South by Southwest Source > South by Southwest Source > Archives > 2007 > March > 25 > Entry
Seeing isn’t believing
Don’t call him Milli VanIggy.
During the Stooges SXSW set Saturday at Stubb’s, bassist Mike Watt’s amp blew up, and he appeared to stop playing as he talked to his tech. Meanwhile, the bass line to “Skull Rings” kept churning out of the speakers.
It sure seemed like the Stooges were using augmentation — maybe a tape loop — and my review said so.
But Stooges publicist Angelica Cob says that assessment was wrong.
“The Stooges have never used backing tracks and never will,” Cob says. “During ‘Skull Ring,’ the bass amp went out, but that didn’t affect the sound coming through the PA and the monitors.”
I saw what I saw — moments when both hands were off the bass — but who am I to dispute the greatest band to ever play SXSW?
Let me set the record straight: Stooges don’t fudge!
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
Comments
By Sound Guy
March 29, 2007 11:13 PM | Link to this
Speaking as the sound engineer “NOT HIRED BY THE STOOGES” and also “THE ONE WHO MIXED THE SHOW” at Stubb’s, there were no backing tracks. What you may have heard, my friend, is the lower frequencies of the guitar chords chunking to fill space. When Mike Watt stopped playing his bass there was no bass. Only low end of the guitar. What a ridiculous assumption…..
By Brian
March 29, 2007 11:18 PM | Link to this
I was the sound engineer who mixed the Stooges show for SXSW. I was not hired by the Stooges. I was in house all week at Stubbs. The Stooges did not bring any sound tech with them. I can say FOR SURE that there was NO backing tracks what so ever. What you may have heard was the lower frequencies of the guitar chunking away filling the space where part of the bass was in the spectrum of bass frequencies.