Arcade Fire - 2011-09-01 - Edinburgh Castle, UK

As soon as this show was announced at the start of the year, it was obvious it ticked all the boxes for turning into something special. It was due to be their final show in the UK for some time and it was a new venue for the band. Given these circumstances, a fair number of Arcade Fire friends acquired tickets and everyone started making their own arrangements for a late-summer pilgrimage to what is undoubtedly the jewel in the Scottish crown.

Come the day of the show and everyone made their way up to the castle in order to get a first sight of the venue. What was unexpected was that the venue was completely open down one side, as a walkway had been created to allow tourists to come and go from the castle itself. And being the band that they are, the Arcade Fire obligingly posed for photos with fans as they went about their sound check. They even performed the rare track "Cars and Telephones" at the request of a fan. Unfortunately, I missed most of this, but I will get to record a sound check one day!

Come show time, our small group ended up to the right of centre of the stage, close to the right-hand speaker stack - not the ideal spot for recording, but it was a great spot to watch this amazing band from. I knew I'd still have a half-decent chance of capturing something decent due to the proximity of the speakers and hoped the crowd around me were there to watch rather than sing. And so it was, thankfully.

From a personal point of view, the show itself was excellent, yet it seemed to be missing something to take it to the next level - a rare song or a guest appearance or a cover version. Just something different. What we got were the same songs as the previous night in Manchester, albeit with a different running order. Wake Up was still mid-set though and I hope the band soon realise the error of their ways with this one.

After the show, some people commented about the lack of enthusiasm from the Edinburgh crowd, especially in comparison to previous shows by the band in Scotland. From my point of view though, it was perfect - little audience noise and no jostling for position during the bouncier songs. The Arcade Fire are a very visual band and there is always something happening on stage to grab your attention. I'm sure that is why many in the audience just stand and stare as they perform - people are in awe of what they are witnessing. I know that's how I feel anyway.

As for the recording, it's actually pretty good! I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I've already described where I was stood, so the right-hand channel has therefore got a very slight gain with regards to the music, with the left-hand channel picking up slightly more crowd noise. It's hardly noticeable though and actually adds a good stereo mix to the sound; hence I decided to leave the balance as it is.

Enjoy! :-)

Arcade Fire - 2011-09-01 - Edinburgh Castle - FLAC
633MB RAR archive, FLAC format

Arcade Fire - 2011-09-01 - Edinburgh Castle - MP3
175MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. Ready To Start
02. Keep The Car Running
03. No Cars Go
04. Haiti
05. Rococo
06. Speaking In Tongues
07. Intervention
08. Suburban War
09. Wake Up
10. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
11. The Suburbs
12. Month of May
13. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
14. We Used To Wait
15. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
16. _encore break_
17. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
18. Rebellion (Lies)

(Photo courtesy of musicscramble.co.uk)

(Download links updated on 27th January, 2013)

Arcade Fire - 2011-08-31 - MEN Arena, Manchester, UK

This was the band's penultimate UK date before they disappeared from these shores, probably until the release of their next album, whenever that may be. I hadn't had the chance to see them since the end of 2010 and, given certain events that happened around that time, I'd hardly listened to them over the previous few months. I just couldn't raise my usual excitement for seeing the band, even though I was still looking forward to the show.

How wrong was I??!!

The turnover between the support band (Noah & The Whale, whom I also recorded) leaving the stage and Arcade Fire's intro starting up was only 30 minutes, but in that time I realised I was well and truly back in the grips of what I honestly consider to be the best band in the world today.

I decided, just minutes before they came on stage, that I would try and get the best recording I could of the show, so I moved back from my 4th row, right of stage spot and positioned myself in what I consider to be the "sweet spot" for recording at the MEN Arena - dead centre of the stage, 10 yards/metres back from the front row of fans.

I'd not watched the Arcade Fire from a similar location since my first time seeing them back in 2007 at Manchester Apollo (first night), at what was, and still is, the worst show of theirs that I've ever attended (dire sound and an awful audience). However, I was not to be disappointed this time. Ok, I had a few occasional talkers around me (who doesn't in the middle of a crowd at a rock show?), but the quality of the sound shines through on the recording. In fact, this was the 13th time I've recorded the band and I reckon it's my best attempt yet.

Now onto the show itself. As far as the Arcade fire are concerned, I find it a tad difficult to rate their shows in comparison to previous ones, pure and simply because of their amazing consistency. Some shows may have had better setlists than others (which is a very personal thing anyway and always causes opinionated discussion!), but invariably they have all had something that made them special. This show did not have anything special in its setlist, but the ordering of the songs was surprisingly good and the band themselves were as stellar as any other time that I've seen them.

That first show of mine which I mentioned earlier, it had no Wake Up in its setlist. Unbelievable, I know! Every other time I've seen them, this inspirational song has always been the show closer, yet here we had it 10th song on the bill, mid-show. This was a real surprise, and I'm not totally convinced that it worked, but it was still good to experience it all the same. We also had the relatively new song Speaking in Tongues - it's always good to hear a song live for the first time. And any show that has a run of songs that goes Wake Up/Laika/Tunnels/We Used to Wait/Power Out is bound to rate highly on the Richter scale.

And then there was the encore. Somebody on the sound desk turned the volume up a couple of notches and the band launched in to an ear-bleeding, monumental version of Month of May. I can honestly say that I have never heard them so loud. In fact, the young kid stood to my left had his hands over his ears! When Rebellion (Lies) got under way, I could hardly hear anything other than the drums and bass - they either left the volume turned up or my hearing was temporarily fucked! Fortunately, the recording wasn't affected as I'd set my little box of tricks to auto-adjust to volume changes.

I'm going to thoroughly enjoy listening to this recording on repeat. I hope you do too.

Enjoy!  :-)

Arcade Fire - 2011-08-31 - MEN Arena - FLAC
605MB RAR archive, FLAC format

Arcade Fire - 2011-08-31 - MEN Arena - MP3
171MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. Ready To Start
02. Keep The Car Running
03. Haiti
04. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
05. No Cars Go
06. Rococo
07. Speaking In Tongues
08. Intervention
09. Suburban War
10. Wake Up
11. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
12. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
13. We Used to Wait
14. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
15. _encore break_
16. Month of May
17. Rebellion (Lies)
18. The Suburbs

(Photo courtesy of the ever-wonderful Shirlaine Forrest Photography)

(Download links updated on 27th January, 2013)

The Antlers - 2011-05-13 - Club Academy, Manchester, UK

The Antlers are one of those bands that you just have to see live. Each band member truly gives their all to bring their recorded material to life for the audience. Add this energy to the tiny, claustrophobic surroundings of Manchester's Club Academy and you have the perfect recipe for a great gig, and that's exactly what we got here.

This show was pretty early in the band's somewhat lengthy itinerary for the release of their latest album Burst Apart. That said, you could be forgiven for thinking the new songs were long-time mainstays of their setlists, fitting in well with a few tracks from the band's previous offering, the haunting and much heralded Hospice. Even though many people would have been hearing the new tracks for the first time, the audience were very respectful towards them and the recording is quite clean with regards to audience noise during songs.


Enjoy!  :-)

The Antlers - 2011-05-13 - Club Academy, Manchester - FLAC
359MB RAR archive, FLAC format

The Antlers - 2011-05-13 - Club Academy, Manchester - MP3
112MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. French Exit
02. Parentheses
03. No Widows
04. Kettering
05. Bear
06. Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
07. Rolled Together
08. Hounds
09. Putting the Dog to Sleep
10. _encore break_
11. Two

(Photo of Pete Silberman courtesy of John Gleeson)

(Download links updated on 27th January, 2013)

Madness - 2010-11-30 - Manchester Apollo, UK

This is quite a poignant recording for me and I've thought long and hard about what to do with it over the last few months. A day or so after the concert, David, a good friend who was with me on the night, was to enter hospital for a stem cell transplant in his final attempt to beat the cancer that had blighted his life for several years. To cut a long story short, and despite the actual success of his fight against cancer, David's body could take no more and he tragically lost his battle for life on Sunday 22nd May, 2011 at the far-too-young age of just 28.

My memories of this show will forever be watching him dancing and singing the night away with his girlfriend and just thoroughly enjoying himself as much as anyone else in the building. You would never have guessed that he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

So, this recording is dedicated to the wonderful memory of David Horan. A braver man you could never wish to meet.

There is some crowd noise present (cheers Keith!), but hey, this was a Madness concert after all! At the start of the song "Madness", the crowd started singing the tune of "Tom Hark" which Suggs went along with for a minute or so. I've tracked this separately within the recording, but it is in no way the complete song.

Enjoy!  :-)

Madness - 2010-11-30 - Manchester Apollo - MP3
161MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. One Step Beyond
02. Embarrassment
03. Shut Up
04. Driving in my Car
05. NW5
06. Hey Girl
07. My Girl
08. Lovestruck
09. Forever Young
10. The Sun And The Rain
11. The Young and The Old
12. Tomorrow's Just Another Day
13. Bed And Breakfast Man
14. Clerkenwell Polka
15. The Prince
16. La Luna
17. Chrissy Boy's Showtime
18. House Of Fun
19. Tom Hark
20. Madness
21. Baggy Trousers
22. Our House
23. It Must Be Love
24. _encore break_
25. Tarzan's Nuts
26. Wings Of A Dove
27. Night Boat To Cairo

(Photo courtesy of the wonderful Shirlaine Forrest Photography)

(Download link updated on 27th January, 2013)

Arcade Fire - 2010-12-11 - Manchester Central, UK

A small group of us managed to get a place up front, stage left, and fortunately the recording turned out pretty good. This is particularly true given I was stood on the 2nd row with the left-hand speaker stack high above my head. There is the occasional moment of “crowd participation”, but what else would you expect when such singable and join-inable songs are on offer! Anyway, I’ve already berated one or two of the offenders (you know who you are!) on behalf of any potential listeners.

Many people expressed reservations about seeing The Arcade Fire in such a large venue, but all the reports I read gave both a big thumbs up, and I heartily endorse those sentiments. The venue was great and these days the band are equally at home in arena-style venues as they are in their occasional foray back into the realm of intimate shows.

Despite a somewhat unsavoury incident caused by the band's management (before the support act came on stage - an incident well-documented elsewhere), the show itself was typically excellent. And although their set lists remained pretty static during this tour (probably to help the band members plan for their next instrument and location from the myriad used during their shows), it was still a pleasure to watch these soon-to-be Grammy winners at work. You could tell they were enjoying it right from the moment they took the stage and this was often backed up by Win's frequent banter both between and during songs.

Enjoy!  :-)

Arcade Fire - 2010-12-11 - Manchester Central, UK - FLAC
615MB RAR archive, FLAC format


Arcade Fire - 2010-12-11 - Manchester Central, UK - MP3
178MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. Ready To Start
02. Month of May
03. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
04. No Cars Go
05. Haiti
06. Empty Room
07. Rococo
08. Deep Blue
09. The Suburbs
10. Crown of Love
11. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
12. We Used To Wait
13. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
14. Rebellion (Lies)
15. Intervention
16. -encore break-
17. Keep The Car Running
18. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
19. Wake Up

(Photo courtesy of John Gleeson - see more by clicking on his name)

(Download links updated on 27th January, 2013)