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| From | "Magna Phonic" <magnaphonic@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | A Different Perspective On Shoes IPO Show |
| Date | Fri, 02 May 2003 15:46:32 -0500 |
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Though I have been on it for over a year, I haven’t posted to this list
before. I value it as a noble resource for learning about new music and
upcoming events and enjoy seeing the passion people have for this music.
Because I had not posted previously, I hesitated to do so for a few days
before finally coming to the conclusion that I had to comment on the Shoes
IPO show.
My band played right before Shoes performed and there were simply no
stage monitors at that point in the evening. Every vocal I heard on stage
that night was coming from the main house speakers. Now, I know the
immediate response may be something like “if other bands could sing that
night, then what was the problem with Shoes”, and though that point may have
some validity behind it, it does not entirely hold water because there were
other variables also involved that must have made it even more difficult for
Shoes to give their best performance.
House system feedback occurred throughout the performance. At one point a
guitar amp (I think it was Jeff’s) stopped working. Even more odd, I saw
something I have never seen before in my career of playing live music (at
least 500+ shows including the ones with my cover bands) – the soundman came
up after the show and apologized to one of the Shoes. He had been doing
sound all day and admitted his ears were shot and he felt terrible about the
mix job he had done for them. Why could The Shazam come on after Shoes and
kick butt? When you have a soundman with mushy ears, it is just easier to
mix louder and more aggressive music. Not taking anything at all away from
The Shazam because they were really, really, really great that night. In the
best of all worlds, a soundman enhances a band during a performance and at
his worst should not distract it or detract from it.
Unless you play in a band regularly, it may be strange to understand why
these few problems can create sort of a “perfect storm” to cripple a
performance, but it can happen, especially when a band is attempting to
perform three part harmonies with virtually no monitors. Even more so for a
band that doesn’t play frequently at all. I used to play in band where night
after night the drummer was an incredible singer and then one night because
of some weird sound/feedback issue he simply couldn’t find his pitch. It
happens.
While some have claimed Shoes were never great singers to start with, I
have to strongly disagree with this. I have seen them perform many times,
including the semi-secret show they did as a warm-up for the LA IPO and they
were awesome. I was not in LA, but from every account I heard they were
great there too. Also, take a listen to their live album “Fret Buzz” and
they sound superior. I was also at that show and the performance backed it
up.
I wanted to make sure that this version of the evening got archived along
with some of the other comments here from people I respect. Shoes is too
important of a band in the history of power pop music for this show to
impact their legacy, especially because it was not a show they had to do or
even got paid to do; it was a show they wanted to do for the people that are
into their music.
Full disclosure: In addition to being a big Shoes fan I also count them
as friends. Still doesn’t change the excitement I felt in seeing them play
those great songs. I hope many felt the same way and I hope they do it again
soon under better circumstances.
Mike G
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