Why could I only hear bass at the concert?

[The_real_st_jimmy]

Mike is amazing so I didn't really mind it but... 

When I saw Green Day a few days ago I was in the 2nd row of the pit. During the opener band I had this happen too. I could really only hear bass and nothing else. Probably didn't help the people right next to me and behind me were screaming the lyrics. Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed the show, but I'm wondering why I only heard mostly bass and had a hard time hearing anything else. Did this happen to anyone else too?

[Liam]

You were probably right in front of the subwoofer so you only got the bass frequencies. 

Similar thing happened to me except i was also near a normal speaker so I could still hear 

[AimieeSmith]

I can never hear Mike's bass when the guitars are playing at the same time , on any of their performances that are broadcast on TV or Pro shot audio . With the only exception been their Iheart Radio Show last year . Where the bass seems on full blast haha

The bass sound from this show is on another level of awesomeness haha

 

[unextraordinarygirl]

I  had a similar thing happen to me at the show I went to. A song would start playing and I could hear the music but it sounded garbled up and I couldn't tell which song it was.. Then all of a sudden I could recognize it. It was weird and I thought something was wrong with my ears but I was second row in the pit in front of Mike too so maybe it was just where I was standing, I don't know.

[emmericanidiot]

I could hear the bass a lot when I saw them in Feb, I opted for ear plugs for some of the show to save my ears from ringing for days after and I actually really liked being able to hear Mike for a change  I was in seats low down on his side as well 

[Maddie86]

when I saw them last month the kick drum overpowered everything, and it sounded like the speakers couldn't handle the low frequencies, it sounded really distorted, but when I was able to hear the guitars and bass they sounded great. definitely something that needs to be worked on

[Jimmy Strummer]

Two of the four Green Day shows I've been to in my life, I made the (I guess I shouldn't say mistake) of getting seats on Mike's side, and it's not that I couldn't hear the guitars but the bass was definitely louder because I was closer to that side than the guitar side. I rectified that mistake at the Camden show by getting seats on the guitar side, but the opposite effect happened and I couldn't hear Mike as much. To me, it's all about placement. Smack dab in the middle works like a charm most of the time.

[amberwhite]

Kick drums and bass were overpowering in Atlanta in the pit ( end of catwalk slightly toward Jason's side ) for Against Me  and Green Day. Definitely needed ear plugs. Tampa pit right in front of Billie and later in between Mike and Billie the sound was much better and balanced,  no earplugs. But about 2/3 of the way through it sounded like Billie had been sucking on helium.  Was just my ears though,  as the snippet of video I took during 21 Guns sounds fine.

[RougeRogue]

For mine, the only thing we genuinely couldn't hear was the vocals. Guitar was fine, bass was most prominent, but I'm telling you, we couldn't hear a word Billie was saying most of the time lol.

49 minutes ago, amberwhite said:

Tampa pit right in front of Billie and later in between Mike and Billie the sound was much better and balanced,  

I was inbetween Mike + Billie the whole time, though favoring Mike's side. We were in front of the amp(?) though and so we definitely couldn't hear Billie's voice if he was talking.

[tinamariek4]

1 hour ago, amberwhite said:

Kick drums and bass were overpowering in Atlanta in the pit ( end of catwalk slightly toward Jason's side ) for Against Me  and Green Day. Definitely needed ear plugs. Tampa pit right in front of Billie and later in between Mike and Billie the sound was much better and balanced,  no earplugs. But about 2/3 of the way through it sounded like Billie had been sucking on helium.  Was just my ears though,  as the snippet of video I took during 21 Guns sounds fine.

I had the helium thing happen at the Darien Lake concert as well.  Not for every song, just a few times throughout the concert.  Others I was with noticed it too.  I thought it was because it was around the time we all thought he had some sort of upper respiratory thing (a cold, maybe?) cuz he was using the nebulizer.

[amberwhite]

2 hours ago, RougeRogue said:

For mine, the only thing we genuinely couldn't hear was the vocals. Guitar was fine, bass was most prominent, but I'm telling you, we couldn't hear a word Billie was saying most of the time lol.

I was inbetween Mike + Billie the whole time, though favoring Mike's side. We were in front of the amp(?) though and so we definitely couldn't hear Billie's voice if he was talking.

We were about 10 people back so we caught it through the speakers right above our heads.

2 hours ago, tinamariek4 said:

I had the helium thing happen at the Darien Lake concert as well.  Not for every song, just a few times throughout the concert.  Others I was with noticed it too.  I thought it was because it was around the time we all thought he had some sort of upper respiratory thing (a cold, maybe?) cuz he was using the nebulizer.

It was so weird. I noticed it a little bit about 1/3 into the show, but then he changed mics and it went away  and just gradually got more helium pitched as the concert went on. My friend that I was with noticed it too. All the videos I've watched sound normal.

[TimmyChunks]

3 hours ago, WalrusGumboot said:

It's the acoustics in the arenas they are playing. They can't handle the treble / bass balance, and they are not properly set up. Also, their board operator is clearly pushing the volume way too hard. Sounds should not be distorted. 

Huh. I noticed this during the current tour as well. Thought it was just my positioning in the arena but yeah, I do think the board mix was off a bit- aggressively mixing up the kick drum and bass. Overcompensating to add a bit of "thump" to the sound, I think. 

I haven't complained about their mix at all since prior to the 21CB tour- I thought that was when they finally nailed their live mix consistently- but this tour (especially the latest U.S. leg) has had a few inconsistencies. Which I'd overlooked since the shows have been so good, but after the sound they had perfected during the 21CB tour and maintained live since it did seem to be a bit lacking...

[gaslight13]

This happened to me when I was in the pit in CT, though I was on Jason's side. I think it was because I was so close. Camden I was in the lower middle seats and it sounded great. Unfortunately, I think a lot of mixers do a shitty job mixing for the people in the very front. I've had it happen at a lot of shows for a lot of artists. You're always risking sacrificing sound quality in favor of view.

[tinamariek4]

7 hours ago, WalrusGumboot said:

It's the acoustics in the arenas they are playing. They can't handle the treble / bass balance, and they are not properly set up. Also, their board operator is clearly pushing the volume way too hard. Sounds should not be distorted. 

Agreed.  

[Amanda]

 

Well someone had to do it

[Spike]

On 9/10/2017 at 6:52 PM, amberwhite said:

But about 2/3 of the way through it sounded like Billie had been sucking on helium.  Was just my ears though,  as the snippet of video I took during 21 Guns sounds fine.

I get this all the time during band practice, and it's happened at a few gigs too. It's to do with your ears filtering out the lower frequencies due to prolonged exposure, makes things sound weird aside from the obvious muffling that happens later on.

[Ritz]

I like bass. I always hang around the bass amps during any performance.

[greendepent]

Probably is for your location. You will hear good sound if you are close of the soundboard, because the audio engineer is who is dictating the sound of the performance, but only for his spot. 

[GreenDayTheory]

That's the answer.

[Grinch]

When I saw them in MN at the Excel center, I could hardly hear the vocals. Billie's crowd interaction was hardly audible besides the echo from the walls behind me. Maybe it's because I was right at the catwalk and the PA speakers were facing outwards into the corners of the arena. The concert as a whole really wasn't too loud at least. It was like the perfect volume. Probably just because indoor arenas don't really work that well for live music.

[stxrlesseyes]

I experienced the same thing. I was front row in the corner where the catwalk meets the actual stage on Mike's side so his speakers were EXTREMELY close to me. 

[gaslight13]

On 9/12/2017 at 7:40 AM, WalrusGumboot said:

That's not true. When setting up audio in a location, there are multiple people reporting back to the soundman on what needs tweaking and what not from throughout the area.

Yeah but have you ever been near the soundboard and experienced bad sound? I personally have not. Other spots are hit or miss.

 

[gaslight13]

1 hour ago, WalrusGumboot said:

Yes and yes. 

Really? I'm very surprised. I've been to hundreds of shows, big and small, stood in the very front, way up in seats, and near the sound board and the sound board is the only one I've never had an issue with.