Hairbangers Ball - CL Lakeside Fest 6.22.07

What a band! It's true that most bands, even mediocre bands, can sound great through a huge PA system outside at festivals. But it's really a good band that can still sound great and be very entertaining even though the mix was, in my opinion, atrocious. More on that later.

This is a seasoned group of what appear to be "pros" or at least Class A on the Bandstalker rating system. These men and woman are there to do a fully pro job of delivering some great songs in a great way. They are a niche band and do a very good job at it. The niche: 80's hair band classics. The song selection is superb, the show is great and the musicianship is top-notch. There really isn't anything you can say bad about this band (except maybe they ask the crowd how they're all doing way too often - however, the crowd always howls when they're asked). That's it. There's nothing else to say. They are a great band worth going way out of your way for.

Now, the mix was a different subject. Hairbangers Ball was great ... even though they had to fight what I thought was a weak mix. The company doing the mixing at the Crystal Lake Lakeside Fest is usually the same outfit that does it every year. I stood at different locations during the Hairbangers sets and there was virtually no bass drum! The drummer would do a roll around the set and most of the drums didn't even respond. The cymbals weren't there. It looked like there was an Ampeg SVT set-up there for the bassist and you could hear virtually no low end to the mix. Man, it's the bass drum keyed into a pounding bass guitar that drives the crowd and neither were there. The vocals were fine and the keyboard and guitars were fine. It sounded like a loud AM radio broadcast. This was the weak link this night.

Great band! Go see them! Now! http://www.hairbangersball.com/