[photo courtesy of Mike of 50ShowsAt50 blog]
On the final night of their 3-show run at Beacon Theatre, The Decemberists new album The King Is Dead reached number one on the Billboard album chart. Colin Meloy made one brief bemused reference to this fact at Wednesday night’s show, but this fairly major accomplishment seemed to not have fazed the band. Its a rare album that actually deserves a number one position, but King is truly a remarkable piece of work. While the title would imply a Smiths influence — and there is a definite “Bigmouth Strikes Again” feel to some of the songs — its the REM sound that prevails. In particular “Down By The Water” (streaming below) is very reminiscent of the 12-string minor-chord guitar prominent in such REM classics “The One I Love” and “Driver 8”. At the Beacon, five of the new songs were performed and they shined. Indeed, the beautiful “June Hymn” closed the show. In between, this night also featured the surprise guest appearance of Shara Worden, who reprised her soaring Hazards of Love vocals on “The Wanting Comes In Waves” (also streaming below). The Decemberists tour continues throughout the US in January and February before they head to Europe in March.
I recorded this set with my best mobile rig from a prime seat in 7th row of the center section where the sound quality was truly outstanding. This recording reflects that superb quality. Enjoy!
Stream “Down By The Water”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D6010Decemberists9220/Down%20By%20The%20Water.mp3]
Stream “The Wanting Comes In Waves” (with Shara Worden):
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D6010Decemberists9220/The%20Wanting%20Comes%20In%20Waves%20(with%20Shara%20Worden).mp3]
Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)
This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC at Archive.org [HERE].
The Decemberists
2011-01-26
Beacon Theatre
New York, NY USA
Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Center Section
Row C (7th Row)
DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac
Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2011-01-27
Setlist:
[Total Time 1:31:55]
01 [introduction]
02 July, July!
03 [banter]
04 Down By The Water
05 [banter2]
06 Rox In The Box
07 [banter3]
08 Calamity Song
09 Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
10 [banter4]
11 The Engine Driver
12 [banter5]
13 The Soldiering Life
14 [banter6]
15 All Arise!
16 This Is Why We Fight
17 [banter7]
18 The Wanting Comes In Waves (with Shara Worden)
19 Dracula’s Daughter
20 Valencia
21 [Chimbley introduction]
22 Chimbley Sweep
23 [encore break]
24 A Cautionary Song (with “Battle of Trafalgar”)
25 Sons And Daughters
26 [second encore break]
27 June Hymn
If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Decemberists, visit their website, and purchase the new album The King Is Dead from the link at the main page of their website or at the Decemberists Shop [HERE].
Thank you very much for the Decemberists show! I was there on Tuesday and what a great show that was! You got to see Shara do “Repaid”. I wish I was there!
Thanks again!
Bob
Thanks nyctaper, this is absolutely wonderful.