08/03/21 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park

[Gunsdrummer63]

5 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

I think that the live setting can mask imperfections a bit more - especially if the audience member is not wearing quality earplugs which can reduce audio distortion.  I have been to many shows where it sounds okay in person but the compression and lack of live sound waves going directly into your ear mask imperfections

For sure! As someone who has performed at live events been to numerous concerts you’re right! With that being said I think there is a happy medium between what you said and also what I previously said about videos making things worse than they may be. It’s an iPhone mic. While it’s good it isn’t designed to capture audio perfectly. I think there’s some technical vault here on the video aspect as there is the same fault of live settings and mixing being able to masks weaknesses 

[Live Like a Suicide]

The band sounded really tight to me on the videos i saw. Even Absurd was tight as hell.

[lame ass security]

25 minutes ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

Brent fitz doesn’t play songs the same in SMKC albums as he does live but slash is fine with them, if not better with them. While it’s roughly the same there are differences. I really don’t think the drummer has much to do with it. I think it’s more of a “I’m slash and I’m back in gnr and I’m the reason we are selling tickets mostly right now so I have to be even better than usual and also distract people from axls voice when it gives out”. With Myles he can sort of lay back and be him

It had me making the statement that you quoted, which I did not. Weird, I just responded to the bit about Axl's mic.

[MaskingApathy]

3 hours ago, Muddy said:

Slash is losing his chops as he gets older . He plays nervous without a few drinks in him I think and it effects his timing and feel

Uh no

26 minutes ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

Brent fitz doesn’t play songs the same in SMKC albums as he does live but slash is fine with them, if not better with them.

Yeah definitely. And I agree with you, I think Frank sounds better than before on this run, which I'm attributing to additional rehearsal and slower tempos.

[Rovim]

2 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

 

What's this about vocal surgery? He was going to have an operation?

no, just speculation afaik.

[jamillos]

There was a long post at HTGTH when I used to go there (for about two months in 2015, before that jerk-off and the whole environment pissed me off enough to slam the door behind me), which very eruditely talked about Axl having gone through this kind of surgery I think around 2010/11, in that gap prior to Rio 2011. Sad to say, the post was quite swiftly deleted without any comment, surprise, surprise. Still, just a rumour at this point. 

[James Bond]

6 hours ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

Videos don’t do justice. Both my girlfriend and I took a handful of various videos and watching them back tonight we both agreed that 100% was not what we heard live and it wasn’t just axl. There were slash parts in our recordings that sounded lightly different. I think recordings over do the Mickey a bit. He sounded strong and clean largely with good chunks of rasp, especially early. His deep voice was incredibly strong too

We live in the age of 4K fan videos. If there was truth to it altering Axl's voice in any way, why does the same logic not apply to 2016 videos? It's an argument I've seen people pitch for many years and it just doesn't make any sense. Bootlegs tell the truth. There will always be imperfections that go unnoticed when you're there.

I don't disagree with the sentiment - Mickey is indeed less noticeable in person. I've seen several "Mickey" shows over the years (including 2011 and 2013) and when you're in the moment and listening to thousands of watts of music, it's masked a bit and didn't take away my enjoyment by any means at those shows - but it's there.

I've seen the band in 2006, 2010, and 2016 (including an AXL/DC show) so there is certainly a noticeable difference in Axl's vocal quality between those and the 2011, 2013, and 2017 shows I saw.

[blackmore]

Vocally he was better in Boston, but I don't think it will get much better for the rest of the tour. 

[Gnrcane]

1 hour ago, James Bond said:

We live in the age of 4K fan videos. If there was truth to it altering Axl's voice in any way, why does the same logic not apply to 2016 videos? It's an argument I've seen people pitch for many years and it just doesn't make any sense. Bootlegs tell the truth. There will always be imperfections that go unnoticed when you're there.

I don't disagree with the sentiment - Mickey is indeed less noticeable in person. I've seen several "Mickey" shows over the years (including 2011 and 2013) and when you're in the moment and listening to thousands of watts of music, it's masked a bit and didn't take away my enjoyment by any means at those shows - but it's there.

I've seen the band in 2006, 2010, and 2016 (including an AXL/DC show) so there is certainly a noticeable difference in Axl's vocal quality between those and the 2011, 2013, and 2017 shows I saw.

Obviously, the cell phones aren't doing a some kind of reverse autotune on Axl's voice and creating "Mickey" that didn't exist.  What I'm guessing is that the audio processing in a cell phone is trying to (under non-concert circumstances) record clear voices and minimize background noise.  Since the phone doesn't "know" you are recording a rock concert, it "highlights" the vocals more and suppresses some of the sound from the instruments.  Basically it alters the mix a bit and makes the voice more noticeable.

[MrSoftie]

6 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

Obviously, the cell phones aren't doing a some kind of reverse autotune on Axl's voice and creating "Mickey" that didn't exist.  What I'm guessing is that the audio processing in a cell phone is trying to (under non-concert circumstances) record clear voices and minimize background noise.  Since the phone doesn't "know" you are recording a rock concert, it "highlights" the vocals more and suppresses some of the sound from the instruments.  Basically it alters the mix a bit and makes the voice more noticeable.

Ding ding ding. Not to mention a microphone on a phone isn't going to pick up the same frequencies or record in the same quality. I use my phone with my band all the time in our rehearsals and it's the same.

[James Bond]

45 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

Obviously, the cell phones aren't doing a some kind of reverse autotune on Axl's voice and creating "Mickey" that didn't exist.  What I'm guessing is that the audio processing in a cell phone is trying to (under non-concert circumstances) record clear voices and minimize background noise.  Since the phone doesn't "know" you are recording a rock concert, it "highlights" the vocals more and suppresses some of the sound from the instruments.  Basically it alters the mix a bit and makes the voice more noticeable.

 

38 minutes ago, MrSoftie said:

Ding ding ding. Not to mention a microphone on a phone isn't going to pick up the same frequencies or record in the same quality. I use my phone with my band all the time in our rehearsals and it's the same.

So what's the excuse for the pro shot videos where Axl still sounds like garbage? Are those mics also not adequate quality?

[VampireSoul]

Am I the only one who thinks them playing Silkworms/Absurd is all Slash? If Axl would've wanted to do that song, it would've been heard many times over the years. Slashs instagram is like Silkworms come to life in pictures 😂

[Gnrcane]

18 minutes ago, James Bond said:

 

So what's the excuse for the pro shot videos where Axl still sounds like garbage? Are those mics also not adequate quality?

The mix. The mix you hear in the audience at the concert covers up the vocal issues. The more his voice is featured in the mix the more noticeable it is. What exits his mouth sounds the same. What you hear varies based upon the recorded mix. I was pointing out that cell phones will "feature" vocals in the mix.

I guess the best way to put it is that he will sound better to you if you are at the concert but he isn't producing a better sound.

 

[Gunsdrummer63]

Just now, Gnrcane said:

The mix. The mix you hear in the audience at the concert covers up the vocal issues. The more his voice is featured in the mix the more noticeable it is. What exits his mouth sounds the same. What you hear varies based upon the recorded mix. I was pointing out that cell phones will "feature" vocals in the mix.

I guess the best way to put it is that he will sound better to you if you are at the concert but he isn't producing a better sound.

 

Makes sense. It’s well known that Fenway has a history of sound issues as well so I’m sure there are many  factors going each way. From an audience perspective I thought vocals were fine and strong. From the videos we have there are obvious high and lows with strong points but more Mickey than we heard live. Still a good show and much better than I expected considering Hershey 

[James Bond]

2 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

The mix. The mix you hear in the audience at the concert covers up the vocal issues. The more his voice is featured in the mix the more noticeable it is. What exits his mouth sounds the same. What you hear varies based upon the recorded mix. I was pointing out that cell phones will "feature" vocals in the mix.

I guess the best way to put it is that he will sound better to you if you are at the concert but he isn't producing a better sound.

 

Which I never disagreed with. I said in my original post that I agreed that it was less noticeable live between the volume and atmosphere.

I just find it rather curious that it often gets brought up as a defense for Axl's vocals when the discussion is critical, and yet nobody says one word about recording quality on videos where he sounds great.

 

[Aussiegun]

Bizarre no Patience or Don't Cry, probably the two best songs to sing in any voice condition..

[Tom-Ass]

3 hours ago, James Bond said:

We live in the age of 4K fan videos. If there was truth to it altering Axl's voice in any way, why does the same logic not apply to 2016 videos? It's an argument I've seen people pitch for many years and it just doesn't make any sense. Bootlegs tell the truth. There will always be imperfections that go unnoticed when you're there.

I don't disagree with the sentiment - Mickey is indeed less noticeable in person. I've seen several "Mickey" shows over the years (including 2011 and 2013) and when you're in the moment and listening to thousands of watts of music, it's masked a bit and didn't take away my enjoyment by any means at those shows - but it's there.

Oh Mickey was definitely there in Boston.  I have seen Axl eight times now and that was easily the worst I have ever heard him in person.  It definitely gets masked due to the pure wattage but it is there. As well as the cracks  and inconsistencies..  The crowd singing along helps as well.  It was still a great show. I think the band and crowd helped offset some of the vocal issues. 

[Tom-Ass]

34 minutes ago, James Bond said:

I just find it rather curious that it often gets brought up as a defense for Axl's vocals when the discussion is critical, and yet nobody says one word about recording quality on videos where he sounds great.

100% 

[agustingloger]

3 hours ago, James Bond said:

We live in the age of 4K fan videos. If there was truth to it altering Axl's voice in any way, why does the same logic not apply to 2016 videos? It's an argument I've seen people pitch for many years and it just doesn't make any sense. Bootlegs tell the truth. There will always be imperfections that go unnoticed when you're there.

I don't disagree with the sentiment - Mickey is indeed less noticeable in person. I've seen several "Mickey" shows over the years (including 2011 and 2013) and when you're in the moment and listening to thousands of watts of music, it's masked a bit and didn't take away my enjoyment by any means at those shows - but it's there.

I've seen the band in 2006, 2010, and 2016 (including an AXL/DC show) so there is certainly a noticeable difference in Axl's vocal quality between those and the 2011, 2013, and 2017 shows I saw.

Cheers! An AXL/DC show is one in a Lifetime chance! Must've been massive

[Tom-Ass]

22 minutes ago, Aussiegun said:

Bizarre no Patience or Don't Cry, probably the two best songs to sing in any voice condition..

The crowd deserved another song in the encore.. They were into the show all night.. Except after SilkWorms.. For real, it was awkwardly quiet.  

[Italian girl]

he's so handsome 

[Tyson]

Question:  Were there merchandise stands at this show?  Someone posted on HTGTH that they're doing away with them and only selling online to prevent crowds/long lines.  

[El Guapo]

14 minutes ago, Italian girl said:

he's so handsome 

You like that haircut? 

[Italian girl]

4 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

You like that haircut? 

a lot!

[GNRfanMILO]

36 minutes ago, weaponsnflowers said:

"Absurd" was a real shock and just terrible, but just look at this and the first three minutes. I can't help but to be happy for happy Axl! And yeah the voice is shot and full on Mickey, but to me it seems he really does try, the rasp just isn't there so easily anymore. And I always appreciate when he puts effort on the screams, which I find to be the coolest things about his performance. Heck, I would go see them if I had the chance again. Just to see this happy Axl, nevermind the voice.

But we all know he tries on stage! There's no doubt about that. It's the least thing he can do.

What probably anyone here wants is for him to try, while off the stage. Preparing for a tour, and not using the first show as a rehearsal. He'd sound so, so much better.