Salzburg show

[Karsten]

Hi there,

grabbed a few hours sleep after last nights show in Salzburg/Austria..The venue was sold out, about 350 persons made it one hell of a night.They couldn't bring the eagle in because of the small size of the Rockhouse.I was on the balcony above people and when the air conditioning stopped doing what it should early in the set you could feel the temperature rising with every minute...

Pretty much the same setlist they perfomed the night before...Minor changes (no "Dallas 1.pm" this time and no "Dogs of War" (damn!!!L-O-V-E that song!!No other song makes my neck hurt for the following 3 days after a show...it still hurts from the Kaufbeuren show, no kiddin'), instead they played "The thin red Line"). Ended the show after 2h10minwith "Strong arm of the law" with an extra long Nibbs solo intro.

Spoke to Doug about the riffs and song parts they performed the night before during the soundcheck...he said that they are working on 4-5 songs these days which are pretty well underway..

One more thing:Biff was sort of upset with the bootlegs that pop up these days with the again growing popularity of our boys.They no longer want to stand idly by and see how royalities, that belong to them go in other peoples pockets. Please don't buy any of these illegitimate releases.Much like OD tries to get their slice of the pie that isn't theirs, these persons try to make money off our boys...it's their songs, their intellectual property and they sweat their asses off every night , travel constantly all over the continent and really DELIVER every night so all fruits are entitled to them and to noone else...just my $0.02

If you see any bootlegs or any other illegal items being sold or offered, please drop me a note and I'll forward the info.

Tried to talk Biff into releasing maybe an extra live bonus CD with the next album or at least adding some live tracks with a future release..much like they did on CD II of the HMT release...Might be a good means to face the bootleg problem.

Next stop:Monza/Italy "GODS OF METAL" festival june 8th....

Best from Munich, Germany

Karsten

 

[InnocentGreed]

"One more thing:Biff was sort of upset with the bootlegs that pop up these days with the again growing popularity of our boys.
If you see any bootlegs or any other illegal items being sold or offered, please drop me a note and I'll forward the info."

Thats interesting. Are there really any manufactured live bootlegs being released ? I havent seen anything since the 80s really. I'd be interested in knowing whats out there.
So does this mean they no longer turn a blind eye to the tapers in the shows Karsten? ;-)

 

[DanTheSwede]

Actually, for the first time since, i don´t know when, there is an "original" (not cd-r) bootleg out on the market. Called heavy metal Tour 2003,live from Oberhausen germany in January i think. A very cool double digipack package. Saw it on eBay. But my bid was withdrawn by eBay and the item dissappeared..... I fully understand all bands against this type of bootlegs! Theese are made by non-fans, just to make money on the band!

Then there are REAL hardcore fans that just want to document their favourite bands appearence for their own use (and perhaps common fans). I was too young in the early 80´s, so how would i have known how the gig at Donington 1982, and for example Hammersmith 79/80/81/82/84/85/86 was, if it hadn´t been taped by a real fan in the audience..... I can´t thank them enough.....

 

[Karsten]

There's a double CD boot out from the show they performed in Neu Isenburg january 22nd.They are after the persons that released this thing. Talked to Biff about this and he was very aware of this boot CD. Listening to the boot it doesn't look like this was done by a fellow taper but recorded by the house system installation.From what I heard (I was never in Neu Isenburg ) they have a few mics installed inside the Hugenotten Halle and apparently these mics were used to record the show.From what I understood Saxon will put their lawyers on this..

Although this is no official word by the band or the management on the taping issue, I think they still practice "No see, no enforce"...if you're a fan and if you're in it for the music you'll surely don't have to fear much here, but if you're in it for the money Saxon will no longer stand idly by and see profits go in other persons pockets.

I think they are totally right here to go after such music piracy. When I made my doctoral degree from 99-03 on high temperature fuel cells I found out a few things and turned some of them into patents .
For more than 3 years I spent virtually every weekend, every holiday in my lab and my office and often worked 100h a week.I'd hate to see someone violating my patent rights, walk off with my intellectual property and maybe make a fortune out of it...I think it's the same thing here with Saxon and their music so I think their point of view on this is exactly right.

I tape for about 10 years now.In the beginning I stealthtaped all shows and only for the bands that were known to be cool about fans taping their gigs I used my big rig and taped openly.But in the past few years I found out that many bands begin to notice the positive side of archiving their music and more and more bands change their attitude here.Up to now I had several of my tapes being used for legal releases by bands, some of those bands carry a big name.Of course you have to make perfectly clear that you have no wrong intentions and don't plan to do anything illegal with the recordings.Although this is not exactly a cheap hobby (my big rig with Neumann mics, high end preamp, A/D converter and several DATs is about 5-6 thousand Euros, add costs for fuel, tickets, hotels,...) I never took a single penny nor accepted any offer for any of my tapes.If the band I tape is cool about circulating the recordings among fans on a no profit basis (e.g. a non profit tree) or trading the shows I'll happyly share the music....if not, the tapes sit on my shelf and will eventually collect dust...

My point is: Support the artist and buy their legal releases...do not burn CDs or copy legal releases of artists you like since you harm the artists that need the money for paying the rent, pay staff, studio time, equipment...

Karsten

 

[InnocentGreed]

WOW ! So theres 2 different manufactured boots. Very cool (for the fans).
Thing with boots is they are a "double edged sword" great for fans,but not so great for the band.....but by the very fact that they are being made,it shows the bands popularity is getting bigger : bluntly,they wouldnt make them if they didnt think they would sell. So its a good & a bad sign

I totally agree with recording for uncommercial reasons. Trading is the way. Saxon have always had a decent attitude towards these things,but, i can also understand how it will annoy them with loss of royalties etc (I'm sure the whole O/D debacle has rightly strengthened their resolve in not letting anyone screw them around).

Interesting they think its inhouse mikes that were used. If that was the case,couldn't they just tap into the desk feed somewhere? Fuck,either way, its real bad if its the VENUE thats doing this stuff.

 

[Karsten]

You are right...Had the chance to speak to Neil Young about this taping thing and he said something like " You shouldn't be worried too much if being taped, you should be more worried when you no longer get taped".

I think the boot Dan was talking about is the same boot I meant.It's called "Heavy Metal Thunder Tour 2003" and was recorded in Neu Isenburg january 22nd.They were being auctioned off on german ebay with prices ranging from €20-€30.I wrote to ebay.de, listed the auctions for the boots by their URLs and asked these auctions to be stopped...for days nothing happened but suddenly apparently ebay acted and stopped all auctions.

Best,

Karsten

 

[Karsten]

Just for the record, here's the setlist from the show at the Rockhaouse in Salzburg/Austria 4-4-2003:

Intro
Heavy Metal Thunder
Killing Ground
Still Fit To Boogie
Court Of The Crimson King
The Thin Red Line
Motorcycle Man
Cut Out The Disease
Broken Heroes
20.000 Feet
Metalhead
Solid Ball Of Rock
Battle Cry (with Fritz Drum Solo)
The Eagle Has Landed
Requiem(We Will Remember)
Crusader
Princess Of The Night
--------------------
Denim And Leather
Wheels Of Steel
--------------------
Strong Arm Of The Law (with extra long Nibbs intro)

Best,

Karsten

 

[Crusader]

Do you usually tape every gig you're on?

 

[Karsten]

Yes...

I go to about 25-30 gigs a year and the last gig I have been to where I left my gear at home was 1996 I think....

Best,

Karsten