The Who @ Houston, TX 1982-12-03

 

LIMITED TIME / LAST TIME

https://pixeldrain.com/u/KRkixQkA

The Who
Astrodome
Houston, TX
December 3, 1982
Master* tape from the ML Archive via JEMS

Recording Gear: Aiwa CM-30 stereo microphone > Sony D6 Walkman

2020 transfer: master* cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth-adjusted transfer > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.3.2 (24/96) capture > iZotope RX MBIT+ resample 16/44.1 FLAC > Audacity 2.3.3 (tracking and finishing)

Run time: 1:58:10

Musicians:

Roger Daltrey (vocals, guitar, harmonica, tambourine)
John Entwistle (bass, vocals)
Kenney Jones (drums)
Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals)

with Tim Gorman (keyboards)

01_Intro
02_My Generation
03_Substitute
04_Dangerous
05_Sister Disco
06_The Quiet One
07_It’s Hard
08_Eminence Front
09_Behind Blue Eyes
10_Baba O’Riley
11_I Can’t Explain
12_Naked Eye
13_Drowned
14_Cry If You Want
15_Who Are You
16_Pinball Wizard
17_See Me, Feel Me
18_Five-Fifteen [patched from 4:58 to 5:11, see note]
19_Love Reign O’er Me
20_Long Live Rock
21_Won’t Get Fooled Again
22_encore break
23_Love Ain’t For Keeping
24_Squeeze Box *
25_Twist and Shout *

This torrent features a big, bold recording of The Who’s 1982 Farewell Tour concert at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. If the unusual sequence caught your eye, let’s head inside the world’s oldest domed stadium to hear how things played out. A very nice capture and show await.

December 3rd is the seventh in a series of stereo recordings made by ML, one of Jared’s oldest partners-in-tape. Previously, we shared ML tapes from 1982 Who gigs in Orchard Park, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Tempe, St. Louis, and Syracuse – collect ’em all!

Like the previous installment from Syracuse, I hesitated with Houston, wondering what appeal a middle-of-the-pack show in an enormous place might hold. But the recording quality is excellent, and the house sound seems loud and clear (albeit with a few moments where the mix could use a nice, solid tweak). All credit to the trusty Aiwa CM-30, a first-rate piece of hardware, and the savoir-faire of ML.

And the show is terrific: “Drowned” and “Five-Fifteen” find the musicians in jam-band mode, and so does “It’s Hard,” which ends in a slightly different fashion than usual. The setlist shows a bit of a jumble — that’s a good thing. Jared used to talk about how songs played in unusual spots forced the band to think a bit differently. Out of place or not, here “Naked Eye” sounds “typically awesome,” Jared wrote. I concur.

The recording cleaned up very nicely: software helped to gently excise scores of egregious sounds, and the music plays back largely without intrusion. A tape flip during “Five-Fifteen” required a patch; a reasonably good alternate source (of undetermined lineage) completes the track. I thank the taper, and hope you don’t mind.

* The last two songs almost certainly come from another source, and a strong guess is that Jared loaned them from his masters. The soundscape shifts just enough to notice, but the quality remains similar enough.

Thanks again to ML for the recordings, and of course to my friends at JEMS. Another hat tip to mjk5510 for sharing his expertise on the technical side. And of course, we salute Jared and Stan. Sometimes the best way to power through loss is to keep doing things that you normally do, good things. So, more tapes! It’s a privilege, friends.

Share it freely, and for free!

- slipkid68