I keep reading that nothing beats live music for sound. I think that depends upon the type of music. I enjoy “hard guitar rock” (as opposed to heavy metal), but it comes off much better IMO on a recording than it does live. Yes, it is fun to see the band up there before you jamming, and the enthusiasm of the crowd, but in my experience the live sound is more like noise than music. I’m a big fan of Three Doors Down, and I was at their concert a couple of years ago, about 20 rows back, and the screams of their guitars made it impossible to tell who was playing what or what the singer was singing. It was the same with Kenny Wayne Shepherd — much better on recordings than live.
Now, if I were into orchestra music, I can imagine it would be different. That seems more suited to hearing individual instruments more than with rock music (plus the acoustics of symphonic halls versus those of your typical sports arena). The closest I came was attending an open-area concert by Tony Bennett and his 4-piece backing band — very nice (though I’m sure he would be the first to admit that he didn’t have the pipes then that he had as a younger man.)
But for someone like me that grew up with 60’s-70’s-80’s rock music, there was a reason that we complimented an artist that “sounds the same live as they do on their records”. There have been few live albums that I have enjoyed as much or thought sounded as good as their studio albums. Yet, I still like to go hear live music when I can.
