Band: Asia
Location: Boston, MA
Venue: Orpheum Theatre
Date: Apr 29th, 1982
Source: AUD
Title: N/A
Setlist:
01 Time Again
02 One Step Closer
03 Without You
04 The Ancient
05 Clap
06 Midnight Sun
07 Only Time Will Tell
08 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
09 Cutting It Fine
10 Wildest Dreams
11 Here Comes the Feeling-> Carl Palmer solo-> Here Comes the Feeling
12 Sole Survivor
13 Heat of the Moment
_______________
Notes:
Lineage:
1982: Nakamichi CM-100/CP-1 > Nakamichi 550 (Dolby B in) > Maxell UD
XL II
2011: Maxell UD XL II > Nakamichi Dragon (Dolby B out) > RDL FP-UBC6 >
MOTU 896 > Sound Forge Audio Studio 9.0 > Wave [96kHz/24 bit] >
Izotope RX, Audition Pro with Izotope Ozone [mastering and
downsample/conversion to 44.1KHz/16 bit] > Wave > FLAC
Recording Notes:
The recording was made from front-row balcony, somewhat off-center. Three microphones were used as an experiment and the mix changes somewhat during the show. The band had PA trouble that night but it's difficult to identify when it occurred from the recording.
Performance Notes:
In Barry's opinion, they sounded the best they ever have on that first
tour. The enthusiasm for the material was still there.
Lestat Notes:
I think we all agree this is Asia at their best. Later Asia
performances had their charms including the important 1983 "Asia in Asia" visual record featuring Greg Lake, and even the 2007-2010 reunion tours offered some fascinating covers of the members' other bands including Yes, but when I heard this 1982 delivery I became depressed at never having gotten a chance to see them on that tour.
Anyhow, we have a Balrog AR of it and can be eternally grateful for that. As he notes below however there are some issues stemming from Asia's PA output and mix, which became more and more evident as more detail uncovered in the remastering process. Not the least among them is some very noticeable and quite frustrating distortion in all guitars and vocals. Vocals also have an unpleasant 'early PA' aspect evoking the tinny, 'boxy' sound of amplified ballpark announcers and speeches from the 1930s. The PA mix is also rather less balanced than
we'd expect from a band like Asia, with Wetton's bass especially high and Palmer surprisingly low. Bass guitar is so strong in fact it makes natural realism in things like toms and kick drums impossible to reveal fully without the former becoming too much. Being the very beginning of the first tour I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Bugs do
happen even to the best at such times.