Saw you last night in Montclair, NJ. and my ears are still ringing this morning! Your sound man had the EQ on the vocals way wrong. The upper mids and low highs were so exaggerated that every time Van Zandt sang a line it was like razors slicing through the air. Also, could barely distinguish a single note your bass player was playing, just heard this tremendous mushy bottom end all night. Too bad too, because from what I could tell, it seemed like you boys were playing quite fine. Bottom line, going to a concert shouldn't be literally painful from bad sound and too much volume for the room.

By the way, I saw Steely Dan in this same room about a year ago and everything was near perfect.

tapaugh,

Sorry ya had such a bad show..... First I would have to ask where were ya sittin, and wat was tha venue like..... Sometymes tha room itself will soak up or bounce back certain pitches and sounds.

I dought tha band knew of this problem....... Wat they hear on stage is not nessasarely wat we hear out front! Hope ya have a better show next tyme................ rusty

Rusty, they played in an old movie theater (from the early 1900's) that had been completely remodeled in 2008. It seats around 2,500 people. I was sitting in lower balcony center, maybe 60' from stage. I would guess this to be one of the smaller rooms that they probably played in during this tour. During their opening act, I walked downstairs to compare what I heard and the only difference I could hear was slightly better clarity of the bass.

Being a musician myself, I realize that the guys playing the music usually do not know how it sounds out front and that's not their job. That's what a good sound man is suppose to take care of. A band such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, an internationally known act, has to have the best sound reinforcement people that money can buy. That's certainly not what I heard last night.

@tapaugh: You are centinally right ,my frynd......... a sound man can either make ya or break ya. One tyme we were playin a casino in NORTH DAKOTA??? Tha nyte before, our sound man got wasted passed out on tha sound board, when he did his arms turned tha sliders up to 11, Needless ta say it cleared tha place real quick. Tha next nyte he showed up for work and beings I was tha front man it was my job ta send him down tha road. Well when I gave him his walkin papers he hauled off and sucker punched me in tha mouth, and when he did tha rest of tha band left him in a puddle!!! BUT tha damage was done ......... my lip swelled out where I looked like Miria Carry....... And I had ta sing and play tha harp all nyte. Nothin like singin....Risky Rottles n Rund now cars!!!!!! LOL'

Later Frynd............................................................................................. rusty

I'm no musician but I thought they sounded great last night. I was 4 rows up in the balcony.

@prez. rusty: HEHEH

@LynSkyn1981:

Actually, I'm happy about many things. I'm just not happy about wasting $100 on a show that was subpar at best. If you took the time to read, you would have seen that I was not disrespecting Rob (the bass player). In fact I said I thought they were playing very well. I simply said you couldn't hear a single note he was playing due to poor sound engineering.

Other than that, your response was just perfect.

just FYI -there is no letter D in Van Zant

Saw you last night at Salamanca NY casino.
First time live since Rich Stadium/Buffalo back in the 70's.
Have to agree with some posts here. The soundman needs a little slap.
WAY too boomy. Too much bass drum. Johnny's vocals were buried most
of the night, Honkettes too. Robert's bass was a noteless drone. In that small "absorbing" room,I was surprised.
But what really shocked me: NOTHING from God and Guns, NOTHING from Vicious Cycle? I have been going to concerts since the late 60's and this is the FIRST time I have ever seen a band NOT play/promote the new release. Puzzling. Thought you'd do at least "Red, White and Blue" from VC, and the superb "Simple Life" and "That ain't my America" from G and G. How come guys?
ET Raceline, BIG Canadian fan since album-one!

@LynSkyn1981:
No they did not.... The entire Salamanca NY show lasted an hour and a half.
They played one tune early in the concert I did not recognize, but the sound was so mushed out, I wasn't sure. Put it this way, I don't remember hearing it before, but I DO know it wasn't from Vicious Cycle or God and Guns.
ET Raceline

I was at the Salamanca show as well last night. 4th row, right in front of Gary.
We thought the sound was good up front. Surprised also that no new material was played.
Here's my theory.
That was'nt Robert Kearns on Bass last night. The bass player had really dark hair and was heavy set.Looked nothing like any pictures I've seen of Rob. Whoever was playing bass probably wasn't comfortable with the new G and G songs.
People beside us thought the same thing.