It was about three or four songs in before I even noticed what was happening. Perhaps I was thrown off by the band opening with "Infra-Red," an amazing song of revenge, and one of my favorites on the new record. Maybe it was the rocked up version of "Meds" that kept me from really listening to the show. It could have also been the exquisite lights complimented by three hi-res video screens that were being manipulated in real time by a video engineer.
But somewhere along the way I realized that I was at Roseland, a venue notorious for having some of the muddiest and over-modulated sound mixes in Manhattan, yet I was hearing one of the best sound mixes I have ever heard, period! Being as I was somewhat near the soundboard I decided to stroll over and see what was happening. There I became witness to art, beauty and grace. The unsung hero behind the digital console was a true genius, and horribly underpaid no matter what the band salaries him.
He was rocking a fully digital console which had a breakout flat screen monitor. All of the songs had their own automated presets, but all of the faders and effects were being controlled by hand.
During "Follow the Cops Back Home" there was a really cool reverb effect on the snare that isn't on the album. Every hit had a different reverb level/decay. I was watching the sound man control this manually by hand, while actively managing all the other levels. It was amazing to watch. He was also manually activating all the vocal effects, and adjusting their levels live. Looking at all of his peaks, nothing was even close to over-modulating, and all of the levels were well below 0db, despite the crushing volume of the show. Perhaps his board is designed for the much larger venues they play in Europe, and in the smaller American venues he can get away with a loud show at a very low strength. I am only guessing. Bottom line is the man is a genius.
The whole show was slick as hell in a very satisfying way. The core trio was augmented by two multi-instrumentalists who were able to quickly and silently grab a bass, acoustic, keyboard, or whatever they needed. There was none of the awkwardness of instrument switching that you sometimes see even in professional shows with a road crew. Also a Gibson Thunderbird was in play most of the gig. That bass. That BASS! And for the first time I understood the appeal of a Fender Jazzmaster. I have never before last night heard one sound good through any setup. Now I get it.
There were also real dynamics in the show. I give 50/50 credit to both the band and the sound man for that feat. There were genuinely quiet passages, and places where instruments swelled up to amazing crescendos. In "Without You I'm Nothing" the "I'm unclean a libertine...." portion of the song crashed in with layers of distortion and crisp drum hits that were a stark contrast to the verses.
Placebo is now on the list of bands to not miss when they come through town.
