‘Creators of the Mastertapes’ site closed.

I was truly saddened today to see that the ‘Creators of the Mastertapes‘ web site has been closed! From the statement that appears on their front page a representative ‘close to the band’ has asked that the site be taken down. While we do not know the exact origin of this request it certainly appears to be the latest manifestation of symptoms that began with Steven Wilson’s association with Robert Fripp. Fripp is well known for his dislike of bootlegs and his maniacal desire to control every aspect of his music, even when it is counterproductive to his career. It would appear that when Mr. Fripp contributed a solo on the “Deadwing” CD that he also infected Mr. Wilson with his anti-RoIO mania.

The first symptoms began with subtle (and some not so subtle) changes in Mr. Wilson’s statements about live recording and then a sudden lack of tolerance for the practice. Then came the requests to the taper-fans to not record shows so that people would be able to hear new material in a live setting only… not via poor quality fan recordings. Next up came the banning of Porcupine Tree material from respectable torrent sites. This was followed by a much harsher statement saying that live recording would no longer even be tolerated. On the latest tour they tried to enforce this at live shows by playing a warning before the show saying that recording and photography would not be allowed, not even lousy cell-phone pictures. The message also encouraged others in the audience to ask tapers to stop and to turn violators in to event security. If ‘Big Brother’ isn’t watching let’s get the kids to turn the evil-doers in! Now… they have apparently closed down a site who’s only goal was to provide information about the live recordings that have been made… nothing more. No trading, no advertising, no links, no downloads, no torrents… just information.

What the hell is going on? Mr. Wilson is a shrewd businessman and has been releasing and re-releasing material from his catalog in a multitude of forms and formats. There are remasters, limited editions, special editions, deluxe editions, live releases, surround sound mixes, DVD’s and fan club materials… all of which have happily bought up by his rabid fans. Many of us supplement our ‘collector-lust’ with RoIO’s that appear from a tour… however this does not prevent our buying of the commercial releases when they come out. Maybe the band never encouraged live taping… but they allowed an atmosphere of tolerance that brought their fans closer to the band and undoubtedly helped introduce the band to countless numbers of new fans. I discovered Porcupine Tree online via live recordings and samplings of commercial releases that I had downloaded. Then in 2002 I saw my first live show… I’ve been a fan ever since and I purchased every new release since plus numerous items from the back-catalog. I’ve turned on numerous others to the band by exposing them to their fantastic live show via RoIO’s. To suddenly treat the financial supporters and fanatical promoters of the band as some type of adversary is disappointing to say the very least.

I’d like to convince myself that these poorly conceived policies are the result of control-seeking record label executives and their legalese-speaking whores, especially since most of these changes began shortly after Porcupine Tree moved to a larger label… but it also coincides with the contact between Mr. Wilson and the rabid Mr. Fripp. Whomever is responsible… please re-think your stance. We are your fans. We support you with our dollars, we buy your CD’s and we attend your live shows. It’s insulting to have you turn around and treat us as the enemy.

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skua

November 2 Update:

A post today on the PT-Darkmatter discussion list has tried to clarify the status of Porcupine Tree live show trades. While I do not know the source of their information, they are clearly stating that the closing of the ‘Creators of the Mastertapes’ site was for some specific violation and that the band and their management are not making an attempt to curtail all live taping and trading. I wish there were some more specifics… but here’s what was said:

To clarify a factual matter: the band & management HAVE NOT “put a halt to PT trading activity”. To allege otherwise is mischievous. They don’t actively *welcome* trading, but they tolerate it so long as it remains discreet.

* Distribution by torrents and Rapidshare-type downloads: abused, so forbidden. That’s one particular means of distribution blocked, but only one, and there’s no reason to extrapolate that to ALL distribution.

* ‘Creators Of The Mastertapes’: shut down, for reasons specific to that one website – NOT as part of a general strategy against all trading-related websites.

* Distribution by CD-R weeds & vines, via PT-Weeds: specifically NOT shut down. The Group has an ‘unofficial official’ assurance that the band/management are absolutely fine with it.

* Private trades between individuals: totally unaffected, and continue as normal.

Couldn’t be clearer: PT trading activity has NOT been halted, and the band/management haven’t attempted to halt trading.

NRT

While I’d love to hear more about why the site was closed, why they feel torrenting was abused, etc… I’m somewhat relieved to hear that this isn’t just the next step in an effort to stamp out live show trading. Let’s all hope this information is accurate!

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skua

2005.03.12 Blackfield: Grape Street

Blackfield had intended to do a short US tour in support of their 1st CD, but US Immigration procedures prevented key band members from entering the United States for the tour.

Rather than cancel the tour, Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen decided to carry on with a little help from Dream Theater keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess. The resulting ‘Blackfield’ gigs were relaxed, informal and intimate gatherings. The Grape Street show was a special concert that I’ll long remember.

Steve Wilson took on the role of the ‘opening act’ and did a short set of solo material. After a brief intermission ‘Blackfield’ took the stage and played a great set. My recording levels started out a bit hot. Without ‘the band’ I thought this was going to be an acoustic show! I adjusted through the show and only had some very slight clipping on the loudest of the vocal parts. It wasn’t terribly noticeable but I ran a declipper plugin over it to smooth out any of the audible artifacts and it worked fairly well! It’s not perfect, but all in all I feel this is an excellent representation of the night’s performance.

Steven, Aviv and Jordan hung out afterwards at the merchandise table for a bit of meet, greet and autographs. I picked up an autographed copy of the Blackfield CD. Thanks guys… that was cool.

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skua

2009.08.12 King’s X: No Time For Rust

King’s X put on a great show at the Sellersville Theater! I was trying out a new battery box and an external volume control… and had some issues. I missed the first three songs altogether trying to figure out why I was getting no signal!?! Turns out the volume control was faulty! I finally got the rig running and caught the rest of the show without any problems.

Luckily there was another area taper at the show who does great work. I obtained a copy of his tape and used tracks 1 through 3 from his work to supplement my own. This way I can present a full concert listening experience, but I take no credit for his work. Thanks to slipkid for his great taping work and for sharing it with the community.

The title was inspired by an exchange between an audience member and the band where Dug laments getting older and not having the stamina he once had! For a guy who just turned 59 I’d say he’s doing alright!

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skua

2004.09.20 Tesla: Destination Allentown

Tesla. One of my favorite hard rock bands of all time. I was very pleased that these guys finally got themselves back together to make music. I don’t think they could write a bad song if they tried. First time I saw them was headlining in a small arena. Nowadays I’m totally psyched to get to see these guys in a club setting. If you like tasty and melodic hard rock… Tesla will not dissappoint.

This particular show fetures Scott Scott Johnson filling in for the absent Tommy Skeoch… and he did a hell of a job as a substitute! It was a bummer not having the ‘whole’ band there but Mr. Johnson did a fine job in what must be a rather awkward situation.

This was taped about 25′ from the stage, far right of center (Frank’s side!) The venue was packed and I, unfortunately, was a little too close to a trash can because you can hear the clanking of beer bottles as they are discarded. Other than that minor complaint… it’s a great recording of an energetic show!

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skua

2004.09.09 Collective Soul: Three Years Gone

I don’t have anything in the way of notes for this show. I just remember that the band was tight, the sound was great, and I’d go see Collective Soul again any time.

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2004.08.05 WASP: The Neon God in Allentown

I’ve never considered myself a WASP fan, but over the years I’ve heard a few songs that I liked. ‘Blind in Texas’, ‘LOVE Machine’, and even their cover of ‘The Real Me’ are good rocking tunes. When I heard they were coming to the Croc something told me I should go. I couldn’t interest any of my concert crew to go along so I slugged this one out alone. I’m really glad I did. I went in not expecting too much… and ended up seeing an excellent show. I’ve heard that WASP shows can be rather ‘hit or miss’… so I’ll consider this one a HIT. Blackie and company put on a great show. The performance was kick ass and even the sound was damn good. The night the Neon God visited Allentown.

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2008.10.22 Tesla: For the Lifers

Recorded at the Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, PA. Position was center floor about 25′ from the stage. I had a great view and great sound as reflected in this recording.

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skua

2008.09.12 Riverside: Flood

Riverside made their one and only non-festival appearance in North America for 2008 at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ on September 12th. Hailing from Warsaw, Poland, Riverside is a 4-piece progressive rock outfit with a sound that draws from classic prog-rock of the 70’s as well as heavier prog-metal bands of today. Sonically influenced by bands like Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Marillion, Porcupine Tree, Tool and Dream Theater, Riverside create a moody yet melodic brand of heavy prog that is uniquely their own.

The Concert Crew consisted of Alan, Scott, Tony and Jamie and we planned on hitting the road at 5PM so we could make the 7PM start. We’re acquainted with a couple of the guys in Pinnacle and we were really looking forward to seeing their set but the weather and lousy NJ traffic conspired against us. By the time we hit our seats in the venue it was almost 7:30 and Pinnacle was half-way through their set. We got to hear their last two songs, take a few photos and it was intermission time.

After a 15min break and a brief introduction by Jim Robinson (NJ Proghouse) Riverside was ready to hit the stage. The boys from Poland tore their way through an hour and a half worth of material covering all three full-length CD’s and their 2 EP’s. They sounded so good and played so tight it seemed that we were listening to a recording! There were a few sequenced bits, but it was obvious that these were seasoned pros who had gelled into a cohesive, well-oiled machine. The performance, the mix and venue all contributed to one of the best sounding shows I’ve ever been to (right up there with my first Eric Johnson show and my first Porcupine Tree show!)

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skua

Candlebox official taping policy!

I never realized that Candlebox was a Taper Friendly band until I heard them doing an in-studio appearance at the local radio station. Here’s a link to their published policy as of March 13, 2009: Official Policy

Bravo Candlebox! and Thank You!

2008.09.12 Pinnacle: Here Comes the Flood

North East PA Proggers Pinnacle opened the show for Riverside at a very special NJProgHouse event at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.

The weather was rainy and the traffic driving in from PA was especially bad on this Friday evening. We were really looking forward to seeing our friends in Pinnacle, but by the time we got to the theater Pinnacle was already about halfway through their set!

Arriving late was bad enough but tonight I was trying out my new recorder. I quickly checked my levels and started recording as soon as I got to my seat. The acoustics of the theater were excellent and the mix was great.

I completely missed the first song but I did capture ‘Somewhere Between’ and ‘Here Comes the Flood’ from the Pinnacle set. A complete recording surfaced on DimeADozen from the taper ‘gf’ who uses the same mics as I do. In order to present the whole show I’ve nicked the first track from that great recording made by ‘gf’ and merged it with my own recordings of the final 2 tracks.

The title seemed fitting… It was raining, the venue is close to the Raritan River, the band was opening for Riverside… and they closed their set with Peter Gabriel’s “Here comes the Flood.”

Remaster 12/31/2008:
I wasn’t happy with the first release of this recording. I had been having some hardware problems that lead me to over process the files. The result ended up sounding a bit harsh. I feel this version corrects my original mistakes and sounds like it should.

Remember… if you want to decode the FLAC to WAV for burning to CD, you must resample the resulting 48KHz WAV files to 44.1KHz !

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skua