Explosions In The Sky – The Taping Rescue
May 8th, 2007Prologue
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
May 8th, 2007 at 3:15 PM
WOW! What a show Monday night. So you were able to run video? Neumo’s shut me down 5 minutes into the show, and the security guy under the right stack was going into the crowd multiple times shutting down video recordings. He even told people with digicams to stop. (and was hard on people trying to fire pictures with a flash)
Speaking of: “The Birth And Death Of The Day”… they don’t always play that? I quite sure when I say that’s the best performance of a song I have EVER seen at a live show. Just INCREDIBLE!
Thanks for your fun story about the run of shows and for sharing your recordings. Thank God everyone doesn’t store their tapes away until the day they die. (and then I have to fly to England to listen to them)
Too much audio recording gear that dwarfs me, but I did record audio with Sonic Studios and OKMIIr if you have any interest in getting all the sources.
May 8th, 2007 at 3:19 PM
Awesome I’m going to keep your badassery in mind when I’m feeling a bit tired when we do Portland>Vancouver>Seattle run for brakesbrakesbrakes next month.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:15 PM
That’s really weird that they shut people down… EITS is open video and audio. Thank god they didn’t shut us down!
May 8th, 2007 at 5:15 PM
s.i.c.k.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:20 PM
Yah… that’s what I thought too on open video. You can here the guy plain as day on my recording saying something about “No Video tonight”, seeming to know they allowed it Sunday night and Monday night was different.
YES! That’s AWESOME they didn’t shut you down since I only had my Canon MiniDV which even with the fairly good lighting would have turned out dark and awful. I would not have been much help. I did have a good spot though only about 3 people back from the front/right side of the stage.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:54 PM
That Sunday show in Seattle was just the best fucking thing ever. The Moon Is Down, OMG. Thanks so much for the recordings. All I can offer is some photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heyrocker/sets/72157600190349215/
I also uploaded some I found from 2002:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heyrocker/sets/72157600194191966/
May 8th, 2007 at 5:55 PM
Thanks for taping Brian. Awesome stuff!
May 8th, 2007 at 8:30 PM
I was at the Portland show; I was looking for the set list from the show, and found your site. Your work is very impressive, and I’m greatly appreciative. Thanks!
I look forward to hearing the recordings from Portland. I’ll keep checking…
In the meantime, here are some of my photos from the show:
http://www.pbase.com/tmr_wa/explosions_in_the_sky
May 8th, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Thanks Brian! I got lost on the way to the portland show and missed the beginning so i’m really looking forward to hearing that one! And seeing some video! I’m sure that’ll take some time to do right though. what a trip!
May 8th, 2007 at 11:14 PM
Awesome work man, real impressive. Wish I had the time to do such a journey. Can’t wait to see the goods from Sunday night, effing amazing show.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:46 PM
Sounds sick. Nice one.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:37 AM
Sunday night’s EITS performance is now uploaded.
Also: Douglas, I am interested in your EITS recording. Mine has talking ALL OVER IT and I was hoping to find another source that has less of that on it. Send me an email!
May 9th, 2007 at 9:12 PM
Brian – Just so you know I actually used the KA200N caps for the show. The ones you put are the omins, 200s are cards. Sorry for giving you the wrong info.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:08 PM
I was so frustrated with the people in the crowd and the stupid amount of downtime between the doors opening and anything at all happening after Eluvium. It was an off-night for me, and had to be at work the next day. I looked at the back of the crowd and saw your gear, smiled, bought my merch and went home.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:10 AM
FYI in the Eluvium setlist, song 1 is Ostinato, and song 4 is Repose In Blue. The show sounds fantastic! It is so great to have it memorialized.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:04 AM
Thanks for the track names… I haven’t listened to Copia enough to know the song titles.
Also: Jarod, thanks for the info. I re-uploaded the zip file with the proper information. Sorry for anyone who got the wrong info the first time (you can just edit the text file so it says KA200N instead of KA100LK).
May 10th, 2007 at 5:29 PM
brian, you truly are a legend. awesome recordings man.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:08 PM
thanks so much for the recordings, i could only make it sunday and really wanted to go monday but couldn’t. are you going to make the video available?
May 11th, 2007 at 2:48 AM
WOW! Looks like we saw on Monday the last show for a while.
SAD NEWS… As per the official website:
http://www.explosionsinthesky.com/home.php
an apology
this article posted on: Thu., May 10, 2007
Hi everyone,
We have had to cancel all of our remaining summer shows (all shows scheduled for May, July, and August). We’re facing a serious illness in one of our families and traveling around the world and playing shows is just not an option for us at the moment.
We are truly sorry about this. We’ll try and keep in touch about when any of these shows might be made up or when we might be touring again.
As always, thanks for caring.
Love,
Explosions
May 12th, 2007 at 10:51 AM
When’s the Portland show coming? :(
May 12th, 2007 at 11:42 AM
Right now.
May 12th, 2007 at 8:28 PM
Thanks so much for all your work. I cannot wait to listen to the Portland show again tonight! –tom
May 13th, 2007 at 12:25 AM
I was standing behind you/your friend(?) with the camera bellied up to the stage. He/you(?) told me about this website and I came looking for the video. Is that going to be available soon/ever?
thanks! -tyler
May 13th, 2007 at 10:04 AM
It will be available in a while… video takes time to edit where audio only takes a few minutes.
May 13th, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Hi
Great work. Very much appreciated.
May 13th, 2007 at 1:47 PM
Fucking awesome!
May 13th, 2007 at 8:50 PM
You are the dude.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Well…I love you.
May 28th, 2007 at 6:07 PM
this may make me sound like a bit of a dummy, but i can’t get it to play :(
i’ve never dealt with these .flac and .md5 extensions before.
how do i make it work? i really want to watch these tapings!
May 30th, 2007 at 1:14 AM
Raegan… just put in google:
‘how to play flac files’
There are endless ways to play the FLAC files for FREE by downloading some FREE software. Using that google search will provide FAQs that will explain everything in great detail in a clear and concise way.
May 31st, 2007 at 7:12 PM
Also, if you want the files in iTunes or something, there are FLAC -> MP3 converters out there.
Once I grab my laptop, I’m downloading these. It looks amazing, I’m super stoked to hear them, Brian.
June 1st, 2007 at 1:01 AM
Oh man, listening to the Portland one now. It is so amazingly epic. Nice job on both your part and Explosion’s. Thank you a whole bunch for these recordings. Downloading the recording of the one you have a DVD for now, and I’ll download the rest tomorrow.
Again, beautiful recordings, thanks a bunch. You’re a lucky man. I hope to see Explosions one day (not likely in my near future though).
June 4th, 2007 at 8:13 PM
oh.. i feel a bit dumb now.. i failed to read the part where it said audio.. i thought it video.. wow.
thank you :)
September 9th, 2007 at 8:06 AM
I thought I’d tell you that for some reason the EITS 05-06 is also inside the Eluvium 05-06, it might save you some bandwidth?
October 18th, 2007 at 3:54 PM
hey, are you ever gonna upload your other vids?
January 21st, 2008 at 8:11 PM
[…] obsessively followed Explosions In The Sky and Eluvium all through the Pacific Northwest, taping every show as he went – both video and audio! Thanks to his efforts I can supply you with a sample of the Eluvium live […]
September 24th, 2010 at 8:05 AM
You got some really cool recordings here! Thanks for sharing all of these. Your Explosions In the Sky, Pelican and Saviours aren’t on the Live Music Archive yet, maybe you should change this ;)
November 22nd, 2010 at 7:09 PM
Fantastic stuff! Thanks not only for taping and sharing but for hosting these for so long. I’ve managed to miss EITS many times over the years, so I appreciate this glimpse into the live shows. Here’s hoping for some U.S. dates next year!