Complaints about the sound at Glade 2008

[yudlugar]

It was my first Glade and I was quite dissapointed with the sound across the whole festival. I went to Glade on the strength of friends recommendations and once I looked into the line-up wanted to see quite a few of the acts, particulary in overkill. I ended up having the best times in Liquid as the sound was good in that tent. Many of the Overkill acts for me were ruined by the lack of "oomph" to the sound. It was just like listening in my bedroom. The likes of Rotator and Droon left me mostly stood still nodding my head.. Marousa who I thoroughly enjoyed in London last week I had to walk out of the sound was so poor. The bug was another thing entirely, being able to hear a conversation of others several yards away.

It's unlikely I'll be returning next year, although I had a good time, the vibe of the festival wasn't really my thing and it's pointless coming on the strength of the line-up when most of it is spoilt by bad sound in my opinion. Glade wasn't worth the money for me.

On the plus side, Autechre, Current Value and Wisp were all awesome and I was also pleasantly suprised by Eat Static.

[shakyjane]

I'm sure it was actually beatmonkey's fault with that horn

the sound was absolutely shocking for deekline (and for anyone who understand this...wtf visuals?) & remarc, i saw a lot of movement going on before deekline & wizard - although beat assassins sounded fine from backstage. I dont understand why anyone would even consider cutting out all the bass for deekline & wizard

it seemed to get better on the saturday - but then i was getting more trashed.

In my opinion last year was worse though. I spent less time in the breaksday this year than 2007 though so it could have been. I found myself in the overkill a lot funnily enough

[dinnwarde]

Yeah i felt really gutted for Saint Acid on the friday, spoke to him at the back of the tent after his set and his face said it all, a real shame. As Sperge said, The Doubtful Guest was wicked and loud, same for Bong-Ra's first set as Glowstyx

But when Remarc and Bong Ra came on it was just gutting (as they were two I was really hyped to see). You could chat to people at normal speaking volume stood right near the front, and youd be lucky to hear any of the breaks, felt really sorry for James and the artists involved (and the sound engineers, since theyre powerless in these situations but get all the stick for it)

Looking forward to Acid On Sea so i can witness bangface at its rightful volume

Gleeks post is a good one, the Glade vibe itself cannot be beaten and I for one will be back next year, had an absolutely brilliant weekend when all said and done and met many many wicked people!

And yeah, agreed with the higher ticket price if needs be, it would certainly be worth it and im sure most glade fans would agree

[stir]

But once again, if it was that big an issue for most punters, there wouldn't be so much repeat business.

nonsense, sound levels have got worse year on year, quality may have improved, but each year we are promised better levels........ the main arguement against getting another site being - "its ok we have new technology that will improve levels and reduce complaints"

ive been lied to.

[tcphotography]

What a refreshing change to have a proper conversation during a techno set Now if you went to a free party it would be banging till 6 in the morning and you would have to shout to the person next to you Much better to spend over £100 and have music a little lower than the car stereo, Glade are looking after our ears good old glade the clubbers are great the weather was great the place was great the music was great the sound after midnight was not that great

[Sperge]

But once again, if it was that big an issue for most punters, there wouldn't be so much repeat business.

nonsense, sound levels have got worse year on year, quality may have improved, but each year we are promised better levels........ the main arguement against getting another site being - "its ok we have new technology that will improve levels and reduce complaints"

ive been lied to.

Actually, the sound in general was better this year than last. Fact. There were a few issues this year, certainly, but they had much bigger problems last year. And like I said, if it was that big an issue for most punters, they wouldn't be coming back. It's obviously a bigger issue for you than others, so obviously Glade isn't the right festival for you. Please find yourself a new one instead of boring me and everyone else about it for the next year.

[pd2h]

I too would say the same, if you don't like it don't come and moan about it when you are there?? There is nothing more annoying than trying to enjoy some music only to be totally put of by some looser shouting in your ear "TURN IT UP" why not just try and listen instead!!!

[9preciousGems]

i must be the only person there not to notice the poor sound levels during remarcs set (and any other set tbh)

how very strange

[Sperge]

I too would say the same, if you don't like it don't come and moan about it when you are there?? There is nothing more annoying than trying to enjoy some music only to be totally put of by some looser shouting in your ear "TURN IT UP" why not just try and listen instead!!!

It's also self-defeating. Several crew have said that the crowd chants of "TURN IT UP" were actually tripping the decibel meters.

[pesh]

Liquids Opus rig 1 - everyone elses FK1 rigs 0
sound cancelling technology my arse...

[Sperge]

If Glade must stay at Wasing (and like I've said before, I don't fully understand why they're so attached to the site myself) I wonder if it would be worth people who live locally lobbying West Berks Council to ask them to consider easing the sound limits? If the moaners can lobby the council, why shouldn't people who like the festival do so too?

I think the council's hands may be tied because they could probably face a judicial review from some of the more organised complainers if they didn't play everything strictly by the book.

So another solution may be, as suggested earlier in teh thread, to offer tickets, holidays or straight bribes to the real diehard residents who can't put up with a bit of noise one weekend a year.

Other than that, I don't really see what people can do other than petition the organisers to move the festival away from Wasing. If anyone wants to start a "Should the Glade move from Wasing?" poll on here, that's fine by me.

[ogriff]

I found the sound levels far better than in previous years - maybe I have some innate ability to find the "sweet spot", I dunno...

Frequency 7 were the only act I left because of the volume - where I was dancing for Jeff Mills it was plenty, plenty loud (I remember remarking how surprisingly loud it was) - I could feel the bass in my chest which is my way of measuring...!

all in all, best Glade ever. As agreed by everyone I went with that had been before - more room, better sound, the return to happy vibes. thanks to anyone I gabbled rubbish at.

[16-BIT]

im absolutely appauled about how low the sound was on friday nite. ben sims and surgeon who finished in the main tent were shaking their heads in disbelief. at one point they turned off their monitor speakers and the volume dropped by almost half, i could hear people having conversations 10 metres away.saturday was a little better but not alot really.

i even spoke to a woman in thatcham train station on th eway home who lived 1 mile away fro the site and said she didnt hear a thing all weekend and when she got the questionairre she gets every year she was going to say we are a "jolly good bunch"

[Beatmonkey]

I'm sure it was actually beatmonkey's fault with that horn

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK

And the horn wasn't just me, it was buzzingtalk and her mates as well

[Beatmonkey]

I don't get why you're getting such a harsh recpetion onsite crew. My position on sound levels has already been stated but I'd also like to mention that your picture is funny and it's a message the organisers need to be spoon fed. Fair play for getting up and makeing a stand. Personaly I think their doing very well given the situation with licenseing they have but theres always room for more volume.

[joe_techno]

It was just hellfish that pissed me off. was far too quiet. i mean what the fuck is quiet gabba about?? pointless! .. hellfish was getting pissed off aswell but they wouldn't turn it up.

[stir]

just to straighten you out a little.

I didnt shout turn it up.
I didnt really have a problem with sound levels in the tents.

I was disappointed that you couldnt sit outside breaks in the sun and listen to the rolling bass.

I understand that this noise travels and causes (external) problems.

If there is any voting for a different site - with the possibility of less noise restrictions - let me know
If you/we really think that lobbying the council may change the rules for the current (and lets face facts, future) site, im in too.

just to add, one high point of 05 & 06 was the first bass note rolling across the site at noon - Breaksday!

[dinnwarde]

It was just hellfish that pissed me off. was far too quiet. i mean what the fuck is quiet gabba about?? pointless! .. hellfish was getting pissed off aswell but they wouldn't turn it up.

I must have been dancing in a sweet spot for Hellfish, it sounded louder than the previous acts to me

[soundclash]

This sometimes blind faith in the festival is the one of the main reason they are still selling tickets. But people are getting abit pissed now with the same excuses and lies. Onsitecrew has his opinion and to my eyes its a very valid one. The sound was nowhere near as loud as previous years. If need be i can call the guys at Audio Plus to confirm this as they supplied the sound throughout the site, bar a few areas. I even spoke to the guy controling the rigs. Just accept that there are some very pissed off people who want to voice there concerns rather than telling them to fuck off, its not constructive in any way. The organisers need to hear these views or they are going to find that next year they are going bust (if they havent already?). Then crap sound or not no-one will be going to glade.

[fletcher]

this is what forums are all about, a decent debate.

everyone is entitled to an opinion, so big it up

its just a shame that a few sets were spoilt by the apparent sound problems (although i must point out that i didnt notice any all weekend).

Be nice to know what saint acid thought about the bangface night.... when he emerges...

[Sperge]

Be nice to know what saint acid thought about the bangface night.... when he emerges...

as i said before, we talked to him after his set and he was gutted...he said he couldnt even hear himself on the system...

~Gand

Now where would Glade get the extra punters if Bangface pulled out of next years festival???

I'm saying nowt.

[discopete]

One more vote to confirm the crippleing noise restrictions.
Not an outright complaint abut the absolute volume but the amature way it was applied on some of the arenas. The glade stage, Breaksday and Overkill were utterly ruined by a complete lack of musical dynamics. the quiet bits were 93dB, the buildups ramped up from 93 to 93 then the drops went nowhere - utterly unmotivating and unexciting.

Sancho Panza on the other hand seemed not to suffer from this problem, The Rabit Hole was loud enough all weekend and the Origin stage was mostly excellent (there were a few times I'd have liked to have been utterly spanked by it though)

I'd quite like a 50% refund on the ticket price to match the number of acts i'd have liked to enjoy to the number it was possible to do so to.

Having successfully had a conversation with someone at normal speaking volume about what Sunday lunch was going to be in the middle of overkill I retired to camp for my slippers, pipe and a mug of coco.

[lurk]

i thought sound levels were pretty decent wherever i went... admittedly i didn't go into overkill or vapour once, but everywhere else it was always loud enough to dance, you just had to get down the front!

i think the thing that everyone loses sight of is that in this country glade is the best you are going to get, it's not the organisers fault, it's the that of the authorities. the organisers to their best under the circumstances that are dictated to them by others.

everyone talks about going abroad to festivals,but i've never seen a line-up at any european festival that remotely compares to the variety and quality that we are given year after year by glade, and then you have the people and the atmosphere on top of that.

i've got mates from holland, denmark and sweden who come over especially for glade every year, because they haven't found a festival yet that gives them the quality, vibe and general levels of lunacy that we get in this country... which some of us seem to take for granted. they always leave happy and satisfied and come back for more, which just goes to prove that grass isn't always greener on the other side of the channel.

[9preciousGems]

i thought sound levels were pretty decent wherever i went... admittedly i didn't go into overkill or vapour once, but everywhere else it was always loud enough to dance, you just had to get down the front!

i think the thing that everyone loses sight of is that in this country glade is the best you are going to get, it's not the organisers fault, it's the that of the authorities. the organisers to their best under the circumstances that are dictated to them by others.

everyone talks about going abroad to festivals,but i've never seen a line-up at any european festival that remotely compares to the variety and quality that we are given year after year by glade, and then you have the people and the atmosphere on top of that.

i've got mates from holland, denmark and sweden who come over especially for glade every year, because they haven't found a festival yet that gives them the quality, vibe and general levels of lunacy that we get in this country... which some of us seem to take for granted. they always leave happy and satisfied and come back for more, which just goes to prove that grass isn't always greener on the other side of the channel.

[imitationleather]

I thought it was far louder than last year at all times! Maybe that's because I was usually right at the front of the tents?