Spark Arena's sonic struggles go way back.
Even SZA struggled to be heard, so what's going on?
A few weeks ago, a familiar complaint reared its ugly head.
It came after the first of three shows by R&B sizzler SZA at Spark Arena, a great performance thwarted by what one reviewer described as “indecipherable” sound mixing.
“SZA’s vocals were often drowned out by her backing track,” wrote Stuff music writer Lyric Waiwiri-Smith in her excellent review, before saying: “Spark Arena shows often disappoint on the sound mixing front.”
It was a problem also noticed by Rolling Stone, whose critic complained that the sound mix “drowned out the artist’s vocals with an overly loud backing track”.
When I read those reviews, I had one thought.
Oh shit. Here we go again.
Music fans have been complaining about Spark Arena’s sonics ever since the venue was called Vector Arena.
Criticisms rolled in when two Red Hot Chili Peppers shows christened the venue in 2007.
I was at the first and remember the band being boring and the sound being shocking. Fans thought so too, writing to the Herald to complain about “awful” sound quality.
“Dreadful,” “terrible” and “absolutely appalling” is how this story opens, detailing the a litany of complaints that landed during the venue’s early days.
The debate got so heated that Chili Peppers’ sound engineer Dave Rat wrote in to call the venue “unfinished”.
“A curved roof with no acoustic panels? What were they thinking. That is about as smart as having 10,000 kids on a floor as slick as an ice skating rink. Oh wait, we had that too … I know arenas and I know them well. This place is an echo chamber that can be greatly improved if adequate sound placements are added to reduce the sound reflections."
The venue responded, saying it was addressing the biggest concerns by adding drop cloths and installing other sound barriers to reduce the echoes.
And yet, the complaints didn’t stop. They never really have.
The next time it happened, it was for shows by Bob Dylan and The Cure later that same year.
And it’s continued ever since, seemingly at random.
As a frequent visitor to Spark Arena, I understand why people complain about this. If you’re paying up to $500 for a ticket to see your favourite artist perform, you want it to be a good time. You want a good view, a cold beer and an artist who’s up for it.
You also want it to sound appealing. And yet, inside that venue, with many artists, a decent sound mix continues to be something elusive.
These problems occur so often Spark Arena has addressed them on its website.
“We are essentially a room for hire. Almost everything you see in the arena on a show night, from the stage, to the sound and lighting equipment, to the people controlling that equipment, all come with the tour and leave with the tour. We don't have a lot of control over these things but do our best to work with tours and help them get set up in a way that ensures everyone can enjoy the show … every show will have a different one in use depending on what the tour brings with them.”
I’ve seen incredible artists nail Spark Arena’s unique sound issues.
Nine Inch Nails, Massive Attack, Radiohead and Gorillaz all spring to mind as bands that overcome the problems, as well as Kings of Leon’s 2022 show, which had a glorious sound mix.
But I’ve also seen shows completely and utterly ruined by piss-poor sound quality. Like Kanye West in 2008, Kendrick Lamar in 2018, Billie Eilish in 2022 and last year’s bizarre joint Nas and Wu-Tang Clan performance.
Hands down the worst sound I’ve heard in the venue came from Anderson Paak, who provided one of the best sets Laneway has ever seen but failed to live up to the hype at his follow-up show at Spark Arena.
Why? “A sound mix that became unbearable … throbby echoes … occasional bursts of feedback squeals … [it was] tough to hear him” is how I described it at the time.
By the end of the show, the volume had been turned so far up I saw several people put their fingers in their ears, something I was doing too as I moved as far back from the stage as I could possibly get.
After my review called this out, Paak’s sound engineer emailed me personally to apologise.
There could be a solution to all of this, something Spark Arena’s critics have been asking for ever since it opened. Just install a damn ceiling.
One of the best venues we have for sound quality is a place that’s only rarely used for shows: the Due Drop Events Centre (aka Vodafone Events Centre, aka Telstraclear Pacific Events Centre) in South Auckland.
That’s because of one thing. Look at this beautiful ceiling:
Now compare that to Spark Arena.
Spark Arena has a roof, but it’s tin, and it’s above all of the lights and rigging and scaffolding. Instead of an artist’s sound flowing out and over the venue in one fluid motion, it instead gets flung up into the ceiling and bounces around, causing that dreaded echo everyone complains about.
But installing a roof is expensive. Spark Arena’s been operating for nearly 18 years. If they haven’t done it yet, they’re unlikely to do it now.
The poorest sound seems to come when hip-hop and R&B stars come with large numbers of band members and back-up artists, meaning there are multiple sound sources to balance.
Unable to resolve it, engineers instead push everything to its limits, hoping sheer volume will solve it all. It doesn’t work. As SZA showed, even one of the best voices in the businesses can’t overcome that.
The solution? Pack a set of ear plugs. It helps eliminate extreme noise, balances out an overbearing sound mix, and helps you enjoy the show you paid so much to see.
If you’re heading to Jungle next week, you may want to give it a go.
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Was going to post here, but I'm too long winded. Ive sent you an email. Emails always seem shorter, right? At least you've been warned, I guess..... :-)
I think my first Spark/Vector Arena show was Linkin Park/Chris Cornell in like 2007 and the sound was awful. But when I went back to see Crowded House/Supergroove it was good. But it is hit and miss. Best sound I’ve heard there was Portishead - they halved the room so it was like an amphitheatre. Great show.