2006.04.30 - Indio, CA, USA @ Coachella Festival (Festival Headline)

Source A: MicroTracker --- Sound Professionals Premium AT Slimline Cardioids > SPSB-3@107Hz Battery Box > M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 (@24/48)
Location: 15 feet from left stacks
Taper:      Karl Frinkle (specialk)
Gen:         0 from Master

Notes - by: Taper:
Recording is a bit distorted. Apparently the signal was too hot for the MT even though the red lights were not going off. Oh well, enjoy it for what it is. A special thanks to Mikey (http://mikey.netdojo.com) for mastering this recording, he really cleaned it up. Also, thanks to Hector for blocking, and really huge thanks to jcrab for getting me to this show! Torrented via FLAC via Dimeadozen.org (5/2006).

Notes - by: Galen:
Relatively clean recording with a noticeable layer of distortion upon the very high end of the spectrum & deep bass parts of the performance. However, this is a very listenable recording &, true to the statements of taper, was released via torrent/FLAC as soon as it was completed. Could there have been issues + circumstances that would have yielded a recording without the issues mentioned? Sure. But, this is a fine recording & will find a place nestled in your collection if not in your heart. There is nothing like the first performance of Tool & the debut of live material (to a mass audience) to make one show, one performance legendary. Was this legendary? Time will tell.

Notes - by: Onebear:
First 2006 show and the first time since the Long Beach show in 11.24.02 Tool plays a concert. First time ever we hear the new material from 10,000 Days. The guys were a bit rusty tonight. All except Danny made small mistakes, but nothing major. The setlist was a festival setlist containing the “greatest hits” with versions of the songs very close to the album versions, no extended Schism for example. The show ended with 3 different endings actually: Lateralus, Vicarious and Ænema. It’s nice to see Ænema back as last track, which they haven’t played since the 1998 shows. Of course there’s some “real” Tool fans among the crowd screaming, “Opiate”, a bit disappointing that nobody mentions “Maynard’s Dick”… This is the first 24-bit Tool recording in my collection. So go buy yourself a 24-bit soundcard and enjoy Tool in 24 bits. Too bad this recording is a bit distorted because Karl’s MicroTracker didn’t show the levels correctly otherwise the recording would have been awesome. It’s always hard to capture Tool at a festival but Karl did manage to do it quite well. I especially like the drums, the bass drum is very firm and the bass is clear which can be difficult to capture. I bet Karl’s next recording’s gonna kick some serious ass – go Karl.

Time: 79:52

'Good evening hippiieees! I smell Pertouli!'

Stinkfist
The Pot

'Welcome to our first show in many years. We want to keep it down a notch, make it all small and intimate, invite a few friends. Welcome. But you, dude, need to put your fucking clothes back on, you're buming me out. Got lost on the way to Burning Man.'

Forty-Six & 2

'New album comes out tomorrow at midnight. I know you fuckers all downloaded already. Do me a favour, I'm trying to buy... this gold nugget shaped like a piece of popcorn for a ring. So, I need you to buy a bunch of records so I can afford that. Big ol' gold nugget. Like 4 of them. Then when I hit you in the face for taking my photo it will look like somebody had hit with a bowl of popcorn. Help me out will ya? I'm destitute.'

Jambi
Schism
Eon Blue Apocalypse
The Patient
Sober
Lateralus

''Get out your calculators!"
'Had enough? Good. Because we've come here to scissor, paper, rock you. I wrote that. Single.'

Vicarious

'I hope you all enjoyed yourselves. I hope you all got a chance to go in the VIP tent. Of course you all did, right? It's fucken LA, everybody's a fucken VIP. Can I get a witness?'

Ænema

Source B: Danish Pro Audio 4060 (9V BatBox > Line In) > Sony PCM-M1 > DAT Master (Maxell 90m DAT @ 48k)
Dissemination: DAT Master (Maxell 90m DAT @48k) > Fostex D5 Master Recorder > Tascam CD-RW5000 (AES/EBU out > Coax in) > CD > Peak 4.0 ( Extraction, Normalize, Tracking, Fades ) > AIFF > FLAC (level 7) > Torrent / Dimeadozen.org (05/2006)
Taper:      BoldCaptain
Gen:         1st from Master

Notes - by: Taper:
While this set does sound phenomenal there are two caveats, the first being the loss of about 20 seconds of Eon Blue (less was actually lost, but to make the edit transparent four bars were edited out) and the second consists of an "interruption" at the beginning of track 8, or more like a short conversation, that when examined closer, became too uncanny to to leave out.

Notes - by: Galen:
From the sources I've heard thus far, this is one of the Coachella best of the sources. The crowd is not completely out of control; yes, there are screamers but overall the taper got a little lucky... until a friend or security guard gets a bit sassy. However, the recording itself is as clear, concise & clean as possible. As for that, there are no complaints in anyway, shape, or form. MJK's vocals are prominent throughout this recording, something that the majority of the mini tour recordings do not have going for them. Definitely one for your ear.

Notes - by: onebear:
It's really great to hear some new live recordings with Tool it has been so damn long, way to long. And very interesting to hear the new tracks played for the very first time. The guys already seem to by comfortable playing them live; I guess the rehearsals on various sound stages in Burbank before playing at Coachella paid of. This’ is a solid recording and it should be with that kind of equipment. It’s definitely the best source from this show I have heard so far. It captures Tool’s performance great and I have already heard it several times; get this recording in your collection. There’s a bit of talking on the recording but what can you expect at a festival. The taper is told by security to move away from the speaker during Lateralus because he’s blocking the sound for the rest of the crowd, so I guess he was right in front of the stack. The first 20 seconds of Eon Blue Apocalypse is missing and there’s an interruption at the beginning of Lateralus.Notes - by: Buffalobossie: Their first show in three and a half years: you would expect it to be a good one. And it is a good one. Not their best performance ever, by far, but a good one. The performance itself is fairly solid. The band shows that they're rested and capable of playing very well because of that. Their playing is very tight andd they've certainly got this material practiced down to a T. This recording is the first stellar FOS tape of the 10,000 Days tour. Karl Frinkle's tape of this show is actually quite comparable in sound quality. However, Karl's tape is lightly distorted at loud parts and appears to have slightly more crowd presence, making this one the overall winner between the two. There's some phasing here and there but nothing too major, although wearing headphones, it might mess with your ears a few times. The taper mentions that a little bit of Eon Blue Apocalypse was damaged, so to make it transparent, he cut about 20 seconds out. On a casual listen I didn't notice the cut, so I think it was done well.A wonderful little exchange is also preserved on this tape. This is probably my favorite exchange I've heard on a recording. Before Lateralus somebody (A security guard or staff member I'm assuming) yells at an audience member (quite possibly the taper):

Security: Don't block the speaker!
Guy: Do you think one person's body would make any difference to that sound?
Security: It would!
Guy: Really?
<...A few minutes later...>
Security: Don't block the speaker! Don't go up there!
Guy: I'm not going to block the speaker!
Security: Okay
(Pause)
Security: Any more peoples gonna block the speaker, that's not cool. You're stealing from everyone else!

I had to laugh out loud at these exchanges! Especially since this tape is obviously FOS, the guy who keeps getting yelled at is likely the taper. Well worth having, overall.

  Time: 77:14

Source C: Audio Technica AT853 Slimline Cardioids (Matched) > SP-SPSB-6SL (w/ Bass Roll Off @ 95 Hz) > iRiver iHP-140 (16-bit/44.1kHz)Dissemination: USB > HD > Sony Soundforge 8.0 > FLAC > Torrent / thetradersden.org (05/2006)
Location: 100 ft back and 50 ft right of center
Taper:      Robin Cunningham
Gen:         0 from Master

Notes - by: Taper: Recorded from stereo mics clipped to hat 6 ft. from the ground spaced 6 inches apart. Tool was the shit. They played a sick show at Coachella and the sound was so on! The music was so loud and thumpy, but it was so clear and crisp. They played extremely well and played a tight set in the cool nighttime. The show was recorded about 100 ft back and 50 ft right of center stage in the audience. There recording has some muffled bass levels. The show volume and bass especially were at really high levels.
Notes - by: Galen: There is a pervasive amount of crowd presence that permeates the entirety of this recording. Vocals are clean, guitar is crisp, drums/cymbals mesh well & overall is a very good capture of Tool on the first public performance of new material, year & album. Deep bass tends to leave the listener with a less-than desirable audio effect. This may be a simple microphone-based opinion but the bass tends to sound a bit more "crunchy" than it was or should be. Other sources, with different microphones, have crisper & better bass throughout. However, this recording features some wonderful captures of subtleties & textures of Tool's music. Overall, definitely worth seeking out + enjoying. Since this was torrented, attaining this source should be of little difficulty.   

Time: 72:47

Source D: Danish Pro Audio 4061s > MPS6020 > SBM-1 (ToddMod, OptiMod, CoaxMod - Digital Coax Out) > M-Audio MicroTrack @ 16/48 (Digital Coax In)Dissemination: USB 2.0 > Pro Tools 7 > CD Wave > WAV > FLAC
Location: Front of Stack - Left / 25'
Taper:      Distortion
Gen:         0 from Master

Notes - by Taper: Must be down-sampled to 44.1 kHz to burn to CD. Please do not re-distribute in a lossy format. A bit phase-y during the first 2 songs due to the rowdy crowd...was able to get in a better location during Forty Six & 2.
Notes - by: Galen: Fantastic capture of Tool debuting material from 10,000 Days & Headlining the Coachella Festival. Vocals, bass, guitar, cymbals/drums are crystal clear with low crowd noise throughout. This is arguably the best overall source for this performance; the enjoyable listening experience is evidence of that. There are a few instances of crowd movement/phasing but those are merely fleeting detractors of an otherwise solid & enjoyable recording. Tool performed well if yet a bit rusty in certain areas; which this recording accurately picks up, notably on Sober. Ouch. All in all, my current favorite of the audience Coachella recordings available.

Time: 78:16

Source E: DAT --- Sanken COS-11s "red marks" > Sony PCM-M1 (Oade Mod II) / 48 kHz
Taper:      Desertrat
Gen:        1 from Master

Notes: I remember having a few email correspondences with the taper of this show. He explained that he felt the bass was a bit too prevalent & that, overall, the result of his product was less than he anticipated. However, upon listening to this in completion; I think acted, as many tapers do, as their own worse critic. The levels are balanced, the band was captured as they sounded out of the stacks, the crowd is not terrible &, if nothing else, this recording gives ample rationale for Tool to re-examine their negative stance on tapers. The product is an ambient, lively & warm recording that captures Tool's first performance in 4 years to a "t" (for "Tool" of course). It is difficult for me to discuss the performance anymore than I have here & in other analysis of recordings; good but rusty for those that want the 'Cliff Notes' version? As for trades, if you are interested in this recording, feel free & contact the taper via the information listed above.

Time: 77:56

Source F: Core Sound Binaurals (9V BatBox >Line In) > Sony PCM-M1 > Maxell 90m DAT @48kDissemination: Fostex D5 Master (DAT) Recorder > JB3 @48K (via toslink) > HD (via USB) > Peak 4.0 ( Downsample, Tracking, Normalize, Fades ) > verify SBE OK, generate .aiff.checksum, compress to flac level 7, generate fingerprint, verify via xACT 1.4b23, seeded via Azureus 2.3.0.6 by BoldCaptain May 2006 on DimeADozen.
Taper:      BoldCaptain
Gen:         0 from Master

Notes - by: Taper: Most of this has seen the light of day from other sources. This is my source, plus this is MY recorder 2 for Tools' set. Location for all sets: FOB LOC inside the "armpit" give or take ten feet,( if you were there you know where i mean!!). Clean and mostly quiet, sound quality 4/5 overall. No setlists at this time. Any help with that will be greatly appreciated!
Notes - by: Galen: To the taper, thank you for sharing this source; awesome. Interested in trading out a clone? Hope the setlist below will be helpful for your purposes. This recording in comparison with other recordings is quite a bit more bass heavy than other sources. However, this source definitely stands on it's own two feet so to speak. MJK's vocals are clear, the guitars are crisp, Danny's drums hit exceptionally well & other than the low end of the Chancellor's bass is very smooth. No complaints at all. I do believe that the quality of this recording holds true that CSB's are more than capable of delivering a very good recording. 

Time: 78:17

Source G-G1: Hi-Mini Disc --- Danish Pro Audio 4061s > 9V BattBox > Line In > Sony MZ-RH10 (PCM mode) / Adam
Source G-G2: DAT --- Danish Pro Audio 4060 (9V BatBox > Line In) > Sony PCM-M1 > DAT Master (Maxell 90m DAT @ 48k) / Boldcaptain
Location: G-1: Front of stacks by main stage, left side
Location: G-2: Rear satellite speakers
Matrix: Recorded, transferred, remastered and matrixed by Adam

Notes - G1 / Adam: This was my 23rd TOOL show in 9 years. After travelling all the way from South Louisiana, camping out through the heat at the festival for 3 days, dealing with all kinds of mishaps and frustrations over the course of the weekend, and then holding my spot on the rail, front of stack, for about 7 hours before TOOL finally took the stage at 11 PM... to say that I was ready for their set would be quite an understatement. This was also my first weekend taping with DPA mics, so my anticipation was very high. As for my recording, it was expectedly very very bass heavy from standing FOS, but when I later EQd the bass down to a listenable level, I actually uncovered some distortion present in the recording, specifically from the kick drum. This was very unexpected and quite disappointing. However, I knew that my recording had some positive aspects to it, so I decided to do a matrix with BoldCaptain's very solid recording. The matrix was done in Wavlab. I'd say that the mix is about 60% the DPA 4060 source, and 40% my source, though at times I faded mine out of the mix completely to avoid the extra crowd noise present in my source. BoldCaptain's tape provides a very solid foundation for the mix, and I feel like my source brings the guitars and vocals right up around you and in your face. At times the improvement might be only subtle, but overall I think the matrix was worth the work. Also note, BoldCaptain had to edit a little out of his tape at the beginning of The Patient, and I was able to replace this portion of the song with my source. Unfortunately the fix is not transparent, but at least the performance is returned to its actual length. I also included Maynard's greeting to the crowd as TOOL took the stage, which was too good to leave out.
Notes - G2 / Boldcaptain: The most anticipated performance of the weekend. After a two and a half year hiatus Tool returns to the Main Stage of the Coachella Festival playing to a sellout crowd. The first show supporting the new 10,000 Days release was surprisingly old school, and also in Tool tradition tight as hell. The sound was tuned for them and no one on the field that night was disappointed. Hoots and hollers during Massive Attacks' set did little to ingratiate Tool fans to the rest of the crowd, but truth be know, its a long hot day out in the sun, and the second day is even hotter. Add to that the fact that Madonnas' Sahara Tent appearance on the other side of the field delayed the Main Stage by an hour, and you may understand the frustration of a hard rock crowd being wooed to the synthetic sound of Massive  Attack. But little of that bleeds through once Tool takes the stage. Maynard in his cowboy hat sweats through a set of classic Tool songs as if two and half years were the single beat of a heart. Tool is back - and with a vengeance. Maynards stage banter confirms that this is fun again, throwing out barbs between each song, commenting that the naked man is "bumming me out", and how he knew we had "all downloaded the f*ckin' album already". Eighty minutes later Coachella 2006 and Tool go down in rock n roll history, preserved here in A+ quality. While this set does sound phenomenal there are two caveats, the first being the loss of about 20 seconds of The Patient (less was actually lost, but to make the edit transparent four bars were edited out) and the second consists of an "interruption" at the beginning of track 8, or more like a short conversation, that when examined closer, became too  uncanny to leave out.
Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Notes - by Galen: This particular matrix is one of the finest, accurate & spot-on attempts at creating such a product that I, for one, have had the pleasure to hear. At no point do I detect some weird phase-ing, a moment of out of synch or anything that would actually detract from this product - I do mean product as this is a creation. This took a lot of time, energy & patience to create. Although as of 06/29/06 I have not had the opportunity to hear simply the 4061>RH10 source according to the taper there is some mild distortion on the kick drum - however, that is not noticeable, to me, anywhere on this creation. Boldcaptain's 4060 source is clear, concise & rather enjoyable on it's own but this matrix gives a different "flavor" to the performance as a whole. Recommended for those that enjoy matrix recordings. 

Time: 78:12

Source H: Hi-Mini Disc --- Danish Pro Audio 4061 > Sony MZ-RH10 (PCM mode)
Location: Front of stacks by main stage, left side
Location: Front of stacks - Left
Taper: Adam

Notes - G1 / Adam: This was my 23rd TOOL show in 9 years. After travelling all the way from South Louisiana, camping out through the heat at the festival for 3 days, dealing with all kinds of mishaps and frustrations over the course of the weekend, and then holding my spot on the rail, front of stack, for about 7 hours before TOOL finally took the stage at 11 PM... to say that I was ready for their set would be quite an understatement. This was also my first weekend taping with DPA mics, so my anticipation was very high. As for my recording, it was expectedly very very bass heavy from standing FOS, but when I later EQd the bass down to a listenable level, I actually uncovered some distortion present in the recording, specifically from the kick drum. This was very unexpected and quite disappointing.
Notes - by Galen: This source is G-1 or 1/2 of the Source G matrix (see the cross reference link above for more information). Although the vocals are pretty clear & the guitar is pretty spot-on, the bass is not too bad but I too detect some amount of distortion. The main issue with this source is the lack of respect by the morons in the crowd. Throughout this source, it seems, the same drunk bastards are seeking the taper's microphones out to 'hoot, holler' & otherwise say 'what's up' to friends they have not seen in a while. Or something. 9 times out of 10 I really do my best to ignore Tommy Hilfucker & his prepped-out best friend Eddie Bowser as they shout 'fuck yeah' & their roofied-up, drunk 15 year old step-sister shouts 'we love you guys' to Tool as they perform the opening lines of the Patient. All I can say is that I certainly owe the taper a beer for not going out of his mind at this mot hostile of taping environments. Due to the annoying crowd, not the band. Although that is something else entirely.

Time: 1:18:22

Source I: Sony DCR-TRV900 (miniDV LP), no external mics
Dissemination: FIREWIRE > TMGPENC 3XPRESS (VBR - Average 6880kps, 2-pass 10bit/high motion search max bitrate 9200, min 4000, audio mpeg2 384kbs) > DVDLab Pro
Taper:      cesaro

Notes - by: Taper:
Please keep this off torrent sites and rarely traded. The show isn't the best but it is rare. If for some reason the bastard who was yelling and talking into my camera ever see's this, I hope you were having fun because if that happened outside of a concert I would have beaten your face to a pulp.

Notes - by: Galen: Disclaimer:
I am quite biased to this video recording; I think it basically kicks serious ass. It has it's faults but it is still one of the rare instances where quality meets with intensity. The filmer perceives quite a few more issues with it than I do. Other collectors may have different perceptions of it as well. That said, please read on... The first performance of Tool since 2002, the debut of 3 new songs (prior to release date), a mixed crowd (hippies, punks, rave-kids, metal heads) & a video that is not only complete but of excellent quality. I do not say that lightly but I will repeat: this is a very nice capture of Tool. It would be extremely hard to top the footage contained on this video. Of course there are the obligatory security ducks but it is to the taper's credit (note: same taper as the most widely circulated 10/10/1999 video!) that pretty much each member of the band receives camera time - including stage shots, when applicable. In other words, this is not how many videos tend to be; strictly focused on Maynard. The audio is, as jaded as I am in regards to audio from videos, quite good. In fact, one could argue it is of better quality than at least a couple of the audio sources. Quite nice. The taper apparently has quite an understanding of his recorder. Maybe some other filmers could take a lesson from this particular taper? The DVD is also authored with a nice picture from the performance & chapter selections. All in all, this is definitely worth the time/investment to add to your collection. This video gives validation to the the hobby of watching/listening to live performances of Tool in order to gain a more in-depth understandings of the music, lyrics & live performances --- at least that is why I do what it is I do for this hobby.

Time: 79:20