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ACL: Cold War Kids
Fullerton, Calif.’s Cold War Kids — lead vocalist/guitarist Nathan Willett, guitarist/vocalist Jonnie Russell, bassist Matt Maust and drummer Matt Aveiro — have been touring behind “Robbers and Cowards,” one of the most hyped-up albums of anyone playing at ACL 2007. Unfortunately the band’s 3:30 p.m. AT&T Blue Room stage performance suffered from a sound mix that emphasized vocals, drums, and absolutely nothing else.
As the band began its first song, the audience had swelled to at least 30,000 strong. The hottest part of the day had arrived and you could just smell the skin cancer cells cooking under everyone’s beads of sweat. By the time the band played their final notes, the audience had shrunk to half that size.
But it wasn’t because of Cold War Kids lack of verve or performance acumen, because they definitely had their act together. The songs were tight and creatively spun. And the band was comfortable working the big stage; you would never know that only a year ago they were playing small indie rock clubs.
The reason the Cold War Kids’ set didn’t translate to the audience as well as it should have came down to two things that could have been controlled: the heat and the sound mix.
Today’s heat reignited the argument for pushing the festival back to October or November. Shoot while we’re thinking out loud, why not hold it in December when Austin still has plenty of sun.
Now to the sound: The Cold War Kids’ performance was hindered by a lack of vocal compression. Good sound people use rack mountable vocal compressors to squash the super high volumes in the mix and to likewise increase the levels of quiet vocal deliveries. The sound person for the Cold War Kids appeared to have a tin ear because their mix was absolutely awful: all vocals, drums and piano. Further, the band’s lead vocalist could definitely take a lesson in dynamics from the same place he copped many of his other influences (Jeff Buckley, Radiohead). Willet’s voice was all bombast; his literary lyrics held less sway without the flashes of subtlety found on the band’s albums.
The band’s two singles — “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “We Used To Vacation” — and all of their other swampy, blues-infected, Southern rock sounding songs could have been so strong. Sadly, the band’s 60-minute set was mostly shaped by just six unfortunate words: time for a new sound person.
(Photo by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: ACL Festival
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By jfow
September 17, 2007 12:06 AM | Link to this
Cold War Kids was the biggest surprise of ACL. Sound problems or not, they managed to stand out as a “best moment” of the festival.