Live and Loud!: August 2024

Welcome - About Live and Loud!

Live and Loud! began as a fortnightly internet radio show in 2012 taking old unreleased live concert recordings I could find and working to repair and improve them - fixing tape hiss, noise, tape drop out, clicks, speed variations, defects - before improving the sound quality by EQing the sound to bring out the instruments as clearly as possible. These are now made directly available to download for free to reach as many fans of the music as possible.

Depending on the quality of the original recording, these can often be made to sound almost like commercial recordings - but of course I can't guarantee that for every show. What I can guarantee is it will sound far better than the original files available which have been floating around the internet and on bootleg recordings for many years.

Almost all are either "soundboard" recordings (taken directly from the mixing desk used at the gig on the night) or old FM radio recordings. A few gigs, if they are of special historical importance, make an appearance even if they were recorded from the audience - these can also be made to sound better than ever.

Do your ears a favour and listen on headphones or good speakers to get most benefit - laptop speakers will always sound pretty poor by comparison.

All shows still available are listed, including a link to download the remastered show for free. If you want to support the site with a small donation, you can receive the shows as either separate MP3s or FLACs (your choice) - head over to the Rewards for Donations page and see how you can get a lot for very little!

If you want to email me, an email link is in my profile in a link in the side panel.

And finally... These are great fun to listen to but DO NOT replace original releases - support these artists and buy their music. There is nothing you can go and buy in a regular record store here. If a gig is made available as a regular release, then it will be removed (as a couple have been already).

Friday 30 August 2024

Show 209 - Jean Michel Jarre - Live In Houston Texas - 5 April 1986

A quick request. If you plan on downloading this and putting it on your YouTube channel or your own bootleg page - I don't mind. But a credit to this website where you found it and a link back to this page would be really appreciated. It helps me gauge which artists are popular - ie more chance of other restorations coming. Don't just steal it, cut out the intro and outro and take the credit. Thanks.

The Show
I spent months (actually years, on and off) looking for a recording of this broadcast and only came across very low bit rate MP3s, or a recording that sounded like the FM Tuner wasn’t 100% tuned in correctly when the recording was made. Recently however, I swapped some files with a collector and finally had a half way decent recording of the broadcast.

What Was Done
It was in stereo, which was a good start. But the sound quality was variable; I am sure someone at some point had tried to work on this - it may well be more than 1 recording that’s been used to make the source I received as the sound varied a few times throughout. Several days of work then ensued - the usual tape dropouts and odd clicks, really loud tape noise in places, gaps, random volume drops on just the left or right channel and the quality of the sound also changing several times… All eventually sorted, as best I can. There were also a few seconds missing during Rendez-Vous 2 - I ended up fading that out and back in, so it was less jarring.

Once all the repair work was done, I worked on the sound quality and then mastered it (to cut a long story short!). And then after mastering I still tweaked it a little more. Normally I remove radio voiceovers where I can but this time I left in the original intro, just for a bit of "history". Anyone local to Houston around that time may well recognise the voice.

This one has taken quite a while - but I think it was worth it. Unless someone has a great quality recording they're keeping to themselves, I think this will be the best available anywhere. I hope you enjoy it!

The All Important Download/Stream Link

As always, the restored and remastered show is available to download or stream for free as a single 320kbps MP3. Just hit the link:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD OR STREAM

Setlist
Ethnicolor Part 1
Oxygène Part 1
Oxygène Part 2
Oxygène Part 4
Equinoxe Part 7
Souvenir of China
Equinoxe Part 4
Equinoxe Part 2
Equinoxe Part 5
Rendez-Vous 3
Rendez-Vous 2
Oxygène Part 5
Last Rendez-Vous (Ron’s Piece)
Rendez-Vous 4

Be sure to check out the other recordings from Jean Michel Jarre I've restored HERE - all similarly downloadable for free.

Supporting The Site

If you want to support the work I do on these recordings, and the site, and (if you wish to) obtain separate, fully tagged 320kbps MP3s of this restoration for less than the price of a coffee in return, or lossless FLACs or even a lossless copy on CDR, head on over to the Rewards For Donations tab to see how you can obtain these for a very small donation towards the site. There is NO OBLIGATION to do so of course - you can take the file on this page absolutely for free - but every single donation does go towards this site and helps me do more shows and update some of the software I use as time goes by. Either way, enjoy the show.

Subscribe And Share

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER (spam free) so you never miss news on which new gigs are going to be restored and uploaded here; any news will be delivered to your inbox. And your email address won't be sold on by me as a result.

And if you like this recording, please spread the news and share the page link to anyone you think might be interested - Facebook fan groups, web forums, Mastodon, X, Threads, Instagram are a great way of spreading the word - that way, I always find out which bands are popular and can do more shows by them in the future. So please tell ya mates about the site and this page! Many thanks.

Friday 16 August 2024

Show 208 - The Shamen - Live At The Waterfront Norwich - 24 April 1992

The Show
Originally an FM broadcast in the UK but re-broadcast in full at some point in Germany - I had to remove both German and the original English voice overs.

What Was Done
It was in reasonable condition - apart from a couple of tape dropouts and tidying up the start of the recording, the only repair portion was removing the voiceovers and fading out the end - originally the recording cut off Make It Mine as the German broadcast segued into a Kraftwerk track. Once that was done, I got to work with EQ and the usual studio toys to make the recording clearer, then mastered to really make the recording sound bigger and more powerful. The result is more like what (I guess) it would have been like to hear them live.

The All Important Download/Stream Link

As always, the restored and remasterd show is available to download or stream for free as a single 320kbps MP3. Just hit the link:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD OR STREAM

And don't forget to turn up the volume!

Setlist

Move Any Mountain
Possible Worlds
Comin' On
Hyperreal
LSI
Make It Mine

Friday 2 August 2024

Show 207 - OMD - Live At Imperial Hotel Blackpool - 27 July 1979

The Show
An audience recording - the earliest known of OMD, or Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark as they were more commonly referred to at the time. It was fairly clear but distant. I guess someone had at least applied some noise and hiss reduction. But it was quite "middly" soundwise with no bottom end at all, and not particularly easy to hear most of the sounds.

What Was Done
There were a few dropouts to fix, and VCL XI unfortunately is incomplete - it cuts off abruptly in the first 2 minutes and there was a big gap before the recording cuts back in before the next song starts, so that was faded out and back in so the sound flows better. Volume was a bit up and down in places - fixed that. Once that was done, I got to work with EQ and the usual studio toys to bring some clarity to the sound mix, smooth out the rough edges, make everything more audible, and then mastered to make it clearer and more powerful overall, and a little wider (remember this is a mono recording from the audience). The sound is now far better though, and I think makes the gig all the more listenable.

The All Important Download Link

You can now download or stream this repaired, restored and remastered version of this show as one 320kbps MP3 file exclusively for FREE by clicking right HERE.

Setlist
Messages
Bunker Soldiers
Julia's Song
VCL XI
Almost
Red Frame/White Light
Mystereality
Electricity
Waiting For The Man

Be sure to check out the other gigs from OMD (as they're more commonly known nowadays) I've restored HERE - all similarly downloadable for free.

Supporting The Site

If you want to support the work I do on these recordings, and the site, and (if you wish to) obtain separate, fully tagged 320kbps MP3s of this restoration for less than the price of a coffee in return, or lossless FLACs or even a lossless copy on CDR, head on over to the Rewards For Donations tab to see how you can obtain these for a very small donation towards the site costs. There is no obligation to do so of course - you can take the file on this page absolutely for free - but every single donation does go towards this site and helps me do more shows and update some of the software I use as time goes by. Either way, enjoy the show.

Subscribe And Share

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER (spam free) so you never miss news on which new gigs are going to be restored and uploaded here; any news will be delivered to your inbox. And your email address won't be sold on by me as a result.

And if you like this recording, please spread the news and share the page link to anyone you think might be interested - Facebook fan groups, web forums, Mastodon, Twitter, Instagram are a great way of spreading the word - that way, I always find out which bands are popular and can do more shows by them in the future. So please tell ya mates about the site and this page! Many thanks.