David Johansen Group- Live At the Paradise 1978: R.I.P.

The New York Dolls 1973. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP

 

 Just heard on the news this morning that New York Dolls frontman, David Johansen died at 75. This is sad news, Johansen was the last surviving member of the pioneering proto-punk band, as he was battling stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor. I've always had a special place for the Dolls, as their music and rock 'n' roll swagger has been very influential to my music tastes and the bands I listened to in the late 70's/80's. Spinning off from the Dolls, I've followed guitarist, Johnny Thunders career, solo and with the Heartbreakers, but never really dug deep into Johansen's post-Dolls work. I'll admit, I was not a big fan of Johansen's alter-ego, Buster Poindexter, but his solo work (under his own name) wasn't bad and grossly underrated. I also respect him for reviving the Dolls for a reunion in 2004 (minus Thunders and Jerry Nolan) and forming a new lineup of the Dolls with Sylvain Sylvain that went on to tour and release three more studio albums, which was more output than the original lineup.

 

As a tribute to David Johansen (and Sylvain Sylvain), Here's a show from the David Johansen Group with Sylvain on guitar, the band opened for Blondie. It's a good sounding radio broadcast and even features a couple of NY Dolls songs. I've previously posted the only Dolls shows I have and just in case you missed them, the direct links/blog posts are below.

Enjoy!

 

New York Dolls- Dawn of the Dolls - blog post

New York Dolls- 1974-09-27 Montreal - post

New York Dolls- Hard Night's Day mp3 -post

 

Please do NOT sell or profit from these recordings!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use

Please share!

 

 

 

DAVID JOHANSEN Group
with Sylvain Sylvain
live at the Paradise
Boston, Massachusetts USA
May 27, 1978
 

opening for Blondie
WBCN-FM live broadcast
October 2014 transfer
from the master off-air cassette
zootype recording and transfer

46:46 minutes
 

101 Oedipus stage intro/Cool Metro 3:50
102 Looking For a Kiss 3:28
103 Funky But Chic 4:32
104 tuning 0:57
105 Donna 5:14
106 I'm a Lover 3:52
107 tuning 0:27
108 Frenchette 6:33
109 Reach Out I'll Be There [Four Tops cover] 4:15
110 intro 0:26
111 In a Lonely Tenement 4:28
112 intro 0:29
113 Girls 3:38
[encore break not taped]
encore:
114 Personality Crisis 4:27

David Johansen: vocals, harmonica
Sylvain Sylvain: guitar, keyboards
Johnny Rao: guitar
Thomas Trask: guitar
Frankie LaRocka: drums
Buzzy Verno: bass

NOTE: this is not the Paradise show that was officially released as "Live It Up",
recorded February 04 and 05 1982 with a different backing band including none of these guys.

 

DAVID JOHANSEN- 1978-05-27 Boston WBCN-FM FLAC. rar

 

Cheekface- Live at The Park Theatre, Winnipeg, MB, January 23, 2025

 

So, I went to my first concert of 2025! In recent years, I've reduced the amount of live shows I've attended, not necessarily by choice, more that there hasn't been a lot of acts I'm excited to see. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, most of the artists I've seen have been around my age or older, which means I seem to be the median age or target audience of these dinosaur performers. So it's refreshing to see a band that was formed within the last decade with more energy on stage than I've seen in a very long time! 

On a cold, winter night in January I saw, America's Local Band, Cheekface, a band from L.A. who braved the chilly weather to take part in the Winterruption 2025 mini-music fest in Winnipeg. I listen to a lot music, but not much new music, so when I discovered Cheekface, they instantly became a new favourite. I first heard the band at the beginning of the pandemic when I was at home 24/7 making art and streaming music all the time and the talk-sing vocals, dry humour and super catchy songs hit the spot, made me laugh and now follow the band.

 

As I said earlier, it was a change of pace to see a younger band which in effect attracts a younger audience. I was definitely in the upper age range in the crowd, but this band seemed to attract a wide range of fans, maybe an equal male/female ratio. A lot of the fans knew the songs enough to either sing along or chant at appropriate times and the connection between the performers and audience was quite strong. In some ways, Cheekface reminded me a bit of the Descendents. Apart from the obvious coffee reference (see photos for "coffee cup" stage backdrop), their music is infectious and easily relatable delivered in a similar nerdy pop-punk style. The song "Noodles", a short, one line song, repeated over and over (12x?) was performed four times (three in a row and once during the "encore), each time with the introduction, "the next song is an original Cheekface composition" was haha funny the first couple of times, but will get tiresome if you see the band more than once. Front-guy, Greg Katz's sing/speak vocal style is often compared to Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman and Stephen Malkmus, but after seeing him live, I would add one of the John's from They Might Be Giants too. Katz was upfront and in the centre, but it was hard not to keep an eye on bass player, Amanda (Mandy) Tannen, whose energy is a much needed stage presence. 

 

 

It's been awhile since I've recorded a show and this one turned great. The floor was crowded with standing fans, but it wasn't too crammed so the sound was clear and bright. I must say the Park Theatre is one of the better venues in Winnipeg to see a live band, not only are the sight lines really good (the floor is slanted and elevated towards the back), but the sound system and whoever works the sounds did an excellent job. For the recording, it was relatively hassle-free, not bullshit searches, metal detectors or over-enthusiastic security personnel. As with most modern concerts, phones are always actively recording videos, snapping photos (yeah, me too) or turning on the flashlight to stupidly wave around. It's part of the concert experience I suppose and I'll hold back my rant about not allowing audio sound recorders. Anyways, fun show and you can experience it too, at least audibly with the download link below.

Enjoy!

 

Additional link:

Exclaim- Cheekface Winnipeg concert review 

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use.

Please share!

 

 

CHEEKFACE
The Park Theatre
Winnipeg, MB
January 23, 2025
Audience Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> SD card > 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC

01. Next To Me (Yo Guy Version)
02. Popular 2
03. When Life Hands You Problems
04. Plastic
05. Hard Mode
06. Life In A Bag
07. Featured Singer/Cha Cha Slide
08. Best Life
09. Pledge Drive
10. Growth Sux
11. I Only Say I'm Sorry When I'm Wrong Now
12. Flies
13. You Always Want To Bomb The Middle East
14. Dry Heat/Nice Town
15. Noodles
      Noodles
      Noodles
16. The Fringe
17. "Listen To Your Heart". "No"
18. Noodles
19. We Need A Bigger Dumpster
20. Eternity Leave

 

CHEEKFACE- 2025-01-23 Park Theatre, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master. rar