Nightmare Before Halloween - Pasadena Civic Center 10/15/77 (With Rehearsals)

Ok guys... this is something else I've been cookin' up for ya' for the past 3 days! You're gonna LOVE this one. But first, I gotta tell you how this came to be. I picked up a copy of this boot in Lossless format a good while back. (Actually, I believe AtomicPunk5151 sent it to me - Thanx homie!)... But as I have said before, many lossless creators request not to have their discs converted to MP3 format, and I respect that.

About a week and a half back, I picked up these MP3s from a buddy of mine... they sounded great, but they were a bit muddled and heavy on the low end. They also suffered from a serious case of equalizer extraction (the person attempted to make it sound better by using an equalizer during extraction and boosting the lacking frequency ranges). So I have a muddled MP3 copy that I didn't want to post, and a lossless version that I also wouldn't post. So to solve my problem, I put SoundForge to work.

I opened up the lossless version of a track, then opened up my muddled MP3 tracks. Overlayed the frequency displays and played with the filters until I got them to match as closely as possible... exported the filtered MP3, and this post is the result.

If you have any other bootleg from Pasadena Civic Center on 10/15/77... just throw it away right now, because you don't ever need it again. The first three instrumental rehearsal tracks are a HAIR shaky... but still far better than any MP3 I've ever heard of them... same goes for the 2 rehearsal tracks with Roth that follow. But the actual show... tracks 6-16... They are stellar. I mean NAILED!! IMO, these sound every bit as good as the lossless version, and the equalizer extraction in its lineage may have even made the sound a bit more full. The low end is perfect because of that.

Folks... get your shit ready for this one... and make sure you don't blow your stereo up.

I give you - The DOCTORED, Nightmare Before Halloween!

Read about it here: http://www.vhboots.com/nightmareb4halloween.html

6-10

[sphill]

Chad, be a little more expressive please, are you trying to tell us something here.
(FULL Sarcasm mode)
You do have a way with words. (and with mp3's!) Maybe add the title, "MP3 Major" to the tour title list would be an appropriate touch. Lets see what Sucka can cook up with. Rock on bro!

[sphill]

Oh hell, I've just noticed, I have broken the 500 barrier mark in posts.

Gee, can you tell I'm excited to be putting these up, Sphill? Is it THAT obvious?

I'm pumped... I know a lot of you guys have this show, so I'm glad to be putting up a cleaned version. Once you get it, Sphill, compare it to the MP3s on the discs I sent you... Just listen to the difference!

I also know there HAVE to be plenty of new people around who don't have it at all... Those guys are the ones who are in for a brain bend!!

Here's tracks 11-15

Originally Posted by sphill

Oh hell, I've just noticed, I have broken the 500 barrier mark in posts.

Congrats bro!!!! I look forward to reading your next 500

Here's the last track fellas. If you listen to this half as much as I do, you might as well burn a copy for home, one for the car, and one for "just in case" at the same time!

Enjoy!!!

[sinners swing]

God, I love broadband, forty seconds after reading your post all of the mp3's are on my hard drive. At least my download rate is good on Comcrap. Sounds great EVH, good job.

Originally Posted by sinners_swing_69

God, I love broadband, forty seconds after reading your post all of the mp3's are on my hard drive. At least my download rate is good on Comcrap. Sounds great EVH, good job.

No crap dude... it was MAJOR shock for me when I first made the move to broadband. I knew it was fast, but since I was accustomed to dial-up... It wasn't JUST fast, it's flat out awesome! I'm on ComCast too... Downloads are great, I just wish they'd raise their upload a cap a bit. Got me at 40kbps Oh well, I suppose I can't complain.

Glad ya' like the show Sinner. I'm tryin' my best to clean some of the MP3s up that are floating around. The boot sounds GREAT to begin with, but people screw with the MP3s so much, sometimes they loose a lot of their juice. Just tryin' to get some of that quality back...at least as much as an MP3 can offer

[sinners swing]

I've been on broadband since 2000 and on Comcrap for a little over two of those years. I remember when I switched over from dialup back in early 2000 I knew then I would never go back.

Thanks for the boot.

[Beka4MikE]

EVH you are so DA MAN

[SuckaInA3Piece]

Ahh you suck Chad! This was the next boot I had planned to put up here, but I left the cd at work and couldn't burn it over the weekend. You beat me this time, but next time I'll be the victor By the way, Jeff hooked me up with this one too, so once again thanks for this show. Voodoo Queen sounds so fuckin killer without the vocals.

[atomicpunk5151]

I was just trying to repay you guys (Chad & Sucka) for all the cool shit you guys have posted here. I only have dial up so I had to do it the old fashion way, make a copy and put in in the MAIL. It was tough to find something you didn't have. The Nightmare b4 Halloween does kick some ass, and he is right you can throw away all the old copies of the Pasadena Civic shows because this version is the BEST. They flat out kill it, soundboard quality.

Also as Chad mentioned earlier with the MP3 thing. MP3s are for personal use only, please don't trade them to other traders, most are only looking to trade for lossless stuff. I am hardly an authority, but from what I have heard over at Jamtothis & Vhtrading it is the way to go.

Jeff

[sphill]

Evh, I have now had the chance to listen to the show and compare against the one you sent me....Here are my thoughts.


This show, along with New Haven 1986 and US Festival 1983 are the most duplicated shows I have come across. It seems that there are so many varying qualities of these lurking around the net and the shops that the sound has somewhat been washed away. This Pasadena 1977 show was the very first boot I bought in 1980. It was on a tape, with a crappy cover, no song list and the sound was like mud. By then I am sure this was the 5th or 6th genration tape I had bought. To a mountain boy though, this was pure ectasy to hear he band I had just fallen in love with playing live! The tape was eventually destroyed over repeated plays and finally the show only existed in my mind. Then along came the internet, guitars101 and Chad. Thanks to you my friend, the magic of this show was relived and I now enjoy this historic show all over again. The show you did send me was naturally much better than the tape version I had plus a version I had d/loaded at School before the net police denied my service. Your first show was shared among the students as one the best examples of the DLR era and Van Halen in their infancy, kicking ass and showing how hungry and exciting they were.

Then you post this version....

EvH, what can I say, this version makes all others pale into insignificance. The trebles are there as always but what does this version for me is that I can hear Mike on the bass, crisp, deep and sharper than ever. The other copies I have display a muddier bottom end to them if you get what I mean. The bass lines melt into each other. Here on your cleaned up version the songs just leap out of the stereo and not just blast. There is a fresher, brighter sound to them and the rejigging of the levels has meant that the band sound fuller and more "there"! My favouraite song is there of course and I am blown away by the tune and the sound it makes. Edwards solo in SBGMD is longer and much cripser. This alone would be my highlight, but "DOA" sounds much more menacing, "YRGM" is the joyous expression of youth, vitality and "balls to the wall" rock and roll the band were playing. In another words EvH, this version you have created makes the others look weak by comparison.

I was thinking about a gift for my students this year as way of saying thanks for being such awesome kids. I now have this gift. You may burn 3 three copies for the car, the house and just in case, I will be buring 23 copies for the wonderful lads of 5SP. These boys will now get to share that same tingle and excitement I had in 1980 when I first heard this show. Some already have this of course, but that is in mp3 format. I intend to make 23 audio copies for the boys so they can play them in the car, going home with mom, and rocking the world they live in.

Thats my two cents worth, or a little more in fact, but I needed to let you know good buddy how this show has well recieved.
Cheers.

thanks EVH, sounds fantasic. i have this on cd i bought a bunch of years back. when i heard your post, i knew right away that i had this, but my version is titled "young and wild" and back cover states it was recorded dec. 20, 1977. i have also heard this show under 2 other names (total of 4 now) and those also state the dec. date. anyone know why or which is the actual date?

[atomicpunk5151]

The show is Oct 15 1977. This is a lower generation copy of that show. It has been mislabeled for years. It sounds way better on this version. You can toss your old copy after you get this cd. Plus this has the Soundcheck. For all the info go here: http://www.vhboots.com/nightmareb4halloween.html

They had a tree over at VH trading a while back and I picked this one up.