11.29.2007
Source A:
Solid
State Recorder -- Core Sound Binaurals > bass roll off battery box > Edirol
R-09 (24/48)
Transfer:
Adobe
Audition 3.0 (track splitting, fades, downsampling) > dBPowerAMP (flac 8)
Taper:
Seth
Gen:
0 from Master
News Paper Article:
Click Here
MP3 Sample - MJK calming
audience:
Right click & save
MP3 Sample - Audio Sample:
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Notes - Taper:
The mix in the arena wasn't great to begin with. The vocals were not up
enough and this was one bass-heavy experience. I'm glad I used my bass
roll-off. The SQ is nice but the audience was wild and it definitely comes
through in the recording. I give it a VG+ to EX- mostly due to crowd noise.
Because of high security, a mic cable that wasn't plugged in all the way,
the setting of levels and insane pushing and shoving, the first 3.5 minutes
are of very poor quality. The band also seemed to be distracted a lot but I
guess it's understandable with the mini-riot that was going on. It truly is
a miracle that nobody died. In all my 30+ years of going to shows, this was
one of the strangest shows I've ever seen. It started with an email I
received a few days before the show from the company that sells the tickets
online. It basically told me that I better forget about bringing my gear in
because everyone would be searched and if anything is found (even a cell
phone!) it will be confiscated and not returned. See screenshot of email.
Just before the show, I went up to the doors and watched as they frisked
each person one by one. They looked in shoes, opened and smelled packs of
cigarettes, made you open your coat, take off your hat, empty your pockets
and physically searched you. Needless to say, the lines were HUGE. Watching
this, I decided to take a chance anyway but did return my camera to the car
as my gear was taking up all my hiding places. Sorry, no pics. After 35
minutes in line, I made it in but the security was intense. A monster of a
huge security guy was walking back and forth right in front of my row and
there were actual police everywhere. Not very conducive to recording. There
was an electricity in the air and an incredible amount of alcohol was
flowing. At least 5 people spilt beer on me before the show started as they
only sold open cups. Trans Am had opened for Tool and to my surprise, they
were quite good. Unfortunately, I did not record them. The crowd was really
starting to get antsy and you can clearly hear it in the recording. When the
band hit the stage there was a rush for the front. My awesome 4th row center
tickets were now irrelevant as without me moving an inch I was now in about
the 10th row! The first 3 rows were absolutely packed and very quickly
started becoming a dangerous situation. All that security disappeared and
the chairs of the first 3 rows slowly started flying. During Schism this
craziness started really getting out of control and dangerous. People were
getting hurt and the band could not help but notice. House lights came up
and you'll hear Maynard ask if the crystal meth has worn off yet and then he
really tried to calm down the audience creating the title for this show.
When he asks if the people "over there" are having a good time, he's being
quite sarcastic and was clearly mad. It got better for about 8 minutes but
then started getting worse and worse and really reached it's peak while an
overly crowded makeshift mosh pit and just insane people were shoving and
pushing and chairs started flying. House lights came up again and security
and the police were trying to get in there to help/bust it up but it was
just too crowded for them to get in. The whole first three rows were
literally destroyed and taken apart and thrown into the "moat" between the
front row and the stage. The band did seem legitimately concerned and stayed
on stage sitting on the risers, watching and talking amongst themselves. The
taper's curse is knowing you're recording while those around you are
completely ambivalent chatting, screaming or talking to you and there's
nothing you can do about it. You'll hear a lot of audience in this
one...there's even some sounds that sound as if they may be me but they're
not. You know I had people talk to me, step on my feet, ask me questions,
spill beer on me, knock me over, etc. yet not a single peep uttered by me.
It's tough being a recordist! Some interesting audience bits to listen for:
the guy asking for rolling papers, the guy who was trying to pick up a girl,
the guy who spotted my mics when the house lights came up, the crowd
reaction when a girl flashed the crowd, the apologizing guy who bowled a
bunch of us over, a single cough from me and much more! Remember that this
recording was made binaurally. It will naturally sound much better with a
pair of headphones & cranked up loud! Peace & enjoy, Seth.
Technical Notes by Taper:
Between Disc 01 & 02 - changing SD memory card during incident - literally
missed less than 10 seconds of non-music. **various songs were - Wings for
Marie & 10 000 Days (Wings pt2). During this time, the band was on stage but
they seemed very distant and not happy to be there. They were talking and
not paying much attention. Also during this time, some house lights went up
and roadies in white medical coats set up a small drum kit (kick, snare, 4
roto-toms, a crash, ride & high-hat - wasn't miked well) in the front for
Seb to play during Lateralus.
Notes - Galen:
The audio recording itself is pretty good. What I mean by this is the actual
audio capture. The vocals although low in the mix are apparent at least some
of the time, the guitar is relatively clean & the bass/drums are not so bad.
Not perfect but not terrible either. If it was just the performance on this
source then this would probably bode better, with me, than it does in the
state it is in. I think we all know how annoying Tool crowds are but *just
the people by the taper* are absolutely horrid. Conversations abound - only
dampened by the 'YEAH - TOOL!' scream pervasive throughout this source. It
is painful. And during the mini-riot, quit parts, good God. Tool crowds are
almost as worse as Primus or Marilyn Manson crowds. Not sure what the recipe
for meth is in Kelowna's territory but, just a suggestion, maybe a switch to
something else like battery acid would be better? The overall sound quality
is not EX in any real capacity - especially if you were to compare this
capture to many, many other recordings from the 10K Days era. This is
marginal, overall. If anything, it meets minimum criteria. Again, a lot of
this has to do with the extremely abrasive crowd & all the associated
chatter around the taper throughout the entire show. This is an example of a
crowd ruining a source. The taper though to his credit was diligent &
professional throughout.
Maynardism:
"I don't want to be the
soundtrack to someone's death."
Time:
112:43
Jambi
Stinkfist
46 & 2
Schism
Lost Keys/Blame Hoffman
Rosetta Stoned
Right In Two
Wings For Marie
10,000 Days
Lateralus
Vicarious