[rockadanny]

Went to my first record show yesterday ... Wow! Big event! I no longer do vinyl, but they had lots of CDs from which to choose.
There was this guy there who had only live bootlegged CDs. I'd never seen these types of recordings before.
He explained how many are very good audio quality. Some recorded directly from the soundboard, some from famous bootleggers, such as Mike Millard.
And they are rated for their audio quality as well, rating printed right on the CD.

Anyway, I got talked into purchasing a couple of double discs which interested me:

Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, "House Of The Lord", Seattle Center Arena, 9/7/1973, Rated "A-", Black Oak Records







And Return To Forever, "Santa Monica '77", Civic Auditorium, Row D, 4/8/1977, by Mike Millard, "The Lost And Found Mike The MICrophone Tapes Volume 41"






1. Any opinions on these two recordings, or recordings like this in general?

2. Are they really legitimate?

(Sorry for the extra HUGE images.)



 

[FullRangeMan]

Bootleg is a pirated recording.
This House of the Lord is a great show, congratulations.

[nlitworld]

Legitimate authorized releases or not, if the sound quality is good those would be awesome albums. I've also purchased a few authorized live albums that sound like hot garbage. Sounds like a fun time at that show though.

[FullRangeMan]

Rarely bootlegs have great sound quality.
The best I heard was one from Can.

[GentleBender]

Have you listened to them yet? They look to be professionally produced, but it is the sound that matters.

[SteveFord]

They're hit and miss.
A lot of the FM radio broadcasts are pretty good.
This one, for instance, has really good sound quality except for Disc One.

[rockadanny]

Not listened to yet. Will tomorrow (I only listen to my main rig about once per week).

[MttBsh]

My favorite bands always sounded more dynamic and willing to cut loose live, as opposed to perhaps more polished but restrained in the studio. This is why I listen mostly to live recordings. Even though bootlegs are not officially released by the musicians, and thus are illegal, I've read there is a statute of limitations - after a certain number of years beyond the recording date they are no longer considered illegal to buy. Funny, I was in the audience for the House of the Lord concert by Santana/McLaughlin here in Seattle but I don't believe I've heard that recording. Hopefully it sounds better than they did in person at that concert because I recall it being so loud with everyone firing on all cylinders that the sound seemed a bit congested. I've heard the Chicago and Berkeley recordings from that tour that are good but also slightly distorted. There are a lot of websites where live recordings are traded and offered for download, and they range from crystal clear - normally FM or SBD recordings - to abysmal audience tapes.

[krustykat]

if you are a live music fan and don't know about archive.org, you are missing out.  All legit live recordings, not bootlegs and most are available in cd quality or better.  https://archive.org/details/etree 

[FullRangeMan]

Question:
Why yours are obsessed if these CDs are legit or no ?

[skunark]

Some are legit. I remember Pearl Jam releasing several concerts on CD to counter the bootlegs.  Honestly, I wish there were more concerts streamed, or “best of” from tours streamed.