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There's only one thing at concerts that annoys me even more than the sound of boorish loudmouths who blather incessantly through shows they've paid good money to attend: concerts that sound bad regardless of how many chattering nitwits are in the audience.
Witness the recent San Diego performances by Kings of Leon and Elvis Costello & The Imposters. The two appeared in front of sold-out audiences in very different venues — Costello and his band as headliners at 4th & B on March 23, Kings of Leon as the opening act for U2 at the ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena on March 28 and 30. But despite the dramatic contrasts between the 1,500-capacity 4th & B and the 14,500-capacity arena, Costello and Kings of Leon each sounded terrible.
I'm not referring to their music, but to the appalling audio quality at their respective concerts, which sounded as if they were either being performed from inside trash compactors in overdrive or through a giant car stereo with busted woofers. Either way, the painfully distorted din was an insult to their music and fans.
These shows are symptomatic of a troubling decline in audio quality at concerts in San Diego and across the nation — a trend made more annoying by the concurrent rise in ticket prices.
Costello, a 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of pop-music's most gifted and versatile artists, suffered from a muddy, distorted mix at 4th & B. It was so bass-heavy that his impassioned vocals and Steve Nieve's agile keyboard work were repeatedly overwhelmed.
Kings of Leon, who delivered a rousing (and well-mixed) performance here at 'Canes in January, sounded awful at the ipayOne Center on March 28 and only a bit better on March 30.
Unlike Costello, though, this young Tennessee band at least had an acceptable reason for sounding so bad. Prior to the U2 tour, which opened here, the group had never performed in an arena. As a result, neither the Kings of Leon nor its soundman had any experience in achieving an even halfway decent sound in such a sprawling setting. Arena-rock veterans U2, conversely, sounded crisp, clear and well-balanced.
But Costello's concert sound was inexcusable, especially since he had his own soundman (who mysteriously had no trouble getting a decent mix for singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, the show's opening act).
Since releasing his debut album in 1977, Costello has performed in countless clubs, concert halls and arenas. A perfectionist on record and in concert, he and his audio engineers have previously achieved admirable sound quality at such diverse area venues as Copley Symphony Hall, SDSU's Open Air Theatre and even the Starlight Bowl, where jets constantly fly overhead.
At 4th & B, Costello's fuzzy, sub-lo-fi sound made it difficult to tell he was performing "Radio, Radio" until he sang the chorus. I moved to different parts of the venue to try and find a spot where the sound was better, but to no avail.
There are two possible conclusions, both unsettling.
The first is that Costello was somehow unaware of just how lousy he sounded. (In past conversations with artists as varied as jazz guitar great John McLaughlin and the backing band for the Everly Brothers, I've discovered that performers often don't have a clue what their audiences are hearing. "We have our sound monitors on stage; I have no idea what it sounds like up front," McLaughlin told me.)
The second is that Costello was aware (and approved) of the sound mix he got at 4th & B. (I articulated my concerns to his New York publicist, who forwarded them to Costello's camp, but no reply has been forthcoming.)
Unlike Costello, some artists have suffered because they couldn't afford to hire their own audio engineer. This means they had to rely on the venue's soundman, who may have had no familiarity with their music.
For example, the jazz trio the Bad Plus' 2003 4th & B show was so poorly mixed it sounded as if the group's members were playing in different rooms. I was so dismayed by how their music suffered that I later contacted the group.
In an e-mail response, Bad Plus bassist Reid Anderson wrote: "Thank you for your concern. I must tell you that we are well aware of the need to travel with our own sound engineer and have been looking for a way to make it happen as soon as possible. This was the first tour of that type for us — playing larger, more rock-oriented rooms. We knew that sound was going to be a challenge and really have no excuse other than that we simply couldn't afford to bring someone along. But, as you say, at this point we can't afford not to, especially in those situations."
Some of the worst concerts, audio-wise, that I've heard were abysmal because the performers either didn't have the time or inclination to do a pre-show soundcheck. Others suffered because the band in question was too green or oblivious to hire an experienced sound engineer.
"We do a soundcheck every day, no matter what," Don Henley of the Eagles told me last year. "And we have the same house (sound) mixer we've had for many, many years now. The problems at concerts are because bands play too loud, period."
Is it too much to suggest that bands be required to do pre-show soundchecks, or that they offer refunds to unsatisfied patrons if they don't? I think not. Surely, it isn't unreasonable for ticket-buyers to expect decent or better sound in return for their money.
Whatever the reason for the distorted din at Costello's show, it left me only one option: I walked out. (Friends who stayed until the conclusion told me the sound only improved marginally by night's end.)
As a longtime Costello fan, it pained me to leave. But as a lifelong music lover, it would have been even more painful to remain.
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