NAKED CITY: SOUNDING “OFF’ IN SYDNEY

Rock’n’roll folklore has it that Australian rock icon Billy Thorpe often played concerts so loud that punters in the first few rows regularly regurgitated as the sonic onslaught played havoc with their digestive systems. Maybe they’d all just chewed on bad Chico rolls prior to the gig but there’s still no denying Billy pushed the decibel limit into territories otherwise unexplored by the human ear.

Over the years sound at live concerts, club gigs and pubs, has varied greatly and despite advances in technology and venue acoustics, it hasn’t always improved. When was the last time you went to a gig and the sound was less than satisfactory (aka shithouse), often to the point where you decided to make an early exit – disappointed that your favourite artist sounded almost indistinguishable from your cherished CDs at home.

Take the recent Sydney Festival show by the Kashmere Stage Band which probably would have sounded great had it been placed in the State Theatre or a club like the Basement. Unfortunately the venue was the acoustic nightmare sometimes referred to as the Sydney Town Hall where the ceiling is so high the sound is delivered with the cacophony of a swirling tornado.

During the 80s and 90s the Town Hall was a popular choice for rock, jazz and world music concerts and despite its imposing grandeur nothing really sounded decent in there, despite experimentation with delay speakers and all manner of acoustic devices. After a while it soon established a reputation as a no-go with concert goers despite the quality of the artists performing there.

Maybe Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters party breathed new life into the mausoleum-like surrounds and the Sydney Festival decided to take a punt on the acoustics. Unfortunately the sound for Kashmere and other acts that have played at the Paradiso series has been pretty awful (aka shithouse) although in fairness the atmosphere was buzzing and maybe a majority of punters were oblivious to the echo chamber audio.

It’s considered almost unpatriotic to bag the acoustics in the Concert Hall of the Opera House but any show with drums, electric guitars, horns and electric keyboards suffers a similar fate to that of the Town Hall. Whilst the end result is nowhere as horrendous as the Town Hall reverb, the sound is simply not up to modern day concert standards, particularly if you are unlucky enough to sit in one of the side sections or towards the back of the Hall.

Ironically it’s venues such as the State Theatre and the Enmore, originally designed as picture palaces (and not for live music) that deliver the best acoustics these days when it comes to rock and other heavily amplified music. Maybe we need to get an independent panel of acoustic engineers to travel around these venues when live shows are scheduled and rate the sound quality out of ten (according to the style of music being played). You would then know that the Sydney Town Hall would be fine for a performance of John Cage’s famous all silent opus 4.33 – not so good for a ten piece funk band with a full on horn section.