yeah, many large rock concerts have poor sound, and there's always the paradox. You get the best sound near the console.....but the best view of the band right up front.....where the sound is not too great.....you hear stuff straight from the amps as well....so the guitars, bass and keys are loudest.....and the vocals are always a bit suppressed right up front, plus you have no line-of-sight with the PAs so you only get a very diffuse hearing of what the PAs are putting out.
The Roger Waters concert I was in the cheapest section at the back and the sound was awful, perhaps the sound in front was good. Roger Drego usually does good sound. Reynolds again does good sound, but their best sound is delivered in smaller venues, as is the case with Acoustic Control. The best sound for a large rock concert I've heard is probably the Rolling Stones, where all the sound equipment was flown in as well. The next best sound for a big concert i remember is from Deep Purple in 2001 (Reynolds).
But the finest sound is easily in small, good venues. Thermal and a Quarter used to do shows at this eco-village called Trans-Indus (off Kanakpura road, in Bangalore), and the sound they got together with Acoustic Control was fabulous.
There was also the 'Metro' concert that i attended at Good Shepherd Auditorium. The sound and the band (Chuck Loeb, Mitch Foreman, Dave Weckl, Eric Marienthal, Melvin Davis) was absolutely first rate.
This is an interesting thread. Just like the ones where people talk about the equipment they have owned, it's interesting to see what concerts people have been to, to know the kind of music they enjoy and the kind of artistes for whom they'd spend money to see live.
By the way, for all the people in Chennai, the next week has a superb line-up of performances including Abida Parveen (which is sold out, thankfully I booked early) and a jazz quartet from Australia....a nice lead-in to the official 'music season.'