there have been lots of comments about the sound quality at the 02 ....i was at the first gig on the 1st....iwas in the corner lower tier six rows from the front and i thought the sound was ok...not great...guitar sounded too low in the mix for me but have heard far worse at other gigs.....
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went to the august 4th gig and i was right in the middle of the lower tiers about 20 rows from the front so was a lot higher up and i could see the whole stage and the sound was a LOT better than the lower seats and was a far better experience all round....cant comment on the higher tiers but it seems to me looking at how the arena speakers are situated that the best place for good sound quality is in the middle of the lower tiers...maybe 10 to 20 rows back....maybe they have misjudged the position of the speakers and the power...
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it isnt easy getting great sound all round an arena of that size but this was purpose built for great acoustics so something aint right.....

sound problems were also present during his last arena tour and it is becoming obvious to me that either they can't do anything about it or they don't care

the bad thing is that people really want to get those floor seats or be right up near the stage and when the npg club was around, you got first row, second row so it was great....until you got to the show and all of a sudden realized the sound was horrible.....and i mean horrible

I have been twice - first on the opening night I had floor seats, Row C, then on Aug 7 I was up high in block 401: both nights the sound mix was really very poor, with far too much bass, only kick drum and no snare, and horn arrangements could hardly be heard. Prince and his guitar were clear. I haven't figured out yet if John Blackwell just plays different grooves or if the snare drum here is just not audible.

Anyhow, I had a blast on both nights, with Tuesday's aftershow being the climax! Trane