. : : October 11th, 2024 : : .
Hi.
I guess it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?
The global pandemic, outrageously increasing costs in concert ticket prices, significantly more responsibility at work, and just a hectic life in general have all conspired to keep me away from this site for much, much longer than I ever intended to be away.
That’s not to say I haven’t been to / recorded any concerts in the interim; maybe it’s worth noting, without getting into detail (I’ll leave that for future entries), that things haven’t gone exactly to plan with any of them. These difficulties were definitely a gigantic obstacle in getting my motivation reignited.
I wish I could say this one started off any differently.
Over the pandemic, I accumulated a couple of new portable recorders to potentially supplant my long-used and well-loved Roland R-09hr; namely a Zoom H2, and a Tascam DR-05X. Both had strong online reviews, but I haven’t been able to dial in acceptable levels with my Sound Professionals microphones (anyone have any advice?), and the built-in ones seem to run too hot. Regardless, I was back to the ol’ tried, tested, and true Roland recorder for Kathleen Edwards‘ performance for the Ontario Small Halls Festival — a series of shows held in small, intimate venues that are criminally under funded, under attended, and under appreciated.
Her show in Markham, Ontario (a suburban city north-east of Toronto) was a stone’s throw from my house: a clear sign that I should get a ticket and make up for missing her Total Freedom tour altogether. But, as time often does, the date approached quicker than I anticipated, and I had accidentally overloaded the day with activities to support the fact that it was a Professional Development Day for the local School Board. This meant my eldest son was home with me the whole day. What better day to wake up early to line up at the clinic to get him a routine blood check, take him on a lunch date followed by a trip to the movies and then shopping at the mall, pick up my youngest from daycare, get home and prepare my dusty gear, get the babysitter set up for the evening, and then get across town to the *early, 7pm* show?
If that sounds like a lot, just wait.
I purchased a new A23 12v battery at Walmart while out that afternoon, but realized when I got home with it that I misplaced the screwdriver that got me into the battery box to replace it. With some ingenuity, I managed to get in by using the edge of a Flathead screwdriver to swap out the battery, but then remembered that the lapel clips for the microphone are lost and/or damaged. Off I scrambled to jury-rig a setup that involved taping the mics to a pair of sunglasses (I foolishly left my unnecessary, low-prescription, over the counter reading glasses I picked up at the drug store for just this purpose at work). I formatted a memory card (because I couldn’t find the one I’d been using previously), grabbed some AA batteries for the Roland, and now I was ready to go, right? … right?
When I got to the Flato Markham Theatre, I was surprised. Tickets were general admission, but it was a typical theatre-seating setup. Not only were the best seats in the centre already taken, but this wasn’t exactly the layout that I could get away with wearing aviator sunglasses inside the venue and remain inconspicuous (lol). I tried to make do with what I had, align myself with the left-most speaker stack, and set up the microphone.
A quick level check made my heart sink. Only one microphone of the stereo setup appeared to be working. The other was all but dead; it would quickly peak if I fiddled with the cord / connection, indicating it was sending a burst of static to the recorder, but otherwise the metre was flat. Furthermore, the rechargeable batteries I’d grabbed for the recorder were at only about 66% capacity. I put in my back-up pair, but they were 100% dead — I couldn’t even get the recorder’s screen to blink on!
Now I had to figure out how to record this show with no microphones, no backup batteries, and a decent handicap with the primary batteries. I supposed I could record using the built-in microphones but that would mean extra battery drain, and the stadium seating setup meant aligning the microphones with the mounted speaker stack would be impossible.
As I tried not to panic, I noticed that there was no drum kit on stage. This was fortuitous: without a rhythm section, I could get closer to the stage and not have to worry about either the drums bleeding directly from the stage or being aligned more with the venue’s sub woofer than it’s tweeter. The front of the stage had several small, monitor’esque speakers pointed toward the crowd — and for a normal show, I would have no faith they would be able to overpower a bass guitar or bass drum, but maybe, just maybe, I could make this work.
I down-sampled my recording specs to 24-bit 48khz (vs. the 92khz I typically record at) in hopes that it would ease the burden on the depleted batteries. I sat the recorder on the arm of the chair next to me, and hoped that no one would want to sit there.
And surprisingly, the venue was incredibly undersold. I believe I was the only person NOT sitting in the centre section of the venue, and even the centre section wasn’t filled the whole way back. But with no one in front of or beside me, crowd noise would be negligible — and crowd noise is one of the biggest concerns when you can’t have the microphones elevated to at least shoulder level.
There was to be no opening act, which meant there was no dress rehearsal for things like checking the levels during a performance. I had to continue to improvise on the fly, keep my fingers and toes tightly crossed, and hope like hell that the batteries held out — especially since if they die mid-recording, the Roland does NOT save the recording up to that point. This would either by a tremendously lucky triumph, or a dramatic abject failure.
The fact that you’re reading this entry should give you a pretty good indication that it went well. Actually, it went damn well. Significantly better than it had any right to, given the odds being stacked so heavily against me. But the batteries held out, and this small, Flato Markham Theatre venue sounded brilliant.
It was actually reminiscent of Glenn Gould Studio, where the volume was typically kept controlled, the balance of instrumentation was crisp and clear, and everything was juuuuuust right.
Of course, I couldn’t have known just what to expect walking into this venue I’d never been, so there *are* a couple of volume level changes in the recording that I mostly offset adequately during post production, but you will hear the shuffling of the recorder as I tape the level up/down buttons to dial in the levels three or four times during the show.
But you’re not here for the technical showcase: you’re here to listen to one of the best roots rock performers in the world today. Kathleen, coming off a small European tour supporting Craig Finn, was ON. She was flanked by Thomas Hammerton on the keys, and returning collaborator Gord Tough on lead guitar. This was my first experience with Thomas, who seems to have built a name for himself performing with noteworthy Canadian acts like Jim Cuddy, Tom Cochrane, Randy Backman and Cuff the Duke. His pedigree checks out, and although lacking the back-and-forth banter fans are used to with former keyboardist Jim Bryson, his musical contributions to the night were stellar.
It was also nice, as a longtime fan, to have Gord Tough back on guitar. If anyone has to be flanking Kathleen, it should be Colin Cripps. Barring Colin (who’s busy with his own solo material, the Jim Cuddy Band, and has officially been made a full-time member of Blue Rodeo), it’s Gord most fans would agree should be filling those shoes.
The arrangements stuck close to their recorded counterparts, but were typically complimented by the variances, such as the quieter, slower start to Hard on Everyone. The set list was unsurprisingly heavy on her latest two albums, Total Freedom and Voyageur, but we were also treated to a handful of previews — two new songs being considered for her follow up to Total Freedom, and two cover songs pulled from her forth-coming stop-gap covers album. The 90-minute set was split with a fifteen-minute intermission at the halfway point that definitely added to the theatre vibe — and give me a welcome chance to ensure that at least the first half of the recording would see the light of day!
I’m guessing that, if you’re here and you’ve read this far, you don’t need me to sell you on why you should download this recording, so I’ll get out of your way in but a moment. But first, because the recorder was beside my person and I was able to move freely, I was able to capture some great video as well. Watch the videos, if it pleases you, and scroll below to grab the FLAC/MP3s and usual accompanying files. Cheers!
Glenfern
Chameleon/Comedian
Six O’Clock News
A Soft Place to Land
- introduction
- Glenfern
- Empty Threat
- Asking for Flowers
- [banter]
- Birds on a Feeder
- Chameleon/Comedian
- [banter]
- Crawling Back To You [Tom Petty]
- Change the Sheets
[intermission]
- When The Truth Comes Out
- [banter]
- The Leafs Still Suck
- Who Rescued Who
- Six O’Clock News
- A Soft Place to Land
- Hard on Everyone
- [banter]
- Hello in There [John Prine]
- [banter]
- In State
- [banter]
- Hockey Skates
[info.txt // FLAC Fingerprint // V0 MP3 Download]
Great story of the trials and tribulations of a taper! I look forward to listening to this show. Cheers!
Thanks Ryan!
It seems to always be unnecessarily dramatic, doesn’t it?! But maybe that adrenaline rush is why I’m still doing it almost two decades later!
Cheers, buddy!