Quote:
Originally Posted by tomadde
They just don't belong in big venues, as a support act (as you might know, a lot of bands "demand" that the support act plays with less sound quality then themselves, to make them look and sound better). I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case here, because Mastodon's sound REALLY was awfull.
|
Tool have never "demanded" that their support acts play with a lesser sound quality.
In almost all cases for at least the past 10 years (or longer) the support acts have been friends of the band, or at the very least friends of a friend.
The engineer for the support band is given his own console and main EQ. Tool's main EQ is then bypassed so the support engineer can have a clean shot at what he want's it to sound like.
Sometimes (often at the beginning of a tour) the support act might not get a sound check if the day is running behind. In the case of Leuven, the rigging took a long time that day (it was all done with bucket trucks), and Tool only did a song or 2 themselves. Mastodon only had enough time to get set up and maybe run through part of a song.
It's unfortunate, but it happens.
Sometimes it is just a case of the engineer not being familiar with larger rooms and not yet knowing how to win the battle. Clubs and arenas are very different animals. Outdoor festivals can have their own weirdness (wind is brutal to high frequencies), but in many cases an engineer who is used to clubs might have an easier time at a festival than an arena because he doesn't have to fight the cavernous echos of a large room. The outdoors is much more forgiving.