2016.01.06 - San Francisco, CA, USA @ Bill Graham Civic Center
Source: Solid State — Schoeps CCM 4 > Sony PCM-M10
Notes: First show of the rather short and geographically generally West-Coast and Deep-South sort of mini-tour paired along like notes of spice, blackberry and cinnamon nicely with MJK’s schedule of wine-making. Excuse me, between MJK’s interest in Enology: The science of winemaking particularly focused on extended maceration particularly relevant to red wines as to increase extraction of tannin. See, you can learn some relevant information at CU.ORG and you were not even looking for it. As for this performance and recording -someone correct me if I am wrong- but did the band ever just go onstage and just nailed down boom-boom-boom to No Quarter? I cannot think of any before this, not that type of intro. Very cool. So, this is the same taper as many mid 2010 to 2019 Bay Area recordings and, this one, whew he/she/they got it! On fire. Wonderful recording. MJK is relevant in the mix throughout and the instrumental portion of Tool are as professional/polished/on-point as you would think. Fantastic.
Time: 1:45:20
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Vicarious
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
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2016.01.07 - San Francisco, CA, USA @ Bill Graham Civic Center
Source A: Solid State — Schoeps CCM 4 > Sony PCM-M10
Notes: Just a great recording. Damn. This taper, whomever he/she/they/it are or were or are they or whatever seriously figured out this venue by the time Tool performed their two first dates of 2016. Clear vocals, DC’s drumming is on fire, Adam nails virtually every note and Chancellor knocks it out of the park with the backbeat bass throughout. Fantastic recording of a totally solid performance by Tool and, obviously, featuring No Quarter, Sweat and Stinkfist. One of those was a minor joke. Clearly, this is THE recording of this performance. Whew.
Time: 1:42:39
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
“Good evening San Francisco, and ET”
The Grudge
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
Vicarious
(-) Ions
“Thank you, Goodnight. Thank you, Goodnight. Thank you, Goodnight. Maybe we’ll stay. Maybe.”
Stinkfist
Source B: Solid State — Neumann KM 140 > Edirol R-09
Taper: Wilson66
Notes: My local municipality started to fine my residence because every time I turn on this stellar recording it melts my speakers causing a minor fire which I have to call the Fire Department. I thought the Schoeps source was great (it is) but this is just as good. Solid recording of a fantastic performance. Clean, crisp and balanced, this is a fan-favorite and wonderful capture. Totally impressed.
Time: 1:40:06
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2016.01.09 - San Diego, CA, USA @ Viejas Arena
Source A: DPA 4061 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: Geordy
Notes: Recorded from Section T, row 15. No eq, just raised the volume a little. Friend in San Diego didn't have anyone to go see Tool and convinced me to take a long weekend and see Primus and Tool two nights in a row after the second show was announced. 18th Tool show, never had seen No Quarter live, so I can check that song off the list. Crowd was better around us this night than the second night though my favorite memory was a very drunk guy shouting "Sober" during the Intermission. Sound in the venue was pretty damn good for a small basketball arena, the overall mix was well balanced, and the whole band put on a great show. We were sitting 15 rows up on the left side right as the seats started to arc around to the back of the venue, somewhat in line with the main stacks facing the crowd. From that far back, we could never really make out what Maynard was wearing, wasn't until later that I saw pictures of the helmet and body armor. You can hear my buddy Jason say "He's an odd looking little man" at the beginning of Vicarious. Thanks again to Jason for dragging me out to San Diego, putting me up for the weekend, and not talking too much while I was taping!
Time: 1:49:46
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Vicarious
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
Source B: Solid State — Sony PCM-M10 (internal microphones)
Taper: Double A
Notes: For the internal microphones used from basically a hand-held recorder, this source sounds much better than it should. Honestly, this should not sound as decent as it does. Geordy’s recording of this performance compared with this source though… no negotiation or conspiratorial thinking about which source is the definitive version. For the most part, clear and not obfuscated by crowd noise, this is a recording that a taper should be happy about using such a recording device, however, decent microphones make the difference. This taper got lucky, that’s what I’m saying.
Time: 1:51:13
Source C: Solid State — Audio-Technica 943 > Sony PCM-D50
Taper: carsfan
Notes: Despite what appears to be very important conversations during No Quarter pertaining to seat location, yelling, dissing other concert members and someone yelling “move your fat ass over you are in my seat fucker, fuck you, asshole” to someone may have been the taper may have not been, no idea. Crowd is not terrible but there are a few more minor circumstances where they make their voices heard in tandem. The actual recorded quality is pretty decent - standard fair for any AT microphones; airy but focused with a swish around the drums which is both indicative of the source and also sounds like a dea friends voice after an absence.
Time: 1:51:57
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2016.01.10 - San Diego, CA, USA @ Viejas Arena
Source A: DPA 4061 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: Geordy
Notes by Taper: Recorded from Section D, row 20. No eq, just raised the volume a little. Friend in San Diego didn't have anyone to go see Tool and convinced me to take a long weekend and see Primus and Tool two nights in a row after the second show was announced. 19th Tool show. After seeing San Francisco's setlist, I was looking forward to the possibility of hearing Sweat, another song I'd never seen live. I got very worried when they played Parabol and continued plowing through the exact same set as the night before. (for those of you that might not remember, I got burned in 2007 at the 12/13 and 12/14 shows in Las Vegas getting the exact same set two nights in a row and recording equipment issues that just left a bad taste in my mouth). Drum Solo seemed better than the night before and then they played Sweat, the night was saved. Guess my standards have been lowered such that one song made the show that much more enjoyable. We were going to just go to night 2 but bought tickets to night 1 about an hour before we headed to the show. I'm glad we went both nights though, only songs I didn't care to hear were Schism and Vicarious. Interlude in Opiate is really growing on me, just wish it was it's own song and not in the middle of a powerful, driving song. Crowd was louder around us this night, damn assigned seats. Again, the sound in the venue was pretty damn good for a small basketball arena, the overall mix was well balanced, and the whole band put on a great show. We were sitting 20 rows up on the right side right as the seats started to arc around to the back of the venue, somewhat in line with the main stacks facing the crowd, almost mirror from the night before. Thanks again to Jason for dragging me out to San Diego, putting me up for the weekend, and not talking too much while I was taping!
Time: 1:53:15
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
Source B: Solid State — Danish Pro Audio 4061 > Sony PCM-D50
Taper: Ed Davis
Notes: And here I was thinking that Geordy’s furious and amazing DPA 4061 recordings had this shows’ market covered in regards to the best recording of this performance. Both of these sources for Night 2 are just so on-point trying to pick is like asking do you prefer a $100 dollar single bill or five $20 bills? There is no wrong answer for these pair of awesome recordings. If anything, you would potentially give the edge over to ED as this taper, clearly, knows the dynamics and acoustics of this venue. Fire!
Time: 1:43:07
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2016.01.13 - San Antonio, TX, USA @ AT&T Center
No Released Recording, Gary
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2016.01.14 - Houston, TX, USA @ Toyota Center
No Released Recording - this was taped but Interesting Electronic Magnets are concerned
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2016.01.16 - Tulsa, OK, USA @ BOK Arena
Source: Solid State — Church Audio 14 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: specialk
Notes by Taper: PA went out during part of Danny's drum solo, you can still hear the drums, but they are very distant. It took a little while before the technical problem was fixed. I left the intermission in its entirety. The crowd started a countdown at the 2:00 minute mark, which made it entertaining. Our seats were literally the straight back from the stage, all the way back and to the top. Thus, this recording sounds distant and at times I think you can hear the sounds pressure levels change due to distance from source. I worked to correct this, and overall the recording came out decent, not my best TOol recording, but not my worst either. Enjoy it for what it is, the band seem to enjoy the performance and Maynard was talkative.
Time: 1:54:32
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
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2016.01.17 - Grand Prairie, TX, USA @ Verizon Theatre
Source: Solid State — Church Audio 14 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: specialk
Notes by Taper: Same set as the night before in Tulsa, no problems with the PA during Danny's drum solo. They plowed through the set with very little pause, except for the 12 minute intermission. Part of that intermission has been seamlessly removed due to the fact that the guy to my right felt the need to chat with me for 5 minutes, it was painful and he did not get the hint. There are a couple of screamers at certain points of the show, but it is tolerable. I was up in the front row of the 400's section, all the way to the left of stage, so sound is not super great, but still pretty listenable. Enjoy!
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2016.01.19 - Southaven, MS, USA @ Landers Center
No Known Recording
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2016.01.20 - Kansas City, MO, USA @ Sprint Center
Source: Unknown Audio Recording
Notes: Not much is known about this recording which surfaced up as a MP3 in two tracks originally then was labeled as being a WAV source. However, there is no known source information. My own opinion, this is a mildly distorted SPCMC or AT (Cardioid) recording which hit the limits of the input level or the SPL of the microphones used. The bass literally flubbers and not in a fun kind of Eddie Murphy way. Although not a recording one would categorize as collectors only, it is certainly not far away from that arbitrary designation marker. Vocals, mids/highs are all decent; the kick drum and bass hits distort throughout and that clearly takes one out of the moment.
Time: ~1:36:00
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2016.01.22 - St. Louis, MO, USA @ Chaifetz Arena
No Known Released Recordings, really, I know of one prominent MO area taper who was there
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2016.01.23 - Nashville, TN, USA @ Bridgestone Arena
Source A: DPA 4061 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: Geordy
Notes by Taper: Recorded from Section 331, row P. No eq, just raised the volume a little. I believe this was the first time Tool has played in Tennessee outside of Bonaroo since 2002. Bought 5 tickets together off TM when they went on sale, ended up with seats about 3 rows from the back of the venue. Then 3 of my friends bailed on me because of the 8" of snow Nashville got the day prior. Knoxville was spared with a mere inch of snow and the interstate was thankfully clear on the 3 hour drive to and from the show. Downtown Nashville was pretty damn sloppy though, it was entertaining watching cars spin out and struggle in the parking lot. Special thanks to Michael for riding to and from the show with me despite the many cries on Facebook to postpone the show because "people will die trying to make it to this show." Venue seemed pretty full despite the abundance of cheap tickets available for the show. Same set as night 2 in San Diego and most shows since it seems, nothing in particular stood out, just another solid performance from the band. Sound was surprisingly good given the location of our seats. Got complete video of the show as well, will take me some time to remember how to do all this stuff or upload everything to someone else to work on it, but like everything else, I'll share when it's presentable. Quote of the night from Maynard: "Although snow can be beautiful at times it can also suck a big bag of salty dicks so be careful on your way home. It's science, you can't argue with science. Thank you very much for coming out."
Time: 1:54:28
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
Source B: Hi-MD —- The Sound Professionals SP-BMC-3 > Sony MZ-RH10
Taper: green1039
Notes: In isolation and without context, this would be a decent recording even with a plethora of technical issues such as microphone hits on the input of the Hi-MD recorded and just a LOT of talking by the taper and people around him. Crowd noise is an annoyance at best, an issue at most but not much one can do about it. The vocals are clear + present in the mix and there is no distortion from the bass or drums but, whew, lots of phasing/movement. This is not a for collector’s only but compared with Geordy’s version it could be.
Time: 1:42:24
Source C: Unknown Video Recording
Taper: geordy
Notes: Filmed from the top of the arena, this is a very pleasant video with decent audio, lots of clear close-ups of the band members as well as fine shots of the stage as a whole. It is a professionally done job perhaps one of if not the best captures of this particular tour? I have a hard time believing that this exceptional taping was not done by ye olde Geordy from Tool Drive Project. Although the location is not prefect for taping, the filmer still pulled off something most people never get the chance to do; film Tool. So, that is a clear win.
Time: 1:54:14
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2016.01.25 - Duluth, GA, USA @ Infinite Energy Center
Source: Solid State — MBHO KA 200N > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: Toaster
Note: Tight recording of a supreme performance. Not overwhelming but prevalent crowd noise but only if you are a complete tool would you comment on it as this recording is a very clear, concise and lovely capture of this show. The bass is quite balanced, guitar is clean, DC’s drums are lit and MJK’s vocals are not obscured as they often can be. That said, if anything, it sounds as though the levels could have been pushed a little hotter in order to capture some of the nuances which can get missed from a quite ‘live’ recording such as clarity on gong hits from Danny Carey. As it is, this is the only known source of this recording and I wonder if the taper, Toaster, took the same flight I’ve taken a few times to get down to Atlanta from metro-Detroit; a cheap jump on Spirit?
Time: 1:44:38
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
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01.26.2016 - Charlotte, NC, USA @ Bojangles Coliseum
Source: Unknown Solid State — Inner Ear Monitor (3 feeds)
Taper: univoc
Notes: CU.ORG has a basic policy of not addressing IEM or RF recordings for the most part unless it is of an exceptional rationale, such as this source is. Not only is this the only released recording of this performance but it is also quite good. Quite good because it is based on radio frequency. As such, I am fairly certain that this was recorded with a collection of scanners such as Icom RX5, RX7, etc. rather than what Tool was using for Inner Ear Monitors at this time; which was Sennheiser G3 in the G range. This, although, really great to hear, is not sourced from multiple actual boxes -unless- there was a lot of very strange and illicit modifying of the frequencies in order to basically take out all the low end from the recording as having an extremely high/mid frequency recording was the goal? Not knocking this recording, it is one of the few RF recordings around just there are issues with the source material. Or, arguably, I am irritated that I did not have the opportunity to tape No Quarter? Could be.
Time: 1:43:41
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Vicarious
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2016.01.28 - Orlando, FL, USA @ CFE Arena
No Known Recording
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2016.01.30 - Pensacola, FL, USA @ Bay Center
No Known Recording
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2016.31 - New Orleans, LA, USA @ Smoothie King Center
Source: Solid State Recording — Audio-Technica 831s > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: tapeworm48
Notes by Taper: Recorded from FOB floor, ~7 rows back. Last night of the tour with 3Teeth and Primus (recorded). Maynard was overshadowed in the mix, either due to location or by choice, but sounds better on the recording. Raw transfer with no fades or EQ.
Time: 1:59:32
Viginti Tres
No Quarter
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Intermission
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
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10.22.2016 - Sacramento, CA, USA @ Discovery Park (Aftershock Festival)
Source: Solid State — Church Audio 11 > Sony PCM-M10
Notes by Taper:
My 8th time seeing Tool. The weather was nice, there was almost no wind. This was on the Monster Energy Stage.
Notes:
One of the better recordings by LeifH of Tool at an outdoor venue. This sort of venue is often challenging due to things the postman dislikes: rain, wind, sleet, snow and hail. Thankfully, this recording is clear of most of those issues and in fact has a n interesting little piece from DC during Third Eye which I had not heard until this recording > roughly 7:20 into the song is a little pattern of snare hits and what sounds like electronic keyboard taps. Interesting. As it is, solid recording of a solid performance.
Time: 1:18:55
Third Eye
The Grudge
Parabola
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Sweat
Stinkfist
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2016.10.24 - West Valley, UT, USA @ Maverik Center
No Released Recording, come on Gary.
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2016.10.26 - Denver, CO, USA @ Pepsi Center
Known recorded but not released: IEM^2 + MBHO>Solid State
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2016.10.28 - Little Rock, AR, USA @ Verizon Arena
Source A: DPA 4061 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: Geordy
Notes: Man, Geordy really laid down the gauntlet in 2016 to pull some of the finest recordings out there - nice work man! Impressive stuff. Perhaps a little bit afar from the speakers/PA’s for my own taste (it is a spell), this is nonetheless a super solid recording featuring minimal crowds/noise, ambient energy and one heck of an accurate capture. Tool was fully engulfed in the energy of Bill Clinton’s hometown; Little Rock, Arkansas. Must’ve been that Cuban cigar-fueled, blue-dress energy that got right on top of me? Too soon. As it is, would be great if the vocals were a bit higher in the mix but some of this has to do with using omni microphones in a decently sized arena.
Setlist:
Third Eye
The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Ænema
Descending
Jambi
Forty Six & 2
Drum Solo
Sweat
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
Source B: Solid State — Church Audio 14 > Sony PCM-M10
Taper: SpecialK
Notes by Taper: Third Eye instead of No Quarter, otherwise the setlist was the same as that from the January tour. That being said they played a very tight set. Recording came out decent, still a bit of an echo to it, but it is very listenable.
Time: 1:57:11
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2016.10.29 - New Orleans, LA, USA @ City Park (Voodoo Music Experience)
No Known Recording