2006.05.20 - New York City, NY, USA @ City Center Theatre

Source A: DAT --- Schoeps MK4s > actives > Nbox > -20db > Sony PCM-M1
Dissemination: Tascam DA-20 > G5 > Peak > FLAC > Dimeadozen.org (06/2006)
Location: 12th row orchestra, center
Taper:      Crimson
Gen:         0 from Master

Notes - by: Taper: Man. Some dude crashed down on top of me during Stinkfist an unplugged EVERYTHING. I mean he thundered down on me like the left hand of Zeus. Who crowds surfs during a seated event? Anyway, because of that Stinkfist is missing and 46 & 2 is incomplete. Also everyone around was chatty all night. Everyone. All night. Even my gf was loud at times. Wtf, is the whole world against me? Anyway, if you can get around that, it sounds great.
Notes - by: Galen: Have you ever heard the expression "an artist is his/her own worse critic"? In my opinion, that is exactly what the taper of this show is expressing. Are there instances where X, Y & Z could've been better for whatever reason? Could that person to the right of him just shut the fuck up? Sure. But, you know what, all things considered, this is a recording that any taper would be thrilled to have created. Ok, yes, this is an incomplete recording due to some technical issues but the end result is still an absolutely good listen. I would anticipate that this may rival any other audience recording to surface from this show - good job to Keith.  

Maynardism: "Thank you very much for letting us borrow your city. Bagles on the square; those who know - know. Those who don't sorry. Pull it together people, it's your town. Cinnamon raisin bagel on the square. Shh. Had enough? That was... that was lame. Had enough?"

This source only: Stinkfist and 46 & 2 are missing rendering this an incomplete recording.

Time: 1:27:05

Stinkfist
Forty Six & 2
Jambi
Schism
Eon Blue Apocalypse
The Patient
Lost Keys
Rosetta Stoned
Sober
Lateralus
Vicarious
Ænema

Source B: Solid State Recorder ---- MM-BSM-2 > MM-EBM-1 > Microtrack 24/96 (@16/44.1)(Mono
)Dissemination: Tascam DA-20 > G5 > Peak > FLAC > Dimeadozen.org (09/2006)
Location: Aisle behind front mezz, right/center
Taper:      ions
Gen:         0 from Master

Notes - by: Taper: Well I wasn't really expecting to pull a good tape from where I was seated (Row T Rear Mezz). However once the lights went out a bunch of us flooded the aisles, and the City Center security didn't seem to mind at all. So I managed to get better position on the rail behind the front mezz. With a much better view as well.Unfortunately somehow during the move the wire came loose on the mics, and I lost the right channel. BUMMER! Not even realizing I just kept on going. So I had to paste the left channel over in Audacity after I transferred it to my PC. Hence the mono recording. There is some crowd noise here, and there. Mainly in between songs. Enjoy!!!

Notes - by: Galen: Definitely a solid AUD recording. Although the taper had some issues whilst taping the end result is actually a good listen. The vocals are pretty clean, the guitar is prominent, the bass hits nicely & the drums are just right. Even during RS, where the vocals from this era of recordings tend to be buried, this source does a good job of ascertaining what MJK is screaming. I do not know how many collectors would continually pick this source over Keith's Schoeps source however I do recommend folks take a long, hard listen to this recording as it really does not disappoint. That said, there are no real "surprises" here either.

CD 1
Time: 40:53

CD 2
Time: 55:05

Source C: Hi-Mini Disc --- Danish Pro Audio 4061 > Sony MZ-RH10 (HiSP mode)
Location: Rear floor, stage right, under the balcony (Orchestra, Row P, Seat 15)
Transfer: Sony MZ-RH10 > SonicStage (USB cable) > Wavelab 3.04a (EQ, compression, normalize) > CD Wave EditorTaper: Adam
Gen: 0 from Master

Notes - by: Taper: Not the ideal seat for taping with omni mics... under the balcony. Cardioids would have been the way to go, although sitting on the floor was a better sonic experience than the previous two theater shows I had just seen, May 8th in Dallas and May 19th in New York, where I had balcony seats. It's notable to mention that most of Stinkfist and 46 and 2 are missing due to taper stupidity. I checked my levels once Stinkfist started and then tucked the recorder away, only to pull it out near the end of 46 and 2 and realize that it was turned off. I had forgotten to set the "hold" button, so it shut off in my pocket. Ah well... you can't win 'em all. There's some ambient crowd noise here as well, which usually bugs the hell out of me, but this time I think I actually caught something kinda cool. The guy next to me was apparently a brand new TOOL fan. By brand new, I mean it seems like he had never even heard TOOL before this show. You can hear his amazement and reaction to certain parts of songs, like he had never even heard them before. You can also pick out some of the conversation going on between the newbie and his friends that gave him the ticket. "How many songs did it take to make you a fan?" "Oh man, it took like... two!" Still not a bad recording though, I'd say. I also managed to grab a few decent pictures at this show as well... despite security's best attempts to stop photo-taking. They can be found at: http://flickr.com/groups/toolshed/ Enjoy!

Notes - by: Galen: It's amazing how different seat locations can drastically change the overall sound in a recording from one night to another. Unlike the previous nights attempt, the taper pulled off a very nice ambient recording that captures the good parts of a ravenous crowd full of Tool fans that is also a fine capture of how, I bet, Knobby heard it this night. Clean (conservatively) and in balance throughout - finally a good sounding capture. I tell you, it's not the tapers on this leg but the old theatres & the issues permeated throughout most sources of omni microphones. Although this is an incomplete source due to issues mentioned above by the taper, it could be a hell of a lot worse than it is. Amusingly, the MK4 source for this show is also slightly incomplete. It's almost as if the planets were attempting to screw up all excellent tapes from this performance. Or maybe it was the crowd. Or the tapers. Or maybe the presence of the Fox that doubles as a ninja? All in all, a delightful capture of a rough performance with minimal variance in the set. It's difficult to determine if this is technically the best source for this performance in regards to overall sound but it is clear this is definitely a fine listen.

CD 1
Time: 48:36

CD 2
Time: 37:50

Source D: Unknown Video Recording

Notes: This source cuts in on Rosetta Stoned. Like the 05/19/2007 show it is unclear whether or not the performance prior to the point of the video was filmed. Hazarding a guess, I would say yes & that the filmer wanted to release partial videos on 1 DVD (i.e.: with parts of each on the same DVD but not one complete performance). Although I cannot verify this, I do wonder if that is what happened. Perhaps someday we will have an answer. But for now we are faced with two incomplete sources from the mini-tour. Strange because these are actually two very high quality recordings. But, unfortunately, in the incomplete state & with lackluster source info this recording honestly cannot get anything above a for collector’s recording. I know that some collector’s will look back on my opinion & ask if I’ve been smoking catnip again but, uh, yes I have. Even though this is for some reason (as of 09/2007) rare in the Tool-camp, at some point it will not be.
Notes: On same DVD as 05/19/2006.

Time: 51:15

Rosetta Stoned
(cut)
Sober
Lateralus
Vicarious
Ænema