1982-10-12 Largo, MD (SBD)

Once again, here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in the Largo / Landover / D.C. area during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Capital Centre in 1982.

This show needs no introduction to the majority of live Van Halen fans. This is the same night as the well known proshot video that has circulated for many years. It’s worth pointing out that an audio-only rip of the videofeed has circulated around as a “soundboard”, but it’s important to note that what we have here is a completely different recording. While the videofeed sounds pretty good, it is a different mix with more audience noise, and has some generational loss. The uncirculated soundboard being shared here is a much cleaner feed, direct from the soundboard, and no generation loss. Someone with the proper knowledge and skill could probably matrix the two audio sources together and sync it with the video, and if done properly, the end result could be quite nice. It’s also worth noting that the proshot video captures the entire concert without any sort of cuts, while this soundboard recording was limited to Roy’s usual choice of a 90 minute cassette.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie’s Cryin’. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out right before first part of Everybody Wants Some, but the tape is flipped pretty quickly and doesn’t miss much. Oddly, Roy still chose to pause right at the start of Dave’s storytime interlude, but seems to change his mind and record most of it anyway, because he only misses about a minute of it. Then as usual, Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave’s acoustic solo or Ice Cream Man. The recording starts again right at the final note of Ice Cream Man’s ending. The tape is paused again during both encore breaks. However, Roy does not start the recording again for the for the second encore, so this tape does not capture You Really Got Me or Happy Trails.

Track Listing:

01 Intro [0:00]
02 Romeo Delight [0:34]
03 Unchained [4:08]
04 Drum Solo [8:41]
05 The Full Bug [12:05]
06 Runnin’ With The Devil [15:51]
07 Jamie’s Cryin’ [19:02]
08 Little Guitars [22:42]
09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone! [27:11]
10 Bass Solo [30:41]
11 Hang ‘Em High [34:53]
12 Cathedral [38:18]
13 Secrets [39:59]
14 Drum Solo II (cut) [43:22]
15 Everybody Wants Some!! [44:36]
16 Dave Talks (cut) [46:48]
17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise) [51:31]
18 Dance The Night Away [53:20]
19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I’m So Glad [56:31]
20 Intruder [1:03:59]
21 Pretty Woman [1:05:55]
22 Guitar Solo [1:09:01]
23 Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love [1:21:25]
24 Bottoms Up! [1:27:20]

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette / Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD / Audacity (24 bit – 96 khz) / FLAC 6

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Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time. If you recorded audio tapes, video tapes, or film at concerts of classic bands/artists, and would like help digitizing them free of charge, you can contact us at musicmediaarchives@gmail.com