Best Bootleg Recordings? Add Yours.

[cpriddims]

There are many out there. Here are three of about 10 that I have. I have ranked them with a few comments.

1) Tokyo Japan 1981 (Feb?)- Soundboard. Other than Stew's echo effect sputtering out the soundboard feed to the recorder somehow during Deathwish intro, it's the best one I own. Great performance. Great sound quality. Plus vocal interaction between Sting and Stewart esp when Sting sings ad-libbed lines aimed at the concert promoter to close the door behind the stage because it was freezing on stage.

2) Hatfield Polytech on vinyl. Sound board. The boys are raw and still have something to prove to the world. The energy is good. Not the cleanest performance but the true grit of it satisfies the appetite.

3) Rockpalast Germany TV show on DVD. Live concert taped for tv broadcast. $10 at a local Atlanta record convention and it looks and sounds AMAZING. Stew rips out an amazing lick during "Bed's Too Big."

[cpriddims]

BTW I am talking about the old days Police, not the tour 2007-08. Thanks.

[Kalypso]

2) Hatfield Polytech on vinyl. Sound board. The boys are raw and still have something to prove to the world. The energy is good. Not the cleanest performance but the true grit of it satisfies the appetite.

FOREVER

[secretjourneyranch]

1. San Diego 1979
2. Houston 1982
3. Melbourne 1981

My most listened to CDs!

Here is San Diego which I hounded the DJ for and after 3 months he gave me this PreFM version. I put it on DIME about 4 months ago:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/541451/ ... e_Roxy.zip

Here is the Melbourne show. My first boot in 1986. It was jaw dropping to hear Stewart play the high hat on Shadows In The Rain. I was hooked:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/1188948 ... l_Hall.zip


I will upload the Houston show soon!


enjoy my faves (if you dont already have them...

[policerule]

pairis 1980 - italian import

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9066499@N0 ... otostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9066499@N0 ... otostream/


unfortunately, i have more bootlegs of sting than i do of the police, but i'm working to correct the problem. there used to be a local store that sold these, but they got closed down before i could take advantage

[TheEqualizer]

The Police at Budokan is also my favorite. I would highly recommend that to anyome. The performance might not be as good as the Frejus one, but it is pretty close and the sound quality is lightyears better than the boot I have for Frejus.

I also somewhat recently got the second night of the Detroit shows from the Synch tour (7/29/83). I had always been hesitant to bother with getting Synch boots since there was an official release from this tour. But I think the Detroit show was much better than the Atlanta show. It also contains such gems as Demolition Man, Murder by Numbers, and ELTSDIM. The version of ELTSDIM is SOOOOOOOOOOO good it makes me wonder why they did not play it more ofter (other than the obvious reasons regarding Stew and Andy's feelings towards the song).

OT- This reminds me of the Who's Maximum R&B DVD. There is a part of the DVD where they ask each member of the band what their favorite and least favorite songs to play in concert are. (not sure the exact order the film shows this, but the following is the spirit of the segment) Roger says he loves to play Sister Disco. Then it goes to Pete (different date), who says how he hates to play Sister Disco, as during that song Roger always comes cover like they are buddy buddy and he always thought that was so fake. Pete than says his favorite song to play live is Magic Bus, saying its a groove thing. Cut to John, who then says how much he hates to play Magic Bus. Six minutes of nothing but A (I think it's A, right?). Just goes to show.

Back on topic, the Melbourne show is also one of the first Police boots I ever got (along with a Gateshead cassette and the Hatfield show). The boot was only a partial show and the last song on the disc was No Time This Time. Only recently have I discovered that this is actually a track from a different show from a different tour all together.

Which leads me to the 2/15/80 Tokyo show. I like this show quite a bit for some reason (ends with No Time This Time), though I never was too fond of the version of Visions of the Night.

Finally, my most recent boot is a partial concert from 2/20/84 in Milwaukee. Some KIND KIND soul gave this to me. This was my first concert EVER so it holds a very special place in my heart. Until I heard this, I had no recollection that they had played Murder by Numbers at this show. Kind of late in the tour to have played that song, isn't it? Anyways, the sound quality is really good, and again I think a better performance than the Atlanta show.

Hard to say which bootlegs I like better than others. Like saying you like one of your kids better than the other. But if you twisted my arm, I'd have to say Budokan.

[TheEqualizer]

By the way, I'm pretty sure that the date of the Budokan show is 2/2/81

[TheEqualizer]

Hope this is cool to do:

Budokan 2/2/81:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/1241051 ... _Tokyo.zip

Detroit (2nd night):
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/-110024 ... etroit.zip

Hatfield:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/1229589 ... Police.zip

Just for fun, Berkeley 3/4/79:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/-110025 ... .03.04.zip

1/11/80 Hamburg:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4omgqaidqon
http://www.mediafire.com/?15nmgmt3mzq

For anyone who feels the need to complain about these downloads not being in FLAC format, feel free to find them on your own.

[Kalypso]

Well....Eq..About making the bootlegs available, you are not personally making money on this, but technically you are not paying royalties to the band.
Some bands consider bootlegging a form of publicity or don't care as long as they boots are good quality, but others are feeling ripped off.

It's a fine line. We all know it happens all the time, and it's virtually unstoppable. The Internet is a very grey area from the Intellectual Property point of view, and as I was saying to another fellow SC.net when works are not made commercially available or are only available in obsolete formats, what are good fans to do?

My decision is not to pass any judgment. If we are doing anything wrong, Gio will let us know, and also probably we will try and work together to find a solution.

[TheEqualizer]

Yeah, I know. As someone stated on this forum before, as it seems everyone here seems to have purchased everything possible related to Stewart and the Police that I feel morally ok with sharing these boots on THIS forum. Sure, I guess that there is some chance that some non-true fan may choose to take the links and then sell CD based on the links (may your dick fall off if you do). And I get whole "non-authorized reconrding" thing regardless, but . . .

Regardless, Gio, if you think I should, let me know and I will IMMEDIATELY LueAnn (~~~) my posts on this thread and other similar posts (that I can recall and find) and I will post a thread apologizing stating how I should not have made such a post.

[Kalypso]

When I was a kid, I traded. THis is how I got hold (and wore out) Hatfield Poly (that at the time was called Sting the Girls and Make them Die). To this day, after almost 30 years, I know that bootie by heart...I remember the elation when Sting mixed Fixing a Hole with Hole in my Life! I know all the calls, and what Sting says between songs...I had an idea of what the band sounded live, no frills, raw, stark energy. Simplicity.
Needless to say, that was not the band I eventually saw 6 years later, but I am always grateful to this English girl from Bham who was in Da Fan Club and who traded with me.
Thanks to a boot, I could engrave what to me remained the Real Police Sound inside me.

[TheEqualizer]

<waiting for tj7's 2 cents>

[olivier]

A lot of ! especially:

- Boston The Rat 29.10.78;
- Berkeley, Kansas City march 79;
- NY Bottom Line, Boston april 79;
- NYC Diplomat Hotel 29.09.79 (the day of my 9th anniversary );
- Hamburg Rockpalast 11.01.80;
- Tokyo 15.02.80;
- Newcastle 28.04.80;
- Fréjus 28.08.80;
- Essen Rockpalast 18.10.80;
- Tokyo 02.02.81;
- Melbourne 22.02.81;
- German tour october 81;
- Houston 20.03.82;
- Newcastle 31.07.82;
- NYC Shea Stadium 18.08.83;
- Atlanta 03.11.83;
- and so, and so.....

[TheEqualizer]

Ya gotta narrow it down a little.

[olivier]

If I have to chose only one, I would say Boston, The Rat 29.10.78.
One of the earliest recorded gig, first US tour as unknown band, a few audience, very good SB recording, Sting & Andy joking all the time, Sting improvising a song while Andy's changing a broken string (great moment of anthology !!!), great songs, a very good version of Dead End Job, ....

A must for all fans collecting live gigs !