The Savoy is crap for gigs..

[din0saur]

Apologies for being so blunt but it came up again over here http://www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/~peoplesr/forums/showthread.php?t=58145

One factor for me in deciding whether or not to go to a gig is the venue. The idea of paying €20 to take my chances with the crap shoot that is a gig in The Savoy is a bit too much of a gamble for my liking.

I've been to quite few gigs in The Savoy and have come away disappointed more times than not. In terms of size the venue is perfect for larger acts but for whatever reason the acoustics for live gigs is very often terrible. Can we not get a petition going or get someone who knows about these things make a suggestion as to what can be done?

 

[EDDIEB]

Excellent live venue with loads of potential.Crap sound system and facilities for bands does'nt help.
Cork as the second city is poorly served as Killarney,Limerick,Waherford and even the west of Ireland Galway / Castlebar gets lots of great gigs.
Most bands that play Dublin could easily play Cork if they got organised.
They are paying all the costs insurance etc for the venue and its left idle most evenings.
Limerick is getting an 8,000 seated indoor venue which will be the death knell for a similar one and live gigs on a large scale in Cork.
Lack of imagination on the Savoys management as ever.

 

[paddypaws]

Well I saw a few bands in there in the past and the sound was good but that was only when they hired in a front of house system.
was in there for SK last Wednesday and when I saw they were using the house system the ear plugs went in before I walked onto the floor. I am not sure about this but the system that is in there is designed to be used in stadiums or at outdoors festivals not indoor
also the crossover sounds like it might be overlimiting the Signal
I never had a good look at the system in there so I really don’t know why it’s so nasty

 

[Judge Dredd]

A good point has been raised here.

It is actually a very good sound system, the best in the city actually. The problem is operator error. I have been at gigs where the band brought their own engineer, and the sound was great. It is not the acoustics that are the problem, but the ridiculous amount of bass. The stage is basically made of bass bins, so the whole thing resonates. The simple solution is to disable half of the bins.

The stage is all black, which looks really bad. A simple back drop would go a long way towards fixing that. There is no sound insulation at the back of the venue (there's a bloody big door actually!), so residents complain (understandably) about noise levels.

It is an expensive venue to run, consequently management do not have the budget for good lighting, video, etc.

A potentially great venue indeed.

 

[DJ Iain Mulcahy]

This is a very good discussion.

First up. The bass issue is correct. The gigs that I have attended (mainly DJs) the bass is too loud, so for e.g. vocals, melodies etc. are swallowed up. The balance doesn't seem to be right. I thought at first it was the DJ (levels off etc.) but at this stage I don't think so. I have heard many tracks that should sound a lot better/clearer on the system they have.

2nd, clubs these days develop a reputation for sound, as much for the acts that they churn out. People just go to Fabric, London (for e.g.) to hear the sound system, as much as who is playing. Sometimes it's a case of, 'who cares whos on, it will sound class'. I think the Savoy should remember that. Fabric's sound system isn't necessary, but a polished, crystal sound system would reep rewards imo. It has nearly everything else although lighting could be improved too.

 

[Raulie]

can, worms, opened

 

[soundzcape]

I agree,all the points made are valid,I have heard that it is an outdoor system,which means that technically you´re no meant to be so close to it as its aim(outdoors) is for a greater distance,and it also explains the excess of bass (bass being the first thing to go without walls to confine it.
I also agree with the lack of propper opperateing,as I was told that when the frames were down about 2 years ago,jerry they´re engineer spent age´s getting it sorted,got it perfect and asked them to save all the settings.needless to say,by his next visit,he was disgusted to see that this had not been done!
a perfect example of the sound problem was at the rebirth,a very easy band to mix,as they were amazing musicians playing tight modern R n´B.you could only hear the bass throughout the gig (not even the drums),when the bass dropped-out,then you could hear everything else with perfect clarity.
Its also worth noteing that the two most reverberating venues in town seem to be the savoy and the bodega (I´ve refused band gigs in here due to this),there approach to this problem is seriously lacking,or maybe their engineer can´t appreaciate just how much reverb exists!

 

[shelly]

Aye its very hard to get a proper club atmosphere goin in there. Too "big room" and "open air" imo

 

[STEVIEG]

There's definitely a problem with live gigs.
I know they are limited time-wise for sound checks cause of the complaining from the shops downstairs but i don't think all the sound experts (personally i'm not knowledgeable about sound) would be always complaining just for the fun
So there must be a problem
I think from the club side of things though it depends on the crowd and the night-it's been full every single Saturday since July (thats over 1000 people) and the atmosphere has been excellent and i've had very few complaints from the regulars as regarding the sound
The atmosphere at the Jam juniors is unreal too but obviously this crowd aren't going to be sound experts.
This leaves the other two nights, Thursdays and Fridays, which are getting busier and thus benfitting from a better atmosphere aswell.
I know there were a few moments at Hype when people mentioned the sound but for the vast majority of people on the dancefloor (including myself) the atmosphere was as good as ive experienced anywhere in the last few years.
For gigs though, i ain't no expert.

 

[Pheas]

Yeah,
I've never been to a gig in there with decent sound, it seems to be all low end.

I'll be honest, given the size of cork and the expense of the venue I would say that if it's possible the club should be limited to the front room. Rearrange where the stage, bar and the rest of it. There is better scope for the Savoy as a venue for more intimate gigs. I can't see how one would get enough names big enough to fill the main room regularly to ever make it a viable venue.

Perhaps turning the front room into a cinema and having the whole venue as a sort of cultural centre like the IFC in Dublin would be a runner.