U2
Sports Arena
Los Angeles, CA
April 12, 1992
Mike Millard Master Tapes via JEMS
The Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Tapes Volume 42

Recording Gear: AKG 451-E Microphones (CK-1 Capsules) > Nakamichi 550 Cassette Recorder

Transfer: Mike Millard Master Cassettes > Yamaha KX-W592 Cassette Deck > Sony R-500 DAT > Analog Master DAT Clone > Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 > Sound Forge Audio Studio 13.0 capture > Adobe Audition > iZotope RX6 > iZotope Ozone 6 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC

01 Zoo Station
02 The Fly
03 Even Better Than The Real Thing
04 Mysterious Ways
05 One
06 Until The End Of The World
07 Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
08 Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World
09 Angel Of Harlem
10 Satellite Of Love
11 Bad
12 Bullet The Blue Sky
13 Running To Stand Still
14 Where The Streets Have No Name
15 Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16 I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
17 Desire
18 Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
19 With Or Without You
20 Love Is Blindness

Known Faults: None

Introduction to the Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone Series

Welcome to JEMS’ Lost and Found Mike the MICrophone series presenting recordings made by legendary taper Mike Millard, AKA Mike the MICrophone, best known for his masters of Led Zeppelin done in and around Los Angeles circa 1975-77. For the complete details on how tapes in this series came to be lost and found again, as well as JEMS' long history with Mike Millard, please refer to the notes in Vol. One: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=500680.

Until 2020, the Lost and Found series presented fresh transfers of previously unavailable first-generation copies made by Mike himself for friends like Stan Gutoski of JEMS, Jim R, Bill C. and Barry G. These sources were upgrades to circulating copies and in most instances marked the only time verified first generation Millard sources had been directly digitized in the torrent era.

That all changed with the discovery of many of Mike Millard’s original master tapes.

Yes, you read that correctly, Mike Millard’s master cassettes, long rumored to be destroyed or lost, have been found. Not all of them but many, and with them a much more complete picture has emerged of what Millard recorded between his first show in late 1973 and his last in early 1992.

The reason the rediscovery of his master tapes is such a revelation is that we’ve been told for decades they were gone. Internet myths suggest Millard destroyed his master tapes before taking his own life, an imprudent detail likely concocted based on the assumption that because his master tapes never surfaced and Mike’s mental state was troubled he would do something rash WITH HIS LIFE’S WORK. There’s also a version of the story where Mike’s family dumps the tapes after he dies. Why would they do that?

The truth is Mike’s masters remained in his bedroom for many years after his death in 1994. We know at least a few of Millard’s friends and acquaintances contacted his mother Lia inquiring about the tapes at the time to no avail. But in the early 2000s, longtime Millard friend Rob S was the one she knew and trusted enough to preserve Mike’s work.

The full back story on how Mike’s master tapes were saved can be found in the notes for Vol. 18 Pink Floyd, which was the first release in our series transferred from Millard’s original master tapes:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667745&hit=1
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=667750&hit=1

U2, Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA, April 12, 1992

Yes, Mike Millard was a U2 fan. He recorded multiple shows on the Zoo TV tour (indoors and out it would appear), and may well have done the Joshua Tree tour in 1987 too, though we aren’t able to verify that quite yet.

This U2 show is the latest 1992 recording we have released in the Lost and Found series. While the full picture of when Mike stopped taping remains incomplete, we know he recorded two shows this month (a second U2 show in San Diego on April 15), and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest he also did U2 in San Diego in November 1992, which would be the final Millard tape on record (though it is possible there are recordings after that).

4/12/92 was first of two nights in LA on the Zoo TV indoor leg. It is one of several occasions I have come to learn that Millard and I were both at the same show, taping in the same venue which, I’m not going to lie, gives me the tingles.

I’m a massive fan of the Zoo TV tour, especially the indoor concerts. The two shows in LA, April 1992 were extraordinarily tough tickets. I got into both by working the drop line at the box office day of show for several hours.

The Zoo TV arena leg was pretty much a perfect set. It begins with complete immersion into Achtung Baby and moves from strength to strength through the full show with a lot of key Joshua Tree material on the back end. There are very few concerts that completely blew me away, but this is one of them. By the time U2 reached LA, the 1992 tour had hit its stride. This is peak Zoo TV.

Given the distance plainly evident in the recording, Millard was not taping from his optimal sweet spot. As I have written before, audience excitement levels on U2’s 1987 and 1992 tours were off the charts and arguably in excess of a classic rock artist in the mid ‘70s (more women in the audience may account for that). You couldn’t record U2 in this era without getting a lot of audience noise.

Millard isn’t close to the PA and his capture won’t stand among his very best, but it still highly listenable, full and mostly clear (with occasional moments of fuzziness likely due to microphone positioning). I had taping issues myself and failed to get a result. After doing comparisons on the extremely useful u2start.com website, Millard’s tape seems to be uncirculated, is arguably as good if not better than KeithM’s recording (the previous standard for 4/12/92), and is far superior to the other versions of the show. Samples provided.

We now know Mike attended this show with his friend and fellow taper EF. EF recorded the show on DAT with Nakamichi CM-50 microphones. The EF DAT master will be shared down the road. JEMS’ own cassette masters of the second LA and San Diego shows have been in circulation for some time. 

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JEMS is proud to partner with Rob, Jim R and Barry G to release Millard's historic recordings and to help set the record straight about the man himself.

We can’t thank Rob enough for reconnecting with Jim and putting his trust in our Millard reissue campaign. He kept these precious tapes under wraps for two decades, but once Rob learned of our methods and stewardship, he agreed to contribute the Millard DATs and cassettes to the program. Our releases would not be nearly as compelling without Jim’s memories, photos and other background contributions. As many of you have noted, the stories offer an entertaining complement to Mike’s incredible audio documents.

JEMS could never run the Millard series without the support of mjk5510. Week in, week out, he makes sure the final product meets his approval. Just last week with Return To Forever, mjk5510 caught a problem the rest of us had missed and fixed it before the torrent went up. As always, thanks to him.

Finally, cheers to the late, great Mike the MICrophone. His work never ceases to impress. May he rest in peace.

BK for JEMS