Sneaking A Tape Recorder into concerts in the 70s-90s

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by sheeerheartattack, Jun 2, 2021.

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  1. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Th
    Thanks for sharing
     
    Jon H. likes this.
  2. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I wonder if anyone got creative using a tascam porta studio 4 track with 4 mics.

    After Elvis died, his shows were in high demand on the bootleg circuit. A couple of record stores I went to sold quite a few bootlegs and always had the latest EP bootleg releases. I’m going to guess pretty much every Elvis show in the 70s was recorded in one form or another ( audience tapes, soundboard, RCA truck)
     
    Rick H. likes this.
  3. Samson7

    Samson7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    In 1989 I snuck a micro cassette recorder in my underwear into a Metallica concert during their And Justice For All tour. Why? I have no friggin idea. I was very nervous as they were briefly frisking people prior to entry into the arena.
     
    ARK and Jeff Kent like this.
  4. Egg Crisis

    Egg Crisis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yorkshire, England
    Some Japanese fans have really raised the game when it comes to live concert recording - there are recordings made using radio scanners to tune into the radio mics... so when you have a Jpop group with, say, 10 members, they somehow manage to get separate recordings from all 10 mics. I've no idea if it's a team effort or if one person is somehow able to record all the mics himself. (It's even caused scandals where the singer is backstage waiting to come on, and is recorded dissing the fans!)
     
    audiotom, ODShowtime, ARK and 2 others like this.
  5. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I believe I have heard videos where people recorded the raw guitar wireless feed direct from the guitar. I guess if you have the same receiver and find the channel, it may be possible

     
  6. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Don't forget Steve Hopkins outta Boston, and Freezer from the Baton Rouge/NOLA area:
    Freezer was a character, but his recordings at their best are even better than Millard's. His' 78 Bowie and Springsteen tapes'll are so good they'll make ya have to change yer shorts!
    Chief, if yer the guy who taped Neil Young and Crazy Horse in Pittsburgh in '91 I gotta tell ya, man, that is probably my favourite Neil Young concert recording of all time:righton: I taped Neil in Calgary in 2012 and it's a pretty decent recording, but I'll never record again- 'twas so g-ddamn concerned about getting a good capture and not getting busted I could barely enjoy the show:laugh:
     
    CybrKhatru and Fabrice Outside like this.
  7. fRa

    fRa Conny Olivetti - Sound Alchemist

    Location:
    Sweden
    A friend of mine smuggled in a Sony tape recorder, with stereo microphone and stand in an empty guitar case, when we saw Peter Gabriel in Stockholm in 1977. The guards wanted him to leave the guitar in the wardrobe, but he refused and said it was a very valuable guitar. Once inside, he set everything up and recorded the entire concert. Pretty good sound.
     
    Zeki, Chris DeVoe and kouzie like this.
  8. Mbd77

    Mbd77 Collect ‘Em All!

    Location:
    London
    Control yourself.
     
    stepeanut likes this.
  9. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    Heh heh I only hoot when others hoot. Same with hollering.
     
  10. Doug Schiller

    Doug Schiller Senior Member

    Location:
    Tampa Bay
    Remember when Rerun got caught taping the Doobie Brothers?
    (Hopefully this joke wasn't already used)

     
  11. Fabrice Outside

    Fabrice Outside Forum Resident

    Location:
    EU
    Great list
     
    DTK likes this.
  12. Deek57

    Deek57 Forum Resident

    I taped a couple of shows in 1988 on a really cheap recorder with a built in mic. I taped Pink Floyd at Maine Rd (I took my Wife) Manchester 8/8/88 and Prince a few days later at the NEC Birmingham (my wife took me). The results were terrible though I've heard worse. A couple of guys next to me at the Prince gig saw what I was doing and asked for copies, not caring about the quality, but I lost their addresses. I reused the tapes soon after.
     
    Zeki likes this.
  13. Fabrice Outside

    Fabrice Outside Forum Resident

    Location:
    EU
    What Bowie 78 is that ?
    Did it end up on cd ?
     
  14. Fabrice Outside

    Fabrice Outside Forum Resident

    Location:
    EU
    Very cool :righton:
    Was the Bowie gig much different from the final
    Ziggy concert in July ?
    Did it end up on cd ?
     
    HoundsOBurkittsville likes this.
  15. Fabrice Outside

    Fabrice Outside Forum Resident

    Location:
    EU
    Since I remember you from Iggy threads do you mind mentioning what Iggy tour you taped and share your memories ?
    Cheers
     
  16. Mollusk

    Mollusk I AM THE STALLION

    Location:
    USA
    Hey, I hope you don't mind my asking, but have you got any sorts of lists of what you've got transferred so far? I'd be absolutely delighted to look through them
     
  17. rrbbkk

    rrbbkk Forum Resident

    Decades after my portable cassette recorder forays I became enamored with the Sony Mini-Disc format. I would sneak a portable MD recorder into the show in the front of my pants. This was the "pat down" era before scanners. I figured no security guard would check there and I was always right. Once inside I'd set up the mic on the edge of balcony if I had such a seat or run it through the bill of a ball cap with the receiving end facing out. The ushers were usually doddering retirees and they paid no attention to what I was doing. With the mic faced forward it usually didn't pick up talk over from rude concert goers though the ridiculously drunk and wind (when outdoors) would both be a problem. Computer mics recorded stereo in surprisingly good quality if you didn't over drive the input.

    I would then take my raw MD recording and copy it in total to a "work CD." Then I would play the work CD from my home player through an equalizer and into a SECOND Mini-Disc to create my "master." In so doing I would be able to tweak the equalization and, importantly, edit the original recording to provide a better, quasi-professional representation of the show. Tom Petty started three tours in my town and he was notorious for spending a minute or more between songs with the audience hollering. No one wants to listen to that after the fact and the MD allowed me to shorten such portions. Mini-Discs were he best of both worlds: a didgital format you could edit and equalize like analog tape.

    I managed to get quite a few good recordings circa 1999-2000 with 'Sabbath, the Eagles and Roger Waters standing out. Roger knew what was up though. Both sets of his "In the Flesh" tour ran about 81 minutes and a Mini Disc could only only hold about 79.5 minutes.
     
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  18. Mollusk

    Mollusk I AM THE STALLION

    Location:
    USA
    I'm probably one of the furthest things from a Pink Floyd fan on this site, but man that little story at the bottom got a nice chuckle out of me. Something about Roger making shows just that little bit longer to spite tapers is a funny idea to me.
     
  19. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I never saw Iggy live until summer 2016 at Gröna Lund, Sweden, and that's the show I taped. Hardly in the annals of legendary Iggy concerts, is it.

    I loved it of course, big fan. Iggy berated the crowd for being too passive and did his usual jumping around. Kevin Armstrong on guitar and a good setlist with some of the PP Depression songs, voice in great shape.
     
    Fabrice Outside likes this.
  20. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Nothing interesting. All I have transferred so far is material that he recorded after I gave him a SD card based camcorder to replace his old 8mm tape-based one. He brought by a bag of SD cards, and I dumped them all up onto a YouTube channel that I created for him, but the vast majority of it is local Kansas City bands. I'm building an equipment rack so I can dump four different tape sources onto hard drive simultaneously, but haven't finished that project yet.

    I've asked him to find the Gong tapes, but nothing has happened yet.
     
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  21. Mollusk

    Mollusk I AM THE STALLION

    Location:
    USA
    Obscure and unheard doesn't always mean boring. One man's trash is another man's treasure and all that... ;)
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  22. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Baton Rouge, 11 April
     
    Fabrice Outside likes this.
  23. urasam2

    urasam2 A Famous Potato

    The set lists were quite different. I don't know what you mean by "did it end up on CD?"
     
  24. Snaphappy

    Snaphappy Colour Me Grumpy!

    Bob Dylan - St James Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne UK. June 1984

    I was there to see Dylan as a big fan, but had enjoyed Lindisfarne and Santana. In the break before Dylan was due on these 2 young (late teens) lads came and sat next to me. I was about a quarter of the way back centre stage. They proceeded to pull out 3 short pieces of bamboo and tied them together, they then fastened a microphone onto this tripod. Connected it to a cassette recorder (one of those quite large Philips ones?).


    All was good, but I wondered what would happen when everyone stood up when Dylan came on stage. I was never to find out...

    This hand came down, from a giant wearing headphones and a big utility belt, onto the shoulder of one of the lads. “What the F*** are you doing?” He bellowed. The lads stuttered something. The giant just said “unbelievable..” and snapped his fingers saying “batteries ..now”. The lads took the batteries out of the player and handed them over..after assuring the giant they had no more..said giant turned to go...one of the lads asked how they would get the batteries back. Giant said “..at the mixing desk area middle of stadium”. Then the lad asked “can I have a receipt for them?” This provoked a belly laugh and a reply saying they were lucky not to be thrown out!!

    The beginning of a great Dylan show..


    My only personal taping story again involves Dylan. I was attending two Glasgow shows at the SECC in Feb 1991. I have a friend who is a regular taper. He couldn’t do the 2nd show and asked me too. I agreed and nervously smuggled in a DAT recorder and mic hidden in front of my pants.

    All went well, recorded the show fine. In fact my friend said it was top quality and circulates today...only problem is..it is one Dylan’s worst performances of the era. He was dreadful!!

    That’s my taping tales!!
     
    Ken Wood, Zeki, ARK and 1 other person like this.
  25. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    I really wish I had the time to go through his whole collection. The man saw the Dead in front of the pyramids. As it is (if my brother and I have anything to do with it) if he kicks off before either of us, all the tapes go to archive.org.
     
    Mollusk likes this.
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