Can you please stop referring to him as David M?! - that's my first name and surname initial (Helen , the witch, knows my true ID) and I really don't want people to even think I'm linked to the idiot.

Cheers.

Brilliant reply and I'm great thanks.

In taking over at Man U I think the continuity factor was all-important - I'm as miserable as the last incumbent. We will stay up because, unfortunately, rendezvous' beloved Sunderland are cursed

Judge ye for yourselves. The opening night of the tour, in Salford, is now on Dime:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=472438

Many thanks for this recording - excellent sound quality. I've only had time to listen to the first set so far and on that basis, I can't see how anyone could find cause for complaint with some really good stuff - this performance of Carrickfergus was gorgeous.
Many, many thanks for sharing this.

You're very welcome, Bob.

Without wanting to reignite the slanging match, you can count me amongst the disappointed. I felt Bryan's performance lacked energy, and the gig didn't really come to life until "Love Is the Drug".

One can take umbrage with the tone of David M's blog review, but I lean toward his point of view more than that of the other, gushing reviews linked here. I cannot comment on shows I did not attend, but the opening night in Salford was far from a five-star performance, IMO.

I also found the sound in the Lowry poorly mixed on the night. Bryan's vocals had an odd, hollow tone, which is accurately captured in my recording. Given my position in the hall, and the equipment I use, this should have been a stunning capture. By my own standards, I would rate it as very good.

Well I'm a huge Dylan fan with hundreds of his shows in sound that varies from just tolerable to what I would call stunning - if you only rate this as "very good" I look forward to hearing one of your "stunning" captures one day! I can hear what you mean about BF's vocals having a hollow quality and this can only be due to the sound quality in the venue- your capture of the instrumental balance strikes me as exceptionally good.
Thanks again.

Big Dylan fan here, also. I have pretty much every tape in circulation up to and including the 1984 tour; beyond that, my interest drops considerably, although the NET has its highs as well as its lows.

Taping equipment has improved greatly over the years, so it's unfair to compare a recent recording with one from, say, the 1970s. Position and technique also play a big part in shaping the end result. But I digress.

Bryan's vocals on that first night at The Lowry were poorly mixed, IMO. Nothing I, or anyone except the FoH sound engineer, could do about that. It's something I immediately noticed, and it didn't improve one iota during the course of the evening, to the point where I began to wonder if it were an aesthetic decision.

I, like many tapers, tend to be hypercritical of my own work. There's no such thing as a perfect live recording, just an ever-increasing grey scale toward the unachievable. Technically (position, stillness, input levels, crowd noise, etc.), there were no problems at The Lowry. The raw master is incredibly clean. But the recording, as well as the performance, just doesn't pop for me as it might.

I've made many recordings that I consider better. If you want to hear a recent one, check out my David Byrne & St. Vincent capture from Birmingham Symphony Hall:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=464658

That's one that I will continue to go back to, time and again, as one of my personal favourite recordings, as well as a superb performance.

Thanks for your feedback. You are too kind.