Agnes Obel

De Doelen
Rotterdam
The Netherlands

3rd February 2014 (2014-02-03)


RECORDING:

Type: Audience master, recorded from seat in centre of 10th row, approximately
15 metres from the suspended PA stack.

Source: Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) ->
Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod
(-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV)

Lineage: Audacity 2.0.5
* Applied variable envelope amplification across recording for
consistent listening experience.
* Attenuated audience noise.
* Added fades.
* Split tracks.
* Converted to 16 bit.
-> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.3.0 20130526]

Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd)


SET LIST:

01. [03:33] Louretta
02. [04:02] Philharmonics
03. [00:35] [banter/band introduction]
04. [04:20] Beast
05. [05:22] Fuel To Fire
06. [05:44] On Powdered Ground
07. [03:15] Chord Left
08. [01:17] [banter]
09. [04:50] Aventine
10. [00:37] [banter]
11. [05:52] Dorian
12. [04:47] Wallflower
13. [04:31] Riverside
14. [00:33] [banter]
15. [05:15] Run Cried The Crawling
16. [04:13] Words Are Dead
17. [00:34] [banter]
18. [05:31] The Curse
19. [02:06] [encore break]
20. [00:41] [banter]
21. [03:53] Brother Sparrow
22. [03:58] Smoke & Mirrors

Total running time: 75:41


MD5 CHECKSUMS:

bed3449432256a40e7c331ea791c9bfa *flac/01_louretta.flac
4adabcd64a0ca01f80c4a06630c8758c *flac/02_philharmonics.flac
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7ede85923a63a92c8d22c50da29f1b80 *flac/04_beast.flac
b7429f764d64ea9e3cb00300761ca9cb *flac/05_fuel_to_fire.flac
d55651be525fccf6803e51229ad524b4 *flac/06_on_powdered_ground.flac
2a17e4580d88841fe62b6dad2afacc55 *flac/07_chord_left.flac
b76a2e0006c5ebebd642a8d0dac22491 *flac/08_banter.flac
a5ff47dab0a7c39156fe916a6ccf653c *flac/09_aventine.flac
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35f3bc061f74224d8ac076736fdfef05 *flac/12_wallflower.flac
a6bbbd126149e7579f05f6c5308457b3 *flac/13_riverside.flac
5dc77fa1c10a5047d67289fca61f1382 *flac/14_banter.flac
6965b2d21dde49e1dd4f87df12b0dca1 *flac/15_run_cried_the_crawling.flac
97697a03786ee0062979381364430ac7 *flac/16_words_are_dead.flac
406dbcd8ca5ebb453f56485e4508498f *flac/17_banter.flac
3da482fb8eacba953b837e468ec3794b *flac/18_the_curse.flac
5f11f21478df1afda19e27dea1ae8b79 *flac/19_encore_break.flac
56ed4859311b0ddb775407ca3795f21c *flac/20_banter.flac
4dee8ec568b1e15ce7313c321771843b *flac/21_brother_sparrow.flac
87dd2eb1c2efb966070b4de92f0e15f3 *flac/22_smoke__mirrors.flac
2286d16b0cefcffc44564ae302541c3c *flac/checksums.ffp
f03863ce50f4847d9b8945f1315c10f2 *tags.txt


NOTES:

The double-edged sword of unassigned seating strikes again. It's bad enough
when it's in your own city, but when you have to get yourself to another city,
grab a bite to eat beforehand and still manage to be one of the first into the
venue, that's tricky.

Unsurprisingly then, I fail to tick all of these boxes. A timely dinner once
again becomes the casualty of this taper's pursuit of perfection.

To add insult to injury, the queue at the door ultimately leads only to
another queue inside the venue for the inner door. When the final door, the
one leading to the main hall is eventually opened, it turns out to be just one
of many such doors to the hall, most of which were evidently opened before the
one that I was queuing at. So after all that waiting at the head of the queue,
I'm not even the first one in.

Nevertheless, I get the spot I'm after, more or less: a seat in the centre of
the 10th row. The sold-out auditorium fills up in no time.

I've never been to De Doelen before. It's nice; very modern, nicely staggered
seating, and with an aura of being the right kind of place for someone like
Agnes Obel to perform. They could improve the legroom a bit, which is like the
cabin of a budget airline, but I'll get by.

With my seat in the hall secured, it's off to the lavs to set up my gear and
evacuate my bladder.

Feral & Stray a.k.a. Erin Lang is still the tour support. She plays the same
quiet set that I first heard at the Paradiso, back in mid-October of 2013.

After a brief intermission, Agnes takes to the stage, accompanied by faithful
cellist, Anne Müller, and Timber Timbre violinist, Mika Posen.

The set that follows is almost identical to the one played at the Paradiso
three and a half months ago. Out goes 'Katie Cruel'. In comes 'Smoke &
Mirrors'.

The vocal harmonies in particular are impressive tonight. The songs from the
first album have been subtly embellished and enhanced, now fulfilling a
potential hitherto not immediately apparent. Posen's violin and extra backing
vocals are the biggest contributor to this, layering the sound and adding
extra harmonies.

The sound in the venue is absolutely superb, but after 75 rapidly-passing
minutes, our enjoyment inevitably comes to an end.

That's why we tapers record shows in the first place, of course. The gig may
be over, but the music lives on and can now be enjoyed again and again.

The resultant recording is excellent, reflecting what the ear heard on the
night.

As always, samples are attached to the torrent to allow you to decide whether
this is something for you.