19.03.1985
USA, Minneapolis, Auditorium
Minneapolis [SonArc] AUD [24/48 CS]
very good Aud.

Disc 1: [42:18]
01. Intro / 4th Of July / Comments [0:52]
02. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock [4:51]
03. I Will Follow [3:44]
04. Seconds [4:16]
05. MLK [2:49]
06. The Unforgettable Fire [4:46]
07. Wire [4:10]
08. Sunday Bloody Sunday [4:49]
09. The Electric Co.[6:46]
10. Interim / Comments [0:48]
11. A Sort Of Homecoming [4:24]

Disc 2: [46:44]
01. Interim / Comments / Bad Intro [0:44]
02. Bad [10:28]
03. October [2:20]
04. New Year´s Day [4:50]
05. Interim / Comments [0:13]
06. Pride (In The Name Of Love) [4:49]
07. Encore / Applause [0:29]
08. Knockin' On Heaven's Door [Bob Dylan] [9:06]
09. Gloria [4:47]
10. Interim / Comments [0:33]
11. 40 [8:20]

[The song "40" includes an a capella reprise by the audience - after the band had left the stage - even singing over the outdo/set music played thru the P.A., which was approximately 20 seconds of "Theme From Harry's Game", by the Irish group Clannad.]

digitizing notes [provided by J-dot; 2016]:

source [1985]: 1st-gen. copy of master cassette [Sony UCX 90 Type II]

lineage [1985]:
unknown portable stereo recording cassette deck/mic > master cassette > 1st-gen. copy of master cassette [fade-in/out applied during transfer; *possibly* some minor EQ (?); level adjustment (applause)] >

lineage [2016]:
Nakamichi LX3 cassette deck [Azimuth adjustment applied to playback head] > Edirol R-04 [RCA/analog in; 24-bit/48kHz transfer (.wav)] > PC [via USB] > CD Wave Editor [Version 1.98; Windows Build Number: 0000.23F0] (sector boundary tracking) > Trader's Little Helper [Version 2.7.0; Build 172] (Level 8 .wav > .flac conversion)

[additional notes from J. ; 2016]:
The source for this version was made from my own re-compiled 1st-gen master tapes, shortly after the concert. As with so many live tapes I made back then, I would often consolidate segments from multiple cassettes onto one tape, applying fade-ins, fade-outs, and occasionally, some equalization in the process. If only I still had those original tapes!

It was originally shared in the ‘80s, via old-school tape-trading circles, and had never previously been digitized. After listening to the "Mr. Smith" version, I was prompted to do so in 2016, as I was pretty sure there were a few differences, sonic and possibly otherwise. Also, I had recently acquired some new Nakamichi decks, and wanted to compare them, so this tape was a test between two XL3 decks, a DR-1, and a DR-3. Individual Azimuth-optimized transfers were made from each deck, and the resulting waveforms were analyzed. In this instance, one of the two XL3 decks seemed to provide the most accurate reproduction, which is contained in this fileset. 

As it turns out, the sound quality of both this recording and the “Mr. Smith” version is fairly comparable to each other, give or take varying degrees of whatever unique sonics each taper was able to capture from their different positions in the venue*.

[*The J-dot tape was recorded from the rear balcony; the perspective that the second Placeography photo (URL below) was taken from is pretty close to our seats, only several feet to the right, and a few rows even further back. Ouch.]

The low end on this version verges on being nearly overbearing (yet not distorted) at times, combined with a sharper high-end (not more clarity, just crisper frequencies).

By comparison, the "Mr. Smith" version has a generally even/flat frequency response, favoring neither the lows or highs, yet it still seems as balanced as what I recall hearing in the room that night in 1985.

Neither version has a really balanced mid-range, which is what it really needs, but both sources are a pretty fair representation of what that venue sounded like, which is exactly what it was - a big box-shaped convention center. I saw a lot of great shows in that building, but it wasn't the greatest sounding room.

The biggest difference between the two recordings is that the "Mr. Smith" version misses the walk-on intro, where the band was playing along to "4th Of July", and Bono greets the crowd, before they launch into "11 O'Clock Tick Tock", and "Bad" is cut in the middle, due to a tape flip.

As is often the case when listening back to these old cassettes, an old memory or two will surface, and there were a few on this particular evening:

1) When my companion and I first entered the building, we had to navigate our way around a long hallway that circled the inner venue, and at one point we passed a couple sitting on the floor; one of whom was heard to say as we passed, “Oh look , even some of the old folks are coming out tonight to see U2!”. Mind you, I was barely 27 at the time, and my partner was nearly the same. Hm.

2) When we found our nosebleed seats in the back forty of the venue, we groaned in unison, as all we could hear in our seats were the projected groans from everyone else around us. In retrospect, it actually seems quite amazing that this recording captured as much of the actual band as you will hear in the recording. Trust me, that’s not at all what we heard from our vantage point. Oh, and asking your neighbor at a rock concert to please refrain from screaming relentlessly in your ear so you can hear the band? It doesn’t work.

3) “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” featured, if memory serves, no less than three different audience members who responded enthusiastically to Bono’s invitation to come on stage and strum the chords on his acoustic guitar. As it turned out, none of them actually *could* play those three chords, which is why you will hear Bono repeatedly ask if anyone *else* wants to come on stage and play the song. I’m sure that my companion and I weren’t the only other musicians in the audience that night, but we were too far away, and none of the others who may have been in attendance made their presence known.

[additional notes: 01001010]:
I’m happy to be able to present another *new* entry from the Sonic Archives collection, which I stopped doing a while ago, after I got caught up in some awkward online exchanges with some critics. :blush:

J. thought the sound quality of his tape might be a nice complement to the “Mr. Smith” version I posted recently, so he located his own recording from that night, and said it would be alright to post it on DIME. It’s a nice one, please enjoy!

The “Sonic Archives” Tapes.
Made available to the world through the collaborative resources of these people:
Recorded [1985]; digitized [2016]; technical notes [2016] by J. Free [sonicarchives.com]
Uploaded in 2016, and additional notes: 01001010

Dimeadozen.org: Torrent 579650 (by 01001010)