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Most singers don't sound as good live.

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Celine Dion, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, George Straight have all produced entertaining live concerts. Almost any rap concert is crap unfortunately. I find that most traditional country bands do well live (Any country before the "modern country" like Cowboy Troy and many of the other country / rock hyrbids).

When it comes to actual listening, it doesn't matter how mixed, souped up, altered, and scrambled the artist is as long as I enjoy listening to it. I'm not a purist, just a listener. Live performances are the same way, and that's where the real talent comes in and I do become purist. But to just sit back and listen I don't care as long as it sounds good.
 
Thanksgiving night I was listening to an older live Brandi Carlile show on WFUV and was just blown away by her voice. Her covers of Radiohead's Creep and Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah were especially impressive.
 
Technically speaking (as well as artistically) she is a very very skilled vocalist. She doesn't need the the typical reverb added to her sound that most crap pop musicians need to artificially emulate resonance and vocal strength. Her range is also outstanding, effortlessly reaching highs and lows in her voice.

As far as her sound goes tho, I find listening to more than one song in a row very annoying. 😛
 
Originally posted by: setphen1
Last year I saw:
the Killers
Flogging Molly
Street Dogs
AFI
Jet

Flogging Molly and AFI were definitely the best sounding bands.

AFI being almost like listening to the cd.

Flogging Molly was the best concert I've ever been to. Most fun, most energetic, left feeling totally amazed by the experience.

The Killers sounded pretty good. Especially after seeing them on TV when they first got popular and I thought they sounded terrible. They really surprised me.

Street Dogs were pretty good as well (esp. if you like punk shows)

Jet was pretty bad. Played forever and I left early.
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I've seen Flogging Molly twice, they are good times.
 
Ya, most singers sound technically, tone-wise worse in concert. However, the sounds on records are mixed to "perfection". Most of the time I like how people sound for real, even if it sucks. And other times, they sound even better if you can believe it or not.
 
Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria usually sounds great live, not necessarily always great acoustically because he doesn't put a lot of power into his voice during acoustic sessions. He is a singer that probably needs to sing somewhat loud to be able to consistently reach those high vocals. However, another problem is you can definitely tell touring puts stress on his throat after awhile, because some days he doesn't sound that great. I've only seen them twice, and once was at warped tour this summer. The past summer they played at a local venue and he sounded amazing. Pitch perfect? I have no clue. He tends to bring it down to more reasonable levels during concerts, probably to spare his vocals, and because there is less worry. So he may not reach his recorded angelic-high vocals live, but he still sounds great. His voice doesn't sound altered on the albums, so I'm assuming he just puts more effort to reach those notes. But he does sometimes reach those high pitches live, probably depends on the style of the song, as he does change vocal styles quite a bit between songs.
 
Pearl Jam ftw! Best live band of all time. Even if you don't like their style, you can't deny that they are incredibly talented, unlike crap bands like Nickleback.
 
Kind of on topic...one thing that I hate is when bands DO sound EXACTLY like listening to their CD as a couple posters stated above.
One example that I can think of was Weezer. That show was identicle to their CD...they didnt improvise/change anything at all...hardly talked to the crowd...just kind of stood their and played their set exactly as it would sound on a cd. I'd much prefer perhaps a slight hit in quality for some variety/excitment from the band...longer solos, different pace, anything...Basically just a "live" energy to the set
 
Originally posted by: Kyle
Kind of on topic...one thing that I hate is when bands DO sound EXACTLY like listening to their CD as a couple posters stated above.
One example that I can think of was Weezer. That show was identicle to their CD...they didnt improvise/change anything at all...hardly talked to the crowd...just kind of stood their and played their set exactly as it would sound on a cd. I'd much prefer perhaps a slight hit in quality for some variety/excitment from the band...longer solos, different pace, anything...Basically just a "live" energy to the set
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I've seen them 3 times and walked away 10 minutes in each time. F weezer's live show.

If we're just talking vocalists...from my personal experiences
Sound Great:
JMK - tool
ZDLR - RATM
linkin park (horrendous live show, but he's pretty on point live)
foo fighters
guy from afi
guy from killers
kid rock (i shit you not)

Sound Horrendous
mars volta
weezer
wu tang clan


hit or miss
AK - rhcp
guy from velvet revolver
roger waters
thom yorke
 
The Wiggles are a hoot live. I originally thought I was going to hell, but I actually enjoyed engaging in group singing and all the motions. Specially since my son was really enjoying it. PS, they sound as good as the videos and they do not lip synch.
 
I just realized that at the elementary school I worked at the past two years the one second grade teacher that I always thought was the most beautiful woman to walk the planet looks like Celine Dion. I always thought she looked like someone famous but I couldn't figure it out. Thank you OP, for helping one facet of my OCD.
 
Originally posted by: destrekor
Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria usually sounds great live, not necessarily always great acoustically because he doesn't put a lot of power into his voice during acoustic sessions. He is a singer that probably needs to sing somewhat loud to be able to consistently reach those high vocals. However, another problem is you can definitely tell touring puts stress on his throat after awhile, because some days he doesn't sound that great. I've only seen them twice, and once was at warped tour this summer. The past summer they played at a local venue and he sounded amazing. Pitch perfect? I have no clue. He tends to bring it down to more reasonable levels during concerts, probably to spare his vocals, and because there is less worry. So he may not reach his recorded angelic-high vocals live, but he still sounds great. His voice doesn't sound altered on the albums, so I'm assuming he just puts more effort to reach those notes. But he does sometimes reach those high pitches live, probably depends on the style of the song, as he does change vocal styles quite a bit between songs.
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Dude, would you should shut up about c&c already? You are sick in the head if you think Claudia great vocals in any medium.
You are like a teenager in the nineties talking about Poison.
 
Originally posted by: LoKe
Rush was amazing live, and they sound as good as they did when they started.
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Now THAT is the truth! How the hell Geddy can still hit some of those high notes at his age is beyond me.
 
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