I guess all of us have attended concerts where the sound was horrible because the venue was not made for loud music.
I guess all of us have attended concerts where the sound was horrible because the venue was not made for loud music.
Chicago's Auditorium Theater and NYC's Carnegie Hall are very special venues, IMO. I saw My Morning Jacket at Auditorium Theater a few years ago and the band themselves stated how in awe of the place they were.
It's cramped and old, but I'll never tire of seeing jazz shows at Village Vanguard.
Cat's Cradle has been around forever - and has recently been remodeled and upgraded. They now have a smaller "back-room" styled space next to the primary venue - - - perfect for smaller shows that won't fill the big room. I see a lot of shows at Cat's Cradle . . .
I found this little road house outside of Chapel Hill out in the country called "The Kraken". Just an excellent vibe about the place - an old porch with rocking chairs outside for chillin'. They cater towards the metal/alt/punk crowd . . . tons of bikers attend their "Krakenfest" every year. Absolutely the nicest people in the world . . . almost like a house-party/living room concert experience - with good friends and family.
The Orpheum (in Boston) - classic venue built before the Civil War when people were very short - tons of famous artists played there over the years . . . beautiful little theater . . .
As you say, when people were short, I saw Steve Wilson there this year and the seating was excruciatingly uncomfortable. The place needs a major renovation as it was looking extremely shabby. I prefer the Emerson which is also off the Common. King Crimson played there last year and the sound was excellent and the seating comfy.
Ian
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Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
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I've seen many memorable shows at The Fillmore in SF. In purely technical terms it's not the greatest place to see a show, but for whatever reason bands always bring their A game when they play there. And audiences are always a bit more intense. The combination of the two works nicely.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Fillmore East, NY. 2,500 seat theatre with great sight lines and sound. The Academy of Music, which filled the void when the Fillmore closed was a toilet with bad everything.
Bottom Line, NY. A popular showcase, 400-ish seats.
I caught Bowie-as-Ziggy and PF on their first DSoM tour there. The perfect venue for both, what with the elevating/revolving stages and whatnot, plus the art deco style. At 6,000 seats, not too big, not too small.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Definitely worth seeing. I saw them twice at ProgDay (one preshow, one main stage) and each time on their way back home they played a show the following week in south central PA (one in Harrisburg, one in Hershey) so I've actually seen then four times.
"Jazz rock bluegrass fusion" is a pretty good description. At the Harrisburg show, they played covers of both Rocky Top and YYZ, to give you an idea of the range they cover. And I have to agree that the vocals aren't their strong point, but fortunately most of what they play is instrumental.
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Pleasant memories galore of shows seen at Beacon Theater,Town Hall,The Public Theater in NYC over the years.Excellent acoustics, all three venues.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
ProgDay has been forced indoors twice once in Cat's Cradle and the other in a local high school auditorium. The Cradle was not exactly ideal, but as you mention certain bands really worked there. I remember hearing Matthew Parmenter performing "Between Me And The End" for the first time that weekend, and you could hear a pin drop when he finished. A magical ProgDay moment for me. There have also been a couple of Saturday night shows at Cat's Cradle as well including Discipline, Salem Hill, and Crucible's last ever live performance.
The high school auditorium that was used in 2002 (I think) was really nice, but there were problems, and the cost was astronomical for a festival the size of ProgDay.
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Agree, that the auditorium was an absolutely fantastic venue for the show, but, it had 2 major problems which is why it was not used again.
1. Cost: If I remember correctly it cost the festival about $4000 to use it. That may not seem like a ton of money, but for a festival the size of ProgDay it is huge. The festival actually had it’s largest audience ever that year, so the costs were covered, but clearing an extra $4K would allowed the festival to float for a couple of years after that. Had the auditorium not been rented, 2002 would have been by far the most successful in the festivals history from a financial standpoint.
2. Alcohol: This was the other big problem. Being a high school auditorium alcohol, in theory, was not allowed anywhere on school grounds. They were pretty cool about people partying in the parking lot, but after the weekend was over the trash cans were overflowing and there were beer bottles and cans all over the place. Alcohol within the auditorium was strictly prohibited and not allowed back stage which some of the bands were not very happy with either.
Oh well, if it had to move indoors it was a very very nice venue for that to happen in.
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