Live Music Is Better - The Taper's Thread

Tonight we take a trip to one of those sweet Hillside Album Hour sets hosted by The Waybacks at MerleFest.

The HAH started small on a side stage and grew to the most popular recurring event at MerleFest, still played on that hillside stage.

Every year The Waybacks select an album or artist to give their own special interpretation, throw in a bunch of accomplices, and deliver arguably the most fun set of the weekend.

This is from their set 12 years ago. The featured artist that year - Jimi Hendrix.

The Waybacks & Guests - Hillside Album Hour, MerleFest, N. Wilkesboro, NC 4-28-12 - Are You Experienced?

 
A twist on things tonight - recorded music accompanied by moving pictures!

I was part of a crew that recorded every single set by every band at Hopscotch in 2012. I think the final tally was something like 150 bands across 17 venues over 3 days. It was a lot of hard work because we, the crew, really had a passion for producing the best possible representation of the music and the bands. It was also an absolute blast.

Screaming Females were the second band I saw on night one and, three of my absolute faves I'd see on Saturday aside, the best band I caught. Definitely my favorite new discovery of the weekend.

I was running audio and video for SF. My camera was mounted on an adjustable head about 8 feet up my mic stand, a couple feet below my mics. I love/hate running video because I just can't set up a static shot of the stage, lock it down and let it go. If I'm filming, I'm going to do my best to pan, zoom, frame things, direct the action and keep it lively. That can be challenging when you're trying to manipulate a camera that's a foot and a half over your head. It's damn hard work. and also, occasionally, my downfall.

Here's a clip featuring my audio/video of Screaming Females blazing thru their song 'Laura And Marty' that the Hopscotch organizers saw fit to share with the world. It's good, but there's a little patch where my visual artistic vision is crushed under the weight of my alcohol affected ability to do that overhead cam manipulation thing. Still fun.

And Screaming Females - WOW! What a band! It was fun watching little (5 ft. maybe?) Marissa Paternoster around the venue before doors in jeans and a t-shirt and then see her come out in a black puritan dress with white collar and absolutely rip everyone's face off.

Crank this up. Support Screaming Females by going to their shows and buying their wares...

 
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Yer Ol' Uncle D said:
A twist on things tonight - recorded music accompanied by moving pictures!

I was part of a crew that recorded every single set by every band at Hopscotch in 2012. I think the final tally was something like 150 bands across 17 venues over 3 days. It was a lot of hard work because we, the crew, really had a passion for producing the best possible representation of the music and the bands. It was also an absolute blast.

Screaming Females were the second band I saw on night one and, three of my absolute faves I'd see on Saturday aside, the best band I caught. Definitely my favorite new discovery of the weekend.

I was running audio and video for SF. My camera was mounted on an adjustable head about 8 feet up my mic stand, a couple feet below my mics. I love/hate running video because I just can't set up a static shot of the stage, lock it down and let it go. If I'm filming, I'm going to do my best to pan, zoom, frame things, direct the action and keep it lively. That can be challenging when you're trying to manipulate a camera that's a foot and a half over your head. It's damn hard work. and also, occasionally, my downfall.

Here's a clip featuring my audio/video of Screaming Females blazing thru their song 'Laura And Marty' that the Hopscotch organizers saw fit to share with the world. It's good, but there's a little patch where my visual artistic vision is crushed under the weight of my alcohol affected ability to do that overhead cam manipulation thing. Still fun.

And Screaming Females - WOW! What a band! It was fun watching little (5 ft. maybe?) Marissa Paternoster around the venue before doors in jeans and a t-shirt and then see her come out in a black puritan dress with white collar and absolutely rip everyone's face off.

Crank this up. Support Screaming Females by going to their shows and buying their wares...

Click to expand...

I believe Screaming Females broke up at the end of last year. Melissa has a solo project, Noun, that is supporting Laura Jane Grace on an upcoming tour.

www.marissapaternoster.com

MARISSA PATERNOSTER

www.marissapaternoster.com www.marissapaternoster.com
 
Cross post from the 1001 Albums thread...

@Nee Lewman - Hey @Yer Ol' Uncle D when you saw GNR open for them was it in support of this or Love?

I saw The Cult touring on the Love record in '86 but when I saw GnR as the opener it was the Electric tour in '87.

So...I went back and found my recording of that show. I also dug up my writeup I posted the first time I shared it via BitTorrent. My thoughts I wrote then are basically the same thoughts now so here's that copy...

The Cult
State Theatre, Detroit, MI USA
August 21, 1987

This show was the centerpiece of a music filled trip to see a college friend of mine in the Motor City. I had turned him on to The Cult in '85 and he had the chance to catch them in the Michigan area in '86. At the time they weren't really gigging near me so when this show was announced he rang me up. He didn't have to try very hard to get me on a plane. For the wrong reasons, it was one of my most memorable flights. I flew into Detroit 3 days after NWA Flight 255 had crashed just after takeoff killing 156 people. The only survivor was a 4 year old girl. Made our final approach right over the burned out overpass the plane had crashed into on I-94. Looking at that will tend to put things in perspective.

The State Theatre is nestled in downtown Detroit in a not so upper crust neck of the woods. It's a nondescript brick office building on the outside and a classically designed, ornate theatre with beautiful architecture on the inside. The only external hint it was a theatre was the marquee. It's still there today but now called The Fillmore Detroit. The lobby had been turned into a big bar area. We spent some time here on and off during the opening set by G 'N R fueling up for The Cult. The Gunners didn't get the warmest of welcomes. When Ian thanks them you hear a few boos. He goes on to say, "You'll dig 'em, you'll dig 'em." If Ian would've known they'd become the biggest band on earth and steal his drummer a few short years later, he may not have been quite so cordial.

On to the main event. The Cult had the classic stage setup seen in the "Love Removal Machine" video at this show. They came out to the "Flight Of The Valkyries" portion of "Apocalypse Now" - an imposing piece that was pretty fitting for what was coming. The lineup was a little different. Les Warner was still beating the kit but Jamie Stewart had moved to rhythm guitar and Haggis was added on bass for the tour. I think this change was crucial to the sound and really unleashed Mr. Duffy. Billy's playing had an attitude and ferocity that came from not having to hold down the rhythm duties - for the most part he worried about fills and leads and let it all hang out. I'll stick my neck out there and say this is some of the best playing you'll hear from Billy. And Ian - well, rare form is all I can say. He was animated, he was loose, he was funny, he was combative, he baited and taunted the crowd all night, even when everyone was going nuts. There are quite a few classic Astbury lines in this recording. A few favorites - "Stick this in your fuckin' colostomy bag Adolph"....."If you ever join a rock band do not wear leather. It's too fuckin' hot man...but it looks good"....."This fucker said in the newspaper this is not a blues song, but it IS a blues song...it's got plenty of balls"....."Who do you think I am up here, fuckin' Billy Graham".....well, you get the idea. I'm truly convinced Ian has a Billy Graham fetish as he mentions him at this show, and I saw him introduce "Full Tilt" as a Billy Graham song five years later. Not sure what's up with that relationship. A cool thing about this show is Ian showed a real reverence to Detroit and its contribution to rock music. He mentions James Osterberg (Iggy Pop) a few times and introduces a song with some MC5 lyrics. He renamed a song for the evening and gave us the "Detroit Hip Shake". They do a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" that Ian introduces as something they'll do one time and one time only. Not sure if that was true but I haven't seen it on any other shows I've run across. It seemed Ian was really in tune with the rock history of the city and felt he had some dues to pay in performance. He delivered.

Almost all of the show was comprised of tracks from "Electric" and "Love". Some highlights in no particular order -
- Ian missing the first line to "Detroit Hip Shake" because he was spitting and improvising perfectly.
- Learning "Big Neon Glitter" is one of Iggy's favorite songs.
- Dual guitar attack on "Love".
- Billy ending the show by soloing for two minutes after he had physically left the stage.
- As Ian introduced, a "one time and one time only" performance of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in honor of Iggy and his hometown.
- A ten-minute version of "Bone Bag" with great blues guitar work by Billy and a tirade against "the man" by Ian.

My final burning memory of the show - Ian decides to trash the drum kit a bit at the end of "Born To Be Wild". Apparently during the punch-up with a cymbal, he cut either his lip or his chin. I'll always remember him standing on the edge of the stage, arms outstretched crucifixion style, with a big grin on his face and blood running down his chin and neck. Now that's an exit.

I remember this show like it was yesterday, and it's been 38 years. Music is the best. Conversely, I'm practically dust.

Here's my recording of Bone Bag from that show. Taped on the down-low with pretty basic stuff but rather listenable...

 
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