The Grapes Of Wrath Are Back!

I can't remember the exact date, but I'm pretty sure it was in 1989 (I actually can't find the ticket stub), as they toured in support of their album, Now And Again when I last saw The Grapes Of Wrath at Le Rendezvous. The Rendezvous wasn't a great place to see a band, it had this cavernous, warehouse feel to it, like a social hall or large bar that never had great sound, but it hosted some good shows. The size of the venue was larger than a bar (The Albert, Spectrum), but smaller than a theatre or concert hall, a middle-size venue that featured mid-range popular bands or bigger-name alternative bands. I saw some good stuff there, Mojo Nixon, Guadalcanal Diary, Scruffy The Cat (opening for 54-40, who I didn't care for), Wilco and the last band I ever saw there, The Weakerthans.

When I went to the Grapes Of Wrath I arrived in time to catch the opener, since I'm always interested to see who the headliner brought along on tour. To be honest in those days (in my pre-taping days), I didn't make a huge effort to arrive early as I didn't care how close I sat/stood to the front. Once I started to tape concerts it was crucial to stake out the venue before the show or during the opener to find that sweet spot that combined a balanced mix, close enough to the front to see the band clearly and enough volume to partially drown out the chitter chatter around me (usually the music doesn't drown out the chatter). Anyways, the opener for this Grapes Of Wrath show was emerging singer/songwriter, (and soon to be superstar) Sarah McLaughlan who didn't impress me in the slightest and continues to not impress me not even a little bit. McLaughlan went on to surpass the Grapes in popularity, record sales and probably disposable cash flow. McLaughlan has continued to milk her success through the strength of a couple of huge selling records, Lilith Fair and has become somewhat of a musical icon here in the Great White North...kudos for her...

The Grapes Of Wrath released another album after that tour, These Days in 1991, then broke up when Kevin Kane left the band to go solo. In 1999, Kane and Tom Hooper (vocalist/bass) reunited to play some shows and release an album, Field Trip under the Grapes Of Wrath name (without original drummer, Chris Hooper). They sporadically played together during the 2000's, but a reunion that included Chris Hooper didn't happen until July 2010, the first time the trio played together since 1992. The love continued on to include recording new tracks for a compilation album and a brand new album of all new material, High Road released in March 2013. Hopefully this new record will lead to more live dates this summer and maybe, just maybe they'll head back to Winnipeg, but not at the Le Rendezvous, which is long gone and replaced by condos.

Enjoy!

Heres's a CBC music stream of a concert with the reunited Grapes Of Wrath from the Mod Club in Toronto on October 30, 2012 with guests.

As a bonus, I dug up a recording I taped off the radio in 2001 (?) from the Kevin Kane/Tom Hooper reunited Grapes. Excellent sound with some songs from Field Trip along with some classic tracks. It's almost worth the listen alone for the Replacements cover!

GRAPES OF WRATH
Railway Club
Vancouver, BC
March 4, 2000
CBC "Just Concerts" Broadcast

FM> Audio CD> FreeRip> FLAC> rar
FM Master

01. Intro
02. You May Be Right
03. Do You Want To Tell Me
04. Hitchhiker
05. Black Eye
06. Peace Of Mind
07. All The Things I Wasn't
08. I Am Here
09. Unsatisfied (Replacements)

(thanks to LeonD for the proper date!)

GRAPES OF WRATH- 2001 Railway Club, Vancouver, BC FLAC. rar

Note: the previous link expired (sorry!) This is a new link that should work! (Oct. 1, 2022)

Links Are Back!

Just randomly tested some posts and it appears that the links work again! I Haven't received a explanation yet as to why they were unavailable, but for now I'm relieved and just happy things appear back to normal. Of course, this could be short-lived, so enjoy (and download!) it while you can. I've looked and found a couple (free) alternative file-sharing hosts that I may trial as a safe guard and because my Adrive is close to capacity. I need Adrive for all the archive file on the blog, but bear with me while I experiment and try out some other hosts. For smaller files 200 mbs and under, I'll try Zippyshare and for larger files, I'm trying out Netkups. I need your input and opinion before I commit financially, so if you have any problems downloading, please let me know. If the links blackout again, I'll take requests and try to get you an alternative link.

Enjoy!

Can't Download? Don't Worry....Yet.

If you're having problems downloading any of the files, I'll explain why. Yesterday, I received a notice from Adrive, my file-sharing storage, that my sharing privileges have been revoked. They received a takedown notice as required under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") that a certain file (4) that I'm sharing constitutes copyright infringement. I searched through my uploaded files and judging by the now unshared files, I suspect the "offending files" are two Golden Smog and two Wilco live recordings.
Golden Smog- First Avenue 1992
Golden Smog- In Chicago 2006
Wilco- Live On Letterman
 Wilco- July 4th, 1996

I sent a response to Adrive asking who requested the take down notice because I don't believe these files violate the terms of copyright infringement. These are live recordings that are not commercially available or officially released by any record label or the band. Wilco has stated on their website their policy of allowing live taping and the sharing of their live concert recordings. Jeff Tweedy is also in Golden Smog along with members of the Jayhawks and Soul Asylum who have never voiced concerns with the sharing of their live shows. I have my suspicions about this complaint, one show is a soundboard, two shows were broadcast on WXRT...did the radio station complain? The Wilco Letterman show was a webcast, is NBC the complainant? Until I find out what the offending files actually are and who complained there isn't much I can do on my end. Right now all the links on the blog are unavailable and unsharable and there is a chance I will be unable to share these files through my Adrive account. I've begun searching for other file hosting options and in my upcoming posts I'll be experimenting with some other file sharing hosts. I've already uploaded some files to Zippyshare and I may try Netkups as a recommendation from another music blog. Anyone have any other recommendation or good/bad experiences with other hosts?

Please be patient, if I resolve the problem with Adrive the links will be back up soon, if not I'll begin the task of re-upping past links on a different host. The good news is that Blogger hasn't taken any action and the blog is still active. Check for updates here or on the TDIT Facebook page.
Thanks!

Grant Hart- Live @ Valentines 2001

A couple of nights ago (an hour before the deadline), I pledged money to help fund another Kickstarter project. The film, Every Everything, The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart has already been filmed and edited and is in the last stages of sound mixing before it's film festival premiere this summer. It looks like a very interesting film about an interesting (and troubled) life led by the former Husker Du drummer. I first heard about this project soon after director, Gorman Bechard released a previous project, Color Me Obsessed (film about the The Replacements) through Kickstarter (that I also donated to) and since Husker Du was my number 2 fav Minneapolis band of the 80's I was curious about this project. I've always been more of a "Grant" guy and preferred Hart's song's to Bob Mould's during their time with Husker Du. I have seen Grant perform solo (in the 2000's) and with his band Nova Mob (in the 90's) and though he's not the best performer, he is passionate about his music and after watching the mini-trailer about the film, I had to be involved or at least have a copy of the film before it becomes commercially available. It's now too late to pledge to the project, but keep your eyes open for it this summer at a film festival near you or on dvd sometime in the near future.

I'm presenting a fantastic solo show that Grant did in 2001 in Albany, NY. The setlist is killer with a nice mixture of Husker Du, Nova Mob and solo songs. I acquired this show through a trade over ten years ago and I also have a recording of the show I went to when he was in town in the mid-2000's. I posted the Valentines concert because the sound is excellent and superior to my recording. The show I went to he had lots of issues with the sound and it was disgraceful that only a handful of fans attended the show at the West End Cultural Centre...but, this one's a keeper!
Enjoy!

GRANT HART
Valentine’s,
Albany, NY,
March 22, 2001

01 - flexible flyer (cut)
02 - green eyes
03 - sorry somehow
04 - you don't have to tell me
05 - evergreen memorial drive
06 -little miss information
07 - pink turns to blue
08 - admiral of the sea
09 - back from somewhere
10 - she floated away
11 - terms of psychic warfare
12 - don't want to know if you're lonely
13 - books about ufo's
14 - girl who lives on heaven hill
15 - it's not funny anymore
16 - never talking to you again
17 -standing by the sea
18 - turn on the news
19 - letter from ann marie
20 - where you gonna land..
21 - over my head
22 -you're the victim
23 - last days of pompei
24 -run run run to the center pompidou
25 - charity, chastity, prudence and hope
26 - she's a woman and now he is a man
27- outro

GRANT HART- 2001-03-22, Valentines, Albany, NY FLAC. rar