jrodan Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 so can we at least stop pretending that the vocals for this band live exist? saw the SF record release show and instrumentally it sounded as good as any show ive been to in a long time. but the vocals? there were none. dude was flapping his lips most the time, but literally nothing was coming out. i was standing right by the sound board and those dudes were confused as hell. i took some video from the show just so you can see how ridiculous the "vocals" were. http://youtu.be/AnIqjKOGvcE diabretic, dickcritter, drds89 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drds89 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I upvoted you, even though that is sort of the idea with shoegaze, that the vocals are audible but barely intelligible -- kind of another instrument, and they can really make or break a track for me. Some shoegaze gets into the gloompop, dreampop, doompop, folkpop, etc where the vocals are clear and a bit more upfront and intelligible - which can be fine, too. All so subjective. Probably why I don't break my neck to get to their concerts. And Whirr want to be known for LOUDNESS (decibels), so it would be quite a challenge to get any vocals in there at midrange frequencies. I still need several more listens to Sway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrodan Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 i am a shoegaze afficianado and i can say this isnt a shoegaze choice. the album has vocals that are definitely in the mix yet still hold that vocals as another instrument motif. the band live was nothing like that. literally no vocals at all. he seemed nervous and afraid to sing. that is why it is now clear that Shy Ronnie is the lead singer of Whirr. i mean, they even have the same haircut, though the color is different. drds89 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetsuodaironman Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Can't wait to see this dudes on Friday. Is the album a tour variant or do they just have early copies of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youinreverse Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Ryan just posted on Instagram that the last batch if these hand pours got done today and they should be in the hands of Record Club members next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiatorhums Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Ryan just posted on Instagram that the last batch if these hand pours got done today and they should be in the hands of Record Club members next week. That's great news! I've been holding off and I can definitely wait until next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Us Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I love Sway so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoStairwayDenied Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Anyone going to the show in Los Angeles on Tuesday? Haven't gone to a show in a while. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah I'm seeing them tonight. I live right near the venue so I'll probably walk down a little bit later, I'm not trying to catch the openers. I'm hoping they'll have the new album for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distinctlydustin Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I celebrate their entire catalog. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelso330 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I need more listens too, first 2 passes and I am little bummed... Around and Distressor at the top, pipe next and Sway at the bottom! But that could change? Just didn't connect with it immediately like Around/Distressor .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvv Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Distressor > Sway > Pipe Dreams > Around imo. ALL great albums though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cesar11 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 to those going tonight: Sad Actor 9:00pm, ACxDC 10:00pm & Whirr 11:00pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danh Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Cool, thanks! Hope I can grab a copy of the new album too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamalatapes Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 so can we at least stop pretending that the vocals for this band live exist? saw the SF record release show and instrumentally it sounded as good as any show ive been to in a long time. but the vocals? there were none. dude was flapping his lips most the time, but literally nothing was coming out. i was standing right by the sound board and those dudes were confused as hell. i took some video from the show just so you can see how ridiculous the "vocals" were. http://youtu.be/AnIqjKOGvcE Well shoegaze live... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamalatapes Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Anyone have pics of the poster? My buddy went in San Diego tonight and grabbed me one, said that the front side says 1/25 and the back says 1/100. Refuses to send me a pic as it's a 'surprise', but I am impatient haha. Wow I wonder what time he showed up? I didn't even see anyone holding a record around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waters Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Wow I wonder what time he showed up? I didn't even see anyone holding a record around Poster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek™ Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 so can we at least stop pretending that the vocals for this band live exist? saw the SF record release show and instrumentally it sounded as good as any show ive been to in a long time. but the vocals? there were none. dude was flapping his lips most the time, but literally nothing was coming out. i was standing right by the sound board and those dudes were confused as hell. i took some video from the show just so you can see how ridiculous the "vocals" were. Thank you. I'm glad someone else experienced this firsthand. While I didn't attend the record release show, I've been to no less than a dozen shows at Bottom of the Hill in SF, and every single artist has sounded fantastic there... minus Whirr. No idea why their performance was isolated, but that vocal phenomena you just described was exactly what I saw. (I described all this in further detail earlier in the thread, I know. Trying not to repeat myself too much.) A lot of people in the audience were shouting to "speak up" or "turn the vocals up", but the band didn't even acknowledge the requests. After two or three songs the audience just kind of shrugged and was like "okay, whatever." I guess that's the sound they're shooting for. But at least you got clarity with your instruments. That must've been nice. that is sort of the idea with shoegaze, that the vocals are audible but barely intelligible Haha – no offense at all Don, but I'm thinking that the guy with the My Bloody Valentine avatar probably knows how vocals work in shoegaze. (Both in live shows and on studio albums.) But like you said, they don't need to be intelligible, but they should at least be audible. And for Whirr live - at least for he and I - the vocals are neither. Which is definitely a bummer. Going back to my mention of Bottom of the Hill shows, I also caught Nothing and Appleseed Cast there; both of which incorporate some pretty unintelligible vocals into a good portion of their songs. And honestly, the mixing of the vocals was perfect for both of those artists. Very comparable to their studio counterparts. "Shy Ronnie" vocals is such an apt description for Whirr's live game. jrodan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hideyourheart Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 this is how they mix the vocals.. when i've seen them, you couldn't hear the vocals either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danh Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Whirr was great tonight. I agree with what has been said about the live vocals so far, but it didn't bother me that much what I saw them play. I was taken aback by how nice the guys were at their merch table. They're nothing like their online persona. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azvd Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Good or bad, perhaps that's the kind of reaction they're looking forward from the audience. Bring expectations down... I don't know if there's a "right" way to play your music, although a fanbase would come to your concert with a frame in mind, it's up to you on how you'll choose to play your songs live. From what I've seen on you YouTube videos, they are clearly an instrumental band on the stage and that pulls a great deal of people down. I can't wait to put my hands on Sway, I should blow the speakers and bring the whole building down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drds89 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 The subjective feelings I get from shoegaze in most of its derivative forms do not make me want to experience this type of music LIVE for some reason. Probably the 17 year old phase I never went through, and feel some of it now. Psycho-analyze me. Especially if the volume is cranked. I've had my face melted plenty of times and there is a disconnect between that type of experience and chilling at home with Shoegaze playing--- just as much as I still can't get over the personalities of these neo-gazers like Nothing punks churning out these melodious gems. But then again, I think it mostly (hugely) Nicky B. as the Fountainhead, and the other band members do contribute and collaborate some to get the final product. Kristina of King Woman/Miserable says that Nicky is CONSTANTLY writing music, putting stuff down, laying down bits and pieces, and she learned to do that from her time in Whirr. No offense to jrodan intended re: 'explaining' shoegaze to you -- apologies on my part -- I did gather that the gist of your post was to express the same experience that Derek had with Whirr live ie nonvocals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek™ Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 The subjective feelings I get from shoegaze in most of its derivative forms do not make me want to experience this type of music LIVE for some reason. Probably the 17 year old phase I never went through, and feel some of it now. Psycho-analyze me. Especially if the volume is cranked. I've had my face melted plenty of times and there is a disconnect between that type of experience and chilling at home with Shoegaze playing Definitely agreed. It's not that I don't enjoy a good shoegaze show, but half of the appeal of that style of music - as well as drone and ambient - is being able to lose myself when the conditions and environment are just right. That's tough to do with so many factors in a live setting. But that's just me. But I'd still really like to see MBV, someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoStairwayDenied Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 I was at the show last night, here's my thoughts. There was, for the most part, no vocals. Every now and then you could hear a syllable, but that's about it. It wasn't about "how it is mixed" either. You could turn Ronnie's vocal mic up as far as it could go and he we still find a way to be inaudible, he just didn't look confident singing. This wouldn't bother me so much, but some of the songs rely on the vocals as the main melody (ex. verse in "flashback"). I think the absence of a female singer hurt their live show, women's vocals cut through the mix better. With that said, everything else sounded great. I snagged a copy of Sway at the merch table, it's some weird gold looking color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhulud Posted September 3, 2014 Author Share Posted September 3, 2014 When I saw WHIRR in Tampa w/ Nothing and that tour they did together it was the same thing. The place they played at, Crowbar, is OK for sound. I was standing right in front Ronnie and even that close I couldn't hear the vocals at all. As stated above also, I picked out a few words here and there but for the most part, the vocals were completely buried in the mix. Whether that was done on purpose or not, I don't know, but I'd assume so b/c when Nothing played before them, I could hear Nicky's vocals just fine. WHIRR are playing in Orlando next week and that's the closest they'll be to me. I'd like to go but that's the same exact night as Lily Allen down here. And since I've never seen Allen before and she rarely tours the U.S. on her own, I will miss WHIRR but no regrets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrodan Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 I just wanna say I am so stoked that Shy Ronnie is catching on. When it hit me that that is who he reminded me of, I about fell out of my chair. Get confident dude! The vocals on the record sound soooo good. I know you have it in you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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