Live music in SF/Oakland, and maybe elsewhere...
Many links went dead when Megaupload was shut down, so if you want to download anything again, please send an email to requests@atmyheels.com and I'll put it back up.
There's a mailing list too, send email to incubation-join@atmyheels.com to join...you can request things there too.
I have not forgotten this place, I swear to you...will work on fixing more old links at some point in the next couple of weeks. Eventually, more new live music will surface. In the meantime, a couple links devoted to Wythenshawe's finest, Robert Leo Gretton: G IS FOR GRETTON
ARE YOU READY ARE YOU READY
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?
And a few live tracks from his charges, New Order, in their 2012 incarnation (Hooky out, Gillian back in), recorded at the Fox Theatre in Oakland on October 12th: Close Range Isolation KW1
As I look behind me Watch the time gone by And I stare ahead To the new horizon
And we'll take some time out To smile as we stumble And laugh when we're down And laugh when we're down
And you pass so close to me To hold my emotions I suppose you must love me I suppose you must love me
And we'll take some time out To smile as we stumble And laugh when we're down And laugh when we're down
--Durutti Column, 'We Stumble'.
Vini and Stephen Patrick collaborated once, you see... Terry Malts covers a version of this tune on their 7" split, out on Loglady Records.
For the several of you that continue to follow AMH, I have been taking a bit of a summer break. Fret not, I still have many more of our recordings to share. For the purpose of making it easiest on everybody, non-YouTube links will be provided as comments, and will hereafter appear in MP3 format, as this will save me the expense of hosting. For those still wanting lossless, you'll be accommodated if you contact requests@atmyheels.com I'll work on fixing up older posts in time, many of which still have comotose links due to the Megaupload fiasco.
For the very most astute observers, you might have noticed several posts that have disappeared. This was of my own choosing and save for one of the posts, not due to any DMCA-related takedown request. The circumstances surrounding the removal of these posts were most unfortunate, alas.
set 00 - intro (1:39) 01 - Don't Fall (4:05) 02 - Here Today (3:49) 03 - Monkeyland (5:17) (YouTube: babyletscruise66) 04 - Second Skin (8:24) (YouTube: candlesdie) (babyletscruise66) 05 - Up The Down Escalator (4:03) (YouTube: benlweible) 06 - Less Than Human (4:21) 07 - Pleasure and Pain (4:47) 08 - Thursday's Child (3:58) 09 - As High As You Can Go (3:54) 10 - A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days (5:06) 11 - Paper Tigers (4:16) 12 - View From A Hill (9:36) /band intros/
encore 13 - Nostalga (5:34) (YouTube: benlweible) 14 - In Shreds (4:59) 15 - Things I Wish I'd Said (false start) (0:09) 16 - Things I Wish I'd Said (6:22) DOWNLOAD - FLACs in a zipfile
This is a 16-bit / 44.1kHz recording. Total 80:28, slightly CD-R unfriendly, I'm afraid...if you have to use that archaic you can trim off the audience encore calls after the end of 'View From A Hill'.
Very special as this is the first time the Chameleons (Vox UK version) had played the entirety of 'Script Of The Bridge', meaning airings of a few songs not played live for an age and anon. Both Chris Oliver from BSL and John Lever played for both the Vox and opening act Black Swan Lane, whom I also found enjoyable. Nice to see Lever behind the skins, as I reckon the drum intro to "Soul In Isolation" (not played tonight) an absolute masterpiece.
I really can't fault the performance or Mark's impassioned delivery, as he sounds as good as ever, though I found the Vox US version from last year more intriguing because one could relate to the enthusiasm of young musicians struggling to achieve the Chameleons sound versus the more accomplished ensemble playing the more recent dates. I've seen some amazing shows this year, so the bar's set very high, so I had to adjust my expectations appropriately here. Still, this was worth seeing...though the experienced was marred by a few drunkards choosing to storm in during 'A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days', ironically enough.
Back to Birdy...
It's easy to compare him to another Manchester bassist of note, though of course considering he's also the original vocalist, unlike that other personage, there's little worry about in terms of inappropriateness...though I'm eager to see him write and perform new songs at some point in the future again, since he is a marvelously talented songwriter/performer and by (almost) all accounts a seriously generous, kind person.
Think the Church mics (clipped to the inside of my Kangol) did this show fair justice, only adjustment was a little bit of channel balancing, as for some reason it sounded a bit unbalanced towards the right channel.
Kudos to bcingyou for getting his version out so quickly, by the way! It's still available on DIME.
REMEMBER
* Do not redistribute for material gain!
* Please preserve this information file, I'm actually okay with MP3 transcodes (not on DIME of course!), but it pains me when any information about the origins of a recording get lost.
* Above all, enjoy and PLAY LOUD!
Notes for the AMH edition:
This turns out to have been a superlative recording, I was excellently positioned. Some of these songs haven't been heard live since the early 80s, if ever.
I have to say that Mark Burgess is probably in as fine vocal form as any artist who has been performing his material for 30+ years. As mentioned, I videoed the last main set track and all the encore tracks, but unfortunately lost these in a HDD crash. I also didn't go to the Club Du Nord show a few days later.
Up The Down Escalator: "There's no Eden...there's no Eden anyway". I can now report that Mark has finally found (update: and lost) his Eden.
By request, I went and pulled this out of AMH's archives and realized that for some reason, I neglected to share this anywhere. Not on account of any lack of quality of the recording and the performance, this is really good actually, but I think because I suffered a HDD crash at around this time, and didn't have time to get to it. So am remedying that now.
Black Swan Lane was formed with Mark Burgess as a member of the group, so he had helped with some of the songs the group had performed. Naturally, when it came time to concentrate on Chameleons material, he focused on that, but still invited BSL to open for his tour last year. They clearly share much in the way of sound, so this is right up the alley for any Chams fans. As for a further description...don't hear any more from me, but from the group themselves, from their own blog:
Terry Malts 2012-02-17 Hemlock Tavern San Francisco CA
recordists: tomzero (Sonic Studios DSM-6sL's into an Edirol R-09HR) + thehappyone (Olympus LS-5 with built-ins stuck right next to Phil's bass amp)
This was the record release show for their album Killing Time, which was performed in order.
Setlist
Something About You Not Far From It Where Is The Weekend Tumble Down No Sir, I'm Not A Christian Waiting Room I'm Neurotic Nauseous Mall Dreams No Good For You I Do What Was It Can't Tell No One No Big Deal
Craazy show, with a pit going throughout, with yours truly in the fray, of course...with Papa Slumber right down in front moshing with the best of them.
Airfix Kits 2012-02-17 Hemlock Tavern San Francisco, CA
taper: tomzero, with Sonic Studios DSM-6s/L's > Edirol R-09HR
Last show with drummer Phil Lantz, who has quit the group.
I was very impressed with these guys, they've been likened to the Minutemen-cum-Wire/Gang of Four and must be the best-sounding English group from Oakland (singer/guitarist Allen McLaughton is a Glaswegian expat).
Setlist
01 - Playing Both Sides [NOT RECORDED, we were still in the bar waiting to get in. Fairly sure (but not 100% certain) it was this song] 02 - No 1982 03 - Leaving 04 - 80s Aesthetic 05 - To Kill The King 06 - Crowd Control 07 - Flex Time 08 - Blind Spot 09 - Coming Up Roses 10 - You Were Seen
Splendid stuff from Portland OR's Woolen Men, on tour with Australia's Woollen Kits. Somebody pointed out the similarity in names and the rest was history. I especially liked the new songs, which as of this recording weren't released, but may have been subsequently. If you're looking for more, head on over to the band's Bandcamp page.
I didn't video, but here's the second track here performed at Bows and Arrows in Sacramento two days afterwards:
This show was for me when the Mallard *really* started to quack through my thick skull and sear my brain with their face meltin' songs. Really liked this capture as well. All the material here is from "Yes On Blood", please visit the Castle Face website to order your copy.
Here's a vid of Greer and the Dylans performing "Vines":
Blasted Canyons 2012-01-29 The Knockout San Francisco CA recordist: thehappyone kit: Church Audio CA-11 > Olympus LS-5 Setlist soundcheck Death and a Half Holy Geometry [*] Get High Lasers vs Lizards The Artist Formerly Known As Satan Fries Yr Eyes Blood On The Wall The Man In Question Liquid Fiend Ice Cream Man outro [Sid Vicious - My Way] Download FLACs in a zipfile Just got back from the eighth time seeing these guys last night [the 23rd of May 2012] at the Rickshaw, the recording which of course will eventually be featured here. Not even a broken string and high-pitched whine (whom Matt graciously thanked, haha) could derail another mutant psych-drone sesh from these guys, brought to you by the Mission's premier dive bar, Le Knockout, and the crazed sounds from the group's Oberheim/axe/drumz. If you haven't seen these guys play, they somehow manage to swap instruments just about after every song without breaking the ferocious amount of concentration and commitment or pandering to the audience...well, mostly. Occasional reminders still were being meted out at this point. Live debut of 'The Artist Formerly...' It slays. I spent the time between sets reading Shaun Ryder's autobiog. Perhaps coincidentally, or maybe not, a Mondays song was played over the PA. If you STILL don't have their records, visit Castleface records and get that fixed, 'k? The Mallard and Woolen Men from Portland sets are comin' up. --- [*] The file still has my working title of 'Don't Say You'll Go' on it.
The last of four performances that night. It's well documented that member Frankie Soto of Surf Club was in an early version of Craft Spells, though they lean much more towards Beach Fossils in sonics, but with a Best West Coast sensibility rather than say, Jones Beach.
Unfortunately, the vocals at this point were buried pretty low in the "mix", but hey, we're talking about live music, and it still grooves. It does feel like you're right there with them as they're playing. If you look carefully at the top pic, you'll see the dudes from Weekend watching.
Alas, I don't have the names of the last three tracks, but I'm sure there will be a future release from those guys that feature them, as they're just as strong as the first five.
If you want more, head on over to their Bandcamp page to hear (or purchase, like I did) their Young Love EP.
The Malted Ones were supposed to play last, I believe (could be wrong!) but Surf Club let them go on before...all throughout, the band wasn't sure how much time they had; thus the fairly unique running order. All things considered, the recording came out better than I could have ever hoped, considering the lack of a PA. I can't think of a better place to have caught them play, the background of arcade and vending machines is just so perfect for their gestalt. It's just too fucking bad Serra Bowl is no more. And the shouts between songs were hilarious. "Jerry!"
As I write this, they're be opening for fabled punk group The Dead Milkmen at Slim's. The show is sold out, so I'm thrilled they get a chance to impress people who haven't heard of them, even though I won't be able to make it since I was asleep at the wheel.
More pictures from their performance and the other groups can be found in my Flickr album. I brought the Canon with me, so at least the photos are somewhat decent.
I'll leave you with a video of 'Nauseous' shot by Megan Dabkowski:
One of the most surreal moments for me in my forty some-odd years was hearing the sound of hazegaze/noisedrone backdropped by tenpins, so forgive me if I don't wax eloquent here. I filmed two tracks, which you can watch below. You'll be hearing more from this group as I plan to be at a couple of shows with them playing later this month. The flickering video screens behind the band add to the mystique.
This week's installment of at my heels brings us to the now-closed Serra Bowl. I remember bowling there many a time when I was younger, or coming along with my mom for her bowling league games working on chess games (I was a bit of a nerd, you see). So the idea of having live music there when I first heard about it a couple of years ago just boggled my mind. My one regret was not seeing the Blasted Canyons / Ty Segall show, but I did catch ECSR and Thee Oh Sees (I just fixed the links for that so you can hear it), which still ranks as my favorite live experience of all time. So its what that I present the lineup that played the second and last live show I caught at this special venue, and have decided to feature all the bands individually.
After a pleasant chat with Corey of Terry Malts in (where else?) the bar, it was time to see what the combined Stockton (Monster Treasure/Surf Club, playing first/last) and SF (Permanent Collection/Terry Malts, playing 2nd/3rd) had in store. Actually, it wasn't nearly as organized...nobody had any idea what was going on and it was a minor miracle that it all came together at the end, though the first part of Monster Treasure's set was afflicted with sound gremlins at the start.
Monster Treasure
2012-01-27
Serra Bowl
Daly City CA
Recorded with Olympus LS-5, built-ins, resting on a table...I didn't feel the need to stealth for this show.
I was actually pretty blown away at how fabulous this group was, but I'm admittedly partial to fuzz noise with harmony leads. Stockton has definitely come a long way from Pavement, okay it had to be said, and hopefully they'll shake that albatross for good.Please, please, PLEASE, head on over to their Bandcamp to check out their eponymous EP.You won't be sorry.
And thanks to the wonderful Megan Dabkowski, bassist for Curse Words and Permanent Collection, we've got video footage of my favorite song from these guys, "This". And somehow she avoided filming me (a good thing in my book).