The PA Rig...

[BombJack]

Can't say I came across any ridiculous doormen at the Glasgow gig.
However, I do have my own grumble, which I'd look to put as nicely as I can.

Before I continue, I'd like to say a few things, in full disclosure.

1) The new album is great - I actually think in many respects it's the fattest sounding Orbital album to date. It's very well engineered and produced, and imo contains a few tracks which I think will go on to be regarded as future "classic" Orbital numbers.
2) The O2 Academy in Glasgow is a venue I find I am increasingly going to when I go to gigs. I've seen quite a few bands there now - but, I'm not so familiar with the venue that I recognise the house PA, or if bands have brought their own gear and so on.
3) I'm no audio expert, but do have 15+ years of attempted music production under my belt, plus I own some pretty good audio equipment, and not to forget about 20 years of going to gigs and nightclubs, so I'd like to think I've an idea of what is a good sound and what isn't.

Anyway - on to my grumble.

I was really looking forward to the gig - last time I saw Orbital was on the "The Altogether" tour (Glasgow Barrowland) - so I was high with anticipation having seen them before, knowing what they are capable of.
I glimpsed the spoiler for the set list on here, and though probably my favourite Orbital track "Girl" wasn't to be played I was really gearing myself up for a top notch gig. I watched the Maida Vale set, and though maybe a little rusty, I thought the performance showed real promise for the Glasgow gig.

And so, Glasgow.
With respect to the bands performance, I thought it was excellent - the visuals were brilliant too - funny in bits as well as clever - the E numbers section particularly had me laughing- "E666 - Violent" lol. Really eye catching. And the songs speak for themselves - the track list is a really good selection of what Orbital are all about, including some of the best of the new album. Only problem with the set list is that it's about 2 or 3 hours too short lol.
I seriously could watch Orbital play all night.

But here's my gripe.
The sound quality.

When the support came on, they sounded like a typical support band - PA was a bit quiet - plenty of energy, decent tunes - I can see why they were selected - very similar to Orbital in terms of sensibilities - old school flavours scattered all over the place but with a modern edge. Cool. Decent warm up. Sound wasn't great, and I attributed that to the fact they were the support.

I should add that at this point, me and my mates got their early, so took up a really decent position.
Equidistant between the two large suspended stacks - middle of stage - about 20 to 40 feet from the front of the stage.
I realise that in these large dance type productions the PA never really pumps out stereo - but we certainly seemed to be in a sweet spot in the middle.

So then on to Orbital.

OBM - the opener - I was really looking forward to this - one of the real standouts on the album imo.
Loads of stuff going on, with a lead line which modulates right across the melody line due.
It's a rich track - but on the PA, it sounded very poor.
I put it down initially to just a few things being out, maybe from soundcheck.
It's quite tricky to get levels right in the house when it's full of people compared to when it's empty - the acoustics change.
So, I assumed that whoever was doing the room mix would be able to tweak it quite quickly, to get it sorted.
My impression of the sound was that, though it was loud and energetic, as you'd expect, there was too much low end grunt, but midrange was poor and high end a bit lost. Big chunks of the shiny plinky lead lines in songs were lost, due to the pronounced low end.
Unfortunately it wasn't resolved quickly. In due course, over the set things were improved - but this improvement was only really noticeable about 2/3rd through the set.
My overall impression was that it sounded - sort of like a really loud crap night club PA which is chucking out loads of energy, but little clarity. The sort that tends to really give you a dose of tinitus at the end of the night.
There was stacks of midrange mud - sort of like the system was being pushed too hard, and there was a bit too much distortion going on - hard to describe. As if, the rig was too small for what was trying to be pushed through it.

Just before the encore break I decided I needed a visit to the toilet, so as I made my way back I tried to spot how the sound was changing. As I went further back it started to sound increasingly coherent - the best it sounded was actually right at the back of the hall - now this may well be true generally, but I also thought that it suggested the angles the speakers were set up wasn't quite right. Later having spoken to my pal who made his way upstairs to the balcony, said the audio was much better upstairs - but he also agreed that even there it wasn't right - a bit of a let down.

Am I being picky?
I don't think so.
I'll explain why.

Last time I was in this venue, last year, I saw Leftfield.
And their sonics were far, far better. Loud, well balanced, but so much clarity too.
I'm not making this observation as a Leftfield fan boy - in fact I actually ran my concern past Loopz first, fearful of a backlash on here. Though I like Leftfield, Orbital are more my bag - they are one of the reasons I got into electronic music in the first place.
The main reason I've posted this on here is actually so that I can get more of an understanding of what's Orbital's typical rig - do they have their own PA rig (as I have heard Leftfield tend to have), or do they generally rely on in-house kit and so on?
Was this a one off situation - or is this something the band should be looking to rectify looking forward?
What have the other gigs been like?

Put it this way - I reckon the new album really is an excellent piece of work, but the PA etc at the Glasgow gig really did it no service at all.

The gig was good, but could have def been better, and imo using Leftfield as a benchmark, who I'd say in some respects are peers, should have been better.

Tin hat on...

[Lobe]

I sort of know what you mean. Was at Manchester gig and although the sound was good, it was better the last time I saw them in 2009. It didn't seem loud enough to me although I thought the clarity was ok. Mind you it was louder than the Steve White dj set in 2008 for the Paul hatnolll gig at Manchester. Only joking loopz had to get that one in. Anyway good to be back talking orbital.

[Lobe]

I meant hartnoll not hatnoll

[stranstringulon]

I was slightly to the right of the mixing desk at Manchester. I thought there were times when it could have been for want of a better word clearer It was my first Orbital gig so wasn't too sure what to expect though.

Looking at the space inside, there are an awful lot of flat surfaces in the academy and just put it down to being a bit of a duff room sound wise.