2001.05.20 - New York City, NY, USA @ Hammerstein Ballroom
4-Date Pre-Seminal Mini-Tour: New York City
Source A: DAT --- Core Sound Binaurals > Sony TCD-D8
Notes: . Pretty decent recording of the last show of the pre-seminal tour. For those that do not know, this was the fourth time Tool had played publicly since 1999 at the Coachella festival. Although the equipment used is rather good, the taper was a fair distance away from the stacks and CSBs have a tendency to be a little quiet when listened to at a far distance. Clarity wise, some may think it is pretty good, which it is, but I detect a little bit of muddiness. If the taper had adjusted his levels -up- just a little bit, the effect could've been just a little bit better. But that is my main criticism. Overall, this is a fine listen. I do feel that the other source I have is actually a bit better, audio-wise though.
CD 1
Time: 67:03
CD 2
Time: 53:46
Setlist:
Mr. Show (intro)
The Grudge
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
46 & 2
Prison Sex (OTRM)
Schism
Swamp Song
Disposition
Reflection
Intermission
(Schism Video)
Sober
Parabol
Parabola
Ænema
Opiate
Lateralus
Source B: Sound Professionals > Sony MZR90
Notes: This source should be easily enough to identify for most people. The beginning of this recording features the taper walking into the venue as the Mr. Show intro is on. Interesting to hear the progression from the concert hall > stadium. A bit of chatting as well by the taper & his friend. This recording is about as good as you would think it would be as it was recorded from a good distance away from the stacks with a mini disc unit. Distant-ish with a good layer of crowd noise throughout. The taper is much more well behaved during the performance, more so that when I saw Tool on the 01 mini-tour in Detroit. There are quite a few audible microphone sounds/movements associated with taper movement, as a note. Although is a fairly good capture, the fact is there are better sources available thus you may take that into consideration when deciding on what to get in a trade. This is, at least & if nothing more, a fairly good audience MD recording. Decent enough capture.
CD 1
Time: 65:01
CD 2
Time: 54:16
Source C: Digital 8 > Realistics 33-1165
Source C: 1st Gen VHS --> Goldwave --> .WAV --> NERO --> CD ((Mastered to CD by Galen))
Source C: 1st Gen VHS > DVD
Taper: 1st Gen VHS
Notes: Filmed from the floor, this is one of the clearest & sharpest VHS's out there. The audio is also one to not be neglected as it is superb - Purchased from the taper off of eBay, May 25th, 2001, this is definitely a 1st Gen. Very clear & focused for being on the floor, surprised the taper didn't get bumped really and that he got as many real nice close-ups as he did. Very professional recording. Features a funny intro as well by 'Mr. Show'. Last show of the shameless self promotion in the United States. There are a couple of little drop-outs caused by the microphones getting hit. The DVD version of this show looks exactly like my 1 gen from master so I am assuming it is a 1 gen VHS>DVD. It would make sense, this is a pretty common show & a 1G of this is not unheard of to come by.
Time: 1:59:58
Source D: DVD 2-Camera Matrix = C-1 + C-2
Source D-1: Sony TRV330 (25x Optical) w/ Realistics 33-1065 microphone
Source D-2: Sony CCD-TRV940 Hi8 Video w/ Sound Professionals mics
Notes: Clear sound, not the same source as the single VHS that is so common. Interesting capture & matrix-splicing of these sources into one congruent creation. Some very interesting stuff actually. It looks to me that the common VHS source, shot from the middle balcony, is definitely sourced from a VHS of unknown but low generation. The angle from off-center looks like it could be sourced from a master but there is a line of analog VHS>DVD distortion which leads me to believe that it is not from the master or that line is correlative to the matrix. Not sure. As it is, this is a worthwhile acquisition for anyone's collection. There are some strikingly clear shots of MJK & also of Danny.
Maynardism:
"Haven't I seen you somewhere before? Must've been another life"
Maynardism:
"Wanna hear some good news? Sometime later this year, there's gonna be a full, feature length Mr. Show movie. Its the story of Ronnie Dobbs called 'Run, Ronnie Run' You heard it here first. Those retarded gentlemen that introduced the show are part of that. Don't hold that against them"
Time: 2:09:57