So I was at the Tom Quayle & Martin Miller guitar masterclass last evening. I decided to sit at the top & rear row (3rd last from the back), away from the potential blast of the sound system. Forgive this zoomed in picture on that note.
Turnout
The attendance for the evening was fantastic. By 6.20pm, almost all seating spaces were occupied. By the time the gentlemen made their way to the stage, the gallery could hardly accommodate curious passers by. It was a good mix of guitar buffs & whoever else with time in their hands & happened to be there. Definitely more attendance compared to the Marty Friedman show.
Sound
A let down. When both guitarists plugged in, there was nothing to be heard for a few minutes. Quayle made a quick appeal to the audience to 'hang in there' while the tech look into things. A few minutes later, only his guitar signals got through, nothing from Miller. After countless plugging & unplugging, flicking of switches & running to & fro, the tech dismissed the possibility of Miller's amp making it for the show. I couldn't quite make out who asked, "Is there any other amp?" but the tech shook his head in the negative. It's every performer's nightmare coming to life- equipment failure.
It is disturbing to know that there was simply no backup considering that Swee Lee's flagship store was just a level above the performance area. No efforts were made to source for a replacement there (I might be wrong, though). A little perplexing because I was there just before the show to grab a smoothie. People were there trying guitars & I really wonder where all those guitar sounds came from.
Technical glitches continued to plague the show further into the performance but that was handled more swiftly than before. All this while, I only saw one bloke trying to troubleshoot the matter, reorganize failed equipment & manning the mixing console. Yes- ONE person. After this underserving episode, I hope the relevant parties would look into contingency management, including having helping hands from individuals not from the equipment provider.
The sound system management was poor in its entirety. Quayle's show opener was plagued by inaudible guitar sounds; the backing track overwhelmed everything. Miller kept gesturing to the mixing desk for Quayle's guitar volume to be turned up but being at the side of the stage instead of the front, the poor guy couldn't really gauge how much of which signals to be boosted or cut accordingly. Quayle & Miller's microphones manifested volume imbalance; Miller's was way louder than Quayle's. It seems that when the softer mic was turned up, it automatically did likewise to the other & when Miller started speaking, the volume was overboard. To be fair to the tech, this could have been affected by the fact that both guitarists had one working amp to be contented with- the reason why you only see one amp mic-ed up in the pic above. The re-routing of signals might have everything to do with the wayward volume. A let down for sure.
Performance
Both gentlemen were outstanding professionals throughout the show. Despite the technical flaw, they got the audience engaged while things were attended to. They sequenced their contents very well, no clash of talking, guitar playing, even the jokes & sarcasm were in place. Thumbs up to them, nothing less. On a personal note, there were too many clean moments, I'd love to hear more overdrive & distortion from two of the best guitar educators right now. Whatever was dished out that evening, the music was simply outstanding.
All in all, the show was delivered as intended (glitches & all) & I got to enjoy an overpriced serving of banana-mango smoothie as consolation. There were free magazines given out so people had something to bring home instead of just the rancid memories of the sound system gone wrong. I have always enjoyed guitar clinics & this was no exception. Just wished that things were handled better but hey, these things do happen & let's not forget the fact that Tom Quayle & Martin Miller were there to deliver awesome music & that happened.
