🚀 go-pugleaf

Not to put too fine a point on this thread, but
I, too, have attended several concerts in the Smith
Center and have come away with mixed experiences as
to sound quality.

Our seats for the Springsteen concert Tues. evening
were in the same general area as Walt Davis's and
we experienced the same difficulties he did (though
it was still a great show, to be sure).  I also
saw Springsteen and the E-Streeters when they performed
at the Dome in March, 1988 and was amazed at how
*good* the sound quality was.  That time, however,
we had lower-level seats, and the arena was packed to
overflowing (vis-a-vis a much smaller crowd Tues.).

I agree with Mary Overby that the sound quality of Bob
Dylan's concert at the Dean Dome several years ago was
awful, whereas it was quite good for Paul Simon.  (Indeed,
his Smith Center show was better than the one at Walnut
Creek in every respect, IMHO, but that's another subject.)
Our seats for Simon were comparable (upper level) to what
we had for Springsteen earlier this week.

My guess is that there must be several variables that
combine to produce a particular sound quality at that
arena at a particular event, and that it is not simply
a question of whether the Smith Center has good/average/
poor acoustics--thus the seemingly wide variety of
experience and opinion.

Paul T. Roberge
Dept. of Germanic Lanuages, UNC-CH
ptr@ecsvax.uncecs.edu