Sloan once sang, “It’s not the music. It’s their fans.”

When it comes to seeing live music — a subject close to my heart — the lyrics change to “It’s not the music. It’s the venue.”

After another concert at the Molson Amphitheatre (909 Lakeshore Boulevard West) this year, I’ve walked away with mixed feelings… once again.

When you work with an outdoor venue as large as this, annoyances that may be minor in smaller clubs are amplified here: distance, annoying fans, sightlines, sound quality, weather, and ridiculous concession prices.

Depending on the band, some of these qualities are amplified to the extent of making my head spin.

The weather, distance, fans, and sightlines? Okay, that’s fair game. I can’t fault the venue for that. Besides, it pretty much only affects those in the lawn seats, and you, my cheapskate, you get what you pay for.

But the sound quality — a music fan’s number one point of discussion — is rocky at best. Even within a single concert, it seems to suffer from bipolar disorder, leaving Def Leppard sounding like Def Leppard in one stroke and Chris Cornell in another.

And considering the ridiculous security checks, Pearson-esque patdowns, and inability to bring in bottles of water into the venue, you’re left paying the inflated prices of the concession stands.

$4 water? $4 packets of Lay’s chips? On matter of principle, I do without, but end up dehydrated and whining the entire evening.

Having said all this, the venue can be a beautiful way to spend an evening on a good summery night. I do like zoning out on the lawns, and tickets CAN be cheap for big-summer draws.

If your intent is to just hang out with friends, fine, fine. But if you’re going to yap all evening, I suggest just staying in your own backyard with a stereo.