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Over the past three years I’ve gone to about six concerts and I didn’t record any of those. Showed up late, had some beers, left early sometimes; a stark contrast to my previous habits of showing up to venues when the doors open, watching every band, and staying for the second encore when I didn’t even care about the first one.

This new-found behavior also made me realize that it’s fairly easy to record a concert and not have to do all that other stuff. You can even show up right before the headliner and skip all of the openers who may or may not be interesting. These days my evenings are precious and, to quote my friend Dan,

“When you’re over 30, it has to be more than ‘OK’. When you’re 18 it’s enough to just see live music but these days that’s not enough to get me out of the house.

Now, I’m only 28 but that seems like a reasonable claim if I’ve ever heard one.

This is the first time I’ve taped at the new Crocodile Cafe. I’ve been to a show there and had a good idea of the layout, and just as I suspected would be the case, there aren’t a whole lot of spots to set up a full taping rig at the Croc. There is a railing-enclosed walkway that buffers the soundboard from the crowd which could be a good spot if you have a monopod, but it’s also fairly off-center.

Ultimately, I set up directly to the left of the bar which was good because it’s in the middle of the venue and it’s not a throughway to any exits. Drawbacks include the wall directly behind the mic stand and the increased possibility of people standing around and talking (since it’s in the back).

The recording turned out pretty well considering I just set it up and forgot about it until the show was over. A few missteps here and there from the band but really solid performances of The Birth and Death of the Day and The Only Moment We Were Alone. Surprisingly, they have added an additional touring member to the band who fills in on both bass and guitar. I’ll have to listen to my other recordings and see if they sound is any fuller with the additional player.

Explosions in the Sky – 2011-09-07 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download FLAC: eits2011-09-07.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
Download MP3: eits2011-09-07.akgc1000s.mp3.zip

MP3 Sample: eits2011-09-07.sample.mp3