Suzanne Vega live at Amsterdam Melkweg (The Max), The Netherlands,
5th November 2010 (2010-11-05).


RECORDING:

Type: Audience (master), recorded front of house, 15 metres back from
the left PA stack.
Source: 2 x DPA 4060 mics -> DPA MMA6000 amplifier (100 Hz low-cut filter) ->
Edirol R-09HR recorder (44.1 kHz/16 bit WAV)
Lineage: Audacity 1.3.12-beta (tracks split, fades added ->
FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]


SET LIST:

01. -- introduction --
02. Marlene On The Wall
03. When Heroes Go Down
04. Caramel
05. Small Blue Thing
06. Frank & Ava
07. New York Is A Woman
08. Gypsy
09. Ironbound/Fancy Poultry
10. Tombstone
11. Blood Makes Noise
12. The Man Who Played God
13. The Queen And The Soldier
14. Rock In This Pocket (Song Of David)
15. Some Journey
16. Luka
17. Tom's Diner
18. -- encore break --
19. The Instant Of The Hour After
20. In Liverpool
21. Rosemary
22. -- encore break --
23. Calypso
24. Solitude Standing

Running time: 95m 20s

NOTES:

My first chance to see Suzanne Vega was at London's Piccadilly Theatre in
April of 1986, but I didn't go. A friend of mine did, but the demure 26 year
old Vega must have just seemed too middle-of-the-road to me at the time.

Sometimes, it takes time to learn to appreciate something. I've always liked
Vega's best known songs, such as 'Marlene On The Wall' and 'Luka', but it's
a relatively recent development that has seen me listening to her later
material.

Most recently, I've particularly enjoyed the reworked songs on the two volumes
of 'Close-Up' that have been released so far, so when I heard Suzanne was
coming to Amsterdam, the time seemed ripe to check her out live.

The beauty of attending a performance by an artist in whom one is only
casually interested is that the potential to be blown away is that much
greater than when one has seen the artist many times. This is because one
has fewer expectations and is therefore more likely to have them met or
surpassed.

This was definitely the case tonight, with Suzanne putting on a show that
ranks as one of the best I've attended so far this year.

Suzanne was actually supposed to be playing in the Rabozaal, but had been
moved to the smaller Max. In her place, Tom Jones was now playing a sold-out
show in the Rabozaal and his fans were queueing down the street when I arrived
in the pouring rain of autumnal Amsterdam.

The doors of the Melkweg proper were still closed and sported a notice that
Suzanne Vega would start later than advertised, due to her having been stuck
in traffic and arriving late for her soundcheck, which was presumably still
taking place inside.

Eventually, the doors opened and the rain-sodden crowd filed inside. Rows of
foldaway chairs filled the hall and the front rows already sported a bum on
every seat. I had to hasten to find a still empty seat at the end of a row
within a good distance of the PA.

There was no support act. Suzanne came on at 20:35, accompanied by guitarist
Gerry Leonard, who has featured on some of her albums.

They launched straight into 'Marlene On The Wall' and I was immediately
impressed by the clarity of the sound. There was absolutely no hint of a
rushed soundcheck. In fact, rarely does a live performance sound as good as
this.

The problems that had dogged my last couple of recordings were thankfully
consigned to the past just a couple of hours before tonight's gig, when I
traced the fluctuating left channel issue to a faulty cable connecting the
pre-amp to the recorder. Armed with a brand new cable from the very helpful
Noyz Boyz, I was confident that tonight's recording would turn out consistent.

With crystal-clear sound from the PA, a seated venue and a quiet and
respectful audience, everything was in place for an exemplary recording; and
that seems to be what I came away with.

Suzanne played for a good hour and a half, ably supported by the considerable
guitar skills of Gerry Leonard. It was a feast for both eyes and ears. Suzanne
was in a convivial mood, laughing and joking with the audience throughout the
evening. Two encores brought the total for the evening to 21 songs.

As usual, I'm releasing this recording free of any well-intentioned tampering.
You'll therefore hear the concert exactly the way I did. The sound is
excellent with some barely audible clipping at the very loudest moments. This
was pretty much unavoidable, given the wide dynamic range of the performance.

Enjoy!