IQ - Leap Of Faith - The Cabaret, San Jose, California, USA - February 19th 1994 (PRRP 019) (VG AUD)

Artist: IQ
Title: Leap Of Faith
Date: February 19th 1994
Venue: The Cabaret, San Jose, California, USA

Tracklisting
Disc One
01. The Darkest Hour 11:10
02. It All Stops Here 08:10
03. Widow's Peak 10:25
04. Fading Senses 06:31
05. Out Of Nowhere 06:04
06. Awake And Nervous 08:50
07. The Last Human Gateway (middle section) 04:12
08. Tea For Two 02:10
09. No Love Lost 05:28
10. Leap Of Faith 08:40
11. Common Ground 06:56

Disc Two
01. Human Nature 12:14
02. Headlong 08:46
03. The Last Human Gateway (ending) 09:15
04. The Wake 04:49
05. Interview Pt 1 04:37
06. Jadis - Follow Me To Salzburg 07:25
07. Apathetic And Here I 04:28
08. Interview Pt 2 10:31
09. Leap Of Faith (Fades Out) 02:08
10. Interview Pt 3 01:16

Personnel
Paul Cook Drums & Percussion
Mike Holmes Guitars
John Jowitt Bass Guitars & Backing Vocals
Peter Nicholls Lead Vocals
Martin Orford Keyboards & Backing Vocals

Liner Notes: Tea For Two
To anyone who did not know better, the evening of 19th February 1994 was just another date on the calendar, just another band playing at The Cabaret in San Jose, CA. But to progressive music fans, this was a feast, a not-to-be-missed event. IQ were in town, making only their second appearance on North American soil in their 12-year history. Despite signing to Phonogram in the mid-1980s, IQ had never really been given the necessary promotion and financial backing to enable them to take their music around the world. But thanks to a great deal of hard work, they were now starting to attract many new fans on this side of the Atlantic.

Radio stations such as KOME-FM in San Jose, California, and local record stores in the Bay area and other regions were helping European progressive rock bands like IQ by promoting their imported albums. The result was the slow but steady development of a growing fan base here in North America.

It was on the strength of IQ's recorded musical output and their solid reputation as a great live act that they were invited to headline the Progfest event in Los Angeles in 1993. So impressive was the band's performance that, less than a year later, they found themselves returning to the USA. The Cabaret in San Jose was the venue for their second American concert. Fans travelled from all over the country to see IQ live. Let us get a flavour of the evening through the words of a fan who was there:

“19th February 1994 - as a growing crowd waited outside the infamous San Jose Cabaret Lounge, some lucky fans were recollecting IQ's American debut at Progfest '93, only a few months earlier. Tonight was sure to be an event - the ingredients for an awesome show were certainly there! A sell-out crowd included people from all over the western US to catch this one-off show. IQ's latest release, 'Ever', which signalled Peter Nicholls' return to the band, was quickly becoming recognised as the best prog release of the year. And we were all anxious to hear a headline performance.

Once inside, members of the band mingled with fans while waitresses quickly dashed to fill thirsty drink orders. The main floor of The Cabaret was laid out in a true lounge style with rows of tables streaming back from the stage, each covered with tablecloths and lit with quaint red table candles. The back of the lounge was raised, with similarly decorated tables, creating a humorously intimate appearance, probably more appropriate for a Wayne Newton show !

Opening the evening was local band Minds I, followed by a very strong performance from Enchant (playing tracks from their hot-off-the-press debut, 'Blueprints Of The World'), which provided more than enough fuel to power us all for the show we had come to see.

As the house lights dimmed, “IQ!” was chanted by the crowd and the guys made their way from the dressing room through a back hallway onto the small stage - the energy was definitely there! With the opening chords of 'The Darkest Hour', we could see the sound engineer, crammed into a tiny loft above the stage, frantically working to get the sound right…and finally it hit! For the rest of the evening, it was pure (and now classic) IQ.

So, as you listen to this performance, grab a refreshment of choice and light candles around you. For the next two hours, re-live the moment…”

Hank Rowe - Tucson, Arizona

From someone who wasn't there - You're dead on target, Hank !

PRRP Staff

Notes from the Re-Master
This show has an excellent 1st generation source. It came from a member of our PRRP yahoo group who was actually at the performance. The recording was made with excellent equipments too. The interview segment was recorded off of the radio when it was broadcast the day after the concert. This segment was also 1st generation as a source.

Viable music signal and harmonics were detected all the way up to 15,000 Hz. Hiss was reduced throughout the show as it was distracting during the quiet sections of the show. The performance was given in a “cocktail lounge” as IQ's lead singer Peter Nicholls points out. This results in some wonderful acoustics but also caused substantial excess bass which needed to be reduced. A channel volume asymmetry was detected with the left channel always lagging the right. This was fixed. A few clicks, crackles and pops were filtered as well.

The radio broadcast sections also had hiss that needed reduced and some excess bass that needed adjustment. Also, there was a high pitched flutter during the interview that needed to be removed by a selective filter. Since this section consists of both interview and songs we decided to track each segment separately for easy reference.