. : : April 10th, 2025 : : .
I seemed to almost will the Cursive – Bright Eyes double bill into existence.
Excited by the well-received new album by the band, Devourer, I was hopeful for another Canadian tour date (the band had a long border-crossing sabbatical from 2012 through 2022). One day, quite randomly, I also thought about how long it’d been since I’d seen Bright Eyes, and curiously peeked at Setlist.FM to see what recent shows have looked like. “Yeah, they might be cool to check out again when they tour here next,” I thought to myself in a wave of early 2000’s nostalgia.
When it was announced a week or so later that not only were they both hitting Toronto this spring but were on the same bill, I was immediately all-in.
The only problem? I was still stuck with that problematic recording set-up where I couldn’t quite pinpoint whether the issues were the microphones, the battery box input jack, or the recorder (which has had its share of jostling) — but it was clearly devolving at an alarming rate that had forced me to use the built-in mics on a bunch of recent recordings.
I finally committed to refreshing my gear, and opted for the Church Audio CA-14 cardioids and Bat 2B battery box.
When they arrived, I quickly noted that the battery box didn’t come hardwired with the 3.5mm jack to run to the recorder as my SoundProfessional gear did. This meant I couldn’t test the new gear right away, but I’d order a new cable from Amazon or PrimeCables or something soon… wouldn’t I?
But time has a funny way of getting away from you, doesn’t it? Before I knew it, it was the morning of the concert and I still hadn’t tested the gear or ordered a new cable. I wasn’t too worried though; as a seasoned taper, I had a stash of XLR, RCA, 2.5mm, and 3.5mm cables just-in-case. As I tore through the large Ziploc bag in disbelief that I’d given away or lent out all my 3.5mm cables, I finally found the very last one I had at the very bottom of the bag. Phew!
So I put everything together and plugged it into my trust Edirol R-09 HR recorder and… it had the same issue with the left channel being dead as I had when recording the last concert I attended!?
OK, now I know the weak link in the old chain. Luckily, I also had a Tascam DR-05X recorder handy, so I powered it up optimistically.
It had the same problem.
After a deep breath, I noted that the only piece in the chain that was the same was the microSD card I’d been using, so I swapped that out too. The left channel remained absolutely dead.
I began to scramble. What could be causing the same issue in both recorders? Especially when EVERY piece in the chain had been replaced? Was it a coincidence? Did the new microphones arrive faulty? Was the 3.5mm cable the issue?
Seemed far-fetched, but it was the only thing I would possibly have the time to rule out before the show. After all, I would be leaving for work in less than twenty minutes, and wouldn’t have time between returning and heading out to see the bands to stop anywhere and pick up a replacement cable.
I checked Amazon. There was a cable that would be available for delivery between 5pm and 10pm. I would have to leave the house by 6, and historically, these evening Amazon deliveries hit my neighbourhood between 8-10pm, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Besides, I would need the cable for the next night’s Kathleen Edwards concert anyway, so in a Hail Mary, I placed the order and scooted off to work.
I didn’t have my hopes up, but you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I returned home shortly after 5pm to see the Amazon package waiting for me. That surprise multiplied exponentially when I discovered that, yes, that old, rarely used 3.5mm cable *was* the problem in the new set-up, and it was just a crazy coincidence that the exact same problem was occurring. The sigh of relief that escaped my lungs could have knocked over a pig’s straw house. Now, I just had to get all this new gear into a venue I’ve never attended before, History, despite the fact that the Church cardioids have mounted windscreens that make them much, much, much less stealthy that the SoundProfessional microphones I was accustomed to.
I was less than impressed to arrive at History and discover that it was fully outfitted with airport-like metal detectors and security guards with those large wands. I emptied out my pockets into the plastic bin, but left the microphones on me, stepped through the metal detector expecting flashing red lights and sirens to go off…but they didn’t. Surely, the wand would catch me? But it didn’t. I was flabbergasted. My gamble paid off, and before I knew it, I was stepping into History for the first time.
For those not in Toronto, History is a fairly new music venue that opened in the waning days of COVID-19. It was co-designed with renowned Toronto-born rapper, Drake, and first impressions were that you could see his fingerprints all over the design of the venue. With colourful LED lights, and wide stage floor, it definitely has a posh nightclub vibe. I’d heard great things about the sound, but was warned that it was LOUD. Security flanked the front of the stage by either of the speaker stacks, so I opted for a central position, maybe 20-feet back from the stage, below a single speaker mounted above the stage with the lighting racks.
When Cursive took the stage some 40-minutes later, it was quickly apparent that the sound quality definitely far exceeded any venue of that size (or larger) in Toronto, but the volume warnings had been somewhat overstated. Within the first minute of The Ugly Organ deep-cut / standout track, Sierra, I had relegated my earplugs to my jean pockets, and had to adjust the volume on the recorder up quite aggressively.
With the SoundProfessional mics, it was standard to record at levels between 10 and 35 or so. To get a good level with the markedly less sensitive Church mics, I had pumped up the input to 70 — double the top-end of what I was used to. I couldn’t believe the monitors, but turned my attention back to the band.
I’ve seen Cursive a little over a half-dozen times before. They’re known for deep, muddy, down-tuned guitars that sound heavy on record, but often a booming mess when on stage. I was immediately floored when I recognized that this time, the bass actually was clear, present, and with discernible tone. It didn’t (completely) overpower the guitars, keys, horns(!), or cello(!!). It wasn’t a perfect mix, but it was definitely the best mix of any Cursive show I’d ever attended! So, the Edirol was slipped into my pocket and my attention went back to the band.
Cursive isn’t afraid of slipping in b-sides, deep cuts, and fan favourites among the obvious hits, and the Burst & Bloom EP’s The Great Decay was the next track selected. While I’m a fan of the selection, I would’ve preferred one of the handful of other deep cuts the band has sprinkled into its sets elsewhere on the tour, since The Great Decay was the closing song performed by the band when they were last in town. The underrated album Happy Hollow‘s Rise Up! Rise Up!, the cinematic Am I Not Yours? from a split EP with Eastern Youth, or (one of my personal favourites) Driftwood: A Fairy Tale from their excellent The Ugly Organ LP were all omitted from the set list but played elsewhere on the tour and would have been preferred by this particular concert-goer — but beggars can’t be choosers, and it was thrilling just to have the band back on stage locally.
The band did a great job of co-mingling selections from their latest album with all the hits you’d expect to hear at a Cursive show from thereon out, touching on everything from breakout LP Domestica to the divisive I Am Gemini.
Front-man Tim Kasher‘s voice may not be as powerful as it was in his youth, but he was still able to command the room and certainly win over tons of Bright Eyes fans throughout the set. As if he needed the extra push to get the crowd’s attention (he didn’t), the band brought out Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst to perform a mash-up of one of each band’s better-known songs, Cursive’s The Recluse, and Bright Eyes’ Lover I Don’t Have to Love. Musically, it… didn’t exactly work, but it was a fan service moment that likely left a lasting memory on many in attendance as a surprising highlight.
- Sierra
- The Great Decay
- [banter]
- Up and Away
- The Avalanche of Our Demise
- The Casualty
- It’s Gonna Hurt
- Art is Hard
- Dark Star
- The Martyr
- This House Alive
- Big Bang*
- [banter]
- The Recluse / Lover I Don’t Have to Love [Bright Eyes]^
- Botch Job
- From the Hips
*With MiWi La Lupa
^With Conor Oberst
[info.txt // FLAC Fingerprint // V0 MP3 Download]
What a rollercoaster ride of a story! Glad it worked out! I hope you and the family are doing well. Cheers buddy! Posting KE soon?