How would you rate Live at Luna Park?

[nikatapi]

Have any of you noticed how better MM sounds on the live version of Outcry? Some cymbal work is amazing, completely buried in the album, especially on the instrumental part.

Very cool.

[Sycsa]

Upon listening to it again, Outcry is another song that has noticeably low keyboards, unfortunately.
What I don't understand is why they're so low on some songs, but sound great on others.

Most ADTOE songs suffer from low keyboards, which is especially apparent since they were so prominent on the album. Outcry and BAI lose much of their epicness because of this, but you can also barely hear the piano licks in LNF and the organ at the beginning of BITS (Jordan's very first notes in the show!) is virtually non-existent.

[Sycsa]

Another offender is the Metropolis solo section (especially @7-7:30), the keys are about half as loud as they should be. I don't know what they wanted to achieve with this mix.

[TheGreatPretender]

Is it possible that JR's sound was too quiet on the actual stage, and maybe his mics ended up picking up too much of the other instruments, so that's why they had to be toned down?

[Sycsa]

Is it possible that JR's sound was too quiet on the actual stage, and maybe his mics ended up picking up too much of the other instruments, so that's why they had to be toned down?

I guess anything is possible. But Jordan being too quiet live is a severe problem in and of itself. Is it so hard to do a proper mix live? Actually, that's not even a rhetorical question, since I've been on too many concerts when one (or more) instruments/parts of a drum set were completely buried. I always try to position myself center and a bit further away from the stage, but sometimes even that doesn't help.

[TheGreatPretender]

Honestly, it seems like a pretty difficult thing to me. I mean, I always try to imagine what it would be like to set up a live mix, and I don't think I could do it. Even if you get a good sound from one point in the auditorium, other parts of it might hear it differently. Closer to the speakers, you get more distortion. And the acoustics are quite different between an empty hall and a full one. Just thinking about that kind of stuff is overwhelming to me. Now, it's okay when things aren't perfect, every live show is one of a kind, but when you're TRYING to make it perfect for a live DVD... Yeah, I don't think I could do it.

[BlobVanDam]

Is it possible that JR's sound was too quiet on the actual stage, and maybe his mics ended up picking up too much of the other instruments, so that's why they had to be toned down?

They'd be recording a direct line feed of JR's keyboard rig, not through a mic, so bleed through shouldn't be an issue. The only issue I can think of is that JR's manual volume tweaking on stage made it a bit more difficult, but even then, the mixer shouldn't have any trouble having everything audible.

[bl5150]

Just got my copy and have quickly watched my favourite half a dozen tracks - initial impression is very good.  As has already been mentioned JLB is in fine form , the camera angles get a bit "hyper" at stages and the keys are a little drowned out.   JP's guitar tone is great on the lead and most rhythms but doesn't have enough bottom end for the real crunchy stuff like Metropolis.

Breaking All Illusions is divine as always and they do a magnificent job of it on the DVD.

ADTOE is my fave of theirs since Awake and so this DVD is right up my alley and I'm looking forward to watching from start to finish. I think you can chalk me up as a big fan even before I do.

[erwinrafael]

So I found this video in Youtube taken by somebody of The Spirit Carries On in Luna Park. Man, did the DVD miss the feel of what looks like an amazing audience. and the mix of instruments are more balanced.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

As a guitarist, I'm pretty disappointed with the guitar sound.
Leads are ok but the rhythm guitar is way too processed and way too loud.
I used to admire John for his clear and authentic sound, especially during the I&W and Scenes era.
There's really nothing left of this.

[puppyonacid]

I just got the DVD last week.

I do agree with the criticism of JP's tone, although I have heard worse - LTE live in NY springs to mind.

The overall mix seems ok to my ears - not good just ok - JP is a little loud and JR is a bit quiet. Overall though I really like it.

Good performance and they seem to be really happy.

My biggest beef is in the acoustic section - JP's guitar doesn't sound like an acoustic and considering the quality of that guitar there's really no excuse for it - the piezo pickups on his ernieball guitars sound more authentically acoustic.

[Cyclopssss]

I'm much more bugged by the obvious looping of the background audience at the ending. Come on....was the response so dismal you had to loop the same section over and over again?

[FlyingBIZKIT]

It was good, nothing great though. I just feel like there's a lot missing as far as stage presence and energy now that Portnoy is gone. The performance, however, was very good. LaBrie sounded good, but sometimes I question his insanity as far as his weird noises when speaking to the crowd