The Real Truth About Watching Bands From the Side of the Stage

Are you ready to hear the real truth about what it’s like watching a band from the side of the stage?Sure, it looks cool. You may see some other famous musicians standing next to you. It might even make you feel important. But… it sounds awful up there.Former Headbangers Ball host and Cathouse club owner Riki Rachtman exposed this reality in a recent Instagram post. He was sidestage to catch one of his favorite new bands — Spiritbox — live for the first time.”I’ve seen many of the biggest rock bands in the world from the side of the stage. The truth is it always sucks,” Rachtman laments, “I was so looking forward to Spiritbox never having seen them live.”He goes on to describe what the audio experience is like up there, adding, “Onstage you can never even hear what song the band is playing. I want to watch and see the band.” The “best place,” Rachtman assesses, “is out in the crowd always.”READ MORE: How Important Are Ear Plugs, Really?Others commented and many agree that finding a spot near the soundboard will likely be the absolute best spot for live sound.The front row, meanwhile, can be a bit tricky depending on the production setup. With all of the sound designed to project out toward the crowd and in front of the stage, standing anywhere behind (or even directly on the side of) this area means a whole mess of sound. You’ll often just hear bass and drums, maybe some vocals, but it all sounds like a muffled wall of mud.It’s a bummer Rachtman didn’t have the maximum experience while seeing Spiritbox for the first time.But it is cool to see the veteran metalhead show his love and support for newer artists, which is something we’ve seen a lot of recently. Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy had his mind blown over a death metal band’s new album, which he says is a contender for his album of the year. Queen’s Brian May caught an up-and-coming rock band and praised them as “new British rock royalty.”Spiritbox on Tour NowSpiritbox are currently on the road with Korn and Gojira. The tour wraps up on Oct. 27 in St. Paul, Minnesota and you can see all the remaining dates here.The Songs 30 Huge Rock + Metal Bands Only Played Live OnceNote: songs that were played as part of a medley and cover songs were not considered for this list. Only full performances of individual songs were taken into account.Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita