugs, ever since i started wearing them my recordings seem to sound more like the venue did, where as before i was always surprised after playback in things i didnt hear at the show.

for anyone who does see any amount i highly recommend these: http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/profmusearpl1.html

 

[Satch]

Those look like some good ear plugs. Do they work better than cotton?

I used to play live with this drummer that usually wore earplugs. Everybody else in the band would groan when he put them in because he would play louder.

 

[Jimna]

thats funny, a friend said after he got a set of plugs like mine he got a pair for everyone in his band too so they were all on the same db level.

but yes, i always hated plugs because i never got the same sound twice(probably from being put in my ear different or more/less cotton, ect), and the db level cut was tilted toward the highs. with these plugs i get an even sound across the boards thats always the same. they are also very comfortable. on friday night i actually forgot they were in until i tried to order a beer and found myself yelling at the bartender and not able to hear her when she told me my total. but the important thing is they sound great, i love 'em!

 

[slowGEEZR]

I've used the ER-20 style of plugs, but I like a little more attenuation and even more comfort. The most comfortable I've used are the "Hearos" brand of earplugs. I started using that brand about 15 years ago, or so, for motorcycle riding, as they provide all day comfort. You can get them in different sound attenuation levels.