Live Music Is Better - The Taper's Thread

Here's a sad post as John Mayall punched his last ticket today. At the same time - 90 years old. What a great run. Music keeps you young, folks.

I was lucky enough to see a John Mayall show 35 years ago. Here's a track from my recording. John is all over this thing with the harp.

This recording hit for the Live Taper Catastrophic Cycle...

1. This was the last tape I made with pretty marginal equipment before a sonic upgrade.
2. I was seated in a bad position that didn't lend itself to the best capture.
3. I was surrounded by the yeller and the loud clapper.
4. I was seated directly in front of the whistler.

For those of you into live recording, audience tapes and the perfect imperfectness of capturing that moment in time no matter the circumstance, you'll likely dig this just fine. It's enjoyable. My taper motto has always been "The only bad recording is the one that isn't made."

Ultimately, I saw John Mayall and I can still relive it 35 years down the road. So can you...

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Chicago Line - Spirit Square, Charlotte, NC 6-2-1989

Yer Ol' Uncle D said:

Here's a sad post as John Mayall punched his last ticket today. At the same time - 90 years old. What a great run. Music keeps you young, folks.

I was lucky enough to see a John Mayall show 35 years ago. Here's a track from my recording. John is all over this thing with the harp.

This recording hit for the Live Taper Catastrophic Cycle...

1. This was the last tape I made with pretty marginal equipment before a sonic upgrade.
2. I was seated in a bad position that didn't lend itself to the best capture.
3. I was surrounded by the yeller and the loud clapper.
4. I was seated directly in front of the whistler.

For those of you into live recording, audience tapes and the perfect imperfectness of capturing that moment in time no matter the circumstance, you'll likely dig this just fine. It's enjoyable. My taper motto has always been "The only bad recording is the one that isn't made."

Ultimately, I saw John Mayall and I can still relive it 35 years down the road. So can you...

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Chicago Line - Spirit Square, Charlotte, NC 6-2-1989

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You had me thinking this would be a bad recording, but this sounds great to my ears!

Surprised it took me this long to fire up some Gov't Mule but it's spectacular.

This is the show that became a 'Come To Jesus' meeting about live music and my hearing.

After this show, my right rang incessantly for over a week. To the point I started to kinda freak out. It eventually subsided but the damage was done, and the lesson was learned. I've been an earplug guy for every show going forward. At the same time, I've got the permanence of tinnitus and every once in a while, my right ear will randomly go into a ring that drowns out everything else for a minute or two.

Blowing out your hearing ain't cool kids. Wear those plugs.

As for this show and recording - pretty great. This is early liftoff for The Mule - they were still opening for bands at large venues. They were better than most of the bands they were opening for.

This is the original lineup with Warren, Woody and Abts. Allen Woody was a huge Beatles fan and his influence is all over this post.

Miss you, Woody. Fuck heroin.

Gov't Mule - 'Monkey Hill>She's So Heavy>She Said She Said' - Ziggys, Winston-Salem, NC 9.25.1996

Yer Ol' Uncle D said:

Surprised it took me this long to fire up some Gov't Mule but it's spectacular.

This is the show that became a 'Come To Jesus' meeting about live music and my hearing.

After this show, my right rang incessantly for over a week. To the point I started to kinda freak out. It eventually subsided but the damage was done, and the lesson was learned. I've been an earplug guy for every show going forward. At the same time, I've got the permanence of tinnitus and every once in a while, my right ear will randomly go into a ring that drowns out everything else for a minute or two.

Blowing out your hearing ain't cool kids. Wear those plugs.

As for this show and recording - pretty spectacular. This is early liftoff for The Mule - they were still opening for bands on large venues. They were better than most of the bands they were opening for.

This is the original lineup with Warren, Woody and Abts. Allen Woody was a huge Beatles fan and his influence is all over this post.

Miss you, Woody. Fuck heroin.

Gov't Mule - 'Monkey Hill>She's So Heavy>She Said She Said' - Ziggys, Winston-Salem, NC 9.25.1996

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I saw them in '96 the first time too. Thankfully it was at an outdoor venue so my hearing survived. It wasn't until I saw the Smashing Pumpkins in I think 2008ish and was up against the stage that I couldn't hear for a couple weeks and got the tinnitus.

I've seen Cracker (and Camper Van Beethoven) a beaucoup of times over the decades and they always deliver.

Here's a Cracker performance I taped 18 years ago. A free street festival on a sunny, breezy evening...

Cracker - 'Euro Trash Girl' - Bele Chere, Asheville, NC 7-28-2006

Tonight, we dial back 34 years (my goodness, I'm almost dead) to a show I taped at the mighty 13.13 Club. I saw so many great gigs there and it held about 900, the perfect size venue.

On this particular night, the bill was Alice In Chains / Screaming Trees / Gruntruck. That. my friends, is about a top shelf 90s triple bill as you can get.

Featuring AIC here. In the intro, you'll hear Layne appeal to the crowd for some 'medicine'. So many tragic aspects to Layne and his demise. He was a junkie, he knew he was a junkie, he wrote openly about being a junkie and he put it all out there, intentional or not, as a cry for help. We still lost him...

Alice In Chains - 13.13 Club, Charlotte, NC 11-20-1992

Saw Drivin' 'N Cryin' play the Speed Street Festival a few years ago.

A couple hours before the show, Kevn, Warner and Tim played a set for about 15 of us at an indie record store.

My setup captured a decent soundstage with Kevn's acoustic in the right and Warner's electric in the left.

I think we can all find something we identify with in this song...

Drivin' 'N Cryin' - 'The Little Record Store Around The Corner' - Underdog Records, Winston-Salem, NC 5-21-2016

My recording of Brian Wright, a really talented songwriter I dig, from 2011 at The Double Door Inn.

The Double Door was a world-famous blues room. It bit the dust in 2017...


Brian Wright - 'Loaded Gun' - The Double Door Inn, Charlotte, NC 10-18-2011

Was poking around ye olde hard drive and ran across this Lucero show I taped 15 years ago.

I hipped a lotta folks to Lucero back then. For the uninitiated, I'd always say something to the effect of "think Bruce Springsteen running the backroads of Memphis listening to The Replacements."

For me, this was Lucero's pinnacle. I went to some shows after this, but the crowds became more drunk, more boorish and felt like they were somehow as much a part of the show as the band. Not my scene.

This was the next to last song of the set. Ben was out of voice. That just makes it better. One thing that can't be disputed - Lucero was at their absolute best live when they had the horn section...

Lucero - 'Smoke' - The Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC 11-17-09

Yer Ol' Uncle D said:

For me, this was Lucero's pinnacle. I went to some shows after this, but the crowds became more drunk, more boorish and felt like they were somehow as much a part of the show as the band. Not my scene.

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Amen. This aligns with my general experience with them. That 06-09 era was magical, but after that it got really hard to enjoy the shows. Thanks for sharing this!

Dug up this relatively recent (5 years ago) recording I made of the mighty Mudhoney blowing it out in a tiny room. Pissed Jeans opened and that was my first experience with them. To quote Mark Arm, "Pissed Jeans - Holy Shit!".

This is the blazing 6 song encore from Mudhoney. Thinking @jamieanderson1968 might dig this one. So fucking good...

Mudhoney - The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC 10-8-19

Into The Drink > Who You Drivin' Now? > Here Comes Sickness > The Money Will Roll Right In > Hate The Police > Fix Me

Yer Ol' Uncle D said:

Dug up this relatively recent (5 years ago) recording I made of the mighty Mudhoney blowing it out in a tiny room. Pissed Jeans opened and that was my first experience with them. To quote Mark Arm, "Pissed Jeans - Holy Shit!".

This is the blazing 6 song encore from Mudhoney. Thinking @jamieanderson1968 might dig this one. So fucking good...

Mudhoney - The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC 10-8-19

Into The Drink > Who You Drivin' Now? > Here Comes Sickness > The Money Will Roll Right In > Hate The Police > Fix Me

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The Mudhunnies are always great live

Had someone on another board I frequent ask me to dig up this show.

Hey - it ain't perfect, but it exists and it's quite listenable. My taper motto - the only bad recoding is the one that isn't made.

Taped this in a small room in '93 when Izzy and the JuJus were touring in support of the first record.

Strolled into the club and plopped down at the bar next to Rick Richards and Charlie Quintana. I'd crossed paths with Rick before via The Georgia Satellites and he was cool as ever, but it was a real treat to talk with Charlie. I'd dug his work in The Cruzados in the 80s. Based on his reaction, not many folks were aware of them in '93. Charlie was a great guy and left us way too soon.

Here's one of your more obscure, and way cooler, Stones covers...

Izzy Stradlin & The JuJu Hounds - 'Jivin' Sister Fanny' - Rocky's, Charlotte, NC 3-16-93

Yer Ol' Uncle D said:

Had someone on another board I frequent ask me to dig up this show.

Hey - it ain't perfect, but it exists and it's quite listenable. My taper motto - the only bad recoding is the one that isn't made.

Taped this in a small room in '93 when Izzy and the JuJus were touring in support of the first record.

Strolled into the club and plopped down at the bar next to Rick Richards and Charlie Quintana. I'd crossed paths with Rick before via The Georgia Satellites and he was cool as ever, but it was a real treat to talk with Charlie. I'd dug his work in The Cruzados in the 80s. Based on his reaction, not many folks were aware of them in '93. Charlie was a great guy and left us way too soon.

Here's one of your more obscure, and way cooler, Stones covers...

Izzy Stradlin & The JuJu Hounds - 'Jivin' Sister Fanny' - Rocky's, Charlotte, NC 3-16-93

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The cover of Pressure Drop on the 1st album is great

I'm keeping the faith that there are some tapers out there who'll hop onto this thing. It's a dying craft, but I'm stubborn...

Here's a snippet of a show I recorded 17 years ago. Made it to this gig on about 3 hours of sleep the night before. I had gotten up at 6AM, attended a work conference, and ended up in Raleigh about 5PM. There was no opener with a 10pm start time. I killed all the time I could stand and decided to head into the club at 9. I walked in and Elijah, Muddy and Dennis were soundchecking "Smoke Signals". No Marc in sight. I talked to the merch guy and he told me the show was going to start a little late. Marc had gone to LA to play with Ryan Bingham at his record release party. He was involved in a car accident on the way to the airport and was running late. Long story short, between the car accident and a delayed flight Marc showed up about 11:30ish and proceeded to play his ass off til about 2AM, all the while, as Marc put it, "still dusting plane shit off me". I had about a 4 hour drive home afterwards. I rolled into bed with a nice 24-hour day under my belt. Marc's show was worth it. Enjoy.

Any NY&CH fans that don't know Marc - listen up...

Marc Ford - The Pour House, Raleigh, NC 10-4-07 - Smoke Signals > Cool Heads