Day 5: "This Is A Song About A Girl" Mr. T Experience- Live in Winnipeg 1996

The Smugglers/Mr. T Experience tour came through Winnipeg in the spring of 1996 in thanks to a new distribution deal between Canadian (Vancouver) label, Mint Records and U.S. (Berkeley) label Lookout! Records. The labels co-released their line-ups artist's to get better distribution in the States for the Canadian bands and vice-versa for the American bands. Before this time, I bought albums from the Lookout label as an import, which meant steeper prices for Mr. T Experience or Screeching Weasel albums. This also meant label-mate band tours such as MTX and the Smugglers, otherwise we might not have had the opportunity to see bands like Mr. T tour to Canada as often, especially Winnipeg. As a result I saw Mr. T two years later at the same venue, but not since or before the Mint-Lookout hookup. This resulted in the Mint bands such as Cub, Duotang and the Smugglers getting much needed exposure in the States. For this tour, the Smugglers headlined the dates in Canada while the Mr. T Experience headlined the shows in the U.S.

In Grant Lawrence's book, Dirty Windshields, he chronologically writes about the various tour-mates the band shared stages with around the world. In chapter 29, Selling The Sizzle, Grant details the positive relationship with their label mates from Lookout and Mint and touring with MTX. "On the sold-out Mr. T Experience tour, the Smugglers got tighter and tighter and with rapturous crowds every night, our confidence grew". My relationship and love for the band began with their first album, Everybody's Entitled To Their Own Opinion when I heard the song, Danny Partridge on a late night CBC program, Brave New Waves which I would periodically listen to while drawing or painting. It was a great program to discover new and different music especially music that didn't fit the mainstream of commercial radio. I took note and eventually tracked down the album, of course I paid import prices. They were definitely one of my favourite bands during the late 80's/early 90's, their music had a sense of humour and a driving melodic punk sound that I could relate to. Yes, thank you Dr. Frank for some great records, hopefully he can bring a version of the Mr. T Experience to town again someday.

This recording was recorded the same night as the Smugglers set (duh!) and my only petty complaint is I wish the Mr. T Experience would have played a longer set. Of course, if they were the headliner they would have, but I was just happy to finally see them live. I even got to meet the band after the show, I bought a shirt and CD that they graciously signed. The recording sounds pretty good considering this was over 20 years ago and I used a cheap mic and tape recorder. It's another show I've never shared or traded, so this is the exclusive premiere post of the show. A Very enjoyable show and highly recommended for fans of great Berkeley based power pop-punk rock that isn't Green Day.
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

Please do NOT sell or convert to lossy format (except for personal use)
Please share!

MR. T EXPERIENCE
Wellington's
Winnipeg, MB
May 22, 1996
AUD Master

Sony mic> Sony WM-GX35 Recording Walkman> Maxell XLII 90 Cassette> Aiwa tape deck> ADS Instant music> usb> Nero SoundTrax> WAV> Direct WAV splitter> FLAC> rar

01. Sackcloth And Ashes
02. Last Time I Listened To You
03. Tapin' Up My Heart
04. I Just Wanna Do It With You
05. New Girlfriend
06. Another Yesterday
07. Semi-OK
08. Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba
09. Two-Minute Itch
10. Alternative Is Here To Stay!
11. The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
12. Disconnection
13. I Fell For You
14. Even Hitler Had A Girlfriend
15. Dumb Little Band
16. We Are the Future People Of Tomorrow

MR. T EXPERIENCE- 1996-05-22 Wellington's, Winnipeg, MB 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