03-14-2013, 03:51 PM
HP Pavilion has the worst sound of any venue in the bay. The ceiling is like corrugated steel, which gives a clangy, tinny sound that might be fine for hockey, but sux balls for concerts. With the ridiculous prices for parking, food, beer and even water, you'd think they could afford to put some freaking sound tiles up on the ceiling. But no. All that money coming in and the sound sux. They book a lot of interesting pop acts and are their own little promotional entity, so they dominate some showings. Plus they kicked Rock Med out about six years ago. 
So I was there last night as a chauffeur for my kid and two of her classmates. The show was Owl City, Neon Trees and Maroon 5.
T has the Owl City CD, given to her from a former gymno teammate. It's sweet harmless music, a lot of electronic beeping, the kind of music that a microwave oven might enjoy. As a live band, the sound was so messed up that the beeping was lost. The bass and drums was a muddy mess. They sounded horrible, like a high school garage band that wasn't grudgy, just bad.
The lead for Neon Trees has impossibly skinny legs. I liked their female drummer, who sang a little. They were a 4-piece, but there was a 5th member (rhythm guitar) who was in the shadows, never in the spotlight and never introduced when the rest of the band was introduced, so basically, they are a 4-piece that is too lame to make it as a 4-piece and really should be a 5-piece. Another big 'meh' for them.
Maroon 5 dominates my daughter's generation. They are one of the biggest pop bands for her and her classmates. Those kids, they were going wild, screaming and dancing. I knew every song, just from the radio, which was surprising for me as I'm not really that tuned into them beyond making sure that my kid isn't listening to gangsta rap or emo. M5 is a stereotypical pop band, maybe one to two CDs away from crossing up to stadium shows, perhaps as soon as their fan base can pay for their $45 T-shirts without asking their parents. It could happen. The show was sold out solid on a school night and their stage show was big enough. It was a tightly choreographed show, quite standard for pop really - if I knew their music better I might have been able to write out their entire songlist beforehand. The stage was a giant M. There were giant glitter balls, a nice laser show, amusing vid screens, the lead-singer-takes-the-camera, the acoustic song just prior to the finale, the glory stage, the drum solo, the glitter cannons, all very standard for a pop band. They closed with Moves Like Jagger, as predicted, and while it was high energy, I've seen Jagger many times and Levine isn't even in the ballpark (or stadium) when it comes to moves. But he can sing and play like a pop star and had the audience eating out of his hand. The call backs and singalongs were top notch, a sure sign of audience adoration. A lot of people were on their feet dancing all night (including my kid and her friends - one friend so much so that the person next to her asked me to switch seats because she was scared she'd catch an elbow). I stayed seated. Usually, I work the show, so I don't get a seat. I paid for that seat, which is so rare for me, so I was going to freaking sit in it all night.
When One More Night, I liked it on the first listen as pop reggae, then hated it when it got quickly overplayed. They went into it with this almost dubby jam, which I did enjoy, and it's not a bad tune, but I think the bassline is lacking, which just can't happen for reggae.
I still think Levine's best work was the Gollum vs. Smeagol epic rap battle.
So I was there last night as a chauffeur for my kid and two of her classmates. The show was Owl City, Neon Trees and Maroon 5.
T has the Owl City CD, given to her from a former gymno teammate. It's sweet harmless music, a lot of electronic beeping, the kind of music that a microwave oven might enjoy. As a live band, the sound was so messed up that the beeping was lost. The bass and drums was a muddy mess. They sounded horrible, like a high school garage band that wasn't grudgy, just bad.
The lead for Neon Trees has impossibly skinny legs. I liked their female drummer, who sang a little. They were a 4-piece, but there was a 5th member (rhythm guitar) who was in the shadows, never in the spotlight and never introduced when the rest of the band was introduced, so basically, they are a 4-piece that is too lame to make it as a 4-piece and really should be a 5-piece. Another big 'meh' for them.
Maroon 5 dominates my daughter's generation. They are one of the biggest pop bands for her and her classmates. Those kids, they were going wild, screaming and dancing. I knew every song, just from the radio, which was surprising for me as I'm not really that tuned into them beyond making sure that my kid isn't listening to gangsta rap or emo. M5 is a stereotypical pop band, maybe one to two CDs away from crossing up to stadium shows, perhaps as soon as their fan base can pay for their $45 T-shirts without asking their parents. It could happen. The show was sold out solid on a school night and their stage show was big enough. It was a tightly choreographed show, quite standard for pop really - if I knew their music better I might have been able to write out their entire songlist beforehand. The stage was a giant M. There were giant glitter balls, a nice laser show, amusing vid screens, the lead-singer-takes-the-camera, the acoustic song just prior to the finale, the glory stage, the drum solo, the glitter cannons, all very standard for a pop band. They closed with Moves Like Jagger, as predicted, and while it was high energy, I've seen Jagger many times and Levine isn't even in the ballpark (or stadium) when it comes to moves. But he can sing and play like a pop star and had the audience eating out of his hand. The call backs and singalongs were top notch, a sure sign of audience adoration. A lot of people were on their feet dancing all night (including my kid and her friends - one friend so much so that the person next to her asked me to switch seats because she was scared she'd catch an elbow). I stayed seated. Usually, I work the show, so I don't get a seat. I paid for that seat, which is so rare for me, so I was going to freaking sit in it all night.
When One More Night, I liked it on the first listen as pop reggae, then hated it when it got quickly overplayed. They went into it with this almost dubby jam, which I did enjoy, and it's not a bad tune, but I think the bassline is lacking, which just can't happen for reggae.
I still think Levine's best work was the Gollum vs. Smeagol epic rap battle.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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