Is this the same American Idol band?

[squeally dan]

The sound is really lame. THe band sounds very "light" and whimpy. I don't know what it is but it doesn't sound good to me. It makes it sound very karoke.

[jpage]

Not trying to be facetious, but isn't karaoke exactly what it is?

[rob2001]

Anyone notice that they played the Brian Adams tune wrong?

I think they sound thin in the beginning and step it all up in the later rounds.

[cbguy]

Originally Posted by rob2001

Anyone notice that they played the Brian Adams tune wrong?
.

I was wondering if they just caved and started using the (wrong) chords used by the performer.

The band, in general though, is great!

[The Kid]

I saw Ricky & Paul... Pretty sure it was Teddy on drums. It's a killer band.
Too bad they have to play for that shallow talent pool of "vocalists."

[Jujo]

I think the mix is f'd up. They are putting the vocals waaaay out front on the tv broadcast. And it makes the band mix sound thin and brittle. It also sounds like Paul Jackson is using some kind of modeling devices instead of amps. He probably has to because the band pit is very close to the crowd at this stage in the show. It looks like the band is only 10 ft from the audience.

[Fuchsaudio]

I think they are running a stripped down setup during the earlier shows in the season. Looks like less musicians, and less gear. I'll drop Paul a note and ask. He does use some modeling stuff for fast changes on the fly (on the live shows) sometimes.

[Guitar Josh]

Originally Posted by rob2001

Anyone notice that they played the Brian Adams tune wrong?

THANK YOU. I'm showing my wife this. She thought I was crazy, but I was certain those weren't the right chords.

The mix was terrible last night. But more disturbing was that almost every performance was flat out bad. This is the dredded "every third season" of Idol. Seasons 3 and 6 were horrible, I gave up on each. Looks like this season is headed the same way.

[riker4208]

Sometimes they reharmonize the song on purpose. I didn't hear it so I don't know.

[skydog]

Originally Posted by Guitar Josh

This is the dredded "every third season" of Idol. Seasons 3 and 6 were horrible, I gave up on each. Looks like this season is headed the same way.

It's a conspiracy I tell ya'!

[rob2001]

Originally Posted by Guitar Josh

THANK YOU. I'm showing my wife this. She thought I was crazy, but I was certain those weren't the right chords.

The first three chords of the chorus seemed wrong. They went C,B,A and I think it's F,G,A for "baby you're all that I want".

No matter, maybe that's how dude played it so they went with it. Either way, thats one hell of a cover band. The range of music they cover is pretty amazing...and usually with little time to arrange it.

But they do strip everything down in the beginning though...The vocals have very little compression, seemingly no de-essers, very little effects, although I did hear some delays on one girl. By the end they put on all the polish, stage, lighting and sound.

[aeolian]

Some guy (the one who became a daddy during the trials and is obviously being groomed as a contender) was playing and trying to rush though the words of Maroon 5's "This Love". I was watching his hand and he was nowhere near the right chords. Fortunately, they had his guitar down in the mix on those parts. Someone must have heard the clash in rehearsal and figured to mute his guitar during those parts.

[rob2001]

All these guys playing guitars are not doing themselves any favors!

[bkd_guitarist]

The band never sounds impressive at this stage of the competition, IMO...yes, I know who Rickey Minor, PJJ, and the rest of them are, and yes, they're monsters. Nonetheless, the band never really gets to sounding good until they move into the big theater for the top 12. Some of that is explained by more/better gear and a bigger band, but PJJ's guitar tone is usually a lot better in the big venue as well. I'm not sure why that is.

This season will be a snoozer. This is a supremely boring group of contestants. Even this early on, the Carrie Underwoods and Chris Daughtrys jumped right out at you as favorites to win. There is clearly no one close to that caliber in this bunch.

[frankencat]

Originally Posted by rob2001

Anyone notice that they played the Brian Adams tune wrong?

I think they sound thin in the beginning and step it all up in the later rounds.

Yep, I was saying that while watching it. The chord progression was not right.

I don't get what they are listening to anyway. They tell good singers they suck and the lame ones they love. They should not use live music for this. It IS karaoke.