After living in NYC for well over a year, I finally ventured out to Governors Island to catch an outdoor concert. In my usual “my weekend plans are to have no set plans” style, this was totally last minute and I found myself hopping on the quickest subway train from Herald Square to South Street Seaport I could find (it was the 2,3 – in case you were wondering).
The concert was a 2-stage multi-act shindig, and my group had high hopes for not only the opening acts, but the headliner, M.I.A. – one of my favorite acts.
Karri totally blogged about the concert and her post is worth a read, especially if you’re into Ali G turned South African hip hop (for the record, I totally am – and they’re called Die Antwoord). Aside from personal favorites Skream and Benga, these guys totally stole the show.
Really, who doesn’t love songs about ninjas?
Then comes M.I.A. – aka: the lady I’ve been waiting in the sticky “holy cow it’s still 85 degrees and it’s almost midnight!” heat to see. Since way before “almost midnight”.
To put it plainly? She blew.
Blew out my ears.
Sounded like she was going to blow out the speakers.
Blew me from my spot sort of close to the stage to back by the food vendors.
Blew me all the way out to the ferry, with hundreds of other fans.
Two. Songs. In.
Now, I’m going to go on record here and say that I don’t actually think that she was the problem. I think that it was the lack of a soundcheck that was the problem here. Die Antwoord stopped mid-song to ask the sound guys to turn their monitors up, and they sounded crisp and clean. Even Skeam and Benga sounded clear, and their music is full of bass and sub bass. The bass is what makes dubstep, dubstep!
M.I.A. on the other hand… wow. She sounded like she was close to a half a beat behind, she had a wicked reverb on her mic, she kept getting feedback from the speakers, and the bass was so muddy that it all sounded like one big “boom” instead of music.
What in the heck happened to the soundcheck?!
Really, that’s all I want to know. I know that I wasn’t the only disappointed fan judging by the hundreds that left with me on the ferry back to Manhattan less than 2 songs in. That’s for sure. But I am inquisitive, and I really want to know how the sound can go from crisp and clean in one set, to so awful I pick up and leave while barely into the set in the next moment. Especially because she was the headliner!
Us fans, we may act impatient, but we’re really, honestly and truly, willing to wait for the crew to perform a soundcheck if it’s going to mean that we get to enjoy the music we paid (in this case $50 and up) to see.
Performance quality still matters people – and it often starts with the basics – like the soundcheck.