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Stage Recording 8.7 - These kind of recordings are in a unique category – they are technically “audience” type recordings but the signal is sent straight to the recording deck or into a sub-mixer under the control of an engineer. A “professional audience recording” I suppose. So, you do not always have absolute control over the sound mix but this can be a good thing if you get lucky enough with ideal mic placement and ambience, and other things like that. In this case, well, it’s a fine recording limited perhaps by the mic and tape deck quality or ability to capture in high fidelity. It’s a great reference, a decent recording, and there’s plenty of interesting stuff here to make you want to find out what Zappa does next.
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Audience 7.8 - A little bit rough but its incredible nonetheless…see, truth be told it took me 10 years to finally acquire this show. I have a special interest in it. I will say that, actual audio fidelity, while not hi-fi, is not lo-fi either – it has some power to it (without distortion!) and I LOVE the audience reactions throughout. A fiery gig!
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Audience 8.4 - This is a very rare glimpse at a short lived incarnation of Johnny Winter’s band, mainly the addition of his brother Edgar. So it’s an interesting tape, sounds VERY close to the main P.A. system and consequently has some upper mid crowding which makes for a strange mixture of a tape that is both clear and bright, and overcrowded in the upper mid band. It’s good sounding but does not give you much separation of instruments. For collectors this has to be considered a very important tape though.
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Audience 9.4 - This is just one of those very lucky evenings where all the elements came together for a great result – good taper location, excellent house sound, excellent music performed. Each instrument is articulate and exists within its own frequency so there’s no overcrowding, it’s a joy to listen to!
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Audience 8.4 - Not super dynamic but pretty clear, a decent ’74 tape where you can hear and enjoy everything (including the crowd) quite clearly but without a wide palate of audio spectrum. Not saying it is thin, not saying it is one-dimensional either, just that from highs to lows you aren’t going to have much depth although you can EQ and probably adjust to your specific needs. A good tape.