Chicago Rewired...

I went to a concert last night sponsored by the City of Boca Raton. The group playing was the Chicago tribute band, Chicago Rewired, a bunch of old fat guys playing Chicago songs to the best of their ability. Actually, they were okay especially since the venue was free admission.

Earlier in the week, a friend told me about the concert and asked if I wanted to join him. He went to a concert last week in Fort Lauderdale that got rained-out and we weren't sure about the weather this time as seasonally, we get afternoon showers.

Held in the Mizner Park lawn-style amphitheater where folding lawn chairs were optional and so is the rain. Earlier, I was on a jobsite around 4pm and heard distant thunder... by 6pm the storms had moved offshore and we confirmed... let's go for it.
We got to the event early and easily found free parking. I estimated the around 4,000 in attendance. Mostly people age 50 and up with a few parents bringing their kids along. Music started around 7:30pm, before sundown here and the temperature was 84 degrees. Hot for most, but there were enough winds where the heat wasn't affecting me.

Expecting the music to be loud, I travel to events like this with industrial ear plugs. From the first shriek of the lead singers voice, it was time for some decibel reduction!
It wasn't so much the volume of the sound system, it's the the lack of fidelity that I found so bothersome. All the the sounds on stage were pumped through the system. Bass, Trumpet, Trombone, Saxophone, Guitar, Synthesizer/Keyboards, drums and vocals from 4 singers. As expected, the volume of the bass drum drowned out the voices and instruments. I've always wondered what the guys at the console 200 feet from the stage actually do considering it's their job to mix the audio volume. We weren't too far from them so the sounds we were hearing were most likely the same sounds they were hearing.

The band played for about 45 minutes and took a 20 minute break. Someone must have commented to the sound crew to adjust the microphone volume as the second set had much better balance. You could actually hear the harmonies... including they high notes the lead singer couldn't reach! Peter Cetera he wasn't, but they were only doing a tribute to Chicago.

From their website, I see they gig 4 to 5 times a month around the country. Worthwhile to see if Chicago is the easing listening music you care to listen to.