Agree with Bjornulf
Sound in 70's all garbled. No seperation of sound.
The MSG 1 in NYC in 1975 was great but not the sound

The sound seperation nowadays is incredible.
And so are the Stones

In my recollection the sound of concerts in the (mid-to-later) 70s was often better than in the 90s, 00s or nowadays (also Tull, Floyd, Santana, Doldinger etc.). The way I remember, the volume was generally lower and you didn't experience the distorted sound you often get today. What could become an issue was a venue with just concrete walls all around and accordingly unpleasant echo or reverb. Nowadays - to me - the problem is rather that they try to pump too much volume through the speakers which then results in a generally distorted sound or even complete frequency bands gone.

Outdoor shows or quasi-outdoor shows (stadiums) face the problem of weather conditions, like the strong wind blowing away all of Gilmour's solos in the Floyd's 1994 gig in Wiener Neustadt.

As for the Stones (almost) in the 70s, on their 1982 Show in Vienna the sound left much to be desired, in addition to the Stones really having an off-day. The mediocre sound was rather related to the Stones' sound crew than the stadium conditions because it was quite alright with the J. Geils Band, who opened for the Stones. Also, the JGB played a killer set and blew the Stones off the stage anyway.

To my ears (i.e. in the shows that I attended) they had (by far) the best sound in 1990 (Urban Jungle).

Some good stuff here if you are interested in history of the development of concert sound. Like them or not, it is really immaterial to the discussion, the Grateful Dead were pioneers of concert sound, specifically Owsley and Healey, along with all the audio companies that sprung up as a result of their work, Meyer Sound being one of, if not the most obvious, still being the gold standard in concert sound today.

[livemusicblog.com]

[www.wired.com]


[www.openculture.com]

[forums.stevehoffman.tv]

Yeah, their sound must have been spectacular! I remember reading a multi-page feature on the Wall of Sound in (German) Sounds magazine in 1974. Definitely different from the simple stacks of Marshalls that you saw on concert posters otherwise.

Beachbreak, I was at that Hartford Civic Centre show and I always say how GREAT the sound was there!! Where were you seated? Maybe in the higher sections the sound was off but not from my vantage point....about 1/3 back, lowest section off the floor. I have to agree with Doitywoik...really great sound in the 70's too!

Quote
Aquamarine
To be honest, if you were at shows back in the 60s and 70s, you probably have no memory of the comparative sound quality. I don’t, anyway, though I remember a bunch of other stuff!

I was blessed with a long, accurate, and vivid memory, and remembering the sound quality of shows in the 60s and 70s is very easy for me. Don't assume that everyone is dim.

A brief history of the live sound reinforcement:

[youtu.be]

[www.reverbnation.com]

I just think that any concert in any open stadium sucks big time soundwise. I dislike it so much that I decided a long time ago not to go to Stones stadium shows anymore, so I even skipped the last tour's Amsterdam Arena shows, which were like 15 minutes from where I live. I went to see them at the London Olympic, but I left during Rambler.

Best sound of any open air shows probably was the Berlin Waldbuhne, which was so clean and loud it was fantastic. Indoor shows the Olympia was incomparable, brilliant sound. London O2 was great, but Arnhem Netherlands sucked.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs
I just think that any concert in any open stadium sucks big time soundwise. I dislike it so much that I decided a long time ago not to go to Stones stadium shows anymore, so I even skipped the last tour's Amsterdam Arena shows, which were like 15 minutes from where I live. I went to see them at the London Olympic, but I left during Rambler.

Best sound of any open air shows probably was the Berlin Waldbuhne, which was so clean and loud it was fantastic. Indoor shows the Olympia was incomparable, brilliant sound. London O2 was great, but Arnhem Netherlands sucked.

Mathijs

Do you wear earplugs? That makes a huge difference for me. Everything is completely clear and my ears are not tired afterwards. Position in the stadium is a big factor in stadiums. Nosebleeds at MetLife Stadium this year on the sides was the worst sound I've ever heard at a concert. We could hear the main PA then the delay towers a second later. It was a mess. From the PIT, it was perfect. The Amsterdam Arena is notoriously bad for sound.

Not sure if this thread is Stones specific or not, but live sound has improved tremendously since I first started going to concerts in 1975.

Many of the earliest shows I attended were in the Macon (Ga) Coliseum - a place notorious for bad sound. Much echoing and sound bouncing around. This has been made much better by the building of a wall between the arena area and the large front lobby. Among some really bad sounding ones were Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, KISS, and Skynyrd. Again, I'm discussing live sound, not the quality of the performers.

The Stones shows in 2015 and 2019 sounded great. Loud, but clear. Kudos for good live sound to McCartney and U2, also.