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Saturday, October 1, 2011
Fuel
The biggest problem I see with Fuel is that the sound is pretty bad. It wouldn't be hard to fix, and maybe they'll adjust their attitude toward live music sometime in the future, 
but for now... terrible sound. I say “attitude” because it's not a problem with the equipment; their gear is fine. The problem is that they make everything go through the PA. A guitarist with a massive Marshall stack, who could fill Fuel will sound without being mic'd, will be asked to turn down... way down... running so quiet he wouldn't be heard over the drums. This monsterous-but-now-quiet rig will then be heard by the audience through an SM-57 microphone (which has kind of a honky, midrangey sound), the mixing board (which will be further EQ'd to the sound man's taste), and to the PA speakers (which have their own sound, as well), so the guitarist doesn't sound much like himself. Every instrument in the band will be treated this way, so that you can see a show at Fuel and, even though a 5-piece group is live in front of you, you'll be hearing two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals all mashed together and coming out of the same club PA speakers.
but for now... terrible sound. I say “attitude” because it's not a problem with the equipment; their gear is fine. The problem is that they make everything go through the PA. A guitarist with a massive Marshall stack, who could fill Fuel will sound without being mic'd, will be asked to turn down... way down... running so quiet he wouldn't be heard over the drums. This monsterous-but-now-quiet rig will then be heard by the audience through an SM-57 microphone (which has kind of a honky, midrangey sound), the mixing board (which will be further EQ'd to the sound man's taste), and to the PA speakers (which have their own sound, as well), so the guitarist doesn't sound much like himself. Every instrument in the band will be treated this way, so that you can see a show at Fuel and, even though a 5-piece group is live in front of you, you'll be hearing two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals all mashed together and coming out of the same club PA speakers.
Listening from the floor, I could always hear what the drummer and singer were doing, but the guitars and basses were anyone's guess...
This is made more frustrating because Fuel isn't really built to be a venue: there's room for roughly ten people in front of the stage, but most of this fairly small sports bar's real estate is optimized for sitting at tables, watching sports on the TVs and eating Buffalo wings. If ten people do stand in front of the stage, they will be continually jostled by patrons making their way to the bathrooms. I'd forgive most of this if the musicians were allowed to turn up-- seriously, in a club this small, there's no need to mic the guitars and basses, and the whole affair would sound much, much better.
Fuel's Yelp reviews are fairly telling-- glowing reviews from people who want pitchers and shots before the game and bikini contests. The only mention of live shows is a 1-star review from a fire dancer who booked a show she wasn't allowed to play (there are no mentions of bands at the time of this writing.) Live music really isn't something Fuel puts a lot of effort into, and therefore, isn't very good at.
Fuel's Yelp reviews are fairly telling-- glowing reviews from people who want pitchers and shots before the game and bikini contests. The only mention of live shows is a 1-star review from a fire dancer who booked a show she wasn't allowed to play (there are no mentions of bands at the time of this writing.) Live music really isn't something Fuel puts a lot of effort into, and therefore, isn't very good at.
The club is located in Pioneer Square, which is not my favorite part of Seattle. On weekends, Pioneer Square fits a frat boy cliche that would be comical if it wasn't so frighteningly accurate. At bar time, these eight square blocks or so are awash in short sleeve button-ups and cargo shorts chasing the tiniest dresses possible too drunk to walk in their 6-inch heels. I'm not exaggerating-- Pioneer Square is the only place I've ever seen people having sex on the hood of a car (it wasn't hot.)
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