Thursday, March 30, 2017

Fountains Of Wayne- First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN June 13, 2007



Ten years ago, in June, I happened to be in the Twin Cities for a pair of concerts I was fortunate enough to get tickets to. I wrote about this trip, Lots To See In Minneapolis and St. Paul where I posted excerpts from the MPR's The Current Fakebook series featuring Laura Lindeen's book launch concert held in the amazing Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul. Laura was promoting her memoir, Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story, which included her time living in the Minneapolis music scene of the late 80's and 90's. At the time, Laura was married to Paul Westerberg which of course peaked my interest and to accompany readings and a live on stage interview, music guests performed during this book launch/reading/concert event. Guests included, Mark Olson (of the Jayhawks and Creekdippers), Marc Perlman, Steve Wynn, Westerberg and a two song reunion by Lindeen's former band, Zuzu's Petals. As it happens, I didn't buy the book, but I did borrow it from the library a couple summers ago and it was a very interesting read. Kinda glad I waited because I became much more familiar with Zuzu's Petals before I read the book and I knew Laura and Paul had since split (sad to hear).

The other concert I mentioned, but failed to follow up with on "the next post", was Fountains of Wayne on June 13, 2007 at the First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. What I remember most about the show was that it was hot and humid and pressed together tightly in the crowd standing on the floor of the club. The Broken West opened and they were fantastic! Their debut album, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, is a great album and was on heavy rotation at work and on my iPod. They put on an energetic set of brilliant power pop, a perfect pairing with Fountains Of Wayne. I recorded their set as well, if anyone is interested.


If you've ever been to the First Ave (at least in 2007), they roll down a screen in front of the stage to screen short films and video while the band sets up behind the screen. It caught me off guard when a recorded Traffic and Weather intro began before they launched into I've Got Flair. I don't think I missed much of the intro, but it gets tricky when the lights go out and I have to tweak settings on my recorder. Another reason why a mini flashlight is a must have to carry when taping. I suffered a near recording mishap when I saw Paul Westerberg at the Guthrie Theatre in 2002 when the lights went out at the beginning of the concert and I couldn't see my recorder (mini-disc recorder back light stays on a very short time) and I had to unplug the mic and crawl on the floor down the aisle to the the lights on the stairs to adjust the settings. Embarrassing and stupid, always carry a flashlight!

Remembering back ten years, I recalled what a great live band Fountains Of Wayne are. Though they don't boast the most visually stunning stage show, they play to their strengths. They keep the banter light and funny, they have a cool casual persona about them even with Jody's "rock star swagger" and they delivered a great set of music. Despite the commercial over-saturation of their "hit", Stacy's Mom, Welcome Interstate Managers is a classic album. Every song has a memorable hook and it's their most consistent effort yet. The album they toured in 2007, Traffic and Weather has definitely grown on me through the years and it was exciting to hear some of the tracks live.

About a month ago I was listening to another FOW live recording and it suddenly dawned on me, what happened to my recording of FOW when I saw them in 2007? I realized I never actually transferred the show from mini-disc to my hard drive or at least burned a disc from it. The other concert I saw in the Twin Cities that weekend (Laura Lindeen) was apparently my immediate priority and I apologize for taking so long to post this show.I dug up the disc and replaced an old corroded battery out of the mini-disc player and gave it a listen. A couple weeks later I uploaded the concert. The sound is pretty good considering the crowd I was standing in and despite the surrounding chatter I'm happy with the recording. I've never seen another live recording of the show and my version has never been shared (or heard by anyone but me) or traded anywhere until now.

Note: The poster pictured at the top of this post I bought at the concert. That too was almost forgotten as I've yet to get around framing it. Don't get too excited, it's signed by members of the band, not Fountains of Wayne, but the openers, The Broken West. They were more than happy to sign the poster, nice guys!
Enjoy!!

Please do NOT sell!
Share, but don't share in mp3, keep it lossless.

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
June 13, 2007
AUD MASTER

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Sharp MD-MT90> ADS Instant Music> USB>
Nero Soundtrax> Wav> Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar

01. I've Got A Flair
02. No Better Place
03. Denise
04. Someone To Love
05. Fire In The Canyon
06. Hackensack
07. Hey Julie
08. Strapped For Cash
09. Yolanda Hayes
10. Mexican Wine
11. I-95
12. It Must Be Summer
13. Stacy's Mom
14. Radiation Vibe
15. Survival Car

Encore
16. Traffic And Weather
17. Red Dragon Tattoo
18. Leave The Biker

Encore 2
19. Half A Woman
20. Valley Winter Song
21. Sink To The Bottom

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE- 2007-06-13 First Avenue, Mpls, MN Master FLAC. rar

Thursday, March 23, 2017

J Church- Pyramid Cabaret, Winnipeg, June 12, 1996



It will be 10 years ago this October 21th since J Church founder (guitarist/songwriter), Lance Hahn passed away. He left behind a legacy of great music, and according to Wikipedia, the group released an estimated 150 records which included an extensive discography of albums, singles and splits with other like-minded punk rock bands. He died October 21, 2007, at the way too early to die age of 40 following a collapse during dialysis after being in a coma since October 12th. I had previously wrote a blog posting in October of that year about Lance and J Church and my experience meeting Lance in person after shows in 1996 and 1997.

Since today is "Wequest Wednesday", I thought I would honour a request to repost a  J Church show from 1996 I shared on Dime 10 years ago. I only posted a small sample of songs from the show on the blog and the Dime link is long gone, but alas, I browsed through my hard drives and found the FLAC files I originally posted. The recording is from over 20 years ago and I originally recorded it on cassette, but it's transferred to digital and it's lossless. I'm listening to the recording as I write this and the sound is surprisingly good. Any muffled vocals and uneven sounds is clearly the Pyramid's fault and the chatter and idiot catcalls are all part of the charm and experience of standing in the middle of a packed  punk rock crowd. I will eventually post the J Church show I recorded in 1997 probably closer to the 20th anniversary of the show in the near future...stay tuned!
Enjoy!

J CHURCH
Pyramid Cabaret
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
June 12, 1996

Audience MASTER
Sony clip-on mic> Sony WM-GX35 > Maxell XLII> Fisher CR-W911A Cassette Deck> ADS Instant Music> USB> Nero Soundtrax> Wav> Direct Wave MP3 Splitter> FLAC> Maketorrent> rar

01.
02.
03.
04.
05.  Ivy League College
06.  My Favourite Place
07. 
08.  Why I Liked Bikini Kill
09.  No Surprise
10.  Racked
11.  Tide Of Fate
12.
13.  Hope
14.
15.  Yellow, Red And Green
16.  Panama
17. 
18.


It's been a long time since I first listened to this recording. If your more of a fan than me and can identify the song titles, please let me know so I can fill in the rest of the setlist.
Thanks!

J CHURCH- 1996-06-12 FLAC. rar 

Monday, March 13, 2017

TUNS- The Good Will, Winnipeg, November 26, 2016



Believe it or not, these are the clearest photos I took. You get the idea...

Funny how time flies...It's been almost 4 months since I recorded Tuns. It was before winter arrived and now we've passed day light savings time and spring is a possibility in the next month or so. Tuns was the third of my trilogy of concerts I attended last November and I apologize for the lack of posts and how slow I was to post this show. In fact, it was ready to post since a week after the show so be prepared to go back in time a little bit.

If you listened to alternative Canadian music during the 1990's, you will probably be familiar with the members of Tuns. They are Chris Murphy (Sloan), Matt Murphy (Superfriendz and Flashing Lights) and Mike O'Neill (Inbreds), a kind of Canadian indie-rock supergroup. They released their self-titled debut album, in August 2016 and this was their first visit as a band to Winnipeg. Playing at the Good Will Social Club, the band cruised through most (or all) of the songs from the album along with a couple new songs I don't have proper titles for. If you know the songs with the (?) in the setlist, please let me know. They closed their set with the classic, High School, from the Flashing Lights debut album. An amazing set from three very talents musicians with Chris Murphy on drums instead of his usual bass position in Sloan. The sound was top notch, thanks to the Good Will sound guy and the results of the recording are very good. I played this recording at loud volume recently in my living room and I swear to god it was just like being there, but without being squeezed, shoved and knocked about. Yes, I sat on the couch. Highly recommended!
Enjoy!

TUNS
The Good Will
Winnipeg, MB
November 26, 2016

AUD Master

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

01. Back Among Friends
02. Mixed Messages
03. Throw It All Away
04. To Your Satisfaction
05. (new song) When your Ready (?)
06. Mind Your Manners
07. I Can't Wait Forever
08. Look Who's Back In Town Again
09. Lonely Life
10. Mind Over Matter
Encore
11. (new song) (?)
12. Lie Awake (?)
13. High School

TUNS- 2016-11-26 The Good Will, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master. rar

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