When TV On The Radio performed “Dancing Choose” and “Golden Age” on the 2/7 episode of SNL, a number of folks, not all sound experts, noted that maybe the band should have spent more time soundchecking because there something was clearly amiss with the mix (ease up on the horns, guys). Turns out the band’s monitors and the room sound had them thinking it was all OK, that they didn’t realize they came-off like shit until they got off stage and friends let them know about it. Kyp Malone spoke to the Canadian Press (thanks for the tip Eric), explaining the situation and offering a lesson in why sound guys should go union, at least if the band they travel with is heading to Saturday Night Live.
“In the room, it sounded fine to us,” Malone says. “We had a really good time, and it felt really good. Then we came offstage and immediately started getting texts about how (terrible) the sound was.”
Malone says their sound engineer couldn’t work at the show because he’s non-union, so they put their faith in the SNL crew.
“I want to tell strangers on the street who keep talking to me about it that I’ll go back in time and be a union-working sound engineer, and also go into the future so I can duplicate myself and come back as two people and work the sound and do the performance,” he says.
The band performed on “The Colbert Report” the following week – host Stephen Colbert delighted in stroking Malone’s ample beard, comparing it to taking “a vacation in a faraway forest” – and the sound was much improved.
“Colbert seems to have saved us some humiliation,” Malone says.
Here’s the aforementioned stroking, in case you forgot. You can read the rest of the Canadian Press article here. They’ll probably sound better on tour:
04/18 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Indio
05/12 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
05/16 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs
05/18 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
05/22 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Oakland Theatre
05/23 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
05/25 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Malkin Bowl
05/27 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Edmonton Events Center
05/28 – Calgary, Alberta @ Macewan Hall
05/29 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ Louis’ Pub
06/02 – Toronto, Ontario @ Sound Academy
06/03 – Montreal, Quebec @ Metropolis
06/04 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
06/05 – New York, NY @ Central Park Summer Stage
06/08 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club Washington
06/11-14 – Bonnaroo
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they sound great with the sound off.
Interesting post. I guess sometimes is good to hear from what happened “backstage” but really, this was just one given performance at a given TV show. It shouldn’t be such a big deal.
http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/19/rihanna-photo-face-beating/
unions destroy progression…
dont tell that to pete seeger and the almanac singers…
was pete seeger ever a member of a union? honestly curious…
i’m not for sure if he was ever part of a union, but i know he wrote a lot of unionizing songs for the almanac singers.
there is one album in particular by the almanac singers called “talking union” almost all about unions
it’s true. Unions don’t care about the quality of the work it’s all about hours and overtime.
I find that everyone sounds bad on SNL although they sounded particularly bad. Their sound crew must suck.
they suck because they are union…
totally agree. everyone sounds like shit on SNL. except TI’s most recent appearance. the sound was perfect for him, which, if i had my choice out of all the musical acts out there, i would hope the SNL crew would put the most effort in for him. hooray.
Anyone know where to find that clip of them playing on SNL?
So their voices were in key on stage?
The sound wasn’t great in the least, but really it just exposed the fact that they are a massively, massively overrated band. There is just nothing to those songs and it showed, once a little of the sheen was worn away.
I have done SNL many times and the sound crew for SNL has no problem if the bands sound guy wants to sit with them and help them do the show. This sounds like a cop out to me. All they had to do was be nice and ask. SNL is THE show you want to do on TV as you get a soundcheck days before the actual show. It is the bands fault if they did not listen to any audio or watch the video from their multiple sound checks.
anyone remember those masonic temple shows? one i went to was the worst sounding show id ever been to. can’t blame the unions for that one. although, the masons could take the fall.
Thanks for clearing that up, Guy from TV on the Radio in the Newspaper
mitchell is gay.
TV on the Radio are an overhyped and overrated version of Living Color
Both times I have seen Tv on the Radio live and everytime I have seen them live on TV, their sound has always been lackluster. I think in general, they just aren’t a very good live band.
Is everyone out of their minds? Where did you see them?
My impression after seeing TV on the Radio was they are better live than on record.
It’s not a union vs non-union thing. Not at all. Stop that crap, please.
SNL handles bands the same way that all of the other TV shows (Letterman, Conan, etc etc) do. The show’s broadcast engineer ALWAYS does the on-air mix. (If the band mixer is in the union, he still doesn’t do the broadcast mix.)
And as someone noted, the band’s touring mix-person is ALWAYS welcome to be in the both to make suggestions.
Note to strangers on the street: stroke beard, don’t text/complain.
“totally agree. everyone sounds like shit on SNL.”
someone must have missed the Fleet Foxes performance a week before where they sounded better live then on record.
I disagree. Fleet Foxes sounded awful compared to their own standards on SNL. They were incredible on Letterman. Letterman always has great sound. SNL has ALWAYS sounded awful dating back even to the 70s. I really don’t know what the deal is.
i agree…i am also a touring engineer and have done most of the late night shows (conan, carson, letterman, ferguson, etc.), and every union broadcast engineer let me into the control room and essentially “produce” the session. also, all of my artists were invited into the control room to check the mix. the only time i had a problem was when the broadcast engineer mixed the track himself for a broadcast later in the week and the whole song sounded completely over compressed. i think the band and their foh sound engineer should accept some responsibility, as well as their manager who should have been there and insisted the band approve the mix. sorry guys…love tv on the radio, but really.
I don’t understand all the TVOTR hate. There a band that’s known and loved for their studio prowess and have produced a slew of really good albums, the last 2 of which were amazing. Some bands, especially ones with such a maximalist production aesthetic, don’t perform very well live, or at least not well enough to do their albums justice. Animal Collective’s kind of the same way (at least based on the SXSW show I saw a few years back and every other live performance I’ve heard) and so were the Beatles (three awesome songs on a rooftop don’t count). Some bands are just meant for the studio. Would you prefer a band that makes mediocre albums and performs mind blowing concerts (Phish)? Sorry for all the parentheses.
To the haters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2XZASdNu3M
“I want to tell strangers on the street who keep talking to me about it that I’ll go back in time and be a union-working sound engineer, and also go into the future so I can duplicate myself and come back as two people and work the sound and do the performance.” OR MAYBE JUST GO BACK IN TIME ONCE AND DO A PROPER SOUND CHECK.
Also: What?
TVOTR have always had really bad sounding shows. I don’t think it’s their performance but the density of their sounds and lack of a good sound engineer.
Personally, I think their music is way too busy anyway, and that Sitek needs an editor. The beauty of this band is in their soul and unique sound, not in Sitek’s production and lack of space and place to breath.
This is magnified when they play live, because it ends up sounding like a bunch on noise, because there is no subtlety and choice as to what parts should be brought out of the mix, and what parts should be in support.
TVOTR and Grizzly Bear share the same engineer. It’s not his fault. HE makes grizzly bear sound great. I think it was a shitty performance by the band and that SNL just has terrible sound. There’s your answer. And yes, Unions do suck.
As for me I will never forget about that stroking. It was brilliant!
I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live since Chevy Chase left
A “bad mix” is the least of this bands worries. They are awful… always.
As I said om another thread:
Interesting how many have come up with various reasons for the TVOTR audio problems on SNL.
Fact is, if you watched the broadcast from the beginning you?d know that they were having serious audio problems from the start. Monologue and many skits didn?t have mics working and audio was being picked up through house microphones.
By the end of the show an hour and half later, the audio was improved but not at all fixed.
If anyone took a look at the credits for both of these shows – Colbert and SNL- they would find the same engineer mixed both shows.
you mom sounds shitty on the TV and the Radio