Duotang- Hometown Reunion, December 26, 2014

As we near the end of 2014, it's time to reflect on the past year. One of the things that stood out for me was it seemed like it was the year of the comebacks and reunions. Even CBC.ca agrees with me, 2014: The year of the Canadian indie-rock reunion. Bands such as Constantines, The Smalls, Moist, Bum and Winnipeg's, Duotang all reformed either for new recordings, gigs and even tours. For Duotang, they've been on indefinite hiatus (except for the Mint X-Mas party in November) since 2006, so the idea of playing together again must have been daunting. Singer/bassist, Rod Slaughter has been active since in other projects such as Novillero, who achieved moderate success releasing three excellent albums from 2002-2008 and The Shallow End, while drummer, Sean Allum stopped playing live after Duotang. A Duotang reunion was a much anticipated show especially for fans of Winnipeg indie-music in the 90's and early 2000's. I saw Duotang at least twice in the mid-90's and a memorable show opening for The Smugglers and Mr. T Experience at Wellingtons in 1996 was amazing!! I believe I recorded The Smugglers and Mr. T sets on my old tape recorder (in case you're interested?).

Some interesting pre-reunion show reads in the local papers:
Winnipeg Free Press- Winnipeg bass-and-drums duo having a blast revisiting the 90's
Winnipeg Sun- Spend Boxing Day with Duotang

For a band that hasn't played much in the past 10 years, Duotang sounded tight. The sound was good at the Good Will and the hometown crowd was enthusiastic and appreciative. Angus Kirkpatrick (Grand Theft Canoe), who toured with Duotang (as a second bassist), guested during the later part of the set and encore finale, as well as Robert Dempster (Transonic) on backing vocals for Toast To The Life-Long Friends. The band closed the show with an ambitious cover of The Who's, A Quick One. An incredible feat for any band, but especially a band with 2 bass players and a drummer...sloppy, messy and a lot of fun!
Enjoy!

Feel free to share, but please do NOT sell or convert to mp3!

DUOTANG
The Good Will
Winnipeg, MB
December 26, 2014
"Reunion show"
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. Smash Ships And Raise The Beams
02. Present Blind
03. Message
04. Thomas Green
05. Disaffected
06. Witch-Hunters
07. Friends
08. Review
09. Slow Down
10. Ghosts
11. Call Your Side
12. Don't Give Up, Just Back Off A Bit
13. Toast To The Life-Long Friends
14. Far From Heart, Deep In Mind

Encore
15. 10:15 Saturday Night (Cure cover)
16. King Of Beliefs
17. A Quick One (The Who cover)

DUOTANG- 2014-12-26 The Good Will, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar

New Barbarians/The Rolling Stones- "Blind Date" Tribute to Ian McLagan and Bobby Keys

Last week, within a day of each other, rock lost two great sidemen, though not household names they were integral members of some of the greatest rock bands of our generation.

Ian McLagan was a founding member of the Small Faces and Faces and extensively joined The Rolling Stones both on tour and on record. He also lent his keyboard talents on sessions with Dylan, Westerberg, Springsteen, Browne and many others and he was a member of Billy Bragg's band, The Blokes. I own Ian's debut solo album, the excellent album, Troublemaker (1979) that I bought in the early 80's and featured appearances from Ron Wood, Keith Richards, Stanley Clarke and Bobby Keys, all of whom formed the New Barbarians. McLagan also played on Ron Wood's solo albums.

Bobby Keys was a much in-demand sideman who played with a who's who of classic rock. He famously played saxophone on John Lennon's, Whatever Gets You Through The Night and also worked with Harrison, Clapton, The Who and others, but he's best known for his work with the Stones. Since 1969, he was the main saxophone player in the band both on tour (most) and in the studio. His friendship with Keith Richards led to his association to fellow Stone, Ron Wood as he played on three of his solo albums and was also a member of the New Barbarians.

Both Ian McLagan and Bobby Keys crossed paths in Ron's project, The New Barbarians who toured the US and Canada in 1979. The New Barbarians debuted supporting the Stones for a pair of charity concerts in support of the CNIB. The concert was the result of fulfilling one of the plea conditions for Keith Richard's sentence for heroin possession. The concert took place at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium (near Toronto) on April 22, 1979. The New Barbarians played an opening set, followed by Keith and Mick performing Prodigal Son and then they were joined by the rest of The Rolling Stones.

This recording is an audience recording that was ripped from the vinyl version of the "bootleg", Blind Date. A more well-known version of the same show (Blind Date Revisited) is soundboard sourced, but having listened to both versions, I prefer this version. It's richer sounding and has more atmosphere as the soundboard version sounds more trebly and distorted sounding. The performances from both bands are loose and ragged with some bum notes and sloppy musicianship, but the show is fun and the band seems to having a blast...and besides the New Barbarians are introduced by the great John Belushi!
Enjoy!

NEW BARBARIANS / THE ROLLING STONES
"BLIND DATE" (vinyl rip)
"Canadian National Institute For The Blind Benefit Concerts"
Civic Auditorium
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
April 22nd 1979 (2nd show)

Disc 1 
NEW BARBARIANS:
A01 . Intro
A02. Sweet Little Rock'n Roller
A03. F.U.C. Her
A04. Breathe On Me
A05. Infekshun
B01. I Can Feel The Fire
B02. Am I Grooving You
B03. Seven Days
B04. Before They Make Me Run
THE ROLLING STONES (Mick and Keith)
B05. Prodigal Son

Disc 2 
THE ROLLING STONES (cont.)
C01. Let It Rock
C02. Respectable
C03. Starfucker
C04. Beast Of Burden
C05. Just My Imagination
D01. When The Whip Comes Down
D02. Shattered
D03. Miss You
D04. Jumpin' Jack Flash

* NOTE: I downloaded this show from Dime a while back, so this is not my rip or upload. Sorry for the weird track listing. The A,B,C,D reflect the 4 sides of the double LP and the song tracks. The enclosed notes differ, but that's how the file was written. There's some sweet scans of the covers enclosed.

NEW BARBARIANS:

Ronnie Wood    guitar, vocals, harmonica, pedal steel
Keith Richards    guitar, vocals
Ian McLagan    piano, organ, back vocals
Stanley Clarke    bass
Bobby Keys    saxophone
Joseph ‘Ziggy’ Modeliste   drums

THE ROLLING STONES:

Mick Jagger    vocals, guitar
Keith Richards    guitar, back vocals
Bill Wyman    bass
Charlie Watts    drums
Ronnie Wood    guitar, back vocals
Ian McLagan    piano
Stanley Clarke    bass (on the last 1 and a half song of the show)

NEW BARBARIANS- 1979-04-22 Blind Date FLAC. rar (disc 1)
THE ROLLING STONES- 1979-04-22 Blind Date FLAC. rar (disc 2)

Jayhawks 1985 Demos

Jayhawks circa. 1986.  Photo by Daniel Corrigan

Saw these posted last week on Dime and I must admit I've have never actually heard these 1985 demos. The band formed in 1985, so I'm assuming they're some of the earliest recordings from Mark Olson, Gary Louris, Marc Perlman and Norm Rogers as the Jayhawks. None of these songs appeared on their first album, released by Bunkhouse Records in 1986. Their second release, Blue Earth took tracks from re-mixed demos recorded in 1986-89, and again, none of the songs from the 1985 demos appeared on Blue Earth. In otherwords, these songs remain officially unreleased. One song, Clouds Across The Sky does sound like an early working of Clouds from Hollywood Town Hall with a similar melody and different lyrics (except, the first line is the same).

If you're a fan of early Jayhawks, this is a curious, yet must-hear listen. It is similar in it's country-rock twang of the first record and it's fascinating to hear the progression of sound the band went through in the early days.
Enjoy!

(This is a repost of the link on Dime and thanks to lilpanda for the original post.)

JAYHAWKS
1985 demos

unknown cdr>eac>flac

1.  Jesus in the Drivers's Seat
2.  Pennies (From Heaven)
3.  Temptation
4.  My Marie
5.  Do-Dee-Oh
6.  Clouds Across the Sky
7.  Dirty Pontiac
8.  The Type of Man I Am
9.  Snow White Angel
10.  Grandma
11.  CC Club Rag (I Got High)
12.  Bullseye to Your Heart
13.  What's The Holdup

JAYHAWKS- 1985 Demos. rar

John K. Samson at The Good Will 2014

I was trying to recall the amount of times I have seen The Weakerthans/John K. Samson live in concert and just based on ticket stubs, I've seen The Weakerthans 10 times and JKS (& The Provincial Band) once. The venues have varied from the larger/medium-sized halls (Burton Cummings Theatre, Le Rendezvous, West End Cultural Centre) to bars (Pyramid, Royal Albert) and at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I may have seen John and/or the band additional times, but none were as small and intimate as John K. Samson's show on Sunday night at The Good Will. This was the first time I've been to this somewhat new venue (opened officially last month) and I have to admit it isn't bad. The room is long and narrow which means good sight-lines and the music is well contained and directed nicely to the audience. It was perfect for a solo acoustic show, but I'm skeptical whether the sound will be half as good for a loud electric rock show. I'll have to check back later.

This is not meant to be a review of the show (Anthony's review for Exclaim is here), so I have nothing but good things to say about the show. John, of course played songs from his band, The Weakerthans, as well as his solo effort, Provincial, but the bonus for fans (especially for a taper) was two new songs, Fellow Traveller and Oldest Oak At Brookside. Promising and likable, it will be interesting to see if they appear on a project in the future. Hearing all these songs in their bare-bones versions really showcase Samson as a master lyricist and very competent musician. The solo acoustic format allows Samson to highlight the song, closer to poetry set to music, than in the full band format, powerful, but in a different way. It's been a while since I've seen John play and this was a real treat.

This Winnipeg solo show was a warm-up for an upcoming solo tour starting later this week, that will take Samson across the Atlantic to Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the UK.

Unplugged! Not only is John hard to see, but he was also hard to hear.

The recording was recorded in the sweet spot, dead centre, near the back edge of the floor in front. The sound is near perfect, definitely one of the better sounding recordings I've done. Crowd noise wasn't an issue, though I did have a "singer" beside me that I tried to turn away from. I adjusted and lowered the levels during the second song, so you might want to turn up the volume after that one. It's always safer to set the levels lower than to have the sound distorted by heavy strumming and crowd clapping.
(Note: The last song (#19), Samson is at the edge of the stage, unplugged and off mic...turn it up!)
Enjoy!

JOHN K. SAMSON
The Good Will
Winnipeg, MB
November 23, 2014
AUD MASTER

solo acoustic

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. Heart Of The Continent
02. Plea From A Cat Named Virtute
03. Reconstruction Site
04. Letter In Icelandic From The Ninette San
05. When I Write My Master's Thesis
06. Elegy For Gump Worsley
07. Pamphleteer
08. Time's Arrow
09. Fellow Traveller (new song)
10. Oldest Oak At Brookside (new song)
11. Relative Surplus Value
12. Hospital Vespers
13. One Great City!
14. Aside
15. Left And Leaving

Encore
16. Tournament Of Hearts
17. Bigfoot
18. My Favourite Chords
19. Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure (off-mic/unplugged)

JOHN K. SAMSON- 2014-11-23 The Goodwill, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar

The Replacements at Midway Stadium- September 13, 2014

Back in late April, when it was announced the Replacements would play their first show in Minneapolis/St. Paul in over 23 years, I thought this was too good to be true. A while back I had written a blog post where I listed the reunions I would love to see. I think my #1 choice was to see the Replacements (...half the original band) get back together to play some shows. It's been a year since they first stepped back on the stage together in Toronto during Riotfest and sporatically since at multi-band music festivals. Not only would the show in the Twin Cities be a return to their hometown, but it would be their first true headlining non-festival full set concert.

The first time I heard the Replacements was back around 1986 (circa. Tim) when a friend gave me a mix tape of music he thought I might enjoy. I can't remember exactly was on the tape, but I think there were groups like, the Jazz Butcher and Beasts Of Bourbon, but the songs that stuck with me the most were the Replacements tracks. I know for sure, Kiss Me On The Bus, Waitress In The Sky and Lay It Down Clown were on the tape. I tracked down the album, Tim later that week and I bought Pleased To Meet Me at Record Baron as soon as it was released a year later. On my next trip to Minneapolis, I snagged copies of their first four albums (Sorry Ma, Stink, Hootenany and Let It Be) from the long gone, Northern Lights Records on Hennepin. Their final two albums, though slightly disappointing, still was better than anything else on the radio at the time. My interest in the Replacements was renewed a few years later when I read a series of articles in a magazine/fanzine I subscribed to, Tapers Quarterly about collecting the Replacements (video, live recordings and outtakes/demos). It was an excellent article that intrigued me because the band's live shows were unpredictable with setlists that were never the same, with unlikely covers and wonderful spontanious moments that would either fly high or flop badly. Since that article I have gone on to collect a large number of Replacements shows through tape trades and fellow fans that have shared their recordings. I definitely have more Mats shows than any other band in my collection of concert recordings and any one of them I could throw in the tape deck (or CD player) and experience a unique Replacements show that I would never tire of.

 

Yes, these are the clearest and least blurry of the dozens of photos I took.

When tickets went on presale on May 1, I was determined to one of the lucky 15,000 or so fans to get tickets. And I did! The presale and the following public ticket sales sold out almost intantly with many Twin Cities natives stunned tickets disappeared so quickly. A road trip to Minneapolis is always exciting especially with an event such as this as the highlight. My brother and his friends were also lucky enough to come through with tickets, but I travelled with my wife and daughter. Personally, this would probably have to be the most anticipated concert in my life. I've waited a long time for this moment and I feel bad I missed out the first time around in the 80's. Just as a whim on the week of the concert, I entered a "Pleased to meet and greet" contest on The Current (MPR) website after filling in my picks for their Top 30 Replacements songs poll. Imagine my surprise (or should I say shock!) when I received an email on Thursday saying I won. The prize included two tickets to the show and a special meet and greet with the band...HOLY CRAP!

I was able to sell my previously bought tickets (at list price) when I came to Minneapolis (thanks Helen! hope you enjoyed the concert!) and then it was off to Midway Stadium. We arrived just before doors opened and after collecting our VIP after-show passes and tickets we grabbed a spot on a massive tarp in front of the stage and between the sound tent. We shifted closer to middle and closer up during the first two bands (Lucero and The Hold Steady) and wound up in good position in the middle of the mass for the Replacements. It was increasingly frustrating to have more and more people shove their way towards the front and squeeze their bodies smack dab in front of my face. There was lots of shoving and pushing, jocking for position and I was stuck directly behind three of the tallest guys in the crowd, of course! This is not the ideal recording situation, first, it's an outdoor venue and sound can be affected by wind and secondly, I was surrounded on four sides by taller people so my mics were blocked and pushed into the back of the person in front of me. This resulted in muffled sound and it didn't help that the guy directly behind me sang along with almost every song directly in my ear (and mics). I swear during Skyway, I couldn't hear Westerberg at all, only the American Idol wannabe behind me. To top it off, my SD card in my recorder malfunctioned and I had to switch cards on the fly. I ended up missing 3 songs, ouch! Fortunately, I figured this show more than any other show on the tour would be recorded by other tapers and luck would have it there are at least three other recordings posted online. The band's extended setlist (compared to the festival shows) provided all the highlights I was hoping to hear. I've seen Paul Westerberg solo on two occasions and he's played a handful of Mats songs, but it was amazing to hear the Replacements live renditions of Bastards, Left Of the Dial, I Will Dare, Alex Chilton, Skyway...aw, too many great moments...and to close the show during the second encore, Unsatisfied. Westerberg and Stinson sounded and looked good and the support from Josh Freese on drums and Dave Minehan on guitar was stellar. The concert was crazy good, the sound was decent and I technically was close enough to see the band clearly (peeking between heads, bodies and foam fingers), so I feel very fortunate to have been there for this once in a lifetime moment.

Everything after the concert seemed surreal. My wife and I along with the other contest winners (I think 8 plus guests) were led past security behind the stadium fence and through the backstage area past a tent for family/friends and crew members to a building where we would meet the band. We lined up on the steps outside the building and in pairs met, shook hands (Tommy hugged/wrestled me), briefly chatted and posed for photos with Tommy and Paul. And for a gift we received an autographed poster from the show! I know bands probably have to go through this kind of fan interaction every show through promoter committments and whatever, but the guys were soft-spoken and seemed genuinely sincere to meet us. I can now say I've met three of my true music heroes (Scott McCaughey, the other) and it was a thrill and an experience I will never forget.

Pleased to meet and greet with Tommy and Paul!

Due to the sub-par quality of my recording, I've posted a recording I downloaded from Dime. Perks has given permission to post that recording here to share. The sound is really good and considering the conditions of an outdoor concert (listed above), this is an excellent document of the show. It really has that "just like being there" feel to the recording. Thanks Perks!
Enjoy!

The Replacements
September 13, 2014
Midway Stadium
St. Paul, MN

Source: Schopes MK41's > active cables > Nbox > Edirol R-05 @ 24/48.
Transfer: Emtec 16GB SDHC Card > Dell PC > 24bit WAV > Sony Sound Forge 9.0e > CDWave Editor > Trader's Little Helper > FLAC16.

Recorded and transferred by perks.

1. Crowd/Tuning
2. Favorite Thing
3. Takin' A Ride
4. I'm In Trouble
5. Don't Ask Why
6. I'll Be You
7. Valentine
8. Waitress In The Sky
9. Tommy Got His Tonsils Out > 3rd Stone From The Sun
10. Take Me Down To The Hospital
11. I Want You Back
12. Going To New York (with Tony "Little Sun" Glover)
13. Color Me Impressed
14. Nowhere Is My Home
15. If Only You Were Lonely
16. Achin' To Be
17. Kiss Me On The Bus
18. Androgynous
19. I Will Dare
20. Love You Till Friday > Maybelene
21. Merry Go Round
22. I Won't
23. Borstal Breakout
24. Swingin' Party
25. Love You In The Fall
26. Can't Hardly Wait
27. I Don't Know > Buck Hill
28. Bastards Of The Young
29. Skyway
30. Left of The Dial
31. Alex Chilton
32. Unsatisfied
33. Crowd

The Replacements- 2014-09-13, Midway Stadium, St. Paul, MN FLAC. rar

Arcade Fire- Live In Winnipeg 2014

I wasn't even planning to attend the Arcade Fire concert, we bought tickets back in December 2013 as Christmas presents for my daughter and my bro in-law and at the time didn't really have a great interest in going. I had seen them two previous times (both outstanding shows!!), but I wasn't crazy about their new album and I didn't think I needed to see them again. As faith would have it my daughter went to Europe for most of the summer and would miss the show, so I made sure the tickets didn't go to waste and I'm sure glad I did!

The tickets were in the 300 level which in price terms are the cheap seats, but they were first row and nicely in line with the stage that promised a clear, unobstructed view of the stage. I almost didn't bring my recording gear because I figured the sound would suck being up so high as the sound would get lost in the upper reaches of the sketchy acoustics of the MTS Centre ceiling. When we arrived at the arena, the 300 level was closed off and we were informed all the 300 level seats were being "up-graded" to lower sections. In one hand being lower is an upgrade, but our fear, being older and less energetic we would have to stand during the show. We were reassigned to seats in the second row of the 200 level directly below our original tickets. What this means is that sales apart from the floor and the main lower bowl (100 level) were very low considering the 200 level seats were only occupied about 4-5 rows up in most of the sections in the arena. The good news was a much closer view and better sound. I have to admit I'm impressed by how decent the sound for concerts is at the MTS Centre. The volume is loud and the clarity despite a band like Arcade Fire that boasts 12-13 band members on stage isn't muddled. It wasn't the case with the opening band, Tune-Yards which sounded like a rumble of noise that might have translated better in a smaller venue.

Everytime I have seen Arcade Fire they impressed me beyond my expectations. When I saw them in 2005, I was vaguely familiar with the band and was blown away by their energy and how they played every song like it was their last. At the time I confessed to someone, this was one of the most amazing concerts I had seen! My seats were first row balcony and they offered a perfect straight on view of the band and the sights and sounds of the band kept me focused all night. Their show at the MTS Centre for their Suburbs tour further impressed me. Situated on the floor it was a totally different experience moving shoulder to shoulder with the crowd, the visuals were even better and the music quality upped it's ante, as Arcade Fire was now more than an indie band.

This year's concert was a continued assault of sight and sound. The stage visuals, the state of art light show and creativity and artistry of their presentation has surpassed anything I've seen live (to be fair I usually skip the BIG name shows at the arena or stadium). The "tin-foil" man dancing on the b-stage, the large bobble-head characters during the opening processional march through the crowd to the stage and during the encore break "performing", These Eyes, the crowd dressed formally or in costume were just some of the visual highlights of the show. The music was good too, even the newer stuff sounded better live, but is there a need for 5 percussion players for some of the songs? The two full drum kits not enough? Overall, I was impressed and at times wondered how do you top this. It may be a while until I see something so original and mind-blowing as Arcade Fire and I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't until they come back to town during their next tour.

Note: The recording was pretty good despite not being in an ideal position in front of the stage, but the sound is loud and clear enough and less audience chatter/noise than if I was on the floor. Sorry if the track separation isn't perfect, it's hard to distinguish the end and start of songs because they like to segue to the next song without a break.
Enjoy!

Reviews and photos from the show-
 Winnipeg Free Press
Metro
Consequence Of Sound

ARCADE FIRE
MTS Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
August 14, 2014
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. Here Comes The Night Time
02. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
03. Flashbulb Eyes
04. Reflektor
05. Joan of Arc
06. Month of May
07. The Suburbs
08. Ready to Start
09. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
11. We Exist
11. No Cars Go
12. Haiti
13. Afterlife
14. It's Never Over (Regine on B-stage)
15. Sprawl II

ENCORE
16. These Eyes (fake band on B-stage)
17. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown (Neil Young cover)
18. Normal Person
19. Rebellion (Lies)
20. Wake Up

ARCADE FIRE- 2014-08-14 MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master part 1. rar
ARCADE FIRE- 2014-08-14 MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master part 2. rar

Time Never Forgets

My complete Scruffy The Cat collection in ancient formats.

If you've read this blog in the past year you probably already know what a huge Scruffy The Cat fan I am. Well, wonderful news for fans old and new of the band, unavailable and out of print for years, the complete Scruffy The Cat catalogue (36 songs), Time Never Forgets- The Anthology ('86-'88) is now available for digital download! It's an opportunity to get a fresh copy (if you already own the vinyl, cd or cassette) to add to your hard drive or mobile device or if you're curious about what all the hubbub is all about, click the link below to get your download. Hell, you can't beat $10 for 2 full length albums and 2 ep's worth of music, quite the bargain in this tight times. I've posted many live concert recordings and some of their studio albums here in the past, but please support this not-forgotten band from the 80's, as members of the band played a major hand in getting these tracks re-released. I have all these tracks in all the possible formats already, but I'm buying this anyways because the tracks for this re-release were remastered from the original master tapes and (supposedly) sounds better than ever...You should too!
Enjoy!

Time Never Forgets (BUY)
iTunes

Amazon

The Modern Lovers- Unreleased Demos

It's hard to believe the Modern Lovers formed almost 44 years ago. Though they formed in 1970 and performed and recorded until they're breakup in 1974, the band's debut album wasn't released until 1976. In fact, the Modern Lovers album was a compilation of demo tracks recorded years earlier with the original band while Jonathan Richman formed a completely different version of the band and debuted the album, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, also in 1976. It's kind of strange Richman abandoned the rock-art sound of the Lovers for a quieter mellower sound. The Modern Lovers album would go on to be one of the most influential and classic albums of the 70's. Richman's career would take on a more low-key approach with a still strong cult following (except for some commercial exposure with appearance and songs in variety of Farrelly Brothers films) right up until present.

Autographed ticket stub

It's been awhile since I've seen Jonathan Richman live, I last saw him in 1999 in Fargo (see photo) and at least three previous times in Winnipeg. I'm going to the show tomorrow, don't know quite what to expect, I haven't listened to any of his most recent recording at least for over 10 years, so hopefully he'll play some of his older "hits". More later, I hope to have something to post from the show. Stay tuned!

The unreleased demos I'm posting I downloaded from Dime years ago. Thanks to the original poster! I included the info file which details the recording session history of these tracks. I real find for a real fan of the Modern Lovers!
Enjoy!

THE MODERN LOVERS
Unreleased Studio Demos 
1971-1973


1.  Ride Down on the Highway  --  Intermedia Demos
2.  Such Loneliness  --  John Cale demos
3.  Girlfriend  --  John Cale demos
4.  Hospital  --  Dinky Dawson demos
5.  Astral Plane (false start)  --  Dinky Dawson demos
6.  Modern World --  Kim Fowley LP sessions
7.  Fly into the Mystery --  Kim Fowley LP sessions
8.  Hospital  --  Kim Fowley LP sessions
9.  A Plea for Tenderness --  Kim Fowley LP sessions
10. Dignified and Old --  Probably Kim Fowley LP sessions
11. New England Summer Song (instrumental) -- unknown source

MODERN LOVERS- Unreleased Demos FLAC. rar

Evan Dando- West End Cultural Centre 2014

It's seems crazy this is the first concert I've been to in about a year and a half (Kathleen Edwards- September 29, 2012), which means in 2013 I didn't see any live music. No music festivals, no free stages downtown, no bar shows, no theatre/arena concerts, nothing! 2014 so far, looks like a promising year with upcoming shows by Jonathan Richman, Heart (seriously!), The Replacements and last week's concert, Evan Dando of the Lemonheads.

The Evan Dando show at the West End Cultural Centre was a nice low-key, casual acoustic show with a smallish intimate crowd who's "enthusiasm" seemed to match the energy of the performers. This is NOT a review of the concert, but here's small random thoughts about the show.

• Opening the show was Sara Johnston from the band, Bran Van 3000. I must admit I'm not familiar with her music, but I do remember Bran Van 3000 received a fair bit of attention in the 90's, but I never actually listened to them because I'm not a fan of electronica and dance-type music. Johnston's solo set was short and sweet. She obviously is very talented as her voice is the centrepiece of her songs, but it wasn't enough to have me run to the lobby to buy her CD. To be fair I'll explore her studio records at a later time to get a better idea of her sound, but her solo performance was a nice sampling of her abilities.
• When Evan Dando entered the stage with his guitar (strapped on) carrying a music stand, I suspected Dando wouldn't be engaging the audience with witty and spirited banter. From the start to the end of the last encore, he was all business. Plowing through song after song rarely acknowledging the audience paying more attention to the sheets on his music stand. He is a man of few words and I knew that coming in, so I wasn't surprised about his lack of stage presence. To be fair, Dando had the sniffles later in the set and wiped his nose on his sleeve several times. He could have been suffering a minor cold, and if so, kudos for carrying on with the show.
• I was predicting Dando would wear a outdoor jacket or hoodie and sure enough it was a hoodie. That's one thing I do admire about Dando, despite the press he received about his good looks in the 90's, he downplays it by often looking scruffy and unpreoccupied about his appearance. Casual and comfortable, I always say!
• Despite his stage presence, Dando still has the voice and his songs are so good! It's a pleasure to hear them played live in any format, acoustic or electric with the Lemonheads. His setlist altered between his best known Lemonheads and solo material with plenty of covers by Hank, John, Gram, Victoria, Emmylou, Lucinda and the Misfits. With the re-release of the earlier Lemonheads records and the It's A Shame About Ray tour last year, it's great to see there's an increased  interest in his music and I'm happy Dando continues to tour constantly.
• More photos from the show are posted on the TDIT Facebook page.
• In typical Winnipeg hospitality, the West End Cultural Centre posted an alert that Dando's tour van was broken into while in Winnipeg and an acoustic guitar and cello was stolen. Not cool!

Update (as of May 28): Good news! Apparently Winnipeg does have some considerate people. A good Samaritan bought Dando's guitar from Kijii, saw posts online about the thief and returned the guitar. Local music store, Long & McQuade covered the shipping to have his guitar returned to him safely. Unfortunately the cello is still at large.

Enjoy!

EVAN DANDO
West End Cultural Centre
Winnipeg, MB
May 18, 2014
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. My Idea
02. Tenderfoot
03. Being Around
04. All My Life
05. Hard Drive
06. Won't You Sometimes Think Of Me
07. Outdoor Type
08. Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
09. Confetti
10. Ride With Me
11. Why Do You Do This To Yourself?
12. My Drug Buddy
13. How Much I Lied
14. The Turnpike Down
15. Bit Part
16. Rudderless
17. Hannah And Gabi
18. It's A Shame About Ray
19. Frying Pan
20. Down About It
21. Long Black Limousine
22. Into Your Arms
encore
23. Big Gay Heart
24. Frank Mills/ crowd
encore 2
25. We'll Sweep Out The Ashes (aborted)/ Abandoned
26. Skulls

EVAN DANDO- 2014-05-18 West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master. rar

Lemonheads- Wireless in Australia 1991

With tickets in hand for the Replacements concert in St. Paul in September, I can cross off yet another personal "bucket list" band off my imaginary must-see list. I have to admit there aren't many more other bands I haven't seen yet except for classic-rock long-shots like the Kinks or the Stones, but of course my aging mind can't think straight much nowadays.

The Lemonheads are a band I have followed fairly faithfully through their career from the mid-eighties to present day and if you've read this blog you're well aware I'm a fan despite they're uneven recorded output. They're definitely a band on my "would-like to see" list as they've never come to my hometown, except Evan did come a few years back, but I was out of town at the time. In reality, the Lemonheads since the early 90's have been more of a Evan Dando vehicle with a revolving door of band members and extended hiatuses. It's been a while since their heyday and the height of the career in the 90's with mainstream breakthrough albums, It's A Shame About Ray, Come On Feel The Lemonheads and Car Button Cloth. More interesting for me is their earlier albums on the Taang! record label (Hate Your Friends, Creator, Lick) that featured more of a ragged, kinda punk, indie rock sound, I guess in those days they called it alternative rock. If you're interested in those earlier releases, check out Fire Records who recently reissued the first three albums with lots of excellent bonus material of rare and live-in studio radio broadcast recordings.

Tonight, I'm going to see Evan Dando perform a solo concert at the West End Cultural Centre and though it's not officially a Lemonheads show, seeing Dando might be as close as I'll come. I'm looking forward to the show and though Dando doesn't attract the huge crowds and screaming girl popularity of the 90's, he still demands attention for his strong songwriting and catchy songs. He's kind of an uneven performer and I'm not sure if it's an acoustic or electric show, but whatever it is I'll do my best to post some documentation of the concert, hopefully a recording and some photos.

Here's a live-in studio performance on Triple J in Australia about a year before the It's A Shame About Ray album. A good clean sounding recording I received in a tape trade about 20 years ago that I recently transferred to digital. I can see this being used as bonus tracks for Lovey if it ever gets the reissue treatment. Get it while you can!
Enjoy!

LEMONHEADS
Live On The Wireless
JJJ-FM
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
July 22, 1991
FM Broadcast

Trade> Maxell XLII-90 Cassette> Aiwa tape deck> ADS Instant music>
usb> Nero SoundTrax> WAV> Direct WAV splitter> FLAC> rar

01. Clang Bang Clang
02. Came Back DA
03. Stove
04. A Song For You
05. Come Downstairs
06. Nighttime
07. Year Of The Cat
08. Ride With Me
09. Die Right Now
10. Outro

LEMONHEADS- 1991-07-22 Wireless, Sydney, AUST, FLAC. rar

Minus 5- Lounge Ax, January 9, 2000

Hey music fans, this Saturday, April 19 is the seventh annual Record Store Day! (RSD Canada) Its purpose is to celebrate the culture of the independent record store. Just to clarify, I mean independently owned, no corporate chain stores, not Starbucks, not iTunes or Apple Store, but the once dying breed, the record store. In the past several years, there has been a revival in vinyl, which is a good thing because so many people nowadays listen to their music on their phones or other "smart" devices more for the convenience than for the music listening experience. The sound quality of these pathetic "music listening" devices is so crappy sounding our perception and standards of quality music have been lowered. Many are clueless to the low fidelity and many don't care. Blame mp3's, blame iTunes, blame the internet, blame American Idol...these are all part of the problem and Record Store Day is about the awareness of good music, getting back to how music was bought and listened to in my day (yes, I'm sounding old!). The memories of hanging out at the record store, browsing through the racks and discussing new releases and must-haves with staff and friends is the culture of what RSD is trying to recreate. Think of the record store as the organic food version of music, it tastes and sounds better and you'll feel better about yourself for caring about your health and well being.

One of the highlights of RSD is the exclusive releases sold at stores. A pdf list of what's available is here. One release that caught my attention is the Minus 5- Scott the Hoople In The Dungeon Of Horror. It will be only released on vinyl (5 record set) and limited to only 400, the price is somewhere in the $89 dollar range. I haven't been on the ball enough to request it from my local stores and I'm not sure if it will be in stock here. Also I'm working this Saturday so I won't be able to shop in person, if anyone has any ideas or help about purchasing a copy, let me know. This record should be crazy good (5 discs?!!) and I'm such a hardcore Scott McCaughey fan this is a must-have.

To get you in the mood, I'm posting a Minus 5 show from 14 years ago. This was recorded during the final days of the Lounge Ax, a cool intimate club in Chicago, with Scott McCaughey and members of Wilco (with Jeff Tweedy on bass) as his backing band for a make shift version of the Minus 5 opening for Summer Teeth (Wilco). Most of the songs during the set were new songs written for the occasion that had never been performed before and the band played them without a rehearsal, some of the songs were eventually recorded and later appeared on the In Rock album. This remains one of my favourite Minus 5 live recordings, loose, fun and some amazing musicianship.
Enjoy!

MINUS 5 (w/Wilco)
Lounge Ax
Chicago, IL
January 9, 2000
SBD

01. Courage Is The Smallest Bird
02. In A Lonely Coffin
03. I'm Not Bitter
04. Dear Employer
05. Lies Of The Living Dead
06. The King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1
07. Disaster Nurse Fan
08. I've Got A Lyrical Stance
09. The Night Chicago Died Again
10. Last Call For Corporal Barry
11. I Still Miss Someone *
12. Home Of The Blues *
13. I Wish I Was Your Mother

Minus 5: Scott McCaughey & Wilco with Kelly Hogan and Jon Langford*

MINUS 5- 2000-01-09 Lounge Ax, Chicago, IL FLAC. rar

Mr. T Experience At Gilman St. 1990

In my early days of tape trading I came across some great collections of live shows. I didn't have a lot to trade in exchange so I was lucky enough to connect with traders that were willing to sell me tapes for the minimum cost of a blank tape and postage paid. Some traders were also willing to do a "2 for 1" where you would send two blanks for the show I wanted, they would fill one and send back, while the other tape is for them as compensation for their time. This was a fabulous way to build a collection to trade with others and around the same time I began to record concerts broadcast on the radio and I got some recording equipment to tape local shows. I later discovered that the shows I recorded were of value and very tradable because they were masters and I would be trading the first generation and on top of that they were pretty rare since I haven't seen many (if any) other recording from shows I attended. 

A couple of my first trade partners were based in the Bay area and I acquired several shows from bands from that region and in the surrounding area. One of the most popular venues in the scene was 924 Gilman St, an all-ages, non profit collectively organized music club. At this time the club mainly featured punk rock bands NOT on major labels. Many of the bands that played there have gone onto bigger prominence and yes, major labels. Some of the more well known bands include, Green Day, The Offspring, AFI, Jawbreaker, Fugazi, Sleater-Kinney, Born Against, Against Me and the Mr. T Experience. Through these traders, I acquired a good amount of shows from Gilman St. which hopefully I'll share in upcoming posts.

Today's featured recording comes from the Mr. T Experience. It's a personal favourite of mine and it's another recording I freshly transferred from cassette. This was recorded when the band was a four-piece when Jon Von was still in the band. Though I have only seen MTX as a trio, the stage presence and banter between Dr. Frank and Jon Von is priceless, with Jon Von usually in the comedy relief role. I'm always on the lookout for more shows when Jon Von was in the band, which seem to be harder to come across and fortunately I have a few more recordings on tape to share, both pre and post Jon Von. This recording from Gilman St. has excellent sound and most likely it's from the soundboard (listen to the soundboard  "tape change" during Up And Down). A fun and enjoyable show, the band is top notch! Stay tuned for more.
Enjoy!

MR. T EXPERIENCE
Gilman St.
Berkeley, CA
December 15, 1990
soundboard (?)

01. Intro
02. What Went Wrong
03. What's In The Cuckoo Clock
04. History Of The Concept Of The Soul
05. End Of The Ramones
06. Love American Style
07. Velveeta
08. She's No Rocket Scientist
09. Last Time I Listened To you
10. Pig Latin
11. Up And Down
12. Make-Up
13. Psycho Girl
14. Sex Offender
15. Zero
16. So Long Sucker

MR. T EXPERIENCE- 1990-12-15 Gilman St., Berkeley, CA FLAC. rar

Replacements At The Ritz, Feb. 1, 1986

For me, the musical highlight of 2013 was the comeback for one of my all time favourite bands, The Replacements. Beginning the year with the release of a limited edition 10" EP called, Songs For Slim that consisted of the first new recordings by the band (at least Paul and Tommy together) in over 20 years. This EP and subsequent SFS 7" releases by an all-star cast of musicans that donated their time and songs to help raise to date over $200,000 to go towards Slim Dunlop and his family to help with the significant expenses for his long-term care. For more information about about this fundraiser, check out songsforslim.com

The Replacements completed their comeback/reunion with a trio of shows at Riotfest in Toronto, Chicago and Denver. Even though I never made it anywhere close to these three locations, fans like me were fortunate enough to hear live audio and video audience recordings of the shows. Thank you to everyone that recorded the shows and thank you for sharing!

Speaking of live recordings, if you are a die-hard Mats fan like me you should browse the Replacements Live Archive Project for downloads of pretty much every known Replacements show that has been recorded. The mission of the site is "to track down, digitize, share and archive all Replacements and related recordings". I'm sure there are more out there and if you have any shows to contribute, contact them.

Recently, I've begun to digitize my live tapes to a HD (and burn a disc), but also to post to this blog. Most of the Replacements shows I have on tape can be found at the RLAP already, as I probably have some generation from the same masters, but I found one show that hasn't been posted yet or widely circulated. The Replacements at the Ritz (below) is from February 1986, less than a month after their infamous SNL appearance, but not to be confused with a pair of shows at the Ritz in June which ended up being the last shows for Bob Stinson. As usual, a great setlist with some covers and decent sound recorded from the crowd.
Enjoy!

Note: there might be a slight drop in volume after Trouble Boys. This is the tape flip and for some reason to me it doesn't sound as loud. Still good though!

The Replacements
1986-02-01
The Ritz
New York, NY
AUD

Disc One:
01. Rock and Roll All Nite
02. Color Me Impressed
03. Can't Hardly Wait
04. Bastards of Young
05. Fuck School
06. Sixteen Blue
07. Waitress in the Sky
08. Hold My Life
09. Left of the Dial
10. Answering Machine
11. Lay It Down Clown
12. Trouble Boys
13. Go!
14. Unsatisfied
15. I Will Dare
16. Take Me Down to the Hospital

Disc Two:
01. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out
02. Black Diamond
03. Let It Bleed
04. Galveston
05. Favorite Thing
06. Temptation Eyes
07. Careless
08. Ace of Spades
09. Hey Good Lookin'
10. Stuck in the Middle
11. Shiftless When Idle
12. Eighteen
13. Johnny's Gonna Die
14. God Damn Job
15. My Town

REPLACEMENTS- 1986-02-01 Ritz, NYC, NY FLAC. rar

TDIT Is Back!! Beat Farmers At The Roxy, 1984

It's hard to believe I haven't written a new post in over four months, it's crazy how time flies! I don't really have a legitimate excuse, I haven't been ill, I didn't vacation anywhere warm for the past four months, nor was I physically unable to type on a keyboard. Though it's not really an excuse, I blame the winter blues! Up northward where I live we've suffered one of the harshest, coldest and largest amounts of snowfall in recent memory. On top of that, hundreds of houses are without running water and thousands (including myself) have to run their water tap continuously 24/7 until as late as mid-June to prevent frozen pipes. I Haven't really felt like going out much (actually didn't see a concert in 2013!!) and I've spent the past months nightly glued to the TV watching NHL hockey and the Olympics, though there's nothing wrong with that, right?

Enough with the excuses! Recently I have resumed uploading some live concerts and my goal is transfer some favourite shows I have on tape in attempt to save them to HD, as well as post on the blog. I promise I'll keep this blog more updated and I'm psyched to share some interesting recordings I've downloaded, received in trades and concerts I recorded.

To kick off my first post of 2014, I have a request for more Beat Farmers (thanks Kurt!). This is an early show, before the release of their first album, Tales Of The New West (in my opinion, their best) recorded almost 30 years ago with the original lineup that included Buddy Blue. A great sounding audience recording that accurately captures the blistering live show that the BF's were known for. Wonderful!
Enjoy!

THE BEAT FARMERS
Roxy
Los Angeles, CA
June 20, 1984
AUD

01. Reason To Believe
02. Lost Weekend
03. Buy Me A Car
04. Glad n Greasy
05. Ain't Your Business
06. Happy Boy
07. Big Ugly Wheels
08. Sperm Dog
09. Selfish Heart
10. There She Goes Again
11. Bigger Stones
12. Goldmine
13. Lonesome Hound
14. I Still Miss Someone
15. Beat Generation
16. California Kid
17. Mondo

BEAT FARMERS- 1984-06-20 Roxy, Los Angeles, CA FLAC. rar