2006.05.17 - Philadelphia, PA, USA @ Tower Theatre
Source A: DAT --- Danish Pro Audio 4061 > SP-SPSB-7 @ 69Hz > Sony TCD-D8
Location: Main Floor
Taper: Neognosis
Gen: 1st from Master
Notes: I like this recording very much. This does have a very live & ambient feeling to it but also appears to be a rather accurate capture of the performance. The cymbals are crisp, drums are level, the bass is not as droning as it is on many 2006 recordings, guitar is rather clean & MJK's vocals are not completely buried in the mix. All in all, definitely worth a listen. I like how the effects of MJK's vocals are exceptionally clear as well. I remember the taper saying that he thought his recording needed a lot of work... now, either he did that work or he was just being his own hardest critic. To my ears, this is a clean & enjoyable listen. There are occasional times when the microphone phasing seems to occur but, alas, that is being rather OCD. That said, it seems that the same guy that seems to follow me to every show I tape found the taper of this source; of particular interest is the discourse between Schism & Right In Two. And there are several times of random people chatting but, believe me, those instances are outweighed by the overall quality of the recording as a whole. Of course things like people yipping at a Tool show are very out of the power of the taper. However, you would of course want to talk when you see Tool in an extremely small theatre for the first time in 4 years! Right?
CD 1
Time: 59:08
Lost Keys
Rosetta Stoned
Philly, exactly as I remember it.
Stinkfist
46 & 2
New album came out. New album means new songs, this being one of them.
Jambi
Schism
Right in Two
CD 2
Time: 40:04
Soundscapes
Sober
Thank you very very much for coming down tonight. Despite my being sick and struggling through this I have an option, I can not sing and not travel, but that's just not an option we gotta come play Philly. So I apologize for my sickness, hopefully it wasn't too horrible for you. Wish us...Wish us good health and we'll see you again in the late summer. Thank you.
Lateralus
Vicarious
Thank you very much. See you in the summer
Ænema
Source B: Core Sound Binaurals/120> Nomad Jukebox 3 @ 48 kHz
Transfer: NJB3 > Firewire > .wav > Steinberg Wavelab w/Waves Master’s Tools ( levels / eq / tracking / resample to 44.1kHz) > Flac Frontend > .flac (level 8)
Location: Upper Balcony - 2nd to last row from the top
Taper: t4oo6l
Gen: 1st from Master
Notes - by taper:
First and foremost, a huge thanks to Distortion for the lone of the njb3, as mine broke a few weeks before the show. This was recorded from the upper balcony in the next to the last row. It’s amazing that the sound quality is as good as it is considering I used binaural mics and I was basically as far from the stacks as I could possibly be; CSB's never cease to amaze me. There's a bit of hall echo at times and a low end boominess which the waves masters helped control. Conversely, the highs are sharp and crisp. Maynard's vocals are pretty clear but can be distant and muddy at times. Minimal crowd noise with a few yells and whistle’s here and there, nothing too bothersome. I split the interlude intros from 46&2, Sober, and Vicarious because I've seen The Mars Volta too many times and I'm impatient for songs to begin. A funny story: Upon trying to enter the Tower I had this little cylinder shaped device, about the size of a cigarette lighter that I clip to the outside of my belt. It's supposed to ward off mosquitos: turn the head clockwise and it's on, counter, and it's off. It always boggles security that such a device exists so they never pat me down and usually spend most of their time asking me about it. The front end head security said I couldn't bring it in so I insighted a small argument between the few security guards near me as to who could have it since I couldn't bring it in. I sure wasn't taking it all the way back to my car and getting in line again. I asked each gaurd who wanted it more, how much they'd be willing to pay for it, and they were like "oh, cmon man, you can't bring it in let me have it, etc." and the other chick was like "no, why should you get it." This went on for a bit, and then I just unclipped it and slid it down a long table in between the 2 of them and while they were going after it i just walked in, no pat down at all. Pretty amusing, had most of the other security laughing that were watching this. Funny, this was exactly what I DID NOT expect of tool security, or venue security possibly trained by tool's security. I also thought it was amusing to see and to have talked to so many people at the show that were only there because they liked the new album so much or because it was the in place to be and the cool thing to do. This was extremely evident right before the breakdown during stinkfist. Anyone who's seen Tool before would know what happens, but on the recording you can hear half the damn crowd (including the dumbass next to me) start screaming "I'll...Keep...Digging," only to realize that's not where the song's going. Ah, I could go on and on, but just one more: some kid had contacted a guy on tdn (kabir's page) about meeting up at the show so he could get a ticket from him, but he didn't ask the guy what he looked like, when or where they should meet or any other important info. He just kept going up and down the entrance line asking people if they were ever on the tool page before, haha.
Notes - by Galen:
All in all, a relatively accurate & decent capture of this performance. I do not by any stretch of the imagination think it should sound as clean as it does. There are instances of the crowd being in your ear but overall this source really soars. When you mix in the rather basic set up as far as equipment it is hard not to close your eyes & imagine you are there; at the top of the theatre, 2 rows from the very top. That said, this does not sound like it was recorded from such a distance but sounds much closer, surprisingly as it is. I believe that this is one of the better if not the best CSB recording that I have heard from this mini tour. Not said lightly, by the way.
CD 1
Time: 59:34
CD 2
Time: 41:55