Music Banter - View Single Post - What Concerts Are You Going To In The Next Few Months

nbakid2000 · 08-01-2011, 07:30 PM

Just saw Smash Mouth on Saturday -

Smash Mouth Ozarks Empire Fair Performance

So I get there and it's pretty much empty and the pit isn't very full, the grandstands are 3/4 empty.

Then before the concert, they made an announcement about the band wanting a lot of heat, a lot of bodies, so they invited everyone down to the front to fill it up. The stands were pretty empty. It must be embarrassing to show up to a place with so few in attendance.

I got to the lower grandstand and stayed in the middle there because I didn't want to be on the ground level looking up and having to stand there the entire concert looking over people, being in others' way/views, etc. I ended up staying there the first half, then in the middle of the concert I went to the pit and snapped a ton of close up pictures, close up videos, etc. Then I went back to the lower grandstand (second row) and got my great view back over everyone.

The concert was pretty good. The band was having tons of fun, Steve Harwell loves to play around on stage....he was going over to the two guitar players, hugging them, giving them noogies, kisses, playful shoves, high fives, toweling off their faces, draping the towels on their heads, just in general screwing around with them, having a blast. Kind of like what you'd see in a Moody Blues concert from John Lodge, except way more physical, way more playful, way more roughhousing.

You can tell Steve loves the crowd. He would stand up there and chit chat with the audience, he invited a bunch of high schoolers who were dancing up on stage, he was flirting with the girls, talking to guys in the audience, inviting people that caught his eye and shared pictures with him backstage after the show and up on stage, asking everyone where a good bar was in town...just in general goofing around with everyone. Super nice guy, just dripping with love for his fans. He kept thanking everyone for showing up, asked everyone to call in and ask for the new single, etc. Always smiling, etc. Just loves to be around people. And he looks good too - he's lost a lot of weight and he looks like he's in fairly good shape.

The energy level of the Steve was about...70%. He wasn't half-@ssing it but you could tell he wasn't firing on all cylinders. There was an edge, a "fire" if you will that just wasn't there. The performance was good, it just wasn't...edgy. I don't know if it's because of his age or he's mellowed out or is just tired of doing the same songs, but the performance was "smoothed out".

It wasn't sloppy, his voice was good, it wasn't lazy, it just lacked some hunger, some excitement, some roughness, some edge that I think he would have had at a younger age. I think I can compare it to Paul McCartney. Paul puts on a good show but it's a tame performance vocally and physically. That's what I felt like I was watching. The "age factor" was present. He's chilled out. It was like watching Ian Anderson now vs back in the day. Way toned down.

He honestly seemed to put more effort into dicking around with everyone than body language/energy during the singing. He actually had to ask everyone to get up and dance and make some noise.

Most of the encore was 3 Van Halen songs that seemed to have more energy put into them than the rest of their own songs. This is when you know there's a problem with a band.

A) doing covers and
B) putting more effort behind them than the rest of the concert

I don't pay to see a band perform covers. I see them to perform their songs. Big mistake on their part in my opinion. They also performed "I'm a Believer" which in my opinion, has helped drop their street cred. It may have increased their bank account, but this is why they're considered a joke amongst most people now. However, most of the crowd there loved it, which is weird to me. I would have chosen other songs to perform instead of the covers, even if the covers have been beneficial (?) to them (pocketbooks). They have other songs that are better than a cover version of a Monkees song. Surely the fans must know this.

Someone needs to manage these guys better to help their street cred get back on track.

The vocals seemed a little buried at the beginning of the show. Since I was right behind the sound booth, I leaned over and asked the guy if they could turn up the vocals. The guy gave me a blank look and kind of laughed. I looked back at him and said, "Can we please turn up the vocals? They're hard to hear." The guy insisted it wasn't his call, it was the sound engineer's (who was literally 2 feet away). I said, "Can you ask him if he would turn up the vocals?" He looked at me again kinda dumbly, blankly, and said, "I mean, I can ask." I gave him the thumbs up sign, said "thank you!" and returned to my seat. The vocals seemed better after that, so they probably took my suggestion. Or maybe it was just me. I'm not sure. Tricks of the mind and all that.

The set list was pretty good besides the covers. I would have gone in a different direction with the set list but I have no serious complaints besides the cover selections.

Another issue - they come out to an announcement of their name, with pre-recorded screaming fans. Seriously? I don't know what everyone else thought of that, but that was a joke. That did NOT make a good impression on me, even as a devoted fan. It's just sad, pathetic.

There's a reason why they're playing (1) county fair and backyard parties and no big concerts. There's a reason why so little people showed up to the concert and their career is in the toilet. There's actually a bunch of reasons and they all add up to loss of fans, loss of respect, etc. They've been discussed before in other threads. They need to quit selling out, they need to drop the cover songs among other things.

I also thought the fact that he kept asking for bars to go hang out in tonight was kind of pathetic too. Again, it's the little things that add up that just lose fans. In my opinion, at least.

Overall, while I nitpick about the little things at the concert, and I felt sorry for them to a big extent (so did a girl behind me), it was a fun enjoyable show. The tickets were the right price, the seats were great (I could sit pretty much anywhere I wanted to, even in the pit), the band were SUPER nice guys, everyone on stage looked like they were having fun, and the performance was in general very good.

One more thing: He kept asking for people to call and request the new song on the radio. Steve, this is 2011. Let's get everyone to send links to their friends on YouTube. I don't care if the radio station sponsored the concert. Plug some YouTube too.

08-01-2011, 07:30 PM	#2287 (permalink)
nbakid2000 Music Addict Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 179	Just saw Smash Mouth on Saturday - Smash Mouth Ozarks Empire Fair Performance So I get there and it's pretty much empty and the pit isn't very full, the grandstands are 3/4 empty. Then before the concert, they made an announcement about the band wanting a lot of heat, a lot of bodies, so they invited everyone down to the front to fill it up. The stands were pretty empty. It must be embarrassing to show up to a place with so few in attendance. I got to the lower grandstand and stayed in the middle there because I didn't want to be on the ground level looking up and having to stand there the entire concert looking over people, being in others' way/views, etc. I ended up staying there the first half, then in the middle of the concert I went to the pit and snapped a ton of close up pictures, close up videos, etc. Then I went back to the lower grandstand (second row) and got my great view back over everyone. The concert was pretty good. The band was having tons of fun, Steve Harwell loves to play around on stage....he was going over to the two guitar players, hugging them, giving them noogies, kisses, playful shoves, high fives, toweling off their faces, draping the towels on their heads, just in general screwing around with them, having a blast. Kind of like what you'd see in a Moody Blues concert from John Lodge, except way more physical, way more playful, way more roughhousing. You can tell Steve loves the crowd. He would stand up there and chit chat with the audience, he invited a bunch of high schoolers who were dancing up on stage, he was flirting with the girls, talking to guys in the audience, inviting people that caught his eye and shared pictures with him backstage after the show and up on stage, asking everyone where a good bar was in town...just in general goofing around with everyone. Super nice guy, just dripping with love for his fans. He kept thanking everyone for showing up, asked everyone to call in and ask for the new single, etc. Always smiling, etc. Just loves to be around people. And he looks good too - he's lost a lot of weight and he looks like he's in fairly good shape. The energy level of the Steve was about...70%. He wasn't half-@ssing it but you could tell he wasn't firing on all cylinders. There was an edge, a "fire" if you will that just wasn't there. The performance was good, it just wasn't...edgy. I don't know if it's because of his age or he's mellowed out or is just tired of doing the same songs, but the performance was "smoothed out". It wasn't sloppy, his voice was good, it wasn't lazy, it just lacked some hunger, some excitement, some roughness, some edge that I think he would have had at a younger age. I think I can compare it to Paul McCartney. Paul puts on a good show but it's a tame performance vocally and physically. That's what I felt like I was watching. The "age factor" was present. He's chilled out. It was like watching Ian Anderson now vs back in the day. Way toned down. He honestly seemed to put more effort into dicking around with everyone than body language/energy during the singing. He actually had to ask everyone to get up and dance and make some noise. Most of the encore was 3 Van Halen songs that seemed to have more energy put into them than the rest of their own songs. This is when you know there's a problem with a band. A) doing covers and B) putting more effort behind them than the rest of the concert I don't pay to see a band perform covers. I see them to perform their songs. Big mistake on their part in my opinion. They also performed "I'm a Believer" which in my opinion, has helped drop their street cred. It may have increased their bank account, but this is why they're considered a joke amongst most people now. However, most of the crowd there loved it, which is weird to me. I would have chosen other songs to perform instead of the covers, even if the covers have been beneficial (?) to them (pocketbooks). They have other songs that are better than a cover version of a Monkees song. Surely the fans must know this. Someone needs to manage these guys better to help their street cred get back on track. The vocals seemed a little buried at the beginning of the show. Since I was right behind the sound booth, I leaned over and asked the guy if they could turn up the vocals. The guy gave me a blank look and kind of laughed. I looked back at him and said, "Can we please turn up the vocals? They're hard to hear." The guy insisted it wasn't his call, it was the sound engineer's (who was literally 2 feet away). I said, "Can you ask him if he would turn up the vocals?" He looked at me again kinda dumbly, blankly, and said, "I mean, I can ask." I gave him the thumbs up sign, said "thank you!" and returned to my seat. The vocals seemed better after that, so they probably took my suggestion. Or maybe it was just me. I'm not sure. Tricks of the mind and all that. The set list was pretty good besides the covers. I would have gone in a different direction with the set list but I have no serious complaints besides the cover selections. Another issue - they come out to an announcement of their name, with pre-recorded screaming fans. Seriously? I don't know what everyone else thought of that, but that was a joke. That did NOT make a good impression on me, even as a devoted fan. It's just sad, pathetic. There's a reason why they're playing (1) county fair and backyard parties and no big concerts. There's a reason why so little people showed up to the concert and their career is in the toilet. There's actually a bunch of reasons and they all add up to loss of fans, loss of respect, etc. They've been discussed before in other threads. They need to quit selling out, they need to drop the cover songs among other things. I also thought the fact that he kept asking for bars to go hang out in tonight was kind of pathetic too. Again, it's the little things that add up that just lose fans. In my opinion, at least. Overall, while I nitpick about the little things at the concert, and I felt sorry for them to a big extent (so did a girl behind me), it was a fun enjoyable show. The tickets were the right price, the seats were great (I could sit pretty much anywhere I wanted to, even in the pit), the band were SUPER nice guys, everyone on stage looked like they were having fun, and the performance was in general very good. One more thing: He kept asking for people to call and request the new song on the radio. Steve, this is 2011. Let's get everyone to send links to their friends on YouTube. I don't care if the radio station sponsored the concert. Plug some YouTube too.