| Bush, Kate - Eventim Apollo Hammersmith (ianmacd) |
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| Notes |
| Recorded at the Eventim Apollo, London, UK. Excellent audience recording. From the info file: Kate Bush Eventim Apollo Hammersmith London England 30th September 2014 (2014-09-30) RECORDING: Type: Audience master, recorded from seat slightly right of centre stage in row BB, the 22nd row of the stalls, approximately 20 metres from the stage. Source: Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) -> Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod (-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV) Lineage: Audacity 2.0.5 * Amplified left channel of Act I by 1 dB. * Applied variable envelope amplification across recording for consistent listening experience. * Painstaking manual attenuation of audience noise, including more than two thousand individual hand claps. * Patched and crossfaded first 5 seconds of prerecorded pre-show announcement (track 1) from recording of 2014-09-17. * Used Clip Fix plug-in to remove clipping from initial whooping of person next to me (track 2). * Added fades. * Split tracks. * Converted to 16 bit. -> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.3.0 20130526] Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd) SET LIST: Act I. 01. [01:18] [announcement] 02. [04:50] Lily 03. [03:36] Hounds Of Love 04. [06:22] Joanni 05. [05:41] Top Of The City 06. [05:51] Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 07. [08:17] King Of The Mountain The Ninth Wave: 08. [03:05] [video: The Astronomer's Tale] 09. [04:03] [video: And Dream Of Sheep] 10. [03:19] Under Ice 11. [07:22] Waking The Witch 12. [03:33] [sketch: Father And Son] 13. [06:46] Watching You Without Me 14. [05:16] Jig Of Life 15. [08:13] Hello Earth 16. [05:03] The Morning Fog 17. [01:21] [banter] 18. [00:13] [announcement] [intermission] Act II. A Sky Of Honey: 19. [02:56] Prelude 20. [10:17] Prologue 21. [05:42] An Architect's Dream 22. [01:34] The Painter's Link 23. [07:57] Sunset 24. [01:59] Aerial Tal 25. [06:58] Somewhere In Between 26. [06:24] Tawny Moon 27. [08:44] Nocturn 28. [10:52] Aerial 29. [00:48] [banter] Encore: 30. [00:53] [encore break] 31. [05:37] Among Angels 32. [00:40] [banter] 33. [07:20] Cloudbusting Total running time: 163:04 ¹ Sung by Albert McIntosh MD5 CHECKSUMS: 2c75792aca94ef736d5362fb6bd69e9b *artwork/kb.jpg 38dfc3ffad80eba08f4db02b7b68adec *artwork/poster.jpg 3d6b0d75c476f55059bde44bdb4e025a *artwork/soldout.jpg 7bd07658a2e49eda53f87179348ca5b8 *flac/01_announcement.flac 112edb79f0303090b6cdac5588e9e98c *flac/02_lily.flac d124fc32c158f4d245e7fb00b6d872a8 *flac/03_hounds_of_love.flac cf7e8c068bb49d9839c58bfd474de5b0 *flac/04_joanni.flac 2e30f1204d1a35a1816843a1095866e9 *flac/05_top_of_the_city.flac f41c3f2a0d815cd7ab33185a71e34c87 *flac/06_running_up_that_hill_a_deal_with_god.flac 863a17f8a766647cd3b357a7bf57331e *flac/07_king_of_the_mountain.flac 0cbee1c8bb1774398606bd19f89c079a *flac/08_video_the_astronomers_tale.flac 5f2bdc197c96f3488cfe4b39987bef8d *flac/09_video_and_dream_of_sheep.flac 01e620e75a92f734753ed834b6815f8c *flac/10_under_ice.flac adf166ded08de90129754f096e2c3793 *flac/11_waking_the_witch.flac c43ecd1c164ed9783201e41f67857926 *flac/12_sketch_father_and_son.flac 38f20e50c6ecf730aeaabafc65aaa404 *flac/13_watching_you_without_me.flac cb32274579fd5bda312922650b25780a *flac/14_jig_of_life.flac 8bfbdfb56e084235e24c00f1e2517d9c *flac/15_hello_earth.flac ddd19692b6497bcf75bafb9b657bcb8e *flac/16_the_morning_fog.flac 46ceccb0c69ec22cbf4279f07654f942 *flac/17_banter.flac d30614c9219280b1708459fcba5ab80c *flac/18_announcement.flac 11cc455a7a61c3eaff4615b60e212aba *flac/19_prelude.flac 63c2c51186a19f1e86dfcefdabe4dbcf *flac/20_prologue.flac e4a51f930c58e36207a0df170ea4fa92 *flac/21_an_architects_dream.flac bdef860beb7edfe39b8e0f432d451c6d *flac/22_the_painters_link.flac a7859ee5afdf9d096b68797ca6298beb *flac/23_sunset.flac aa99d56ac3ee69b2bb46617949fbe1cb *flac/24_aerial_tal.flac e2d5c42a40a4048a7ab68ccfbf197ff6 *flac/25_somewhere_in_between.flac 147d2338a8b38aa4d8cb738d516d0de2 *flac/26_tawny_moon.flac 910774e936b95cbb408914cff2de1a70 *flac/27_nocturn.flac 36df4b0558be159964b24da17de56358 *flac/28_aerial.flac d63e7c6972bc87e22a99fa00fe7466b4 *flac/29_banter.flac 1e9c954449b48dc30a4b91b175c47874 *flac/30_encore_break.flac 1281c2b9ee5877f24760a2ad69b287d9 *flac/31_among_angels.flac 5df462ffae2f07398a65831c7bb9d0d9 *flac/32_banter.flac 8ce269b2d41b192bb65db730225294d9 *flac/33_cloudbusting.flac 1fafe070d0d042a29644ead47b609fe4 *flac/checksums.ffp 10583299f04009be7ad267d8d3d3c7fb *photos/20140930_191458.jpg a683de44887746fabb21ce4554f586c2 *photos/20140930_211638.jpg 3e9ceb586ad926e00230551663855890 *photos/20140930_212610.jpg 17af6fb68201504c9385550b5d98c947 *photos/20140930_225519.jpg e20730736318148b8b0df7162ca51901 *photos/20140930_230329.jpg 257b9005c3a81239f76490229ddd859c *photos/20141001_150326.jpg d3ce4f6cc9d27358a4d59fa82a963148 *tags.txt a8dcba72853416929abe55e34a1b85ae *titles.txt NOTES: I'm back in Hammersmith, just two weeks after my last visit, and my reason for being here is the same as last time: to catch two performances of Kate Bush's groundbreaking 'Before The Dawn' show, now nearing the end of its historic run at the Eventim Apollo. Bus 197 once again takes me to Schiphol, where I board flight BA 2759 to Gatwick and enjoy clear skies for the duration of the short, hour-long flight. Having reclaimed my bag, I indulge in a Cornish pasty for lunch and then board the Gatwick Express to Victoria. After changing to the Tube, I travel the few stops to Hammersmith on the District line and then walk the now familiar route to my equally familiar hotel. Sure enough, I'm helped by the same receptionist as last time and given room 305, which -- you've guessed it -- is the same room I stayed in two weeks ago. This day is such a carbon copy of 16th September that I'm half-expecting to wake up tomorrow to 'I Got You Babe' on the radio². Bush's historic 22 date residency at the Apollo is drawing to a close. Tonight, she will give her penultimate performance to another packed house, once again fulfilling the dreams of an ecstatic audience, who, back in January, never could have imagined that they would be witnessing this legendary, almost mythical performer sing live before the year was out. To say I'm looking forward to the concert is an understatement. The joyful anticipation of my four shows has been something I haven't experienced with such vivid, childlike intensity since my early twenties. Most of the time, I find that I can barely drag myself out the door for a show just up the road at the Paradiso, yet international travel feels like the most minor of obstacles that I could negotiate to see Kate Bush perform. Indeed, the fact that the mountain most certainly won't come to Muhammed in this case has temporarily rendered Hammersmith the world's epicentre of love and admiration for this most celebrated of female performers. Fans from all over the world have made the pilgrimage here to see her perform, forming an immutable emotional link between this small corner of west London and the realm of Kate bush fandom. With just a few hours to kill until the gig, I unpack, charge batteries and take a short nap. When I awake, I shower, pack a rucksack and head to The Swan for a leisurely plate of fish and chips before the gig. At 18:15 on the dot, following ID checks in the queue, the doors to the venue are opened. Within seconds, the merchandise stand is swamped. I'd love to see the sales figures from this residency. I'm curious just how much money has been made without playing a note. The mass of bodies must be fifteen deep and it's like this every night, both before and after the gig. Two more merchandise stands are located upstairs, and business is only a little less brisk up there. The pre-gig taper prep for these shows is becoming routine for me at this point. I drink a pint of fluid to combat possible dehydration and then head into the auditorium just after 19:00 to find my seat. I'm in row BB of the stalls this time, slightly right of centre. My seat is located about two thirds of the way back, just under the circle. It's a terrific seat with a great view of the stage and, in my judgement, the potential to facilitate an absolutely stunning recording. I head to the loos to configure the microphones for my position relative to the PA, then take my seat in the auditorium and savour the last few minutes of sweet anticipation. At 19:45, the now familiar taped announcement is played through the PA: 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to tonight's performance of 'Before The Dawn'. The KT Fellowship kindly reminds you to refrain from using any photo or recording devices and to turn phones off during the performance. Thank you and enjoy the show.' No photo devices? Check. Muted telephone? Check. No recording devices? Er, let me get back to you on that. The house lights go down and the musicians take their positions to loud applause. The spoken word intro to 'Lily' begins and then, as the music starts, Kate Bush makes her entrance. From the applause, you'd think it was the second coming of Christ. I've never heard anything like it, except, perhaps, at the two Kate Bush shows I attended a fortnight ago. The mild-mannered man on my right becomes a screaming queen and goes into emotional meltdown. With his whooping and thunderous applause, he will unwittingly go on to provide me with the largest audio post-production task I have ever undertaken. Cheers, mate. Oh well; the level of fanaticism that this woman engenders and the law of averages pretty much guaranteed that I would end up next to someone like this at least once during my four shows. He calms down somewhat as the show progresses. I have written about the content of the show before, so suffice it to say that there are no theatrical hitches this evening, and the highlight for me remains the blistering performance of 'Aerial', with its duel between the blackbird figure of Kate Bush and a bird-beaked David Rhodes, the guitarist. The one thing I do notice -- though it's not until the mastering stage that I do -- is that the guitar is missing from the start of 'Somewhere In Between'. I'm not sure what happened there. Kate plays an absolute blinder this evening. These performances are becoming more and more polished as the residency wears on, and tonight's is one for the ages. On the theatrical side, I'm still noticing little details that I missed the first couple of times. Every time I see the show from a different vantage point, there are new things to pick up on and new perspectives on previously seen things. Even Bertie's nasal drawl on 'Tawny Moon' is growing on me. You just have to have respect for any 16 year old who has the balls to get up and sing to an audience who've waited most of their life and paid a hefty sum to see Kate Bush perform live. Even if he is her son and starts with the audience on-side, it's still a gutsy thing to do for such a young man. Mercifully, it's been a little less hot in the Apollo tonight than on the previous two occasions. Make no mistake, it was still quite uncomfortable; just not the oven of two weeks ago. The recording lives up to my expectations. The base recording was already excellent, if somewhat blighted by the exuberance of my neighbour in the stalls, but the difference between the raw source and the mastered product is night and day. Happily, the unwanted contributions of the gentleman next to me have come out in the wash, along with innumerable individual hand claps and instances of whooping and cheering that were too far forward in the sound image. All of these small imperfections have been individually treated and rendered unobtrusive by consigning them to the background, insofar as that is possible with a single track recording such as this. In total, 3575 edits have been applied to the recording during mastering, by far the most ever needed by one of my recordings. The work took more than 23 hours at the computer, spread across two days. As always with this kind of endeavour, much of the credit actually goes to my wife, for ensuring that our children didn't go hungry or murder each other in the meantime. This recording of tonight's show is superb, quite possibly the best of the four that I have made, thanks to the location of my seat in the auditorium. For the last six months, this was the ticket that I was anticipating would yield the best recording, and that might just be the case. In any case, this is a recording that will be stirring memories and providing me with immeasurable pleasure for years to come. It belongs in the collection of any fan. Some portions of the show, such as the voices at the start of 'Waking The Witch', were in surround sound. Obviously, my stereo capture fails to accurately reflect that dimension of the show, but it's a minor concession, all things considering. Since this recording is bound to end up on fan sites and music blogs, no doubt sometimes repackaged as MP3s, I would like to make the following polite request. If you must re-encode and repackage this work, do please at least include these notes (the info.txt file) in the archive and do not alter them in any way. Thank you. As always, samples are included to help you determine whether the recording is worth your while. ² http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/ |