The Decemberists and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra
July 18th, 2007
Pritzker Pavilion, Millenium Park
Chicago, IL, US

Location:
-For the main set: back of the lawn, dead center, mic pointed at satellite speaker on framework approx. 25 feet in the air. 
-For the encore: 30 rows back, right center aisle, mic in open backpack.

Equipment: Logitech Single-Point Mic>Panasonic RQ-A200 (auto levels)>Type I Tape
Transfer: Playback on Sony TC630ES>1/4" headphone out>1/4" to 1/8" gold plated adapter>1/8" to 1/8" cable>PC
Editing: Audacity (recording, amplified, smoothed pops/rustling, fades at tape flip), CDWave (splits), FLAC frontend (pad last track of each disc with zero samples, level 8)>FLAC

01. Jim Palermo Intro/Joe Shanahan Intro/Decemberists Intro - 4:18
02. The Crane Wife 1 & 2 - 11:20
03. The Infanta - 5:20
04. Colin talking about the orchestra tour - 0:59
05. We Both Go Down Together - 3:01
06. The Bagman's Gambit - 7:18
07. Odalisque - 5:20
08. The Perfect Crime, Number Two* - 7:14
09. Los Angeles, I'm Yours - 3:52
(tape flip)
10. The Tain (Parts I-IV) - 17:14
11. O Valencia!* - 4:28
12. I Was Meant for the Stage - 7:08
13. crowd - 1:46
encore:
14. "If the kids in the back wanna come stand in the aisles..."/Ask [The Smiths] (tease) -> 16 Military Wives - 7:37
15. Talking about Chris/instructions for The Mariner's Revenge Song - 7:37
16. The Mariner's Revenge Song - 7:51

*=without the orchestra

Notes:
My friends and I arrived an hour and a half before showtime to find (literally) about 10,000 people already there. For anyone who knows the park, we were at the very back of the lawn, maybe a city block or so from the stage. Luckily, there were satellite speakers mounted all over the giant framework that is above the lawn. I pointed the mic at the nearest of them. In front, where the seats are, there were alot of older folks (donors, etc) who left before the encore, creating a vacumn up front and a subsequent MASSIVE rush of people hopping the barriers between the lawn and seats
Luckily, I flipped the tape just before The Tain.
A huge thunderstorm broke out just after Mariner's Revenge. Colin comments on the gathering lightning(!) just before the song.

The good:
The show was AMAZING, especially the encore. And the orchestra really kicks on The Infanta.
The tape actually sounds pretty good, especially considering the equipment used.
The walkman did a *really* good job of doing auto-levels.
If you like Colin Meloy, this show is for you! His vocals are very high in the mix.
I've also included a video of 16 Military Wives and some photos that I took.

The bad:
We forgot to bring a Type II tape, so this was recorded on a 120m Type I that we bought across the street before the show.
Background talking. Lots of people were there with families and picnics, not necessarily for the show.
Because I didn't fast forward to the end of side A before I flipped the tape, I ran out of tape during Mariner's Revenge.

Flaws:
Wind noise...it was windy!
Pop in The Infanta (0:57). There are a few more of these throughout the show. I tried to smooth most of them out.
My friends went up front to go dancing during The Bagman's Gambit. They subsequently come back and talk about the craziness up front.
Side B has more hiss and surface noise than Side A
Mic adjustments during I Was Meant for the Stage
Ask and the beginning of 16 Military Wives consists of me jumping over blankets, people, and barricades to get into the seated area. The rest of it and The Mariner's Revenge song were recorded from within my backpack, and sound surprisingly good.

Thanks:
Morgan (equipment)
My dad (train tickets)
The nice couple in front of us (food, the great Iggy Pop story)

Taped by Ben V. (rhinowing)

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