The Never Ending Pool

Just listening to the Soomlos recording for the first time. Great recording by the way. Gives Dallas III a run for its money although the recording of Dallas II may just take it. But the real surprise is the voice. Much, much stronger than I was expecting. Very smooth, wider in range than normal and far less wolf man stuff going on. A really assertive and confident performance. Recommended strongly.

Listened to Chile 2008 twice now and indeed, it is an excelent recording. Sound-wise, best 2008 show yet. The only part i don't agree with you is the voice. His voice is getting worse over the years and his voice isn't his best at all but i don't mind . I would love to see what his actual range is though.

I agree his voice is getting worse over the years (inevitable) but I found that the Chile voice was far less rough than many recordings I heard from last Fall for example. Indeed, it's possibly smoother than the Dallas shows (although those performances were wonderful). It reminds me of his 05/06 voice on a good night. The voice for me deteriorated somewhat in early 07 from the year before and took a sharp dip later in the year. It seems to have improved a little (a lot in Chile but that may be an exception) with the winter break but not as much as I hoped which leads me to believe the most recent damage is irreversible.The challenge now for him (more than ever)is to adapt to the reality of his diminished vocals. When the performance is as committed as the Dallas or Chile shows, the result is the same as it has always been- a thrilling experience.

PS Just listening briefly to the first part of the Cardoba gig and the vocal has slipped back to a level I was expecting with Chile but surprisingly didn't get-plenty of wolfman stuff. Although he seems to improve as the concert goes on. This is traditionally the case but from 2007 onwards, he often takes about 5 or 6 songs to clear most of the cobwebs and get the vocal going whereas in earlier years this century, 2 or 3 would be all that was required. These days, he seems to struggle even when speaking rather than singing a line early in the concert-e.g. "Seen the arrow on the doorpost.." "I'm walking through streets that are dead" "Go away from my window"-they often come out hoarse and mangled even though they are more or less spoken.

Still, I'm detecting plenty of engagement and commitment from him despite the vocal impediment and am cautiously optimistic about the forthcoming european tour. Although I can't really see him pulling too many surprises setlist wise-felt he would play safe in South America as they haven't seen him in ages and then shake it up to his "regulars" in Europe. But the places he's picked to play in the main haven't seen him in quite a while so I suspect we will be focussing on an examination of performance rather than song choice. Hope I'm wrong but..

He seems to have more breath

Where are these southamerica shows available? at hungercity?
Thanks

Expecting Rain.

Honestly, just listening to this show again-his voice is great-best of the tour from what i've heard.