1996.11.23 - Philadelphia, PA, USA @ The Electric Factory

Source A: DAT --- Core Sound Binaurals > Sony TCD-D7 (Oade Bros Mod II) @ 48 KHZ
Position: Front of Stack, Right
Transfer: DAT-M > Tascam DA-20 > coax > Audiophile 24/96 > Sound Forge > WAV (transfer by cu.org/GSP)
Taper: Jeff Sebastianelli
Gen: Master Recording or "0" Generation
cu.org DAT-1 clone

Notes 2023: This amazing recording stands the test of time. For my ears, this is one of if not the best AUD sourced Tool recording of any year let alone back in 1996. Not too long ago I came across a taper/collector who told me, in his opinion, that this recording is ‘over-rated’ and ‘too much hype’ however that is an opinion. It is not impossible to confuse this recording for a SBD. This CSB>D7 source , sourced from the DAT-M, has a proud place in my personal collection of DATs here @ CU.ORG.

Notes (early 2000’s): At one point there were some other notes regarding this particular source. There was mention about how towards the late 1990's how someone the owner of the DAT Master traded with ended up selling this recording, in an incomplete form (minus the end of 3rd Eye & Stinkfist) to some less than desirable company where it was pressed onto both CDR & silver discs being sold all over the world. Also, the aforementioned recording was called things like "Dirge" or "Third Leg" being recorded at "Houston, TX on 12/12/1996 @ Cullen Auditorium" (obviously wrong information, Tool played in FL on the 12/11 & in TN on 12/13; no way a trip to TX would make sense between). For more information on this, click on that link. There was also mention how up until 2004 only incomplete recordings of this were in circulation. However, at one point, cu.org had in it's possession this master recording; the DAT itself. 12, 13 years old. I made myself a DAT-1 of this in my own mind legendary performance &, hands-down, legendary recording. Sure, this is a standard set list from this era, however, this recording is still the gold standard for which other Tool audience recordings are judged. The clarity, crispness & overall intensity -- it is easy to understand how many, many people truly thought that this was a SBD recording. I think that says quite a bit. Decided to re-transfer this recording so, finally, a master>transfer of this will be able to replace all of the inferior transfers. The 'complete' version floating around right now in la-la cyber-land is from an unknown CDR so, this, definitely is an upgrade. This recording should be the cornerstone of your Tool collection, it is that good.

Notes on incomplete Bootlegs such as Dirge, Third Leg, Third Eye, Cullen Auditorium:
Dec. 12, 1996 in Houston, TX, USA @ Cullun Auditorium never occurred. Those are simply this recording, the silver disc bootleg known as Dirge/Vagina Whistles/Third Leg and also this date. I am sure that someone simply pulled that date & venue out of thin air.  Don't even discuss MP3's as this show probably has the most conversions of any other bootleg out there, there is no way you could keep track... All MP3 & silver disc versions are incomplete recordings of the complete CSB>D7 source. At the end of 2003, the complete, 2 CD version, of this show + same source info surfaced after years of just this incomplete version. The question that is my mind is, how did this end up on a silver disc? Was there a connection with the taper? I'm not passing judgment on the taper, I don't care & if any damage was done, it was done long ago. the answer, to how  this ended up being sold onto a silver disc in the first place if the taper is around (master-holder as it is). From what I was told, the: Italian Mafia had a lot to do with it as does one poor judgment in error as far as trading goes. One thing for sure is that this recording is of very high caliber & quality, even the incomplete recording is good to hear if that's all you can find.  I find this particular show interesting because it was so highly spread on commercial & even home-made "bootlegs" sold in stores throughout North America &, reportedly, this was sold as "Dirge" in London, England as a CDR bought by a fan in Camden Town, London.

Setlist:

Third Eye
Stinkfist
46 & 2

Eulogy"This is Justin. He's, uh, he's from Poland."

Prison Sex

"Ever have someone love you so much that they tried to kill you? Or perhaps suck you down into a hole? And you
had to kill them to get away? Me either."

Pushit

"So, any of you ever watch those Warner Bros cartoons? Sometimes there's that one where the guy is having trouble making a decision; he's got an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Seems pretty obvious right? Usually the angel is the one that's trying to give the good advice, devil's supposed to be giving bad advice and trying to get him to do what is going to be bad for him. It's not always that simple though, most times their not really angels or devils, they are just friends giving you advice, looking out for your best interest but not really understanding what is going to be best for you, so, it comes down to you. You need to make a decision yourself. This song is called H."

H.
Merkaba
Sober

"Ever heard of Jesus or Buddha or Krishna or Muhammad or any of those guys? They had some pretty good ideas then their agents started trying to make a little money on them & fucked everything up. Never trust an agent. This song is about those agents".

Opiate

"Ok. We'll do another one. Unless you don't want us to, we'll leave now if you want. You don't sound very convinced that we should stick around. All right. So, this is our last song. Have to apologize a little, I've been very, very sick for the last couple days so, hope you still enjoyed the show anyway. This song is about cleaning up New York City."

Ænema

Source B: Unknown Filming Equipment
Source CD: 3rd Gen VHS > Goldwave > WAV > NERO > CD ((mastered to CD by Galen in 1998))
Source DVD: 3rd Gen VHS > DVD (Ricky R 2004) + CSB>D7 (audio re-sync)

Notes: For the longest time, this video was rather hidden until, finally, like many videos, it just surfaced. The video has slight tracking problems during third eye but its not terrible & if you are a fan of hard to find VHS or quasi-rare sourced shows then this is for you. The 2 CD set on VHS of this is of decent quality. Filmer had a good location. Sound is decent as well, nothing spectacular but rather interesting to listen to. The incomplete 1 CD version has great sound & may be found on the Dirge/Third Leg/Vagina Whistle's bootlegs & also labeled as Houston, TX, USA @ Cullen Auditorium 12.12.96. Not to even mention the million MP3's floating around, the 'bootleg's have been encoded to MP3 & SHN to the Nth degree - so watch out. I transferred this to CD from VHS back in early 2002 & since then people have encoded this VHS audio source to SHN & messed up track transitions. Ah well. The recording itself is slightly snowy but is almost centered at times. Some interesting screen shots & lots of Maynard. The audio is slightly muffled & there are some weird issues with the volume 'expanding & contracting' at times caused by a transfer/copy somewhere down the line.

Time: 90:06