On September 21, 2012, I attended, How Sweet the Sound, for a second time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles; actually, it was the third time since both semi and finals were held in Los Angeles last year in October and November. Both events [last year] were perfect, which is why I decided to place the event on my events calendar each year. I’m not religious in the least, but music, in general, is the queen of my soul.
The event this year? It was a horrible production this year in stark comparison to 2011’s production. And the irony is in the title… “How Sweet the Sound”. It was everything but sweet this year.
Last year’s performance started on time, whereas, this year’s performance was at least 30 minutes late.
The entire production of the event this year was unprofessional, including and most importantly, the audio quality. Also, it was easy to tell that Mr. Lawrence and Ms. Adams was adlibbing through the most of the show. When it came time to for the audience to text their votes to pick the best choir, there was a technical problem.
I could not believe my eyes (and ears) because it was such an amateur program this year compared to last. The producers of this year’s event should be ashamed of themselves!
Also different from last year, there was no preaching; it was strictly about the music, and I appreciated that. This year, Mr. Lawrence decided to go into preach mode, and I suspect it was only done to kill time due to the ill prepared production.
I was so perplexed by the vast difference in production and sound quality, I had to stop and analyze why the difference in experience from one year to the next… and then it hit me about half way through the program! Last year’s production was produced to be televised, and it was the finals… that explained everything!
But to go from a well produced and managed production to the amateurish production that I saw this year was a travesty and served no one, not the performers and certainly not the audience.
The overall production aside, being the music lover that I am, I was flabbergasted and appalled by the very loud, distorted, bass driven, poor sound quality. I’m sure Staples’ sound system is a multi-million dollar sound system, and they could not produce a higher quality sound than that! I thought, “This is a joke!”
Literally, there was nothing that I enjoyed about the performance in comparison to the high quality production and sound quality compared to last year’s performance.
The choirs this year were not good as compared to last year’s semi finals choirs; but after all, it is a competition, and I understand that it all depends on which groups compete in any given year. But I’m sure my poor assessment of them also had something to do with the overall poor sound quality too.
Although I recognized it last year, it was not such a distraction due to having enjoyed the show last year; but, I hate the sardine seating style at Staples. Clearly, it is a “pack em’ in” mentality, and it cheapens the experience of attending an event. The Nokia seating is much better and more comfortable.
Lastly, I would recommend that Staples go to the same seating system that theaters have, where you can pick the location of your seats.
At this point, I will only be attending events that are televised. This way, I can be assured of a more positive and professional experience.