1993.08.15 - Kuuloa Ranch, HI, USA @ Big Melee Festival
Source A: Soundboard Recording (SBD) --- Sound-Desk > DAT (patch) > CD
Gen: 1st from Master
Taper: Lou
Professionally Remastered: Front-Of_House Soundboard -> unknown DAT recorder ->
CD (gen. 2) -> Cubase SX2.0 (using Universal Audio) > EQ-ing, Waves linMB, and Waves L1) -> WaveRemastered by: Prof. Stoned @ The Soundhouse, May 2004
Gen: 1st from Master
Taper: Lou
Notes - Source:
Sadly, there was not a DAT-clone to ever show up about this one-off SBD source. An astute hunter named Per, back in 2004 found this taper as he had habits of selling Hawaii-sourced soundboard recordings on eBay (see accompanying video) to anyone who will pay. Unlike other rarities, this particular SBD was sort of a fluke in its creation. A guy in Hawaii who worked as a roadie for the Melee Festival basically just plugged into the board & got this recording as well as -tons- of other bands at this festival & other venues all around Hawaii. And, there are reported to be a bunch of other bands over a course of years at various places on the islands as well, all in stunning SBD quality. Perhaps it is merely my perception but if I were a person with a plethora of SBD recordings I would not only -not- sell them I would also treat them with respect. But, hey, people are free to do what they choose. Myself, I wouldn't sell stuff on eBay as that is why I work & have a job.
Notes - Variants:
Ok, now, there are also 3 different versions of this exact same source out as well. One is incomplete and is missing Cold & Ugly + Intolerance, starts on Hush & has only 1 track. The other version starts on C&U and has 2 tracks; track 2 starting at Hush. Apparently, the taper, when he sent out original copies of this SBD, would only send people the incomplete unless they paid more for 'bonus stuff'. Bah. Let me repeat, the complete has 2 tracks, incomplete has 1 track. Got it? Good. The re-mastered version has all the tracks split & sounds a bit better than both version 1 + 2. Also, as of late 2004, this recording has been SHN'd / FLAC'd / APE'd to death. So, good luck figuring out where the hell your copy came from. All is lost...
Notes - Quality:
Tool sounded great but some of the delivery was quite sloppy. They did warm up and at the end they sounded fine this day, yes this was during the day, but holy shit they simply murdered Undertow. I think that a comparable mess-up, although not as bad as this one, is from 11.03.01 but that performance from 2001 is nowhere near as funny as this one is. Other than that, it is hard to complain about such a stellar recording & otherwise blistering performance. As an added bonus, it is none other than Mr. Layne Staley (RIP) of Alice In Chains guest singing on Opiate. Staley is sort of hard to hear but he is definitely there. All in all, excellent recording & one that is sure to make it into your collection sooner than later, I assume.
Time: 54:02
Setlist:
Hip, hip. Keep it down out there.'
Cold & Ugly
Paul D'Amour:
'Of all the words of the great Hawaiian God ?, repeat after me, 'mecca lecca hi mecca hiney ho.' Come on.'
Intolerance
'This song is called Hush.'
Hush
Undertow
Paul D'Amour
'Anybody ever seen a train wreck happen on stage? It does happen. Without a train.'
Maynard:
If you buy our album we do that song right on the album, not like that. This song is called Sober. '
Sober
Prison Sex
Paul D'Amour
'One more time. Mecca lecca hi mecca hiney ho.'
Swamp Song
Sweat
'Ladies and gentleman, Ted Farfennugent. This song is about Arabian folktales and their influence on idiots.'
Opiate
(w/Layne Staley)
Flood
Paul D'Amour:
'This is our last song. You've all been very kind and courteous and polite. You haven't thrown too much shit at me. It's called Jerk-Off.'
Jerk-Off
Source B: Unspecified Recording Equipment
Source B: 1st Gen VHS > DVD
Source: 1st Gen VHS > S-Video > Plextor PX-AV100U > U-Lead DVD > DVD (transfer: Galen 2005)
Notes: Extremely unprofessional recording. At most, this is a capture of a work crew documenting aspects of working at this particular music festival. A beautiful background for early 90’s alternative metal. This recording was purchased from the videographer via eBay. Since this seems to be semi-available to those who know who to ask + where to look (online), there is not really a way to determine whether or not it is real rare or not. There seems to be at least 4 people that I know of whom have this show but just are holding onto it. However, I've not seen this on people's trade lists even though this has been leaking out or being sold since the middle 1990's. There are reports of VHS shows listed as: "??.??.93 CA" which are possibly this show just really mislabeled so maybe it is in other people's collections and they just don't know it. I don't know for sure, taking an educated guess here. Now, this video seems to be more of filming for the posterity of the entire event of the Melee Festival as the first 60 minutes are of not only Hawaii but of the crew showing their assess/mooning, the skyline, setting up the stage and ultimately, chicks in bikini's in the crowd (close-ups). Then, Tool comes on stage. But, don't get your hopes up - their set is severely cut. There are times when the filmer is in the barricade, side of stage & back in the lawn - cutting out audio + visual during movement. When Tool is playing Swamp Song is the music for the filmer taping a group of people getting sprayed with water from a hose. And, so on. After Tool's set, which is severely cut short, there is Stone Temple Pilot's set that is also severely cut short. As a mention, Layne Stayley of Alice In Chains provides some back-up vocals on Opiate. The VHS version, as limited in availability as it may be, the complete video 'recording'. The documentation of the Festival, not just the bands. The DVD transfer has a weird issue. I Do not understand why, but there is a weird sort of waviness of the performance. Everything slightly out of focus is blurry almost but the angle moves, the situation is there. Very odd. You know, since the VHS was purchased, perhaps the taper tried to do something to it for playback to prevent reproduction. Just a note.
Notes: There is at least one more VHS transfer of this video out there with video problems. Make a note.
Time:
VHS: 120
Time for Tool's recorded set: 33:30