Prologue
In October of 2004 I had a ticket in my hand to see Explosions In The Sky at The Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. I showed up to the venue well in advance and had a camcorder that I borrowed from my school ready to film the epic awesomeness. When I got to the venue I was informed that the band would not be playing due to van troubles in Montana.
At the time I was disappointed and angry. I got my refund and went home and stewed. I heavily considered taking a Greyhound down to Portland to catch their next show but ultimately decided against it; using the logic that “Oh, they’ll be back in about six months anyway…”
Turns out, they didn’t come back in six months. About two and a half years later they finally came back to the Pacific Northwest and I made it my goal to see them as many times as possible. You never know when you’ll get a chance to see your favorite band play again so you have to do what you can to see them play when you do get the chance. Well, you don’t have to… but I do. I have to. Because that is the kind of idiot I am.
Five days and 900 miles later, this is my story.
Day One
Left work feeling good. Feeling strong. Rolled onto I-5 at about 3:00 and pushed through the torrential rain of southern Washington to get to Tualatin at around 7:00. Met up with another taper at his house and we high-tailed it to Eugene for the first night of many.
The crowd was terrible and the room didn’t sound great, but the boys still destroyed everything and everyone. I ran my rig in the back by the soundboard along with my camcorder while my cohort manned three other camcorders (one on each side of the stage and one in the crowd).
When we got back to his place: the footage? Epic.
Day Two
Woke up on a sofa-bed with my computer next to me (still turned on) and feeling very confused as to where exactly I was. Must have been a late night. I sat around the guy’s house all day watching television and taking naps. He came home from work for lunch and we had Quizno’s. When he got home from work, we moved on like a two-man herd of buffalo. Another night, another show.
The Wonder Ballroom is a fantastic venue. The stage is huge, the room sounds great, and there is a balcony in the rear. The crowd was respectful and held their applause mostly for the end of the songs (and not the end of any large climax of which there might be two or three in one song). The boys were on point and gave it everything they had. Consider me pleased that they played both The Moon Is Down and Yasmin The Light.
The tapers showed up like someone was giving out free handjobs in the bathroom (they weren’t, I checked). In addition to myself and my friend, two other guys showed up and busted out The Big Guns. One pair of Neumann U89’s and another pair of Schoeps MK4’s were flying high on the stands which meant that I didn’t even need to run my rig. That’d be like bringing a piece of wet spaghetti to a nuclear-bomb-fight.
The tapes? Sick. The video footage? Sick. Myself? Quite healthy, actually.
Day Three
Stayed the night at a different friend’s house and got back on the road at around 9:00. Rolled back into Seattle at around 12:30 and made sure my cat wasn’t dead. At 3:00 I drove for the border (And my transmission was SHOT… just kidding. I just had to stick that in there). With my birth certificate and driver’s license in hand, I was determined to get into Canada. And get into Canada I did.
The venue that night was huge. Too huge actually. The room could probably accommodate a thousand people and maybe 600 showed up. Doesn’t matter. Their music could fill the void of spacetime if given the chance.
I ran my rig and camcorder by the soundboard while two friends of mine handled video right at the stage lip. This three camera recording is going to have you spitting gum out of your forehead by the time you finish watching it. I don’t even know what that means but I think it means that your face will be melted so much that your mouth will be moved to the top of your head in the confusion. The doctor can only do so much with the tools he has to work with, you know.
Day Four
I drove back late the previous night and got back home at 1:30 in the morning. After listening to the recording from the Vancouver show I fell asleep with my cat and slept straight through until morning.
I woke up and it was Sunday. Another day, another concert. It was about 11 o’clock and I knew there was something I was supposed to do that day. It clicked in my brain that my friends had a kickball game scheduled for that morning so I called a friend to confirm then drove up to the game. More people need to play kickball in an organized fashion. I’m pretty sure the game was designed for 20-something hipsters. It’s fairly intense and gives you a work out, but you don’t have to do too much running if you don’t want to.
The evening was upon me and the show was imminent. I had an extra ticket because The Girlfriend had to go out of town for a business trip. I put out my feelers (you don’t want to see my feelers, they’re disgusting… stop staring) and found another taper in town who wanted to go.
This worked out perfect for me for two reasons: 1) He has a kick ass MBHO 603/SP LSD2 four-channel rig that puts mine to shame and 2) He took care of audio in the back so I could film right up front. The video looks so damn awesome.
The setlist was fantastic and this was the first of the shows that I got to watch from up close. I was torn to shreds watching these guys play. I don’t know if it’s the hot stage lights or the fact that they physically strain themselves so much but those boys sure do sweat a lot. Just dripping it like it’s going out of style. Watching Munaf tape an e-bow to his guitar for the wailing guitar part in The Moon Is Down was the single most satisfying thing to watch in my lifetime. I have no problem saying that and truly believing it. He set it on the string, taped it down and twisted the gain knob on his Strat while beating the shit out of a tambourine. The guy believes in his music. So do I.
Also: I saw another guy filming in the balcony but I couldn’t find him after the show. Dude In The Balcony: If you’re reading this please contact me so we can get some sweet-ass-sweet two-cam action going on.
Day Five
The final night of epic jams. I handled audio and video in the back of the venue while someone else I met through email took care of video at the stage lip. We both filmed in HD so it should turn out to look rather epic in the end. The crowd was rowdy, the venue was packed, the sound was huge, and the setlist was awesome. They finally played The Birth And Death Of The Day and my life is now complete.
Day Six
Sleep
Day Seven
Sleep
Day Eight
Sleep
VIDEO:
Explosions In The Sky – 2007-05-06 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
eits2007-05-06.hv20.mbho603.ka100lk.sp-lsd2.flac16.torrent
AUDIO:
Explosions In The Sky – 2007-05-03 WOW Hall – Eugene, OR
Download Source 1: eits2007-05-03.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
Download Source 2: eits2007-05-03.dpa4061.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eits2007-05-03sample.mp3
Eluvium – 2007-05-03 WOW Hall – Eugene, OR
Download Source 1: eluvium2007-05-03.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
Download Source 2: eluvium2007-05-03.dpa4061.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eluvium2007-05-03sample.mp3
Explosions In The Sky – 2007-05-04 Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR
Download Source 1: eits2007-05-04.u89.flac16.zip
Download Source 2: eits2007-05-04.mk4.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eits2007-05-04sample.mp3
Eluvium – 2007-05-04 Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR
Download: eluvium2007-05-04.u89.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eluvium2007-05-04sample.mp3
Explosions In The Sky – 2007-05-05 Croatian Culture Ctr – Vancouver, CAN
Download: eits2007-05-05.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eits2007-05-05sample.mp3
Eluvium – 2007-05-05 Croatian Culture Ctr – Vancouver, CAN
Download: eluvium2007-05-05.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eluvium2007-05-05sample.mp3
Explosions In The Sky – 2007-05-06 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: eits2007-05-06.mbho603.ka200n.sp-lsd2.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eits2007-05-06sample.mp3
Eluvium – 2007-05-06 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: eluvium2007-05-06.mbho603.ka200n.sp-lsd2.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eluvium2007-05-06sample.mp3
Explosions In The Sky – 2007-05-07 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: eits2007-05-07.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eits2007-05-07sample.mp3
Eluvium – 2007-05-07 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: eluvium2007-05-07.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: eluvium2007-05-07sample.mp3
