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, 29 June 2018

Show 125 - The Human League - Live at Derby Assembly Rooms - 21 May 1980


Probably a final gig on Live and Loud! for the Mk 1 lineup - there aren't many recordings of them and the best one, from Amsterdam, I've already done (here). The others (including this one) are audience recordings and mostly not very good ones; this one is the clearest I've come across and even this has taken a lot of work to clean up. Still, it''s a full set and so well worth preserving!

So...this is an audience recording of The Human League - warts and all. Analogue synths occasionally (!) go out of tune, there are bum notes...some great backing vocals on some songs from Martyn Ware - this is a proper live recording. I tidied up some differences in volume and used a lot of 30 band EQ to bring back some bottom end (you can hear the kick drums and bass synths far better now), toned down the harsh top end and made the recording clearer. I also worked on the sound to widen it - this was originally recorded back in 1980 on a little mono tape recorder, so kudos to the original taper for getting a clear recording for me to work on 38 years later... Hopefully if he ever comes across this, he'll like this improved version.

You can download this improved recording for free here as one tagged 320 kbps MP3 file.

Or, if you would like to support the site with a small donation towards storage subscription and internet costs, in return you can have the show as separate, properly tagged MP3s or even lossless files in FLAC format; head on over to the Donations tab to see how you can do this.

Either way - enjoy the show!

Setlist
The Black Hit Of Space
The Touchables
Dreams Of Leaving
Girl One
Life Kills
Almost Medieval
Perfect Day
Crow And A Baby
Only After Dark
Being Boiled
Blind Youth
W.X.J.L. Tonight
Encore:
Marianne
Empire State Human
2nd Encore:
Rock'n'Roll

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

Show 124 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Live At Wembley Arena - 13 January 1987


A debut on Live and Loud!  for Frankie Goes To Hollywood from their last tour in the UK, when they were literally imploding back stage, with relations between Holly Johnson and the rest of the band at breaking point.

This was an FM broadcast recorded off air I think as this isn't the full set. It's also another recording someone had tried to improve before I came across it - everything whacked up to 11 and every song faded out - the intro to Rage Hard was even chopped off altogether and the song gone (guessing this was where the original C90 tape needed turning over). 1 or 2 tracks also sounded like they're from a different recording altogether. 30 band EQ has once again paid dividends and undone much of what was done - tightened up the bass, made the mix clearer and not so tiring on the ears and addressed some faults where the recording went very dull at times. All while still retaining the power in the sound on stage.

You can download this improved recording for free here as one tagged 320 kbps MP3 file.

Or, if you would like to support the site with a small donation towards storage subscription and internet costs, in return you can have the show as separate, properly tagged MP3s or lossless files in FLAC format; head on over to the Donations tab to see how you can do this.

Either way - enjoy the show!

Setlist
Warriors Of The Wasteland
The Only Star In Heaven
Kill The Pain
For Heaven's Sake
Watching The Wildlife
The Power of Love
Maximum Joy
Welcome To The Pleasuredome
Lunar Bay
War
Krisco Kisses
Relax
Two Tribes