Another recent recording gently shared by ianmacd on DIME. The usual thanks to him. Again completed by an extensive text documenting the experience.
RECORDING:
Type: Audience master, recorded from 5th row, leftmost seat of centre aisle,
approximately 12 metres back from suspended 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 2.0.2
* applied selective amplification for consistency
* attenuated sections of loud applause
* added fades
* split tracks
* converted to 16 bit
-> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]
Taper: ianmacd
NOTES:
The setting is Vredenburg, a concert hall on the outskirts of Utrecht, in a
wasteland called the Leidsche Rijn. It's a clear case of a nice venue in a
terrible location. Vredenburg has great sound, but it's in the middle of
nowhere. Those who arrive early for a concert find themselves unable to
purchase so much as a cup of coffee, which is perhaps just as well, because
there would be nowhere to relieve oneself after drinking it, either.
And arriving early is something one is well advised to do here, given that
seating is typically unassigned; as is the case tonight.
I dislike the stress of having to compete for tickets in the moments after
high profile gigs go on sale, but I dislike it even more when the frenzy is
deferred until the day of the gig. The former requires me merely to be
punctual and alert, whilst the latter demands that I pitch up well ahead of
the actual gig in order to secure a place at the front of the queue.
Anyone arriving at the venue mere minutes before the doors are due to open
will therefore find himself sorely out of luck, much too late to secure
anything resembling a good seat.
I arrive later than intended, at 18:20, the product of heavy traffic on the
motorway and getting lost on the confusing roads around Utrecht. On this
occasion, there's a chill wind blowing, but it's thankfully dry.
I had left Amsterdam at 17:20 and expected to be standing outside the venue by
18:00. When I arrived, a good 50 or 60 people were already queuing.
I made conversation with those around me until the doors opened, then joined
the other elephants in stampeding through the venue in the frantic dash for
those first few precious rows at the front.
I pick a seat in the fifth row, a compromise between the best view and the
best sound. Truth be told, I spend a little too long deliberating where to
park my arse, while the seats around me rapidly fill with punters not burdened
by thoughts of the recording they are about to make.
David Kuckhermann is up first, of course, playing his usual mix of hang and
riqq (Arabian tambourine). Now, as in Zouk Mikael nine days earlier, he's
absolutely mind-blowing. What that man can achieve with just two hands is
unfathomable. He's more than a match for the band he's opening for (as well as
being its percussionist).
A brief intermission follows David's half-hour set and Dead Can Dance come on
shortly after 21:15. Lisa looks regal in her blue velvet dress, this time
instantly recognisable. In Zouk Mikael, a little over a week ago, she had
looked strangely unfamiliar.
The set this evening is the now familiar one with no deviations from what was
played on the first leg in North America. The set is played in its entirety
tonight, including the second and third encores that were lamentably missing
in Zouk Mikael.
Lisa is the focal point of the occasion, of course. The audience response
after 'Sanvean' and 'The Host Of Seraphim' is nothing short of rapturous. In
fact, Brendan launches so quickly into 'Nierika' after 'Sanvean', long before
the natural end of the ovation that follows it, that one wonders whether he
isn't growing tired of being the band's perennial underdog.
Tonight's performance of a second encore affords me my first live experience
of the revamped cover of Tim Buckley's 'Song To The Siren'. Brendan had played
this on guitar during his 2010 solo 'Ark' tour, but it's been reworked here
for keyboards, and to very pleasing effect.
'Return Of The She-King', the song whose initially "cheesy" impression led to
my being exiled from Brendan's forum, is also aired tonight, completing the
integral experience of the band's comeback album, 'Anastasis'.
The track has grown considerably on me in the months since I first listened to
it and is an obvious choice for the last song of the main set or one of the
encores. Its climax is at once pompous and grandiose.
The song nevertheless disappoints a little in its live incarnation,
its stirring drum fills sampled and digitally reproduced, making a much less
dramatic impression than they would if played live. Ditto Lisa's opening vocal
line, which is also produced from flash memory, rather than straight from
Lisa's vocal cords.
It's a minor detail, however. The song still rouses and effortlessly whips
up the audience on a triumphant carpet of sound. One pictures galleons leaving
harbour, setting sail for some brave new world, banners flying. It's a
dramatic close to the second encore.
As Brendan leaves the stage, he briefly mentions the possibility of more Dutch
gigs next year. That would be nice, but we'll have to wait and see. Such
things have a way of not materialising.
Lisa returns shortly afterwards with keyboardist Jules Maxwell for 'Rising Of
The Moon', a song so similar to 'Wandering Star' that one wonders whether it
isn't actually the same composition under a new name (and 'Wandering Star' was
already a renamed 'Minus Sanctus' to begin with).
As Lisa leaves the stage for the last time, the lights come up and many people
dash for the doors to make the last train home. I wander around for a few
minutes, looking for anyone I know, but those I've spoken to this evening have
already left and those I haven't yet found manage to evade my attempts to
locate them.
The merchandise stand does brisk business after the show and I finally manage
to purchase some T-shirts that will fit me. There's a very wide range of
shirts on sale during this tour, with four or five designs each for men and
women. I also see mugs and hooded sweatshirts.
David Kuckhermann and Astrid Williamson are standing at the merchandise stand.
I stop to tell David how much I enjoyed his set and then I make my way out of
the venue. The only thing on my mind now is food. Screw music; I need to eat.
The recording is on a par with the one I made in Zouk Mikael. In some ways, it
is superior. Which you will prefer is, I believe, entirely subjective.
The recording of this gig is dedicated to my wife, who was due to join me in
Utrecht, but decided not to attend after becoming soured by Brendan's recent
forum behaviour. Instead, she stayed at home and looked after the children.
Thank you, my dear.
SET LIST:
01. [07:55] Children Of The Sun
02. [06:56] Anabasis
03. [06:11] Rakim
04. [08:57] Kiko
05. [00:37] [banter]
06. [04:40] Lamma Bada
07. [06:20] Agape
08. [06:21] Amnesia
09. [05:10] Sanvean
10. [04:45] Nierika
11. [05:42] Opium
12. [06:34] The Host Of Seraphim
13. [00:56] [banter]
14. [04:48] Ime Prezakias
15. [05:06] Now We Are Free
16. [07:00] All In Good Time
17. [02:54] [encore break]
18. [05:51] The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove
19. [04:11] Dreams Made Flesh
20. [02:38] [encore break]
21. [04:37] Song To The Siren
22. [07:29] Return Of The She-King
23. [01:09] [encore break]
24. [04:13] Rising Of The Moon
Total running time: 121:00
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