New York 01-04-1985

Madison Square Garden

New York (New York), USA.

01 - April - 1985.

Attendance: 19.000 (sellout) - Support: Lone Justice

Disc 1 (65:56)

01. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock

02. I Will Follow

03. Seconds

04. Two Hearts Beat As One

05. MLK

06. The Unforgettable Fire

07. Wire

08. Sunday Bloody Sunday

09. Cry / The Electric Co.

10. A Sort of Homecoming

11. Bad

12. October

13. New Year's Day

Disc 2 (26:44)

01. Pride (In the Name of Love)

02. Knockin' on Heaven's Door

03. Gloria

04. "40"

Recording Equipment - History

Unknown mics + Sony WM-D6 > Analog Master > DAT (@44.1 kHz) > HHB Pro standalone CDR (raw .wav files received by Milesian from Steve V.)

Lineage: Analog Master > DAT > CDR > EAC (secure) > SoundForge 4.5 > CDWave > mkw 0.97 Beta 1 > SHN > hard drive (checksums verified) > dBpowerAMP Music Converter > FLAC (level-6)

Technical Notes (by Milesian):
This set was prepared from raw audio discs taken directly from CDR recorded from the master DAT. Upon close listening, this set clear required some work. Apart from the usual gaps to close, levels fluctuated at numerous points, sometimes in one channel and sometimes in both. The right channel was not just louder but also fuller.

After smoothing levels where necessary, the sound stage was centered by a good 20% and the stereo separation widened. Lastly, the mid-range was punched up for a fuller overall sound. All edits and adjustments were made using SoundForge 4.5.

Although the recording is clear with good levels, nothing could be done to overcome the limitations of the microphone used to produce the master recording, which is narrow and thin, especially in the high end, fitting the pattern of old tie clip condenser microphones. Consequently, the .wav profile looks a lot like a lossy source. Rest assured this is NOT from a compressed source, and the results are to my ears comparable or superior to most audience recordings of this vintage.

Comments

Well, everything has been said by Milesian. All in all, this tape offers excellent sound quality. The major blemish is crowd noise, with individual voices and screamers / clappers near the taper, mostly on the first bunch of songs. Music is clearly audible but vocals are prominent in the mix. A bit of clipping occurs when audience members shout close to the mic. Finally, a little skip is noticeable at 04:45 in A Sort of Homecoming, due to a quick tape flip (as Milesian remarks, the gap was removed digitally). The tape starts off somewhat muddy, but by a pair of songs the output becomes very solid.

This recording documents the first time U2 played at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York (NY, USA). The concert is powerful, and the band get a hot response by the crowd.