Switchfoot +Axe FX @ Jimmy Kimmel

I saw a Guitar Center Sessions where they had a couple A2's in their back line. Looked like they were running them with combo amps so I don't know if they were using them for fx only or like I do and just use the tube amp for power.
 
funny_polymath said:
Mebbe all those amps on stage are for show. If so, it's damn silly.
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dam silly??? why?? the stage looks great! Silly are those stages empty with only a drum set and not even pedal boards... looks like if it was playback or something like that. I love a stage with good amps, even if its just for show.
 
nicolasrivera said:
I love a stage with good amps, even if its just for show.
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I play local bars and clubs in the Northern VA area. One show we played with a Jimi Hendrix tribute band. The guy was phenomenal. His rig consisted of his AxeFX2 into 2 CLRs and a FOH signal. Behind him he had two Marshall 412s and two Marshall heads. Just for looks....nothing connected at all. Mind you this was a mid-size dive bar we were playing. He tells me "People expect to see a nice Marshall rig from a Jimi tribute group."

On another occasion I ran sound for a group that had 8 412 cabs on stage. They had two side fills for their guitar players which were also miked. Stage right had two full stacks and stage left had 2. This is a club that you can play with a decent 212 combo not miked. Total overkill and a pain in the ass for them to set up and tear down between band changeovers. Not impressed one bit.

Sorry for the side rant... :D
 
Well, yes, i want to see walls of marshall on a ACDC tribute band!!! :)

That thing is for example, Periphery, they have killer sounds, songs vocals etc... but that stage just has 3 racks... for me i just looks odd...., maybe the younger generation loves to not see one single amplifier onstage, but hey I'm 36 and i know what i like a band to look like onstage.

 
nicolasrivera said:
dam silly??? why?? the stage looks great! Silly are those stages empty with only a drum set and not even pedal boards... looks like if it was playback or something like that. I love a stage with good amps, even if its just for show.
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Ehhh .... if there's a stage with good amps which are not being used and just there for show, isn't that just the same as playback???
 
I don't really have a problem with bands doing it or not doing it. If they aren't using any sort of back line, like Periphery, I don't mind at all because I'd pay more attention to the band itself because they've got so much going on with their playing. Plus with so many bands now having scrims and light shows, its hard to take notice of cabs anyway sometimes. Not that I don't love to see a few Oranges up there, but it doesn't ruin the experience. In the case of Switchfoot on Jimmy Kimmel, his audience won't have half a clue what an Axe Fx is even if you explained it to them. So if they want to make a better tv show and give the general public what they want to then whats wrong with that? People need to remember that 97% of everyone isn't a guitar nerd like most of us ;P
 
It would appear that they gave no volume to the vocalist's guitar. You see him strumming and no sound comes of it? Also, the way they appear, only the bassist is using it. However, I have liked switchfoot for a long time.
 
Nothing wrong with using amps for show. It definitely isn't the same thing as using playback, not even close. Amps that aren't plugged in don't do the playing for you.

Regarding Periphery they do run cabs and FOH live now but not for show, it's for the people in the front who may be just in front of the PA speakers or just not far enough back to get the best experience sonically.

I don't have any problem with just seeing some rack gear on stage, I'd rather play on a small stage with just a rack than with 4 half stacks behind me taking up all that room. Sure it might "look cool" sometimes, depending on the person, the act they are seeing, the venue etc. but at the end of the day I'm spending the whole show looking at the people, so I don't much care. 75% of the time I don't remember what the backline was at a show I went to, but I remember what everyone was wearing, what guitars they played, where they all stood on stage and so on, because that's what I was watching.
 
J-Beard said:
On another occasion I ran sound for a group that had 8 412 cabs on stage. They had two side fills for their guitar players which were also miked. Stage right had two full stacks and stage left had 2. This is a club that you can play with a decent 212 combo not miked. Total overkill and a pain in the ass for them to set up and tear down between band changeovers. Not impressed one bit.

Sorry for the side rant... :D
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Wow, that's ridiculous. If there were bands playing behind them I am surprised the club let them set that much crap up!

PS Why would you ever need to mike the side-fills?
 
nicolasrivera said:
, but hey I'm 36 and i know what i like a band to look like onstage.
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I'm 49 and I like it when bands clear the stage of all the clutter and do something more artistic with the space. I've always thought that all the beat up gear & cables is a hideous look.
 
I once saw a bar band that had a massive wall of "Marshall" stacks behind them. They were cardboard boxes and very well done, only if you looked closely could you see the logo said "Masskill". They were an excellent band and funny as hell to boot.
 
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