Rolling Stones
Kingdome
Seattle, Washington
October 15, 1981

MS master via JEMS

MS Archive Series No. 4

Recording gear: Nakamichi 700s > Sony TC-D5M

2013 Transfer: TDK MX master cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A (azimuth-adjusted) > Sound Devices USBPre2 (24/96 Audacity 2.0 capture) > Peak 6.0 with iZotope Ozone > iZotope MBIT+ convert to 16/44.1 > FLAC

Disc one (60:22):
(1) Under My Thumb (3:32)
(2) When The Whip Comes Down (4:50)
(3) Let's Spend The Night Together (4:08)
(4) Shattered (4:51)
(5) Neighbours (4:28)
(6) Black Limousine (3:47)
(7) Just My Imagination (6:20)
(8) Mick banter (0:23)
(9) Twenty Flight Rock (2:14)
(10) Let Me Go (4:07)
(11) Time Is On My Side (3:43)
(12) Beast of Burden (6:10)
(13) Waiting on a Friend (5:04)
(14) Let It Bleed (6:19)
(15) Mick banter (0:18)

Disc two (63:16):
(1) You Can't Always Get What You Want (8:01)
(2) Little T&A (3:34)
(3) Tumbling Dice (3:45)
(4) Band introductions (1:13)
(5) She's So Cold (3:43)
(6) All Down The Line (3:51)
(7) Mick banter (0:23)
(8) Hang Fire (2:18)
(9) Star Star (4:15)
(11) Miss You (6:14)
(12) Start Me Up (4:15)
(13) Honky Tonk Women (3:17)
(14) Brown Sugar (3:37)
(15) Jumping Jack Flash (7:12)
(16) Encore break (0:27)
(17) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (6:33)

Info and fingerprint file are included. Sorry, no artwork (perhaps someone could create some)

Note: There are no fades applied to this recording, so the disc splits above are merely a suggestion. You can split between CDs (assuming you burn to CD) anywhere you wish.

Comments:
JEMS is pleased to inaugurate a new series of master transfer releases from our longtime comrade, MS.

MS started taping in the late '70s, and while he was extremely active covering the Grateful Dead out west, he branched beyond as well, recording hundreds of shows over the last 35 years. His base rig was a pair of Nakamichi 700 microphones and a Sony D5 recorder. With his years of experience taping the Dead, he worked harder than many to find the sweet spot and get his mics up and away from the audience when possible. He doubled up several shows that JEMS also recorded, but often MS had the superior location and the better gear.

No. 4 in the series is another occasion where both JEMS and MS were in the house but his recording without question gets the nod.

While it only served as a concert venue a dozen or so times, the concrete-roofed Kingdome rightly deserved its reputation as offering some of the worst acoustics imaginable for rock concerts. Tapes made there, from McCartney in 1976 all the way through what I believe was the last show, U2 in 1997, all suffered from echo and reverberation as the sound bounced off the ceiling and walls. Believe me I know, because I saw several shows there including this night.

I should also disclose here that I am something of a later day Stones hater, a belief that stretched back as far as '81, where my memory suggested (and board tapes did too) that the sound on this tour was thin, thin, thin and featured the kind of sloppy sets that fans have come to accept as normal.

Imagine my surprise when I put this tape in to transfer and heard not only the best audience tape ever out of the Kingdome, but a kind of full, punchy sound I thought didn't exist for the Stones circa 1981. And, I'm not-ashamed to admit, the performance was downright spirited and the playing way better than I remembered. If anything, it makes recent tours look even worse to me, because Keith and Ron are actually playing all the parts in in all the songs, not merely the shell and letting our memories and Chuck Leavell fill in the rest.

So how did MS get such a good pull out of such a notoriously horrible venue? Mics on a pole my friends. The trusty Nakamichi 700s were mounted a pole "85 feet from the stage, center of the floor" according to M's position notes which he made on all his master cassettes. The best audience tape ever out of the Kingdome is admittedly a low bar, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest this might be one of the best 1981 tour audience tapes, period. Samples provided.

Thanks so much to MS for opening up his archive to JEMS. We look forward to presenting more of his fine work in the coming months. And thanks to our friend ademotte for again helping take this show over the finish line to get it into your hands.

BK for JEMS

______________________

Additional editorial comments from ademotte:

Initially, when BK asked for my help on this, I was a bit dubious about whether it would be worthwhile sourcing a new audience recording of a show for which a pretty good-quality, complete pro shot video circulates. I had some pretty low expectations about anything that came out of the Kingdome (or any "-Dome," for that matter).

However, after a few seconds of checking out this newly mastered recording, it became clear that this definitely deserves a broad airing. Not to layer too many superlatives on top of BK's review, but this recording is startlingly good, and a very enjoyable listen for even a casual Stones collector.

The recording starts out merely "really good," with some close-mic screams (including one particularly enthusiastic teen girl) as the audience gets settled. I suspect MS hoisted the mics sometime around the third or fourth song, because the audience interference becomes much less noticeable and the overall mix improves to something that doesn't seem possible capture on analog equipment in a dome.

In terms of performance, the band really seems "on" this night. As BK references above, the recording quality captures a lot of nuance you couldn't normally hear in a 1981 recording, and in general the band seems motivated and energetic throughout.

This one is a definite winner, if you are a fan of this era on any level. Many thanks to JEMS and MS for making this one available to the masses.

Mp3 samples are included in the comments.