Dead Can Dance - Amphitheater, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - 21.06.2013 (Flac)

Thanks to ianmacd for taping and sharing.

RECORDING:

Type: Audience master, recorded from Block 1, Row 3, Seat 14; approximately 6
      metres back from the suspended left-side PA.

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 2.0.3
       * Amplified right channel by 1.6 dB.
       * Normalised to 0 dB (channels not independently)
       * Applied variable amplification across recording for consistent
         listening experience.
       * Attenuated audience.
       * Added fades.
       * Split tracks.
       * Converted to 16 bit.
     -> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]

Taper: ianmacd

SET LIST:

01. [07:38] Children Of The Sun
02. [06:01] Agape
03. [06:12] Rakim
04. [08:32] Kiko
05. [06:17] Amnesia
06. [05:14] Sanvean
07. [05:23] Black Sun
08. [04:44] Nierika
09. [05:50] Opium
10. [00:18] [banter]
11. [06:38] The Host Of Seraphim
12. [00:45] [banter]
13. [04:46] Ime Prezakias
14. [05:07] Cantara
15. [06:41] All In Good Time
16. [02:11] [encore break]
17. [05:36] The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove
18. [04:13] Dreams Made Flesh
19. [04:19] Song To The Siren
20. [00:40] [band introduction]
21. [06:58] Return Of The She-King

Total running time: 104:12


NOTES:

Have you ever seen the film, 'Groundhog Day'? In it, a man is doomed to relive
the same day of his life, over and over, in perpetuity.

Anyway, Gelsenkirchen is no Fiesole and its amphitheatre was obviously
built a couple of millennia after the Romans laid the last brick of theirs,
but it's a nice enough place for a gig and a pleasantly drivable distance from
Amsterdam, especially with friends in the car to help pass the time.

I finish my bratwürst just a little too late for the arrival of David
Kuckhermann, who appears on stage in broad daylight at a ludicrously early
19:20, a full 40 minutes before the start time printed on my ticket. Oh well.

I take my seat in the third row of block 1 and am delighted to find that the
overhead canopy that shelters the stage extends beyond my row. If the heavens
open tonight -- and well they might -- at least I won't be getting wet. At
this point in the 'Anastasis' tour, staying dry is about the only hope I dare
still harbour.

Whilst Kuckhermann's early start means that I fail to come away with a
recording of him on this occasion, on the upside, it also means that Dead Can
Dance tread the boards at 20:15 instead of the more usual 21:00. If all goes
well, we'll be out of this place by 22:00 and back in the Dutch capital at a
relatively civilised hour.

It's 21st June, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. I'm fully
prepared for the scripted predictability of the next hour and three quarters
to make it feel even longer. My role here as observer/taper (spectaper?) feels
more like the fulfilment of a community service order than an act of my own
volition. To say I lack enthusiasm is like saying that smoking is bad for you.
And like a smoker, I have only myself to blame.

As it turns out, things aren't quite as bad as feared. There's a veritable
highlight tonight in the form of 'Ime Prezakias', which comes forth in
inspired fashion, boasting a powerful and ultimately amusing climax. It's a
welcome blip on an otherwise flat-line electrocardiogram. If this gig were
your patient, you'd probably want to tie a label to its big toe and send it
down for refrigeration at your earliest convenience.

The recording is very good, but not a patch on the one I produced at Fiesole
at the beginning of the month. There, everything came together to make for a
truly outstanding document of the evening, lacklustre though it was.

In Gelsenkirchen, there's some wind noise from the stage microphones and also
some low level rumble in my left microphone. I'm also sitting in a less than
ideal location, three rows from the front, with the PA suspended high
overhead. The result is a formidably powerful low end and the submergence of
some of the higher frequencies.

In this recording's favour, however, is that it captures a performance
superior to the one in Fiesole, if only on account of the aforementioned 'Ime
Prezakias'.

Other than that, it's hard to think of any reason that you might want this
recording. If you were there on the night, it's a nice souvenir of the
evening. If you weren't, you should be downloading one of my other recordings
instead, such as Brussels 2012 or Fiesole 2013. If you already own all of the
others and are simply looking for yet another pointless recording to download,
congratulations, you've found one.

As hoped, the gig is over by 22:00. The rainclouds finally lose their patience
and send all and sundry scurrying for cover.

We spend an hour and a half socialising with Timo, who has driven from
Frankfurt for the gig, and then we're away for some fun, fun, fun on the
Autobahn, arriving back in Amsterdam at a respectable 01:15.

Tomorrow, I get to do it all again, only this time in Brussels. I can't wait
(for it all to be over).

Samples are provided to help you determine whether this is one for you.

Some good photos of the gig can be found here:

http://www.black-cat-net.de/galerie/musiklive/konzerte/671-live-dead-can-dance-gelsenkirchen-21-06-2013

VVPaHrcI-w