Heartland

just found this - scroll down to "Tracking the Stars"

http://www.lvrj.com/columnists/normclarke

"Ben Christo, guitarist for The Sisters of Mercy, arriving about 3 a.m. at the Friday night venue called sKizoFrenia at The Lounge at Krave, which plays goth/industrial/punk music. Christo brought Hypernova, the band that opened for The Sisters of Mercy earlier at the House of Blues that night). The event stayed open for Christo, who accommodated fans with photos and autographs..."

He is the new Huey Lewis.

...sorry didnt have net access in vegas.


in anahiem now will post reviews on both shows later

Of the 3 shows we attended (SF Vegas Anaheim) Vegas was the low point. Not to say it was bad, just not as good as the o other two.

HOB Vegas was about half full. Floor was uncrowded so it was no problem to get within 2 people of the railing. Crowd was mildly enthusiastic

Sound quality was about the same as in SF mix wise, but there was bad feedback from Andrews mic on several occasions and he was visibly perturbed by this.

Set list was the same as in SF near as I can tell, When FALAA started, Andrew was nowhere to be seen, Ben and Chris looked at each other and carried on, and sang the choruses but Andrew didn’t reappear until the next song. Later I heard that he had gone back to the mixing desk and conferred with the sound guy, perhaps complaining about the feedback?

Not much else of note to report. Afterwards we went to skizofrenia but must have left just before Ben got there

Thanks for the review, voodoo!

Andrew's behaviour sounds very strange to me, no matter how bad the sound was.

voodoo wrote:When FALAA started, Andrew was nowhere to be seen, Ben and Chris looked at each other and carried on, and sang the choruses but Andrew didn’t reappear until the next song. Later I heard that he had gone back to the mixing desk and conferred with the sound guy, perhaps complaining about the feedback?

Wow, interesting. Something seems to be going off the rails a bit here. I do think it has to do with Andy not being able to sing at a high volume, and it looks like it's getting worse. If this is indeed the problem, can't the mic be amplified even more, while leaving the knobs low enough to avoid feedback? Techies please weigh in.

bismarck wrote:

voodoo wrote:When FALAA started, Andrew was nowhere to be seen, Ben and Chris looked at each other and carried on, and sang the choruses but Andrew didn’t reappear until the next song. Later I heard that he had gone back to the mixing desk and conferred with the sound guy, perhaps complaining about the feedback?

Wow, interesting. Something seems to be going off the rails a bit here. I do think it has to do with Andy not being able to sing at a high volume, and it looks like it's getting worse.

Something similar happened in Seattle...don't remember which number, but Von just disappeared, and Chris and Ben sort of looked at each other like "So how long do we keep on vamping here?"

It did seem as if it wasn't the first time this had ever happened...

(He did it in 2006, but he needed a smoke )

I think there are definitely times when he knows he's just not going to be able to do it - so he doesn't even make the attempt. And it may not be anything that can be dealt with technically. I can certainly tell when I'm having a day when my voice simply "won't go there"

7anthea7 wrote:I can certainly tell when I'm having a day when my voice simply "won't go there"

Ditto - except that particular day stretched into the last 5 years or so. I've completely lost my upper range; I suppose, sadly, that I was simply never really meant to sing soprano. *Sigh*

The Voice of Von...

It is likely true... they even cut Floorshow before can break into

See them shimmy see them go
See their painted faces glow
Slow slow quick quick slow
See those pagans go go go go go

Still.. I understand and would rather sing low while his back-ups sing high...
it has worked before and kicks a**.

And I would love to hear (Phantom) Floorshow rocked out all the way...
I love the new version!

SINsister wrote:I've completely lost my upper range; I suppose, sadly, that I was simply never really meant to sing soprano.

Me, too - except I started out a contralto, so you can just imagine where I'm at these days...I haven't sung soprano since I was 11

7anthea7 wrote:

SINsister wrote:I've completely lost my upper range; I suppose, sadly, that I was simply never really meant to sing soprano.

Me, too - except I started out a contralto, so you can just imagine where I'm at these days...I haven't sung soprano since I was 11

Well, to be frank, I was in denial for years - still am, to a degree. I wanted a soprano voice like my mom's: not professionally trained, yet absolutely phenomenal - a natural gift. Tragically, I didn't inherit that voice. After about age 18, I couldn't hit any of those high notes without straining; after about age 25, I couldn't hit any of them at all, other than in "head voice" mode.
Imagine, if you will, Tanita Tikaram attempting to sound like Liz Fraser... Ahhhh, the frustration. What's more frustrating, though, is that I can't even hit Chris Cornell's high notes - and he's a *dude*!

SINsister wrote:What's more frustrating, though, is that I can't even hit Chris Cornell's high notes - and he's a *dude*!

Look on the bright side - I haven't been able to hit Rob Halford's high notes since I was about 7, and he's a well-'ard 'ard-metal dude in levver. For those of us what have heard it, we like your voice just the way it is

EvilBastard wrote:For those of us what have heard it, we like your voice just the way it is

Pfffft. None of you have heard me sing...yet.

Saw the LA show last night. So it seems that the vocal mix is a consistent problem... BUT here's the deal, went to the smoking section where they pipe in the live feed and it sounded GREAT. Von's voice sounded GREAT... so something is up technically... I have more of a post background, and couldn't really guess at what it could be, but I can say with authority that the voice is still there.

Leaving during FALAA happened at this show too. Seemed part of the act!

Mosh

moshdaddy wrote:Leaving during FALAA happened at this show too. Seemed part of the act!

Hmm. So mebbe it is a smoke break still (or the equivalent, whatever that may be...).

7anthea7 wrote:Hmm. So mebbe it is a smoke break still (or the equivalent, whatever that may be...).

"'Scuse me, folks, but I really have to pee!"
The ol' bladder just ain't what it used to be...

SINsister wrote:"'Scuse me, folks, but I really have to pee!"
The ol' bladder just ain't what it used to be...

If he manages to time it for the same slot in every show, I'd say his control is impeccable...

don't he know about pampers or something? let's be serious