Queen
East Rutherford, NJ, USA
Brendan Byrne Arena
August 9, 1982
This is a fun little project I took on, and I'm relieved that it's done ! I decided to create a matrix of two sources of this unique piece of Queen history.
The tech stuff:
A matrix is where two sources play at the same time. It's common for people to create this kind of thing when you have a dry soundboard recording and a room mic, where one complements the other. But in bootleg land the technique can be used to great effect as well, and in this case it's two mono recordings that were taped on opposite sides of the arena. When I posted source 2 of this show last year and noticed that Freddie Mercury's echoes in Now I'm Here were different on the two audience sources, our good pal Brian's Wig pointed out the fact that a matrix may well be a good idea.
To do this for an entire show would take eons (and I've seen people do it), as it is an incredibly arduous task to take two analog sources that play at different speeds and get them to play at the exact same time without phasing ! So I elected to do this just to Brian May's solo spot from this night, as this is the famous gig where he destroyed his John Birch copy.
As is so common with old tapes, they often have their little flaws. Source 2 is fine for this segment of the show, but both copies of source 1 have cuts in different parts of the guitar solo. At 5:25 I had to cross-fade the two together and EQ the latter segment to ensure the sound quality remained consistent.
Since May's ping-pong delay is the same effect as Mercury's delay in Now I'm Here, combining the two audience tapes together that were taped on opposite sides of the arena (using one in each channel) has a simple result - glorious stereo sound.
The show:
Brian was having issues with his Red Special on this night. He starts Get Down Make Love (which segues into his solo spot) with his John Birch copy. A bit over three minutes into his solo spot he breaks a string, and soon turns off the analog delays, trying to make the best of the situation for a brief while (the other five strings go out of tune when you break a string on an electric guitar with floating tremolo, so one must hold the whammy bar down in a specific place for the guitar to remain in tune - not an easy task!). But he ultimately gives up, and takes the guitar off and hurls it over his stack of Vox cabinets (the one and only time he did this), snapping it in half [heard precisely at 5:25].
Some audience members watch in bewilderment as they have witnessed the normally gentle and soft-spoken May lash out in frustration. Others cheer the 'coolness' factor. A roadie, visible to the audience, picks up a piece of the Birch guitar and holds it up for a brief moment. The beleagured axeman then switches to his Gibson Flying V, and he and Roger Taylor (barely) finish the segment, but not before that guitar, too, goes out of tune.
Thanks to both tapers for making this possible.
I've also included a bunch of photos:
-a few shots from this night
-the Flying V in action (and sitting at stage left) at the Oakland and Toronto shows
-Brian playing the Birch copy a few nights earlier in Detroit
-the pieces of the Birch copy that Brian posted onto his website in the early 2000s
source 1 (right channel, until 5:25)
AUD > ? > CDR (x) > WAV (GoldWave speed correction) > FLAC level 8
source 1 (right channel, from 5:25 onward)
"Life Is Real" (Gypsy Eye) silvers > WAV (GoldWave speed correction, EQ) > FLAC level 8
source 2 (left channel)
AUD > Cassette (x) > CDR (0) > WAV (GoldWave speed correction) > FLAC level 8
More info: link
And here are the two raw sources from this show: /queenzone/1534465.html /queenzone/1513974.html
01) guitar solo link
Enjoy, keep it lossless, and don't bootleg !
