John Mayer Gig - Royal Albert Hall

quote:

Originally posted by Steve S1:
Denis,

Thanks for that, just got in - Circle Q6.

Steve

Steve,

Do you want to meet up before the gig? I'm in Stalls 'J'; Row '7'; enter by Door 3

Jeff,

I'll post a report on Wed 19th. This will be a great start to the week as it's David Sylvian tomorrow night at the RFH. It will be my first drink in the Members Bar

Denis

Hi Denis,

Got a couple of friends going with us and my other half having to come straight from a late work appt. If I can get a minute to find you, I'd be happy to say hello.

If you are on the other place, pm me (same id).

Best regards,

Steve

Well guys, what did we think? I went on the Tuesday night.

It pains me to say that I thought it was really disappointing. Especially as I had been looking forward to it so much.

The sound was shockingly bad (better in simpler arrangements but never good), which I was inclined to think was down to my being seated in the circle. But a friend in the stalls tells me it was crap there too.

I'm a big fan of his albums but this show was very ordinary. Quite why the sound was so awful (when Gilmour managed to achieve a decent one) is baffling. Although a circular shaped venue is never going to be great in that respect.

Had it been better sound wise, I'd have lamented the fact that he only played about 13 songs and for about 90 mins.

His voice was under a bit of strain at times - but this could have been exacerbated by the fact that Newton Faulkner (support) sang so well, with his simple acoustic set not being dogged by the mushy sound that affected JM's larger ensemble.

Ah well, maybe someday he will play a few dates at somewhere better in the UK, hopefully as a smaller group.



Steve

Hi Jeff,

Yes, a great pity. I'll be very interested to read what Denis made of it. Or anyone else for that matter.

Steve

Steve

An artist of his stature should be able to put on a memorable show any evening. You deserved better.

Jeff A

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Anderson:

An artist of his stature should be able to put on a memorable show any evening.

Any artist of any stature can have a bad night, for any of a million reasons.

I heard him in June, and the show was great.

All best,
Fred

Firstly, I would say last night was a really enjoyable atmosphere down in the stalls.
Initially I sat in the wrong Row, behind the mixing desk and really warmed to Newton Faulkner. He had a great voice that was very well produced by the PA and a terrfic guitar technique. His guitar performance of Massive Attack’s "Teardrop" reminded me of Antonio Forcionne, where he slaps the drum beat on the guitar body. Although the venue must have been daunting, Newton showed confidence with his stories and the crowd gave a weel desrved applause at the end.

Now, here's my take on John Mayer.
In terms of a Performance, I thought John and the band were excellent. The highlight for me was the the extended version of Gravity, which had fantastic playing by John. The only time you really got to hear Robbie McIntosh was with some lovely bottleneck in the acoustic encore with John. I would say that John is one the best guitarist's I've seen and writes some pretty fine tunes. I'm Looking forward to his next visit, but the Hammersmith Appolo would be a better venue.
I agree with your comments Steve about the PA Sound. John's voice Mic had a Cavernous echo to it and no body. I think it might have been set up to empahasise his voice rising and holding the long notes. I did move to the left of the mixing desk, 7 rows back and difference between the 'feel' of Newton sound right & John's sounding wrong was puzzling. As you would expect John's guitar was to the fore in the mix with the bass, drums and horns ok. The keyboards and the two rhythm /lead guitarists at times struggled to be heard. I think the main thing that annoyed me were the 3 sets of TV screens at the back of the stage. It was so distracting and felt my visual senses taking over from my aural.

All my comments above are given in the context of a dissapointing David Sylvian gig on Monday night at the splendid RFH. I'll post about that over the last concert thread.

Note: The reason that Dave Gilmour's RAH performance last year had such great sound is because it was supplied by Britannia Row. IIRC the Floyd had a hand with the company in their early days and sold the business to them. I think Britannia Row supplied the PA for the Floyd 1994 World Tour and the Earls Court gig was the best sound I have heard, ever. I'd say they are the equivalent to naim in the PA world.

Denis

Thanks for the info Denis.

When I saw JM in Sept '05 in Portland, it was at my least favorite venue and one I had been to many times and never heard what I would call good sound.

The opener that night was Ray LaMontagne, whose music I love, but this was to be the third time I was disappointed in his live performance. The big problem. other than his continuing lack of connection to the audience, was the sound. Just him on acoustic guitar and a colleague on upright bass - should have been a reasonabley easy production (allowing for the fact openers rarely get soundchecks). Obnoxiously loud booming bass from everywhere in the room, we are talking 1,4000 capacity size and yes, I walked the room and heard it from multiple locations including standing next to the sounboard. Very disappointingly consistent with previous shows in this room.

When JM took the stage I was concerned this would be the signature sound in the room this night - I could not have been more wrong. They had it dialed in from the first note - perfect balance from everywhere in the room, but I spent most of the evening near the soundboard to hear what the engineer was hearing. Quite simply the finest live concert sound I have had the pleasure of enjoying, and the performance by the band (three piece trio) equalled the sound.

My friends all think I'm weird because everytime we go to a concert my first comments afterwards are regarding my reaction to the sound - it is that important to me.

Sorry your and Steve's show wasn't completely up to the standards that Fred and I and others on this forum have experienced from JM.

Jeff A

Found this on the web, interesting variety within the comments of fans.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig-23353796-detail...do?reviewId=23412666

I would agree with Denis and he obviously had a better position than me but was still suffering some of the same problems.

I also agree about Gravity being the highlight of JM's set, and I had that in mind when I said the simpler arrangements worked better along with Newton's acoustic songs. It was interesting to learn about Britannia Row, and explains the Gilmour gig getting better reviews on the sound.

I think it must have been worse upstairs - my friend commented that the drummer sounded like he was "building a shed" and I thought that did neatly sum it up. The rest of the sound was a mush that drowned the lead guitar too many times.

If he gets a smaller venue, preferably with a smaller group (I thought the larger group over-complicated some of his superb songs) I'll be first in the queue.

Thanks for the heads up Denis.

Regards,

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Steve S1:

I thought the larger group over-complicated some of his superb songs

How so, Steve?

When I heard him in June he had two horns, keyboards, bass, drums, and the fabulous Robbie McIntosh on second guitar. Same band you heard? It's no larger an ensemble than on the album, so I wonder in what sense did you feel the group over-complicated the songs?

All best,
Fred

Hi Fred,

I was comparing some of the tracks to "Try" and "The Village Sessions". Use of three and four players respectively, which IMO improves them as you seem to get closer to the heart of the songs in most cases. My opinion, of course.

On RFS and Continuum, the larger forces work OK because the mix is controlled and I'm not suggesting they are not top players - just not necessary to my enjoyment. And the appalling mush of a sound on Tuesday was not helped by this. Which is why tracks like Gravity were much better.

In the end - Michell Cohen's comments on JM's "Try" :

"Guitar, bass and drums. Three guys, nowhere to hide. When it works - Cream, Hendrix, Johnny Winter, SRV - you marvel at how no-frills it is, and yet how much emotion it can contain, how many variations can be wrung from something so timeless."

I guess I'm in that camp.

All the best,

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
I have always found the Royal Albert Hall very hit and miss with live sound.And i have walked out a few times it has been that bad.
Regards Munch

Munch,

It was close.

Steve

I went on Monday and agree with most of the comments.
I thought Newton Faulkner was great, never heard of him, but his performance was excellent, as said the teardrops rendition was superb. He got on so well with the audience too, little witty stories, great songs and a great performance all round, he even finished with spongebob square pants and I bet he took the tube home

I have never seen John live so didn't know what to expect, I agree the sound quality was shite on a lot of the songs and was very disappointing. I thought some of the songs were strung out a little too long, is mr mayer getting 'bigger than his body'? Now don't get me wrong, he is a great songwriter, and yes an excellent musician but I just felt perhaps all the greatness has gone to his head a little?
The band were great and there were some great moments throughout the evening, perhaps it was the sound quality that took the edge of things?
Overall a little disappointed but I would see him again, maybe at a diiferent venue next time?

John

Hi Steve,

Yes, it does come down to personal preference, and while I like Try the fact that it's Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino in particular makes it special. The rhythm section in JM's touring band is very good, but they ain't Steve and Pino!

Also, although I think very highly of JM as a "guitar hero," a program of "all hero" becomes a bit monochromatic. For instance, on Continuum two of my favorites are The Heart of Life and This Train, both of which are more in the James Taylor/George Harrison bag. I also prefer the guitar-hero element when it's in the context of a fully arranged song, like Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, Dreaming With A Broken Heart, or In Repair ... full-color arrangements like The Beatles had.

That said, the mostly-trio version of Axis Bold As Love on Continuum is burning white-hot, and the additional colors and textures add wider dimension.

As far as The Village Sessions, as I've said here before I prefer the more fleshed out versions on Continuum ... the extra texture and expanded color palette underscore the emotion and listening delight for me.

All best,
Fred

quote:

For instance, on Continuum two of my favorites are The Heart of Life and This Train, both of which are more in the James Taylor/George Harrison bag.

Hi Fred,

Agreed. Both are super tracks and I'm also a huge fan of JT/GH so I get exactly what you mean.

The Village Sessions point is interesting. I love the Continuum versions, but with VS it's goose bumps all round. But hey, having to choose between great tracks is a luxury these days for most artists.

Happy listening,

Steve