U2start.com | Shows | 1987-04-13 - San Diego, California

"KeithM master via JEMS"

Origins: Audience microphone
Credits: JEMS (Recording transferer), KeithM (Audio Taper)
Equipment: Sony ECM-939 (Microphone), Sony WM-D6C (Audio recording device)
Lineage: [analogue master] > Nakamichi CR-7A > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 2.0 > iZotope RX6 & Ozone 6 > Peak Pro 6 > xACT 2.37 > .flac [ > fre:ac > mp3]
Quality based on reviews:
Downloads: 341

U2
San Diego Sports Arena
San Diego, CA
April 13, 1987
Eighth Night of the Joshua Tree Tour
16/44.1 Mastered Edition
KeithM Master via JEMS

Recording Gear: Sony ECM-939 Stereo Microphone > Sony Walkman D6C

JEMS 2017 Transfer: master cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 2.0 (24/96 capture to .wav) > iZotope RX6 and Ozone 6 mastering > iZotope MBIT+ resample and dither to 16/44.1 > Peak Pro 6 (post production) > xACT 2.37 > FLAC

01 Where The Streets Have No Name
02 I Will Follow
03 I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
04 MLK
05 The Unforgettable Fire
06 Bullet The Blue Sky
07 Running To Stand Still
08 A Sort Of Homecoming
09 Sunday Bloody Sunday
10 Exit
11 In God’s Country
12 Gloria
13 Bad
14 October
15 New Year’s Day
16 Pride
17 With Or Without You
18 I Shall Be Released
19 40

Introduction To The KeithM Masters

JEMS could not be more pleased to present the outstanding work of KeithM to U2 fans the world over.

KeithM recorded hundreds of concerts in, around and beyond Southern California starting in the early ‘80s, including what can only be described as a series of essential recordings from April 1987, the start of the Joshua Tree tour. Of the tour’s first 16 performances, incredibly KeithM recorded nine of them using a Sony ECM-939 stereo microphone and Walkman D6C. In my opinion, they range from really good to excellent and offer a striking balance in that they capture the extraordinary excitement of the crowd, but somehow little to no up-close chatter or talking.

Some of KeithM’s recordings have circulated before (though perhaps not all?) and the lineage of what is around ranges from an analog generation or two removed to “unknown.”

This series presents the first proper digital transfers ever made from KeithM’s metal master tapes and as such we believe each and every one of them represents a substantial upgrade to circulating copies of these nine incredible shows. In other words, 30 years later, we get to hear some of the formative shows of the original Joshua Tree tour in best-ever quality thanks to the remarkable preservation and generosity of KeithM.

All nine shows will be posted in two formats:
16/44.1 mastered by JEMS
24/96 unmastered raw transfer

San Diego, April 13
After opening night in Tempe, KeithM picks up the tour again at the first of two shows in San Diego where Bono’s voice is back in full force and the set is really taking shape.

It is a strong performance, with the new material starting to blend well with the past, including fine versions “A Sort Of Homecoming,” “The Unforgettable Fire” and “Bad.” SD1 is also notable for the inclusion of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” in the encore (the first of four times on the tour after being a staple of the previous year’s Amnesty trek).

Despite an incredibly excited and vocal crowd, KeithM’s capture is clear and punchy, with the music always at the forefront even when audience energy peaks. Samples provided and artwork included. Based on internet research, it appears KeithM’s San Diego recordings circulate from CD-Rs made from a first generation analog copy of the master, so this should improve on that. All invasive audience noises have been removed.

I’d like to express my personal gratitude to KeithM for loaning us his precious master tapes and allowing us to share his work. You should express your gratitude to him as well in the comments. Special credit goes to DIME member bitrate for helping me connect to KeithM and remaining persistent as the months went by before we finally got things going with the tapes. Lastly, there’s no one JEMS trusts more to handle post-production of this series than our esteemed colleague mjk5510. Thanks to him for his continued critical support of our efforts.

BK for JEMS

Audio / MP3

Bit rate: 224, bit depth: 16, sample rate: 44100, channels: 2

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Audio / FLAC

Bit depth: 16, sample rate: 44100, channels: 2

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Audio samples

"Joshua Tree In San Diego"

Origins: Audience microphone
Credits: KeithM (Audio Taper)
Lineage: [unknown analogue generation] > cd-r > mp3
Quality based on reviews:
Downloads: 455

View info file

Audio / MP3

Bit depth: 16, sample rate: 44100, channels: 2

Download via Mega.co.nz

Download this recording

Audio samples

Here you can find and post reviews of this show. We encourage everyone that either attended or listened to this show to write a review. Currently we have 4 reviews for you to read.

review by 2UToo

2 months ago

Performance

In typical Bono fashion, he defies all odds and sounds even better than last night, highlighting this fact from the start with fantastic vocal performances, especially during a superb 'I Will Follow'. While 'Still Haven't Found' is a pretty good performance, it is brought down by Bono again skipping 'Exodus' and lacks a few touches to make it stand out more. Thanks to another setlist swap, 'MLK' and 'The Unforgettable Fire' follow, both sounding strong with Bono surprisingly nailing even the softer parts of the latter. 'Bullet the Blue Sky' sounds great with soaring guitar play by the Edge and Bono sounding simply fantastic with his angry voice shouting against the arena. 'Running to Stand Still' is simply breathtaking. 'A Sort of Homecoming' continues the streak of amazing performances with insane vocals, tight harmonies and superb musicianship by everyone! 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' sounds aggressive and thus very convincing.

'Exit' also sounds very aggressive with superb musicianship and Bono giving the song his absolute all. I loved the outro with its harmonica solo and Bono whispering "Get down" or "Ka-chow". 'In God's Country' is well executed as is 'Gloria' right afterwards. Unfortunately, 'Bad' still sees Bono having trouble with the choruses, hitting the notes flat and very rough. The outro is still fire with great snippets. A nice 'October' leads into 'New Year's Day', where Bono FINALLY goes for the intro belt again, nailing it! The main bulk of the song is strong and as he had done in Houston, Bono again sings "Maybe the time is right" towards the end! During a slightly rougher performance of 'Pride', Bono gets a lady from the audience on stage. The encore is strong with a great 'With or Without You' where Bono sounds much more confident than last night, however, missing both 'Shine Like Stars' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'; 'I Shall Be Released' features some new lyrics by Bono and sounds fabulous with great harmonies by Edge.

Sound

KeithM is back and so is a fantastic recording!
Recording: "KeithM master via JEMS" - 4.5 stars

Audience

Great crowd!

Overall

Highlights:
• I Will Follow
• The Unforgettable Fire
• Bullet the Blue Sky
• Running to Stand Still
• A Sort of Homecoming
• Sunday Bloody Sunday
• New Year's Day
• I Shall Be Released

all reviews

show	performance	audience	sound	overall
patou2
Bullet_Blue
DanielLikeAlbum
2UToo

1987-04-13 - San Diego, California - San Diego Sports Arena

setlist

songs per album

show attendees: 10

review by 2UToo

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"KeithM master via JEMS"

Audio / MP3

Download via Mega.nz

Audio / FLAC

Download via Mega.nz

Audio samples

"Joshua Tree In San Diego"

Audio / MP3

Download via Mega.co.nz

Audio samples

what they said

did you know

you

U2start

1987-04-13 - San Diego, California - San Diego Sports Arena

setlist

songs per album

show attendees: 10

review by 2UToo

all reviews

useful links

contribute

support us

"KeithM master via JEMS"

Info file

Audio / MP3

Download via Mega.nz

Audio / FLAC

Download via Mega.nz

Audio samples

"Joshua Tree In San Diego"

Info file

Audio / MP3

Download via Mega.co.nz

Audio samples

what they said

did you know

you

U2start