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).

Thursday 26 April 2018

Show 123 - Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Live At Pinkpop Festival, Netherlands - 30 May 1977


This is a great set by a very tight live band - there really is some incredible guitar work on this. This is the whole set, apparently - I did see a report online that the crowd bottled the stage when the band refused to come back on for an encore...although maybe after a 9 minute Mighty Quinn, they were all played out, who knows...

Anyway, I think the recording originally must have been from an FM broadcast and possibly some sound restoration had been done on it at some point as it had been faded in and out already. That said, there wasn't much bass end at all and the high end was far too high - the hi hats were louder than almost everything else and hurt the ears.

A few hours with the 30 band EQ have improved things quite a bit. What you hear now is a far clearer and better record of this gig - smoother top end and a far more solid bass end; Chris Slade's drumming is really audible now. I think this remaster really does the performance justice; I hope you agree!

You can download this improved recording for free here as one 320 kbps MP3 file.

Or, if you would like to support the site with a very small donation towards storage subscription and internet costs, in return you can have the show as separate, properly tagged MP3s, or even as 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
The Road to Babylon
Spirit in the Night
Father of Day, Father of Night
Captain Bobby Stout
Glorified Magnified
Blinded by the Light
Mighty Quinn

Friday 20 April 2018

Show 122 - Duran Duran - Live At Wembley Arena, London - 23 December 1988


This was (as you will hear) originally a live FM broadcast on London's Capital Radio, recorded by a listener at the time.A digital copy was sent to me last year by a listener (and donater - thank you again!) to Live and Loud!. It was very thin and flat sounding, with little bass and not a lot of upper end either. The sound quality was variable in places too but overall - a great candidate for the Live and Loud! treatment.

While there was only so much I could do with the variances in sound quality, the whole recording has benefited a lot from hiss reduction and a lot of time spent with the old 30 band EQ.  What you hear now is a far clearer and better record of this gig, I think.

The radio presenter talks through the whole show unfortunately (at the beginning, at the end of songs, at the end of the show) - and rather than try to edit all that out (which would mean losing chunks of music!) I've left it in; So for once, it really is like listening to the radio back in 1988, for this one! And with it being from 23 December, Xmas is only 2 days away, too. Bonus ;) Incidentally, the radio guy does mention Wild Boys being played before Drug - it wasn't in the recording I was given (guessing it was where the tape needed turning over, was incomplete and someone deleted it).

You can download this improved recording for free here as one 320 kbps MP3 file.

Or, if you would like to support the site with a very small donation towards storage and internet costs, in return you can have the show as separate, properly tagged MP3s, or even 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
God (London)
Big Thing
I Don't Want Your Love
Hungry Like the Wolf
Do You Believe in Shame?
All She Wants Is / Planet Earth
Winter Marches On
Palomino
Too Late Marlene
Girls on Film
Notorious
Skin Trade
Is There Something I Should Know?

Drug
Save A Prayer
The Reflex
Rio

Friday 6 April 2018

Show 121 - Joe Jackson - Live At Old Waldorf, San Francisco - 14 May 1979


A lively set from part way through their USA tour following the release of the debut album, Look Sharp!, featuring plenty of chat in between songs. The set features a few covers, alongside most of Look Sharp! and some songs that would feature on the soon-to-be-released 2nd album, I'm The Man.

This was a fairly clear recording of an FM broadcast, albeit rather harsh on the ears at times. So for the most part, this just involved 30 band EQ to remove the harshness and restore some balance to the bottom end, and to give the instruments and vocals more of their own space in the mix.

You can download this improved recording for free here as one 320 kbps 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 even 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
One More Time
Pretty Girls
Look Sharp!
Friday
Sunday Papers
Baby Stick Around
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Fools in Love
Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries
Kinda Kute
Happy Loving Couples
I'm the Man
Throw It Away
Got the Time

Encore
Pressure Drop
Ain't That A Shame