The commenters on yesterday's post about the unforgiveably awful Sonic Youth-Feelies show at the Wilbur Theatre have raised a lot of thoughtful points about the state of touring rock shows in today's world. Sound techs on the professional message board ProSoundWeb noticed the post yesterday and chimed in with their own advice, which has given this Bostonist a much better understanding of what went wrong on Sunday.
It wasn't the sound guy. It was the terrible venue.
Simply put, the Wilbur Theatre is not equipped to handle rock shows. As one commenter wrote, "[the] in house sound system [was] totally inadequate in terms of output and audience coverage." The theater's bread-and-butter is stand-up comedy, which doesn't require a massive, well-calibrated P.A. system the way that rock bands like Sonic Youth and the Feelies might. As we saw during Sunday's performance, there was nothing that even the most talented sound guy could do to ensure good sound throughout the venue. The P.A. system is simply not up to snuff, and the room has never had good sound, even in the days before amplification.
As a tech who posts as Bob Leonard wrote:
The building was never built or intended for some of the uses being asked of it today. Speaking with my father about the theatre he had fond memories of burlesque in the early 40's, and even he said there were parts of the theatre where it was hard to hear or see the acts. This was a point we both have in common.
So, what can we learn from this fiasco? After the jump, four suggestions for venues that are considering putting on a rock show.
- Don't book what you can't handle. If your P.A. system can barely handle stand-up comedians, don't book a loud rock band without also renting extra gear. There's nothing that the sound person can do to overcome an inadequate set-up.
- Treat your patrons like customers and not liabilities Yesterday, a Facebook commenter named Elizabeth Koczera claimed "all of this suckyness is largely a part of fire code." But fire codes apply to venues throughout Boston and everywhere in the United States, and very few places push their customers around like cattle. The "increasingly confusing checkpoints" and "indie rock jail" are symptoms of failure. Once you treat concertgoers as fire code liabilities rather than respected customers, you've screwed up.
- Don't sell tickets that suck. The Wilbur sells all of its tickets, whether they are for the floor, the mezzanine, or the balcony, at the same price. But, as we learned, not all tickets are created equally. Tickets to the "indie rock jail" where we watched Sonic Youth are unequivocally worth less than tickets to the general admission area. Don't sell out the venue if fire codes force you to put patrons where they can't hear the sound. But if you must sell crappy tickets, sell them at a cheaper price. Folks with bleacher seats and standing room only tickets at Fenway Park proudly endure a lesser experience for a break on the ticket cost.
- Seven dollar beers have to go. Speaking of the ballpark, there's no need to charge ballpark prices at the bar. It's a rock show, for chrissakes, and you're selling Corona in bottles.
And here's one for bands: Do a better job choosing your venue. The Wilbur Theatre is a straight-up terrible place for Sonic Youth to play, and it was a puzzling choice given the many great venues in the Boston area. Your fans are going to come out to see you wherever you play, and you owe it to them to choose places that don't suck. Find a booking agent that cares about the quality of your fans' experience and be certain to speak up when the agent makes a mistake. Reward venues that embody a friendly, punk rock ethos ("Gabba, gabba hey!") and avoid places that treat customers like cattle.
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