2006.05.16 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada @ The Hummingbird Centre Theatre
Source A: DAT --- Danish Pro Audio 4061 > MMA6030 > Sony PCM-M1 (Oade Mod II) / 48 kHz
Transfer: DAT-M > Tascam DA-20 > UXL24/96 > Goldwave
Location: Midway Center Row U
Taper: Galen
Notes - by Galen 2024: This venue was absolutely beautiful and a lovely place to attend/tape Tool. The recording required some significant amount of remastering/editing to get rid of some deep bass drone throughout when it was redone in 2023. The vocals are in the mix enough (could be louder) but overall, no complaints. Managed to ascertain a setlist from Knobby which was cool.
Also, notice the price of $66.66?
Notes - by Galen 2006: First of all, a very big thanks to Mr. Travis S. from New York who graciously hooked me up with a fantastic ticket/seat for this performance. Although this was the exact same setlist as Detroit (which I hit the night prior), I was able to ascertain a better taping position than the night prior in beautiful, desolate & dangerous Detroit. However, it took me much longer than it should've due to torrential rain that shut down or drastically slowed highways on both sides of the border with little visibility, navigation skills that were running on 5 hours of sleep & the hell that is known as Toronto-Monday-rush-hour-in-the-rain. When I did make it to the venue after a jaunt down Younge St., the sun was out & Tool would be on shortly. Met up with Travisty at the show & waited for the performance. Tool arrived on stage with the standard order: Justin, Adam, Danny, MJK to the opening licks of Lost Keys. Solid performance - MJK's throat sounded to be in better shape as there were extended screams & note-holds, compared with the night prior that is. Recording itself, although not in my ideal position, came out very nice - happy with it, no complaints. The crowd was, at least, a little bit more considerate than Detroit - but then again Canadians usually have more manners than Americans. As Vicarious played, Todd Fox (MJK's head of security) shined his flashlight on some chick taking crappy digital pictures on her cheap camera. Security jumped on this situation quickly - although the hippy in the row behind me continued to smoke dope the entire show without real concern. Guess the security enjoyed the contact buzz. After the Detroit show the night prior, I asked Knobby, the sound engineer, if he would be able to save a copy of the next nights setlist (Toronto). He said "if you make it, I'll have a copy for you mate." Think he was a wee bit surprised to see me but he did get me a copy; what a nice guy. And an amazing sound engineer.
DAT
Time: 1:52:47
Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman)
Rosetta Stoned
"What's up Toronto?"
Stinkfist
(extended)
46 & 2
"We had a new album come out. Apparently it went platinum in Canada. And I'd just like to say what the fuck dudes - what about triple platinum - buy it again. I'm trying to put a new wing on the winery - help me out; I said, I love Canada."
Jambi
Schism
Right in Two
Sober
"Thank you very much for coming down. Please enjoy your very, very, very strong Canadian dollar. Please do us all a favor & buy our country - we'll be selling it for scrap soon. So, get on that one. You know what happened with Detroit, it's just a matter of time. Thank you very much; peace - out.
Lateralus
Vicarious
"We're serious about buying our country. Most of it is going to be beachfront soon. Just a warning..."
Ænema
Post-Show
(talking with Knobby, chat)
Source B: Core Sound Binaurals > Sony PCM-M1Dissemination: FLAC > Torrent / Dimeadozen.org (05/2006)
Location: Balcony, Row W, on the right/centre sideTaper: Toaster
Gen: 0 (or 1) from Master
Notes - by: Galen: Very clean, clear & good recording of Tool. The recording itself has a very up-front sound that is surprising given the location of the taper. However, this is a very fine capture of a rather "standard" mini-tour setlist. Tool was lively this evening & appeared to respond to the intense crowd. The venue itself captured the intensity + anticipation of the sold-out crowd's enthralled expectation. Tool delivered a solid set. Plain & simple. This recording is ample evidence of that fact. There are a few instances where crowd noise is somewhat noticeable but this is of little concern or consequence. All in all, this is definitely worthy of a place in your collection. Without a doubt.
CD 1
Time: 49:22
CD 2
Time: 49:43
Source C: DAT --- Sound Professionals Deluxe Audio Technica Cardiods (AT831's)->Sound
Professionals Bass Roll off filter/battery box (SP-SPSB-2) > Sony TCD-D8 / 48 kHz
Dissemination: Sony DTC60ES->toslink->M-Audio CO3->THX coax ->Teac CD burner->CD->WAV(via Itunes)->FLAC>Dimeadozen.org (05/2006)
Taper: Dreyfus / Steve S.
Gen: 0 (or 1) from Master
Notes - by: Taper: Tool live at the Hummingbird Centre, Toronto May 16th, 2006. This show was great, it could have been a bit longer but I realize the band is just doing a warm up tour right now before the real show begins. My 4th time seeing this fantastic band and every time it gets better and better. This show was recorded on the floors, left side (if looking at the stage), row W seat 5. Security didn't seem to be to tight as I know of at least 4 sources of this show, 1 has already been shared, this one, and the other 2 don't know if they're sharing their versions or not yet. This is a really good recording. I prefer it myself but I'm probably biased, its not as "tinny" as the other source. I'm not saying the other source is bad, not by any means, its quite good in fact, better than most CSB recordings I've heard. To each there own though. Anyone who wants to do a matrix is quite welcome to do so if they'd like.
Notes - by: Galen: This source, to my ears, has the most crowd noise of the three sources I've heard thus far. However, the high frequency sound + MJK vocals are very, very clear. That said, this is certainly worth the time, energy & enjoyment to check out. Tool's performance, although average for this era, is captured in crystal-clear detail by the taper - who did a great job, by the way. All in all, is this the best source for this performance? That is up to your own audio preference. Is this a great recording? Hell yes.
CD 1
Time: 58:26
CD 2
Time: 39:33
Source D: Sound Professionals CMC-8 (AT943) > SP-MICROTRACK-MIC-POWER > MT 24/96 (24bits, 48kHz)
Dissemination: 24/96 > USB2.0 > PC > Wavelab 5.0 > FLAC Frontend Level 7 > Dimeadozen.org(06/2006)
Taper: Susannah
Location: orch row C, centre
Gen: 0 (or 1) from Master
Notes - by: Taper: Missed a few seconds of guitar feedback at beginning of concert. Hope all is going well. Regarding Source D, I'm the fella. I like your summary! Hit the nail on the head with the sound. I have been testing different sounds with different settings, and even with the levels at 0, I was still clipping on the right side. I only know this from the wave and other shows. I was somewhere between BC and Texas when the show was on. Either way, I've picked up a 10 db pad today, and I tried a different mic setting on the MT. I decided not to touch Su's recording at all only because I did test it on a few peoples machines as dvd audio, both edited and untouched, and in my friends studio, the unedited sounded very nice (minus the clipping which was my bad). My home speaker setup isn't quite good enough yet to do top notch editing, but I may pick up a good set so that if I do edit, it will be good out of the gate. I'll keep an eye for when you post. It never hurts cranking the tunes when you just want to relax!
Notes - by: Galen: I really like this recording. I honestly do. From the rumor I heard, a fella's friend taped this show for him as he was out of town. To Susannah, nice job! When this was posted comments from people that downloaded this ranged from perfect quality to poor quality; gives an indication of how subjective perceptions really are. To my ears, this is balanced, clear & concise. Very live sounding. I do believe that Cardioid microphones were, by far, the better choice for any of these mini tour performances, that is for sure. The binaural mics tended to get buried in the bass-heavy sound. There may be a layer of some very, very high level distortion that I think you is an issue at different intervals; the MP3 sample I provided will give an indication.
CD 1
Time: 57:41
CD 2
Time: 38:49
Source E: Core Sound Cardioids > Core Sound Battery Box > Sony MZ-N1
Dissemination: Analog out > CD Wave > FLAC > Wavelab > FLAC
Taper: Bobcat
Location: orch row C, centre
Gen: 0 (or 1) from Master
Notes - by: Galen: All things considered, this is a very nice recording of this performance. Perhaps this recordings greatest strength is that the vocals + guitar are somewhat separated from other instruments in the recording which makes this exceptionally clear. Sort of like the sounds are literally stacked upon each other but you are able to hear the layers. To me, cardioid microphones have more of a high/bass sound with a not-as-thick middle range of sounds. Good omni mics, when used in the proper context, can give you something like a demo tape feel instead of a live, ambient recording; which this recording is. See what I'm saying? No? The entirety of this recording is clean & clear; there are arguably better, overall sources however this is pretty damn fine. I kind of think that, overall, the recordings from the 2006 mini-tour to present are really quite nice. This is testament to that fact; such basic equipment & yet such tasty results. As a bonus... after RS... this recording captures security(?) ask him what he is doing (he was shining a light). The guy tells the taper to not do that as it is distracting. I kind of think the taper was checking his levels & nearly got busted.
CD 1
Time: 47:10
CD 2
Time: 50:07