Ray Wilson's Stiltskin in Essen on Oct 31rst

[lotus]

The place were the gig took place is a multi functional building in the center of the city of Essen, where you can rent rooms for practice of music, yoga and whatsoever. The biggest room there with a stage takes a maximum of 200 ppl, standing pressed in it. And this was the arena for Stiltskin, and it was sold out.

Ray Wilson Stiltskin has nothing to do with Ray Wilson and Band (except for Ray Wilson). The music is absolutelly different (although the McMillan bros, bass and drums, play here as well). Stiltskin is a little sophisticated Hard Rock, no prog as Ray uses to play with his band. No keyboard, but 3 guitars (incl Ray) bass and drums.

Leaving apart that I am not a hart rock enthusiastic, they played a fair 2 hours gig, which I, in parts could support with ear protections, because of the loudness.

Stiltskin concentrated on their old and on their new CD, having some Ray Wilson And Band original songs in between, but most of them also transformed to 4/4 Rock, which IMHO killed some of them.

Nearly all the audience had an excellent time, and we did not have a bad time. But next time I will stick to Ray Wilson And Band, which I really appreciate.

[lotus]

Originally Posted by lotus

Leaving apart that I am not a hart rock enthusiastic, they played a fair 2 hours gig, which I, in parts could support with ear protections, because of the loudness.

I just heard the Stiltskin CD I bought at the gig yesterday at a normal household volume, and, oh wonder, I recognized most of the tunes they played and they are really not bad, better then I felt them yesterday. I personally think, that this is not due to the performance of the artists, which are all class A musicians, and I am sure were nearly perfect, but because of the very high volume level during that gig which let me feel many passages as a loud noise with rhythm.

The same happened to me during a PT gig, after which I had 3 days hearing probs and I did not enjoy the gig as much as it could have been with minor volume level.

Most of the gigs are just right, they are loud, but you can hear them without your ear gets distorted. But it is a shame, that you get home from some gigs, which from the music side was likewise good, but you get home with the feeling that it was not so good.

Maybe this is the theme for a new thread, but it would be fine to hear your comments about this issue.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by lotus

I just heard the Stiltskin CD I bought at the gig yesterday at a normal household volume, and, oh wonder, I recognized most of the tunes they played and they are really not bad, better then I felt them yesterday. I personally think, that this is not due to the performance of the artists, which are all class A musicians, and I am sure were nearly perfect, but because of the very high volume level during that gig which let me feel many passages as a loud noise with rhythm.

The same happened to me during a PT gig, after which I had 3 days hearing probs and I did not enjoy the gig as much as it could have been with minor volume level.

Most of the gigs are just right, they are loud, but you can hear them without your ear gets distorted. But it is a shame, that you get home from some gigs, which from the music side was likewise good, but you get home with the feeling that it was not so good.

Maybe this is the theme for a new thread, but it would be fine to hear your comments about this issue.

That was my beef with Pure Reason Revolution. I do like a loud show however, but not at the expense of hearing clarity and definition.

[jtmckinley]

I've not heard the band you're referring to, but I really hope that bands will in general begin to eschew the "gotta be loud to rock" mindset. You need to play loud enough to be heard in whatever venue you play in, but I really hope the "crank it up!" mantra is given up, at least for bands that are serious about music. It's no longer necessary to ruin your ears to get a good sound IMHO. A personal anecdote: I had some friends over to my house to jam a while back and (given that I have a Roland TD-20 for the drummer to play) we played at levels that we could sing full voice without mics and could hear ourselves just fine. We still used mics to add "some love" for reverb etc. but it was gratifying that I didn't have to piss off my neighbors and we were still able to jam until 5 am. With the PA systems like the Bose PAS-1, the Roland TD-20 and things like the Line6 PODxt it's really not necessary to play at loud volume in order to get a good sound IMHO. In the past, one has always been at the mercy of the level the drummer needed on an acoustic kit, but nowadays that's not even necessary IMHO. And even if the TD-20 doesn't give you the sounds you want as a drummer (maybe), you can always use the MIDI out to trigger something like BFD of DFHS. Anyway, I'm hoping the days of sticking cigarette butts in my ears is nearing an end LOL...

[RogorMortis]

Pure Reason Revolution made my ears and brain hurt so I had to retreat backwards - that was pure guitar moshing but as Rick said their CD was completely different. Flower Kings played loud but still without distortion so they were ok. I've also made the mistake being close to the stage for Steve Hackett who opened up with Mechanical Bride and blew my ears off but I recovered and noticed he'd polished his shoes. All in all great gigs but some bands just play too loud and it's unnecessary.

I wonder if I get to see PT one day but I will be prepared. I'd rather see Blackfield though.

[mailotron]

[quote=22719]close to the stage for Steve Hackett who opened up with Mechanical Bride and blew my ears off


.. too old to rock and roll , too poung to die [ Ian Anderson 1975]

[mailotron]

young lol