The Rolling Stones rock Bangalore

**oldfriend** · 04-04-2003, 08:36 PM

The Rolling stones performed in my city yesterday, their first show in india.... of course i was there.... but had a torrid time... the mixing was so bad you wouldn't believe... the low freq were so badly pumped up that the whole low freq. spectrum was nothing but mud.... terrible.... never heard anything that bad in my entire life..... something seriously went wrong.... i could see assistant engineers from the mixing booth jump out and run around in the crowd with a worried/hassled look on their faces, with some testing equipment which looked like a large PDA the size of a note book... after about 30 mins into the show some correction work was being done... but still, the whole show was a let down by the sound guys.... however the musicians did their best as usual on stage.... cant blame them..

when they played their hit song 'Angie' some digital rack or some unit was not in sync.... there was that 'crackling' through out the song.... !!!... shocking isn't it... that too sh*t like this happening with big bands with about 40 years of experience playing live under their belt....

and it started to rain... and man it rained hard.... Keith Richards was feeling real down with all the screwups.... went on saying, 'our first show in India and it had to rain'... however the rain didn't dampen any spirits.... the place was like a mini Woodstock.... with the mud, slush and people body sliding.....

It also looked like the Hippie crowd from Goa showed up in its entirety.... that strange smell in the air <wink> <wink> etc... one had to just breath to, you know, to step up into la la land..

, British, US, Brazilian, Israeli, Indian flags all over the place (these a few i could recognize).... but the British flags did dominate over the rest....

on the whole, it was loads of fun.... my ears (which are actually pretty sensitive) busted.... i have headache, sore throat from the rain and the cold......

what was pretty interesting was.... there was this huge latency in sound.... !!... i could see Charlie Watts drumming.... he would strike the snare and a few milli seconds later i heard it on the speakers... i noticed this when i was up close.... same thing with guitars etc... is this because all sounds where processed digital and the latencies of each rack units added up to create this huge delay???... is that normal ???... anyone with experience mixing live please enlighten me???... Don't bands in your countries have a sound check???.... how could any professional sound team mess up so bad??... what are the problems with live gig mixing???.....

cheers,

DC

Thilo · 04-04-2003, 11:04 PM

I had a similar experience a few months ago when Wu Tang came to my town (just for the record, I only went because I was hired to film it; I'm not a GANGster 'per se').

Anyway, microphones were breaking left and right so they had to start sharing, throughout the show there were constant squeaks, and there was mushy bass. Well at first there was no bass; it sounded like a choir recital. When 2+ of them would say the same word, one would lag by a few milliseconds. I would have thought it was a poor echo if I couldn't see them move their mouths at same time.

So, what's worse is.. it made a horrible video! Now people think my cinematography sucks. Er, lemme rephrase that; people still think my cinematography sucks. It was going to be a perfect piece to put in my portfolio but nooooo.. Anyway, yeah.

Michael Quayle · 04-05-2003, 04:10 AM

Delay is always a problem with big gigs. In a nutshell, sound travels at a rate of approx 1ft per millisecond. Therefore in a big stadium gig, if you are, say, 300 feet from the stage, you are hearing the sound 300 milliseconds after it has been played. Some compensation is attempted by placing PA stacks further back in the gig and using micro delays to balance them, but it doesn't stop the effect being noticeable. This is the reason why when you hear live performances with people clapping along to a song, they always seem to be clapping out of time - they are actually all clapping in time, they are just clapping to references that are out of sync with each other! Sorry to hear about the other shambles you experienced that day. Still, I hope you had fun

**oldfriend** · 04-05-2003, 09:16 AM

hello Quayle,

yes.. i had fun.... rolling stones rock.... even now....

yeah... i know about the speed of sound.... but this latency i noticed was right up close.... so close that i could see Mick Jagger's nose hair..!!!

.... it felt like it had something to do with the effects used in the mixing console... like the band played a few milliseconds earlier than the sound on the speakers..... i get the feeling the mastering compressor and stuff on the chain somehow gave that latency....

As for the mix.... now, that was bad dude.... the bass drum was so over compressed that it felt like the fundamental note and the overtones had the same RMS value!!!.... the only way anyone would have recognised it was the bass drum, was by the click at about 3K.... now you know how that would have sounded like...!!! nasty...

... ha.. ha....

Well it was quite an experience in the end..... to finally watch the gods of rock perform live.... absolutely had a blast of a time.... it was also nice to see so many generations of people enjoying the same music..... a rare phenomenon....

cheers,

DC

raindog · 04-06-2003, 11:23 PM

Hey namaste dude,
Good to know that the Stones made it there as well. We saw 'em here in Australia a few weeks ago. They played a indoor venue here and the sound from memory (was slightly off my nut) was pretty good.

Also even better to know an Indian dude who likesrock and roll. My girlfiend here is of an Indian background and her and the family are all into Bollywood music.
I appreciate the musisianship on those records but what is the go with all the miming??? It strikes me that the musicians don,t get nearly enough recognition as noone seems to care about them. Do most people over there know that the actors are miming the songs??? can you recommend some good artists (rock or otherwise) to get into.
cheers
P.S sorry about the world cup

**oldfriend** · 04-07-2003, 06:21 AM

namaste to you too dude...

yeah... this is the same part of the world tour the stones were doing currently.... they have two gigs in India, Bangalore and Bombay....

aww.. well... there are a huge number of Rock fans here.... for decades no bands came down to india because of government restrictions.... now the flood gates have opened.... and bangalore has had its share of live gigs the past few years.... of hand rock bands i can remember Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Petra, Brian Adams, Scorpions, Roger Waters, Elton John etc.... Bangalore is more tilted towards hard rock and Metal.... Madras is more jazz and Blues, Bombay is more grunge, a little Jazz, dance and Trance..,, Delhi in the north is more Dance... and the north east India its outright Speed Metal.., dudes out there would do anything to watch bands like motorhead, king diamond and Manowar....

...

The Indian audience is kinda, very wacked.... they don't entertain new talent.... i don't know why..... if a band like limp bizkit or some new band with one or two albums show up, they get absolutely no respect.... its bands who have performed over time who get all the lime light and the crowd....

Satriani was supposed to show up in a few months.... that could be cancelled because of that 'killer flu' problem in China.... the government might ban large gatherings till the issue is taken care off.... i know of people who were planning to travel 2,000 kilometers to watch Satriani.... He is really big around here....

ya know who would be a sell out in Bangalore???.... Satriani, Vai, Malmsteen, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Rush, AC/DC, Pink Floyd (might have to play at least 3 shows to accommodate people), Metallica.... would all have more than a 100,000 crowd, easy...

Reggae, Rap, dance, trance, rave and pop dont have an audience you can speak off...

You want me to suggest you music???... aww.. well... i can suggest you some amazing people from this part of the world but they are all classical musicians.... dont know if you would actually enjoy Indian classical.... its extremely complex, seriously wacko time signatures and scales... If you are not tuned to it then you will probably pass out..... however, lemme know if you want names.... There is a version of trance that originated from here... Its called Goa Trance.... its very plastic to my taste.... you can check the net for the songs... its easily available.... the commercial music that comes out of Bollywood is nothing to talk about at all.... its substandard... some of them mere copies of songs from the charts..... however they do have huge album sales.... and all bollywood movies are melo dramatic stuff like Moulin Rouge and stuff.... you gotta be in a frame of mind to enjoy movies like that.... certainly not my cup of tea.... and yes the people know the actors are mimicking...

i would not want to suggest you rock bands, because my tastes are very weired... or so people say..... however there are some seriously talented musicians on this forum who can do a better job at that.... (Timz, Melonhead, Robert.. u dudes listening??)

cheers,

DC

p.s: that's ok with the world cup.. you dudes deserved to win... we sucked....

[This message has been edited by vulcan_dc (edited 04-07-2003).]

raindog · 04-07-2003, 11:32 PM

Hey thanks for that. I'm printing out your reply and show my girlfriend what you were saying about the rock scene now happening in India

. When I told you about her having an Indian background well shes never actually been to India. She comes from Fiji , which is way out in the Pacific and has about 50% population as Fijian Islander and 50% Indian background. I think it was the english who tricked the Indian dudes into going there about 150 years to work on their sugar cane plantations. Most of the decendants still follow strict kind of cultural things from India even though not many has been over there. Kind of like a time warp I geuss. So I think they watch all the Bollywood movies and get all their taste in music from what they see in the movies and all there ideas about what life in India is about.

Also I know what you mean about the classic Indian music stuff and the time signatures being weird. when you are bought up on rock'n'roll 4/4 beats like I have then it takes a while to get the hang of middle eastern stuff. And some of those Indian chicks those high notes-not so easy for me to listen to Ha Ha..

I'd be keen to hear about anyone interesting who is doing rock stuff and maybe electronica stuff. have heard some Goa music years ago - I love some kinds of electronic music but am not that into all the genres etc, and don't really know one style from another-too old I geuss

Anyways India is definitely on the agenda for a trip overseas for us. Now that I know you guys are getting all the big names in concert then even better.

cheers mate

**oldfriend** · 04-08-2003, 05:53 AM

aaawwww.... you mean rock bands from India!!!.... i thought you wanted me to suggest you rock bands in the world.... !!!... sorry about that...

check out a website called www.Gigpad.com ... quite a few indian bands listed there.... some have links for their songs you can download.....

Cheers...

DC

**oldfriend** · 04-08-2003, 06:23 AM

The bad sound continues to haunt the stones.... they played in Bombay yesterday and here is an article which says pretty much the same thing i said about the sound in Bangalore.....
http://www.gigpad.com/editorial/arti...rt-excl-stones

hmm....

DC

Robert D · 04-08-2003, 06:30 AM

Hi - First about the latency you were hearing. If the sound system has arrays several hundred feet back from the main arrays, then they have to be delayed, or people in the back will hear them immediatly, followed by the main arrays a hundred or so milliseconds later, creating an echo. I remember them not doing this at Cal Jam II, in Ontario, many years ago. It was hideous. Unless you were right up front, pretty hard in such a huge sea of people, the whole concert was a big annoying echo.
Glad they figured that one out.

Anyway, saw the Stones a few years ago. Yep, they still rock. Glad you had fun.
Cheers, RD

**oldfriend** · 04-08-2003, 10:28 AM

hey Raindog, i just remembered.... check this band out... they are called Pentagram, from bombay... they bought out this album a few years ago.... its electronic rock stuff... (i dont know the genre)... i think its a very interesting album.....
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/229/pentagram.html

DC

raindog · 04-09-2003, 11:05 PM

hey thats pretty good. its cool how they manage to be that much heavey rock and still get some great sounding Indian style percussion in there too.Also followed the regional link in mp3.com and found a heap of other electronic Indian stuff . cheers

rumundur · 04-10-2003, 12:32 AM

hi vulcan! i'd be definetely up for some modern indian music, so drop a few names for me get started with! cheers, rumu

**oldfriend** · 04-10-2003, 09:14 AM

Hey rob... i didn't notice your message at all.... sorry,....

well,... ya know what... come to think of it.,... that stage was huge... and i was upfront and right in the center...... the speakers must be atleast 150 - 200 feet away on either side.... and a lotta those d*mn hippies around me....

... hmmm... so there you go...... could explain the delay....

LOL

hey raindog... lemme know if you find someone really interesting....

Hello rumundur....

the best thing to do is log on to mp3.com and search for bands regionally.... like raindog suggested...

Although i have to mention.... bands from here have a long way to go.. there are a few exceptional ones around... but majority of the bands need to get their sound and direction first..... they also need to get professional and serious with what they do...

and yeah... we do have our share of,... hmm... how do i put it...!!! " all hair, no show " bands !!!..... ha... ha... ha... they cant play for nuts, but have classy/expensive equipment, their rich parents bought.... they produce their own music... use their connections or buy a lotta publicity, hence they become very visible.... beware of them... their music could give you the wrong idea....

Cheers,

DC