Dave,
From what I could see and hear from this live video of that show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrFSGz2_-wg
the elder tricksters looked and sounded pretty hobbled in the performance.
Guitars and vocals off pitch past cringeworthy in too many spots to count.
Stage monitors and side fills still can't bring hearing to the deaf :'(
Art,
The audio mix in that video was far better than what we heard, confirming my suspicion that the side fill hangs were not active. It's a shame that everyone above the main floor were short changed (thanks to @Justice for the corroborating evidence).
They were on IEMs, with no wedges, except for Zander's kid (video confidence monitors on the lip). No idea if the stage fills (2 array cabs per side) were operating?
I love much of their recorded music, but their live sound has seldom been much more than a "cheap trick" from what I've heard myself and from others who have provided production in the 5 plus decades they have been pounding it out.
We were playing the same saloons in Wisconsin & Illinois when Fuse became Cheap Trick. I've been aware of "the trick" since then
.
As far as stage volume goes, when we played the mainstage at the first Rockfest in Cadott, WI, they were the headliners. Big stacks aside, Nielsen had a Deluxe Reverb with JBL D120F backstage that was mic'd up. Everything else was for show (including Sound City cabs loaded with blinder lights).
Oh well, probably the last concert in a basketball arena/hockey rink/football stadium I'll attend anyway.
Dave
