Mission Of Burma
2008-09-26
The Independent
San Francisco CA
USA
taper: lammah
equipment: Sonic Studios DSM-6L binaurals > batbox > Belkin Tunetalk > iPod Nano 2nd gen
processing: Adobe Audition (re-EQ/declip/compression) > CD Wave Editor (tracksplits) > FLAC(6)
Setlist
00 - pre-gig [12:33]
01 - Playland [2:58]
02 - Peking Spring [4:29]
03 - Nu Disco [3:53]
04 - Eyes Of Men [3:14]
05 - Anti-Aircraft Warning [2:29]
06 - Academy Fight Song [3:40]
07 - Max Ernst [3:17]
08 - Devotion [4:13]
09 - Execution [2:42]
10 - That's When I Reach For My Revolver [4:17]
11 - Outlaw [3:16]
12 - Fame And Fortune [3:49]
13 - This Is Not A Photograph [7:12]
14 - All World Cowboy Romance [6:33]
15 - 1001 Pleasant Dreams [4:48]
16 - 2Wice [3:35]
17 - Let Yourself Go [4:00]
Total 81:06
(contemporaneous writeup)
Here they are, Mission Of Burma doing "Signals, Calls and Marches" in its entirety. Well, almost, don't think they did "Red". Can I get my money back? Only kidding, these guys certainly didn't disappoint. In fact, they smoked.
Amazing as their old stuff is (I have truly died happy seeing 'Revolver' played live), their lastest album (Obliterati) seems to pick up where they left off...2Wice (encored here) is simply an amazing song.
I'd say I was let down by my kit, but it should have been expected given the sheer volume of their sound, which caused the auto-leveller in the Belkin to muffle everything due to attack of the drums.
I've tried best to correct it, but for these sorts of shows I'm better off using my Hi-MD recorder and setting levels manually, which I better do if I have any hope of capturing MBV next Tuesday night. Still, it sounds pretty decent. There's a brief cut partway into "Outlaw" due to the iPod deciding to tracksplit, but it's a very small bit, and I've trimmed a little bit off to get the drumbeat to line up.
I've included some blurry photos (including a quite striking one of their backline which has OBURMA FOR OBAMA written on it) and a scan of the ticket. [P]
If you're wondering, I did tape the opening act (Hank IV, a local punk act best described as being fronted by a dead ringer for Christopher Hitchens w/o the posh UK accent) but accidentally deleted it! Both tomzero and arrrrr32 say I didn't miss much, as while they were entertaining, their set wasn't one for the ages. tomzero said he was writhing like Ian Curtis channeled through Ricky Gervais. Ouch. [1]
REMEMBER, KIDS
* While there's nothing I can do about this being converted to MP3 and being put up on Rapidshare, I'd prefer you dont. Keep it lossless. [1]
* Please do not leverage for material gain. Bootlegging for profit sucks. [2]
lammah (my DIME handle)
Notes
[P] This cam a month before the 2008 election where the "hope and change" of one Barack Obama would just turn out to be politics as usual. Let's just say the president after him would deliver anything but, and of this writing is still scheming to stay in power even after his successor has won both the popular vote and the Electoral College.
[1] This was written in 2008. Turns out that I would catch Hank IV in May 2011, opening for A-Frames, and liked them quite a bit more than what my compatriots would have suggested, though perhaps even then they're still a bit PBN (Punk By Numbers)
[2] Not as bothered now about K.I.L.L. (Keep It LossLess). In fact, I'd subsequently start upping my recordings to YouTube.
[3] This is still very true!
According to their Wikipedia, as of June 2020, the band is finished, so this is a good memento to document their live prowess.
I should add the following:
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.