Welcome - About Live and Loud!

Live and Loud! began as a fortnightly internet radio show in 2012 taking old unreleased live concert recordings I could find and working to repair and improve them - fixing tape hiss, noise, tape drop out, clicks, speed variations, defects - before improving the sound quality by EQing the sound to bring out the instruments as clearly as possible. These are now made directly available to download for free to reach as many fans of the music as possible.

Depending on the quality of the original recording, these can often be made to sound almost like commercial recordings - but of course I can't guarantee that for every show. What I can guarantee is it will sound far better than the original files available which have been floating around the internet and on bootleg recordings for many years.

Almost all are either "soundboard" recordings (taken directly from the mixing desk used at the gig on the night) or old FM radio recordings. A few gigs, if they are of special historical importance, make an appearance even if they were recorded from the audience - these can also be made to sound better than ever.

Do your ears a favour and listen on headphones or good speakers to get most benefit - laptop speakers will always sound pretty poor by comparison.

All shows still available are listed, including a link to download the remastered show for free. If you want to support the site with a small donation, you can receive the shows as either separate MP3s or FLACs (your choice) - head over to the Rewards for Donations page and see how you can get a lot for very little!

If you want to email me, an email link is in my profile in a link in the side panel.

And finally... These are great fun to listen to but DO NOT replace original releases - support these artists and buy their music.
There is nothing you can go and buy in a regular record store here. If a gig is made available as a regular release, then it will be removed (as a couple have been already).

Sunday 18 March 2018

Show 120 - Elvis Costello - Winterland San Francisco - 7 June 1978


An excellent gig from the last night of their USA tour in the middle of 1978, originally recorded from a pre broadcast master so was a pretty clear recording (for once), albeit rather bass light and middly. So for the most part, this just involved 30 band EQ to remove a slightly harsh top end and to bring back the lower end, which was a bit lacking (you could barely hear the bass at times) and to give the instruments and vocals more of their own space in the mix.

What's left is a really good and clear record of an energetic performance on the last night of the US tour. 

2020 update: While preparing this old show as separate files for a donator to the site, I found I could now improve the sound quality further, over what I’d originally done to the recording several years ago. You can now download this new version (as of 2020) HERE as 1 new 320kbps MP3 file.

Or, if you would like to support the site with a very small donation and in return receive separate, properly tagged MP3s, or lossless files in FLAC format, head on over to the Donations tab to see how you can do this.

Either way - enjoy the show!

Setlist
Mystery Dance
Lip Service
The Angels Want To Wear My Red Shoes
Goon Squad
Less Than Zero
Blame It On Cain
The Beat
This Year's Girl
I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea
Pump It Up
Radio Radio
Lipstick Vogue
Watching The Detectives
Party Girl
You Belong To Me
I'm Not Angry

Friday 2 March 2018

Radio Prog 4: Altered Images: John Peel Session Recorded 7 October 1980


Live and Loud! Radio is an occasional series of free downloads, starting January 2017. Radio sessions that never got an official release, sympathetically repaired and remastered and then released onto the internet, all for free.

No theme tune, no intro from me - just the original session, repaired and remastered and available in a downloadable zip file containing each separate track.

Live and Loud! Radio Prog 4:  Altered Images: John Peel Session Recorded 7 October 1980

Tracklisting
1. Beckoning Strings
2. Legionnaire (Instrumental)
3. Insects
4. Dead Pop Stars

You can get it by clicking HERE.

Original files hiss reduction applied to reduce - but not eliminate completely - tape noise. Each track then had 30 band EQ to remove mid range muddiness and top end harshness. Bass was made a little clearer and more audible, while upper frequencies were toned down, creating more "space" in the tracks between the instruments. Finally, each track was faded out to soften the sharp cut off to each track on the original recording.