Live Music Blog

Recording and sound professionals are among the most essential professionals in the field of entertainment. From the sound of live events, concerts and television broadcasts, and film sound recording, the work of technical sound is crucial. The truth is; sound is only as good as the equipment. For concert sound engineers, it is necessary to have high-quality, reliable sound mixing equipment. Regardless of whether they are live or in the studio, musicians demand great sound. Requests for these two types of concert sound, however, are not the same.

A good system for a concert tour is often very expensive Engineers should be able to expect that the company they hire will provide reliable equipment. For 15 years, the best digital audio mixers for the concerts are provided Hi-Tech audio. They built their businesses, starting from one console. Today, they are considered some of the biggest sound in music and television

The staff of Hi-Tech Audio is passionate about their business. They research (and occasionally help develop) each console they sell or rent, as well as the reputation of the manufacturer for quality and service. Nothing that fails to meet their high standards is ever offered through Hi-Tech Audio. Thorough personal training insures that sound engineers are capable of competently manning the concert sound equipment they rent or purchase. They can then hit the road with the confidence, knowing that should difficulties arise, the Hi-Tech Audio staff will offer impeccable technical assistance.

Reputation matters. That is why Hi-Tech Audio has remained at the forefront in a competitive business. The concert sound they have provided for the last fifteen years continues to resonate loudly.

Steve Collins is an author and Journalist based in Encino, CA. He specializes in writing about live sound, recording and in particular concert sound.

A live music boom driven by bands ranging from the newest guitar acts to reformed rock dinosaurs will lead to the reopening of former concert halls across Britain next year.

Academy Music Group, the UK’s biggest owner of live venues, will today unveil plans for three new ones with capacities of more than 2,000 in 2008, including the refurbishment of legendary names like the Roxy in Sheffield and the Town & Country Club in Leeds.

Both played host to a string of famous acts before being converted into nightclubs. While both cities have experienced a musical revival with the likes of Arctic Monkeys and the Pigeon Detectives, neither has a large concert hall.

AMG chief executive John Northcote also that confirmed Brighton Hippodrome, a grand music hall that played host to the Beatles and the Stones in the 60s before becoming a bingo venue, was on course to reopen in April 2008.

The company is also in negotiations to buy one other venue next year and four more in 2009.

The Sheffield Roxy hosted David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and concerts by the Jam and the Clash in the 70s before becoming a nightclub. It was threatened with demolition throughout the 90s and Northcote said he had been chasing the “iconic” building for four years.

The Grade I-listed Leeds site was built in 1885 and went through various incarnations as a theatre, a cinema, a bingo hall and a television studio. In the 90s, it was home to the Town & Country club before also becoming a nightclub.

Industry experts put the surge in popularity for live music down to a wider demographic going to gigs, better facilities and a resurgence of interest in live bands kick started by the Libertines and sustained by Arctic Monkeys.

Yesterday, the Police’s global reunion tour was named the most profitable of 2007 by Billboard, the US industry magazine. The trio have so far grossed more than £83.8m from 53 shows seen by more than 1.5 million people.

From younger crowds recruited through my space to re-formed 90s acts like the Verve catering for thirty-somethings, live music is more popular than ever. An increasingly fragmented media culture, with unfettered access to music online, has led fans to crave the one-off communal experience provided by concerts and festivals. “To be one of 5,000 people at Brixton Academy, all there because they love the band – you are in an exclusive club,” said Northcote.

He also gives credit to a more unlikely source. “A big influence was the success of bands like the Spice Girls and Westlife. The thing about those pop acts is that they played massive tours to a new generation of concert goers who were 10 then and will be 20 now,” he said.

Older gig-goers are also a common sight. “People would reach the age of 25 and spend the rest of their lives harking back to the music they loved then. But now people seem to stay interested in new music for longer,” said Bob Angus, managing director of concert promoter Metropolis, a shareholder in AMG along with rivals SJM and US giant Live Nation. The latter recently signed a 10-year deal with Madonna worth $120m, encompassing everything from records to concerts and films. While AMG concentrates on medium-sized venues, a nationwide network of smaller Barfly venues, owned by the Channelfly Group, is also thriving.

At the other end of the scale, Wembley stadium has reopened and AEG has succeeded in laying to rest the ghost of the Millennium Dome with a string of sold-out concerts by the likes of Prince and the Spice Girls at the O2 arena.

Hot rocks

£743m Value of live music industry in the UK, up 8% on 2006, says Mintel

£83,000 Paid for last pair of Led Zeppelin tickets at O2 in London. They were auctioned for Children in Need

1m-plus Applications for Led Zeppelin tickets at £125 each

£83.8m Grossed so far by the Police reunion tour

3.25m Attendance at Academy venues in 2006

21 nights Sold out by Prince at the O2

One of the best ever live performing bands is Rush A group of phenomenal musicians who are as popular today as they were in the 1970s were put on another plane. And, really, they are not that easy to place in a any specific genre, unless it is considered “rock.” They’ve been classified under a lot of labels – “heavy metal”, “progressive rock”, “hard rock”, etc. – but none have been accurate.

They have garnered one of the most faithful and passionate groups of disciples of any band ever assembled, in spite of having very few bonafide hit records and the wide disparity of music offered on their various and divergent studio recordings.

These elements make their concerts the best I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

Attend a Rush concert, and you’ll find the difference from other heavy rock band audiences as being far more attentive to the music, paving the way for a thoroughly enjoyable performance. Many live shows are about the “flash” – not the music; and usually, that’s due to the mediocrity of the music. The music at a Rush show is complex, and that is what makes it so awesome. Despite the very complex lyrics, thousands of fans sing along, dance and cheer to finely crafted music.

That only three guys could create such amazing music is astounding. The band Rush, doesn’t use any musicians during studio sessions, and they do not use any session musicians in their live concerts. This further connects the fans with the band and creates a unique, exciting experience for the audience in a way that can’t be compared with any other show. The guys have never split up and have had the exact same members for 30 years. In addition, they’ve never used back-up singers or keyboardists live. Of the three chosen, there are two expert connoisseurs of songwriting: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. The other, Neil Peart, is one of the most excellent authors in the world.

At a Rush concert, there is a special charge to the atmosphere before the first laser is shone and before the first note is even played. Although the music is of utmost importance, Rush concerts are also visually stimulating. Lasers, giant videos or screens showing close-ups of the musicians’ performances in real time, crazy song-fitting things like flashpot explosions during “Far Cry” or head-bobbing, time-keeping bunnies coming up out of top hats when they play their signature song “Tom Sawyer”, and on and on let the special effects crew go crazy.

And the musicians are hardly just standing or sitting there–especially Neil Peart, who may be the only front man drummer there ever was in rock music and whose massive, full-circle drum kit always takes center stage. Lifeson, who plays Guitar and Lee, who is a singer, bass player and keyboardist are a dynamic duo who have just as much zest and electricity now in their mid-50’s as they did when they were younger.

The audiences at a Rush concert are filled with musicians and non-musicians alike. The non-musicians love to play air-anything – even the drums! Speaking of the drums (Rush and drums are practically synonymous), at just about every other rock concert the drum solo is an excuse to go to the bathroom or go grab another beer; but not at a Rush concert. At a Rush concert, the drum solo is WAITED for. For those six to nine minutes of action, everyone remains where they are, watching in awe. Afterwards, the clapping, yelling and cheers are ear numbing!

Rush also, for all their musical and lyrical seriousness, have the most incredible sense of humor, adding yet another dimension of fun to their shows. Two tours ago Lee decided to change the lyrics to an old classic “The Temples of Syrinx” to say “We are the pirates of the Temples…Lee threw himself fully into the act by wearing a stuffed pirate on his shoulder, and the audience participated by waving pirate skull and cross bone flags During the tour I spotted them four times.. As regards that zany character called Lifeson…In front of his foot switches, the barbie dolls (new for this tour and definitely blond and busty) declare his hotness and abundance of talent. Behind Lee you can find three large rotisserie chicken cookers cooking real chicken that will match Lifeson’s huge wall of Marshall stacks.

Non-fans sometimes refer to Rush as a cult. When attending a Rush concert, you will see the reason for this, and discover that they are at least half right about it.

Attending a Rush concert is like being at a religious ceremony. and everybody will be singing, for up to three hours!

Boston’s Fenway Park came alive last night as The Police performed one classic hit after another in center field. This is the hottest tour of the 2007 summer and it did not disappoint.

I grew up in the 80’s and always loved The Police so when I heard that they were going on tour this summer, I bought my tickets immediately. The trio sounded fantastic live, creating their signature reggae and punk-influenced music on stage under a mostly clear sky and humid night. The concert began with Message in a Bottle, Synchronicity II and then Walking on the Moon. You couldn’t have picked three better tunes to start the show.

I was looking for any hints of the three playing separately since they’ve been broken up for so long and have had their differences in the past. I recently read a review of one of their earlier shows on this reunion tour where the writer thought it was like hearing three different solo artists happening to play on one stage together. I found no such thing at the Fenway Park concert.

They were one and played as a band. You could just tell how comfortable they were with each other. And as the night progressed, they became even tighter. When Stewart Copeland played everything conceivable except the downbeat, yet the three managed to stay glued to the underlying groove, I was sure I was witnessing a group in the truest sense of the word.

Not only did they play as one cohesive band, but most traces of Sting’s solo career were pleasingly missing. I am also a fan of Sting’s solo music and have been to a few of his shows, but I wanted to hear The Police last night and I did. They didn’t play any Sting tunes, a good decision. And Sting was humble and even inserted both Any Summers’ and Stewart Copeland’s names into a song.

Sting rocked on the bass and he surprised me with his talent. As a bass player myself, I can appreciate just how good he is and I suspect he has improved quite a bit since the eighties. From slap bass to thumb-picking, and from solo riffs in the high register to heart-pounding low-note grooves, Sting was the master of his bass last night. And what amazed me even more was his awesome ability to play syncopated bass while singing harmonious tunes.

Sting’s voice was great too. He hit all the high notes, and there were a lot of them, and nailed every vocal their songs required of him. For a while during the show I thought there was some background vocals just off the stage or maybe a soundtrack playing in the background, but it turned out to be the audience! Everyone seemed to know every word of every song. Sting would purposefully back off the microphone and the crowd would sing the rest of the lyric in unison. In numerous songs, he would sing the first part of the chorus and the crowd would sing the rest. It was a blast since I too knew all the words.

Stewart Copeland was ridiculously good. He drumming was like a genius rhythm machine on steroids. From the wicked snap of his snare to the booming bass drum, Copeland proved to me that his is still one of the best drummers around. His hands were lightening fast, often simply a blur. The beats and polyrhythms emanating from his drum kit were both mesmerizing and beautiful. Copeland also created some unique sounds on his large inventory of percussion instruments. We watched him standing up jamming on one of these unusual instruments and then bouncing over to his seat at his drum kit and slamming down on his snare in perfect rhythm.

Andy Summers also put on quite a show with his famous wide and multi-layered chords. Summers had a few solos and ramped it up in each one. As the night progressed the band sounded more and more like one cohesive unit with Summers filling in the sound. In fact it was remarkable just how much sound three guys can produce. They knew exactly how to make it sound like there were seven or eight musicians up there.

They ended the concert with Roxanne, and then encored with King of Pain, So Lonely, Every Breath You Take and finally, Next To You.

Last night I was at times perfectly transported back to my youth while I took in the whole experience. There were many tunes that reminded me so clearly of earlier times in my life, and that nostalgia felt good. But then I would snap back to the present, summer of 2007, and quickly remember that I was also witnessing a live band that is still relevant today that is made up of musicians at the top of their game.

Motley Crue tickets once represented one of the biggest draws on the market. The band was wildly successful in the 1980’s, and their concerts were as highly-acclaimed as any in the world given their high-flying pyrotechnics, unexpected visual effects and loud style. The band is going back on tour with Aerosmith, and a look at their past will explain why the latest set of shows will no doubt draw fans by the millions.

Formation

The band came together in 1981 in Los Angeles when each of the members met after playing in separate local acts that had not experienced much success. The members began to come together as a cohesive unit by spending several nights partying and jamming, and they soon discovered that an over-the-top approach to music was a common bond that each of them shared.

Given this style, they attracted a local manager, Allan Coffman, who had a connection with one of Motley Crue’s first roadies, and they began to record tracks as well as play often in local clubs. Coffman helped the band gain notice in several ways, including mixing their first release on a small independent label and touring Canada. The Canadian tour got Motley Crue noticed because they stirred up controversy north of the border. They got into trouble in Edmonton when they arrived in their heavily-spiked stage gear and even arranged a hoax with local police where an anonymous caller stated that there was a “bomb on stage.”

Although their methods were far from orthodox, they did what they had set out to do by getting noticed. As a result of their first release and the buzz they created in Canada, the band landed their first recording contract with a major label, Elektra Records, and they immediately got to work on their first mass-marketed release.

Climbing the Ladder

With the new label came new management and it was in 1983 that the band really began to take the music scene by storm. They played the US Festival that year and began to establish themselves as a household name due to their outlandish outfits, notorious partying and raging live shows. Motley Crue tickets had become the next “hot” thing, and the band strategically began to release albums behind these legendary live shows.

Over time, the band released seven high-end studio albums, beginning with Shout at the Devil in 1983. Every one of their releases climbed towards the top of the album charts, and millions of Motley Crue albums have been sold worldwide. That doesn’t mean that Motley Crue didn’t deal with their share of struggles.

Hurdles

The band was highly successful, but they collectively dealt with one major problem that nearly tore the band and their individual lives apart – addiction and substance abuse. All the notorious partying began to take its toll, and several incidents caused problems.

In 1984, singer Vince Neil was charged with DUI and vehicular manslaughter when he was in a head-on collision on his way to the liquor store. The accident killed his passenger, and Neil was sentenced to 30 days in prison.

In 1987, bassist Nikki Sixx overdosed on heroin and nearly died. In fact, he was declared legally dead in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but a persistent medic refused to give up, and managed to save his life with shots of adrenaline and vigorous CPR.

Eventually, management staged an intense intervention and refused to let the band continue to work until they had completed a hardcore course of rehabilitation. The members listened, and by the end of the 1980’s they had for the most part recovered from their addictions.

That doesn’t mean that this partying-style exuberance isn’t still present in their shows. If you want to see a band that’s as in-your-face as any in history, you need to secure Motley Crue tickets today.

This site focuses on classical music and their composers, a tradition which originated before radio and recordings, back when all music was live music. It was played by live human beings for other live human beings, with everybody together in the same room. When heard in this way, classical music can have a special excitement.

Hearing classical music in a concert can leave you feeling refreshed and energized. It can be fun. It can be romantic. It can be spiritual.

It can also scare you to death.

Classical music concerts can seem like snobby affairs full of foreign terminology and peculiar behavior. It can be hard to understand what’s going on. It can be hard to know how to act. It can be hard to find the restroom.

In some ways a concert is like a ballgame; both concerts and ballgames have their rules of behavior and their rituals, and both can be baffling if you don’t know what’s going on. (I’m still trying to figure out how, in the middle of a baseball game, when everybody is talking and eating hot dogs, and nobody is watching the game, all of a sudden everybody – except me – knows to leap to their feet and pay attention.)

If you haven’t been to a live concert before, or if you’ve been baffled by concerts, you should start thinking about going to one now to experience how relaxing and enjoying the music can be.

Procuring tickets for your favorite live entertainments and sporting events often tend to be horrendous. But we can make this task equally enjoyable as watching the actual events. Select the events you would like to attend from our wide range of database and then proceed further in accordance with the guidelines given by the websites. And eventually you would be able to watch the shows of your liking without going through the hassles – and frustrations and uncertainties – of booking your seats in advance. We ourselves do not sell tickets but we are an effective and productive link for bringing together the buyers and sellers of tickets.

Whatever be your requirements, our database would help you to meet them. If you need sports tickets, concert tickets, theme park tickets or some specific festivals’ tickets of your choice, you will find them all in our database. What we are very keen to do is to provide you with the easiest way of attending any event that you want to attend whether it is a rock concert or a classical music, whether it is London Philharmonic or New York, whether it is a Shakespeare play at the West End or a modern play at the Broadway.

We are quite versatile and we tend to be topical. If it is Rugby time in London where playing the game is any professional player’s dream, we can make your own dream fulfill by assisting you for being a spectator to that game by making it easy for you to get your favorite sports tickets be it football, tennis or golf.

You will find us as a useful key for watching plays in London’s quaint West End district. Here you will find all you need to know about the show you want to see, when to go and how to buy show tickets. Along with the West End, Broadway theatre in New York is considered to represent the highest level of prestige and popularity in commercial theatre presentation in the English-speaking world. We can also enable you to be a spectator at any event depending on where you are located.

Spending a magical Disney vacation with your family is always the right time throughout the year. Come and experience a fantastic place and enjoy your vacation with your Disneyland tickets available at our website. Your children deserve the right to enjoy the event. We will help you secure online pop and rock concert ticket bookings for concerts wherever they take place.

If you are a tennis enthusiast, nothing could be more exciting than watching the oldest tennis tournament at Wimbledon. We can assist you and your family being spectators. We have great deals on theme park tickets, and you can now book amusement park and attraction travel to all your favorite destinations.

How about attending a Gig festival? A part of the amount that you pay for your gig ticket will go to some worthy Charity. You will be doing something good for helpless children and exploited young women while enjoying the lively music.

Golf is a sport that elites play in many countries. We can help you to watch this hugely interesting game. While wondering at the fate of disappearing golf balls, you may recall what the poet T S Eliot had said: “Here lived a decent godless people whose only monuments were the asphalt roads and a thousand lost golf balls.”

As a provider of information and facilitators of patrons of the entertainment industry, we would like our customers to enjoy their interactions with us.

Velvet Revolver is a hard rock supergroup that is currently on tour in the U.S. this fall. Velvet Revolver consists of three former members of Guns N’ Roses — Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum— plus Scott Weiland, the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, and Dave Kushner.

Velvet Revolver recorded their first track “Set Me Free” for the Hulk soundtrack in 2003 and also did a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Money” which is featured in the movie The Italian Job. The band played its first live gig at the El Rey in Los Angeles in June 2003.

Velvet Revolver recorded their first album, Contraband, in the latter part of 2003 and the album was released in June 2004. Contraband debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts, #11 on the British album charts, and #2 on the Australian charts. The first single, “Slither,” topped a composite world modern rock chart in June, reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. “Slither,” which is also the band’s first music video, reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, Top 40 on a European composite chart, in Canada, and in Australia. Since then, the band has released three more singles: the ballad “Fall to Pieces”, the hard-rocker “Dirty Little Thing”, and “Come On Come In”.

As of August 2005, Contraband had sold more than 2 million copies in the United States, and the rigorous touring in support of the album has reached global scales. As of now, the band has toured both the United States and Europe twice, while also hitting Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Velvet Revolver performed at Live 8, playing “Do It For the Kids,” “Fall to Pieces,” and “Slither”. The band also recorded a new song entitled “Come On, Come In” for the 2005 movie Fantastic Four. During 2005, the group announced that a second album was in the works. In December 2005, the band set Libertad (Spanish for “freedom”) as the working title of the album.

In September 2006, Matt Sorum confirmed via Camp Freddy Radio on Indie 103.1 that the band had recently signed a deal with Rick Rubin to produce the new album. However, on his website, Sorum later claimed that former Stone Temple Pilots producer Brendan O’Brien will be producing the album.

It was announced on May 11, 2007 that as a precursor to Libertad, the band will release an EP in June titled Melody and the Tyranny. On May 13th, 2007, Duff McKagen announced that possibly 2 songs from Libertad (”She Builds Quick Machines” and either “Let It Roll” or “Get Out The Door”) will be playable on the upcoming videogame Guitar Hero III.

On the June 8, 2007, the music video for “She Builds Quick Machines” debuted in the UK. On the 8th of June 2007, Velvet Revolver played a slot at the UKs Download festival. They played: “Do It For the Kids”, “Slither” and “Sucker Train Blues” from their first album Contraband. They also debuted a number of songs from Libertad, including “She Builds Quick Machines”.

On Thursday the 21st of June 2007, Velvet Revolver performed in a concert that was streamed live via MSN MUSIC.

After scrapping the original May 29 release date, Velvet Revolver has settled on July 3 to unveil its second RCA album, “Libertad.” On June 23rd 2007, four songs of the album were available in full stream audio onto the internet ten days before retail on BestBuy’s website. Libertad then debuted at #5 on Billboard 200 with 92,000 albums sold.

Velvet Revolver can be seen on tour in the U.S. starting August of 2007.

You may have been waiting a long while for this concert ticket or maybe its just something you saw in the newspaper. Either way, you will definitely want to find the best deal on your concert ticket. And, you will want to know where you can buy the concert ticket.

First, if your concert ticket is something that you have been planning on, you may be able to purchase tickets in advance. If this is a big event that may sell out, it may be difficult to get the concert tickets in you don’t plan ahead. There are always stories of kids waiting in long lines the night before to make sure they get that hot concert ticket. Or, the fans that line the phones for hours trying to get through to the ticket box office. No need for that either. The Internet is a great way to find, purchase, and avoid headaches when purchasing your concert tickets.

There are services that can help you on your quest for a concert ticket. Ticketmaster is probably the best well known since they handle so many events in so many cities nationwide. Of course, remember that using an additional service and cost you a few extra bucks to cover their fee. You can also find tickets online through the venue or the place holding the event. See if the venue has a website a few days before the concert tickets are set to go on sale so that you can find the website quickly.

If the concert tickets don’t sell out, you can possibly find cheap concert tickets the day of the event. But, holding out on a concert you really want to go to may turn into a bad idea if the concert does sell out. Also, you can find people in local newspapers with extra tickets trying to sell them. Be careful though, it is illegal in many places to purchase or sell concert tickets above the face value of the ticket. All of these suggestions take a few minutes to research and the benefits will be the perfect concert ticket for your show!

SUTRA MAGAZINE attended the soul diva, Regina Belle’s concert on 28 November 2007 at the Grand West Casino in Cape Town, South Africa.

And what a spectacular performance it was!

Accompanied by Phil Perry and Glen Jones, Regina Belle put up one of the most memorable performances that Cape Town, South Africa has ever seen! With many R&B ballads under her belt, this Grammy Award winner left many fans breathless with her smooth soulful sultry sounds! Regina Belle surfaced as a creative, charming soloist on the urban contemporary scene.

Born in New Jersey, Regina’s music career began in gospel, although she was also fascinated by R&B during her youth. Belle performed in a New Jersey vocal band, and her tertiary education encompassed opera and jazz.

Regina captivated the audience with accounts of past experiences and songs that had great significance in her life, the sentiment and passion she feels toward music and her fans were clearly illuminated.

People will see that I love God, that I love my family and that I absolutely love music. Regina Belle

By the words of Phil Perry, former band member of Earth Wind & Fire, “the concert and genre of music is old school mixed with the new, if there was no old school, there would be no new school, and it’s all about the Blues…!”

The concert was a breathtaking, set of much-loved R&B staples, swinging jazz standards, moody torch songs and old school classics all conveyed in Belle’s intense choice of words and the lingering fire in her voice.