2002.07.13 - Sacramento, CA, USA @ Arco Arena
Source A: DAT --- Danish Pro Audio 4061s (HEB) > CS Battery Box > Sony TCD-D8
DAT: DAT-1 > Digital Clone-2
CD Gen: 1st from Master
Taper: Brad Z.
Notes: Really good recording. Nice sound, no brick-walls & little crowd noise. out of the first 3 shows recorded by this taper, this is (IMO) the best sounding recording. Very nice. Two issues that are worth pointing out: One, the recording stops before the end of the Patient & starts (disc #2) in the middle of Opiate. The taper was jostled by a screaming girl which caused the microphone to become unplugged from the jack which caused loss of the input signal. The recorder realized this and fixed this issue accordingly. Entertaining setlist, entertaining performance and entertaining recording: recommended, overall.
CD 1
Time: 66:00
CD 2
Time: 52:14
Tuva
Sober
Ticks & Leeches
The Grudge
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
H.
Schism
Parabola
Eon Blue Apocalypse
The Patient
Opiate
Intermission
Disposition
Reflection
Triad
Lateralus
Source B: Mini Disc --- Giant Squid Binaurals (w/o bass roll off) > Sony MZ R-700
Taper: Zh'ian / Armen
Gen: 1st from Master
Notes: Decent Mini Disc recording, especially for the microphones used. Giant Squids are not the greatest. There is a 'brickwall' when the bass hits and a dose of high-frequency distortion but other than that, not all that bad. On the positive side, there is low crowd noise & not much talking around the taper. However, this recording is incomplete due to battery problems --- cuts out about half-way through Schism. In some ways, this makes for a more interesting recording than a complete version, I think. No, not really. As such, this may be best left for collectors, given all the factors involved.
Time: 43:33
Tuva
Sober
Ticks & Leeches
The Grudge
(-) Ions
Stinkfist
H.
Schism
(incomplete)
Source C: DAT- Schoeps MK4>active cables>Rmod2k1 box>Sony SBM-1 (Oade Bros. Mod)>Sony PCM-M1
Notes: Very accurate / precise / professional recording of an intense performance. This is, hands down, the best source for this performance + quite possibly one of the best audio captures of 2002. Enough said?
CD 1
Time: 66:21
CD 2
Time: 52:50
Source D: Mini Disc --- Realistics 33-1095 > Sony MZ R-70
Notes: Recording is ok. Nothing wild and crazy but it is at least of the same caliber as the other recordings by this same taper. This actually seems to be a little bit clearer than the previous two night's captures by this taper. Less crowd noise & annoying occurrences but you truly can hear the roll-off of the bass mixed with the compression. Thus, a limitation. There are quite a bit more obvious & dubious issues in tons of other recordings that are much worse. This is ok - not great, not bad. Truth is, there are better quality recordings available & I think most people would gravitate to those before this source.
CD 1
Time: 54:30
CD 2
Time: 61:30
Source E: Mini-DV --- Panasonic PC-DV252 w/built-in Microphone, 10X Optical zoom, 25X Digital zoom
Source E: Master > DVD
Taper: Pr1ck
Gen: 1st from Master
Notes: Good show. First performance of Ticks & Leeches for this leg of the tour. The video is a very good capture of Tool that gives credence to my opinion that in some ways, Tool is rock-arena's modern-day Pink Floyd. Just my opinion though. The energy here is overwhelming & the crowd really is into the show, unlike other gigs I've heard. Steady handed, mostly in focus & a knowledge of the sets all equal up to a very nice recording by the taper. Camera moves around a lot more than is probably necessary, there are some camera-ducks & was filmed from a good deal of distance away from the stage. All in all, not bad but not great. Sound is above average for a video source as well.
Maynardism: "Sacramento, huh? I don't know. Oakland was pretty enthusiastic. Why don't you show them who's boss. So, this is Sacramento?”
Time: 1:56:28