There are so many interesting, innovative, musically excellent bands in Portland right now that it's a shame when the sound is so often suboptimal during live performances at the great small local venues that serve our music-loving community.

Heya, bands, things might sound good to you in your monitors, but usually your mics are turned way too low. Do you write those lyrics to be heard? You might want to do a brief full-on bash-out before your set and ask a buddy in the crowd if they can hear and understand your vocals. And ask your buddies to keep you posted on the mix quality as the show goes on, and adjust the mix accordingly.

Also, try to keep in mind the size of the room you're playing. If you have to turn your sludgy guitars up to compete with your drummer, maybe your drummer needs to find a way to muffle things, so you can all turn it down a notch, not sound like fucking garbage, and not blow everyone's ears out.

Venue sound person who also works the bar: thank you for your service, and if it's gotta be set-it-and-forget it, that's understandable, but we do appreciate it when you notice that things sound like shit and you come back to the board for a second to clean things up.

Bands have been playing shows for a while, and yeah, we probably should have had this shit figured out by now, but it's not too late to make amends and have good-sounding shows going forward. Duty Now for the Future!