What is the first part of a bad performance by a band that you tend to notice?

[chaossystem]

If you are watching-or even just listening to-a live performance by one of your favorite bands, weather it's a concert you are attending, a DVD, television, internet, radio, or some other medium, if they are having an off night, what is the first thing you notice? What is the FIRST thing that makes you say "this doesn't sound right," or "they sound like CRAP tonight!"

Maybe it's the guitars or keyboards that are out of tune.
Maybe the bass amp is down.

For me, I always seem to notice the VOCALS being bad first.
Then if there's something off about the drum sounds.

The other instruments can get away with SOME glitches, but I sometimes pick up on those problems as well.

What's the first thing YOUR ears pick up on?

[Zydar]

The singer.

[CharlesPL]

Guitarist

[wolfking]

What's the first thing YOUR ears pick up on?

Whoever fucks up first.  It really depends on the performance.  If the singer is shit, then that's what I notice, or if the guitarist is shit, that's what I notice.  If they are both shit, I notice both.

Maybe I missed something with the question.

[chaossystem]

No, not at all.

Maybe I worded it wrong.

But sometimes I think there can be something off about the sound, and you can't quite "put your finger" on what it is.

And, for some reason, like I already said, I always seem to hear problems with the drum sounds first among the instrumentation.

But if the sound man isn't doing his JOB right, then he's the one who is "fucking up."

[The Letter M]

Tempo and timing. Then again, being a percussionist, I tend to notice those things fairly quickly. If someone is off or going too fast/slow than the rest of the band, I can noticed it. A good band will flow together, have tight timing and generally do not fall apart when someone throws everyone else off.

Even bands like Dream Theater suffer from some bad timing every now and then, but it can't be helped. We're all only human after all.

But for every band that has a bad performance like that, they can have a dozen, a hundred, or a thousand great performances. So many factors can change how a single performance can go, and not be entirely indicative of a band's skill. If the band is just starting out, then it might be glaringly obvious if they're not performing well, but without performance practice, you cannot improve, so having a band show or two (or a dozen) will help the band, as a unit, grow and prosper, to become a tighter group and learn how to work together and off each other.

-Marc.

[Sacul]

To be honest, I don't watch live performances, mainly due to being inferior to the cd songs. If it's not the singer having a  bad day, I barely notice if the rest of the band is going shit. Unless the songs are down-tuned .

[rumborak]

Actually, the earliest signal I can think of is when the guitarist plugs in his guitar and actually strums chords, *particularly* parts of the song they are about to play. Not too long ago I saw a band where that happened, and then the drummer freaked out because he thought the song had started and he missed it, so he joined in ... it was the concert equivalent of "going in dry".

[hefdaddy42]

It depends on what the mistake is.  But whatever it is, I will find it.