Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
Syria Mosque
Pittsburgh (Oakland), PA USA
1986/01/24
vg+ (w. flashes of ex-) aud, 2nd(?)gen

Setlist & Fingerprints-

Track 01 - Introduction
Track 02 - Scuttle Buttin'
Track 03 - Say What!
Track 04 - Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love
Track 05 - Lookin' Out The Window
Track 06 - Look At Little Sister
Track 07 - Texas Flood
Track 08 - Voodoo Chile Slight Return
Track 09 - Cold Shot
Track 10 - Couldn't Stand The Weather
Track 11 - Life Without You
Track 12 - Love Struck Baby
Track 13 - Wham

Lineage -

SONY HF90 90 min. normal bias cassette tape, 2nd(?)gen >
JVC TD-W505 stereo double cassette deck >
AIWA XC-RW700 CD/CD recorder (created tracks here) >
SONY CD-R AUDIO 80 min. music CD-Rs >
Cakewalk Pyro 2005 (ripped CD-Rs to HD here) >
Cakewalk Pyro 2005 (retracked and edited wav files here) >
Trader's Little Helper (encoded wav to flac, level 8,
aligned on sector boundaries)

1 CD, 13 tracks TT: 79:06
I'm virtually positive that this is the entire concert.
Sound quality is vg+ with flashes of ex- IMHO, as always.
Your mileage may vary. 8(sometimes 9)/10.

I attended this concert but did NOT tape the show so this will be
relatively short & sweet. The house was packed and Jimmie Vaughan
opened for his little brother Stevie Ray. While Jimmie WAS entertaining,
he was never the powerhouse that SRV was and I hate to say it but I
think that most people were there to see Stevie Ray. After a solid
performance by JV and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie came on and
the crowd went wild. You can hear what an electrifying performance
Stevie put on. Sadly (IIRC), SRV played Pittsburgh only twice more
(1989, A.J. Palumbo Center w/ Jeff Beck & 1990, Star Lake Amphitheater w/
Joe Cocker (I was at that show)) before his life was snuffed out in
that helicopter crash on the slopes of Alpine Valley Music Theater
in East Troy, Wisconsin. What a terrible loss....Herewith, some
observations about the recording.

I either bought this tape at a Pittsburgh, PA record show about 2 or
3 years after the concert for ~ $ 10 US or got it in a trade. I don't
remember which. I was told that the tape was 2nd gen. The other SRV tape
that I upped about 5 months ago which was from the same venue is a bit
better sounding but I'm sure you'll like this one too. I went to plenty
of shows at the Syria Mosque and it sounds to me like the taper was
someplace in the first balcony. The tape is pretty clear but several
times the recording becomes muffled as if the taper were hiding the
microphone from security. Security consisted of little old men wearing
coats and ties who would actually write you a ticket if you got caught
smoking tobacco. If you were caught smoking marijuana, there was a police
presence and your fate was much more unpleasant. Tapers had little to fear
from the little old men. We used to walk in with recorders and big smiles
on our faces and walk out two hours later with sweet recordings and big
smiles on our faces. I knew of this one taping psycho who would actually
stand up in the balcony with his arms outstretched, a mic in each hand like
Jesus Christ crucified, thinking that his recordings would turn out excellently
in superb stereo. This, of course, got him plenty of attention from the
little old security guys who would chase him through the venue during the
show to confiscate his equipment. Fucking hilarious ! Some of his recordings
turned out very well and some sounded pretty shitty. The syria Mosque was
almost acoustically perfect. It was demolished around 1992 or 1993 by the
University of Pittsburgh to make way for a parking lot. What a bunch of
corporate assholes...There is a little bit of talking around the taper but
nothing too alarming. Stevie's stage banter is fairly hard to understand but
if you listen intently you can usually decipher what he's saying. I converted
the tape to CD at a fairly high recording volume but there's no distortion
and no hiss to speak of. The signal is fairly strong. Clear instruments, vocals
are usually pretty clear. The setlist is great and so is the performance.
This is ALL I know about the history of this tape. If you have a better
sounding copy of this concert, by all means post it ! I'm just trying to pay
back the great trading community here. Thank God for the mighty Dime !!!
That's about all that I have to say so let's wrap this up...

Finally, please, no buy, no sell, no mp3. Please seed this as long as you can.
Please trade this freely as this show is probably uncirculated and IMHO pretty
rare. This concert will be a welcome addition to any SRV fan's collection.
If you want to attempt to remaster this show, go right ahead. Just post your
results here and I hope that you know what the hell you're doing. I'll post a
sound sample to help you decide if you want this. If you own the 1989 SRV show
with Jeff Beck, PLEASE do Uncle Jojo a large favor and upload it on Dime. If you
don't know how, mail it to me & I'll upload it. I KNOW that one of you little
fuckers in the Dime congregation has it so please give it up. I've been looking
for that show for almost 20 years now & have never nailed it down. Well, that's
all that I have so......enjoy the show...

jojogunne 9/11/2009
Do you remember what happened 8 years ago today ?