Wilco - 27 March 2013, Hamer Hall (SBD)

ABC radio broadcast Wilco's first night in Melbourne, so there are now soundboard recordings of three of the four headlining shows. I've grabbed a processed the streaming audio that ABC had up and added a link to the original page for the show - http://this-was-now.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/wilco-27-march-2013-hamer-hall.html. My recording is still up there in case anyone wants it, but the quality of the ABC recording is really good.

The Racounteurs - 27 May 2008, Washington DC

I've got quite a few random shows to put up over the next few months. This is from the Raconteurs (apparently also known as the Saboteurs here in Australia) just after the release of their second album.

I really like both their albums (particularly Consolers of the Lonely (whenever I've linked to anything at Amazon I've made sure to mention if I know you might be able to get it cheaper - when I put this link up it was $6.99, which is a pretty great price) but their annoying habit of playing extended jams/intros/outros for every song gets pretty tiring. Having said that, this is a good long set, with a nice mix of tracks. Plus their wikipedia page says they're back in the studio, so maybe you'll be hearing more from them soon.

Consolers of the Lonely
Level
The Switch and the Spur
Keep It Clean
You Don't Understand Me
Top Yourself
Old Enough
Store Bought Bones
Hold Up
Steady As She Goes
Rich Kid Blues
Blue Veins

Many Shades of Black
Salute Your Solution
Broken Boy Soldiers
Carolina Drama

http://www.mediafire.com/?wa80r887217c1

The Black Angels - 5 November 2006, Washington DC

So the Black Angels are making their annual trip down under. I saw them way back in 2011 and wasn't that impressed. Probably because I was mainly a fan of their first album and didn't know the new stuff. That means this set works pretty well for me - it's from their stint opening for the Black Keys way back in 2006 and features just one song off their, then unreleased, sophmore album, everything else being from their excellent debut: Passover (if you can wait, I picked this up at their merch desk for $10). For anyone not familiar with them their sound is basically a fusion of the Doors and Joy Division (Manipulation, in particular, sounds like a lost Joy Division track). That shouldn't be taken as a bad thing though - they do a good job of what they do, and there are really very few bands (any?) that sound completely unlike everything that's gone before.

As this is from an NPR podcast the sound is great, if a little low during the few ocassions they address the crowd. Worth checking out, particularly if you're thinking of heading along to see them in June.

Black Grease
Better Off Alone
Manipulation
Bloodhounds on My Trail
Sniper at the Gates of Heaven
The First Vietnamese War
Empire
Never/Ever

https://mega.co.nz/#F!JQFX1YTI!NmM2jB4vb6VqU7bTPGtZOw

Vieux Farka Touré - 11 March 2013, Corner Hotel

I put off putting this up because I was struggling to figure out what the setlist was. I still haven't got it (if anyone knows any of the tracks please leave a comment), but having had a listen to this it was a great performance and sounds really good. It's only a pity that more people didn't get to see it (this was the first time I've been to the Corner and had the curtain drawn to reduce the size). Having said that, the smaller space made this a fairly intimate show, with lots of engagement between the crowd and the band.  If you're a fan of African music, or want to find out why Vieux Farka Touré is described as the Hendrix of the Sahara, check this out.

Update: someone contacted me a while ago to ask if they could pass this on to Vieux's manager. I'm happy for these to be circulated freely, so of course I didn't have a problem. I asked the person if he knew the setlist, but he wasn't 100% sure. He passed the request on, and this is the setlist that I got back:

Ay Bakoy (Biba)
Souba Souba
Fafa
Gido
Lakkal
Ali 2
All the Same
Ai Du (Walaidu)
Djarabi
Mainmouna
Passouba

Amana Quai

https://mega.co.nz/#F!gA0UyRqR!duehTG3XZtpYsTu0BwBWlg

Justin Townes Earle

That first request was easy, and gives me a chance to mention a site I was planning on posting about anyway. So first of all, a site I recently discovered is http://www.ousterhout.net/. It's worth checking out generally, but particularly if you're looking for some classic acts like Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, as well as some less well known names like Boz Scaggs, Paul Butterfield and Phil Ochs) .

JTE wise, he's got a ton of stuff in both MP3 or WAV, depending on your preference. There's a lot of stuff there and all either directly from the soundboard or a soundboard audience mix (unless there are some audience mics the only audience sound comes from what little gets picked up by the bands mics, which can make the recording sound lifeless, so people sometimes mix a soundboard recording for quality and an audience recording for ambience). The quantity might be a bit overwhelming, but I can recommend the 2010 Iowa City show as a good place to start.

Unfortunately, the only JTE show I've recorded was at the Prince Bandroom and didn't turn out very well. If anyone was there and wants to hear it I'm happy to put it up, but if you just want to grab a couple of high quality shows, this place is a better bet.

Requests?

Without much on I've got quite a string of high quality sets to put up. I've been focussing on bands that aren't easy to find and/or that are touring Australia. But I figured that maybe someone out there really wants something from their favourite band, so is there anything in particular anyone would like to hear? I can't promise to post anything, but if there is something you want I can promise I'll try to track something down.

Two Gallants - 9 February 2013, Northcote Social Club

Another old one, I've already posted the Deer Tick portion of the show, so here's Two Gallants set. These guys have a few good songs, and some well chosen covers (although one song sounds like an absolute rip off of Ten Cent Pistol). It was good to see them adding a bit of variety with a couple of piano tracks, but I'm still not certain about these guys - their set was pretty good, but nothing really made me think wow, I need to get one of their albums. On the other hand, I wouldn't be shocked to see them produce an absolutely stellar album at some stage.

Sound quality is pretty good. There's always a bit of chatter at the Northcote Social Club, but it never overwhelms the music.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2de0wwkzmsc32

Click Click Click Kaching

Sooooo, I've been thinking for a while about including links to some of the CDs, books etc that I talk about, but it seemed a hassle, and I didn't necessary like the idea of promoting a business. But now I've found that I can organise links to Amazon that will make me a commission. MONEY. Anyway, my plan is to link to things I refer to in posts. I'll only ever do this when I think the thing I'm linking to is the best/cheapest option e.g. if a local store has it at a lower price I wouldn't encourage you to go to Amazon (or someone else to get it anyway). Also, I won't be creating posts simply on the basis they offer me an opportunity to link to something. So the question is - does anybody care about this either way? I'd rather not do this if people would find it annoying (I'll avoid the pop-up type links that always annoy me).  Thoughts? (silence will be interepreted as a ringing endorsement).

Shihad - 29 April 2013, Rod Laver Arena (Opening for Black Sabbath)

Last time I saw Shihad I was a little underwhelmed - they had the feel of a band that were still coming to terms with the fact that their career is probably only going to consist of a significant following in New Zealand and a smaller one in Australia. This show showed that when they have a reason to be excited they can still be a really good band. They chose the set while, playing a few of their older heavier songs that were more likely to go down well with Black Sabbath fans. Jon Toogood ran round the stage and generally acted like the place was full and going crazy for them. At the time I didn't like that too much, but in hindsight, its better than the dour opening band that comes out, plods through their set and leaves.

Their set was really loud, fortunately that got me to turn the input volume down, so Black Sabbath sounds better than it would have otherwise, but there is a little distortion at some points. I also realised that I messed up the tracking for Comfort Me - the talking that kicks it off should be cut as a seperate track. However, there aren't going to be a huge number of people downloading this, and frankly I can't be bothered redoing it and reuploading.

Factory
Screwtop
You Again
My Mind's Sedate
The General Electic
Comfort Me

https://mega.co.nz/#F!4ZFjUQrS!cgucj1NK8vx26vznCfbN8A

Free Albums!

It's always mildly annoying when a band you vaguely know announces a tour and you have to figure out if its worth going. Or worse, you discover a band that is absolutely amazing, then find out they just finished their Australian tour.

To potentially save you from both of those problems the Milk Carton Kids' first two albums are available for free from their website.

Also, prior to the release of Channel Orange Frank Orange released Nostalgia, Ultra for free. It's still available for anyone wondering whether to attend his Splendour sideshows, and looking at his recent setlists he plays almost as many songs from this as from Channel Orange.

Given that free things are awesome I might make a post on free albums a semi-regular thing.

Robert Plant - 30 March 2013, Bluesfest

Pretty flat out at work at the moment, so I'll put this up without too much comment. I was pretty annoyed about the clash between Plant and the Stooges. I ended up choosing Plant because I figured the Stooges were more likely to be back soon. I ended up regretting that though, because this set didn't really do that much for me (and I really like his recent solo work, so it wasn't that). Spoonful is an amazing song, but the reworked version didn't do much for me (and I can't imagine anyone who knows the original would have much appreciation for this version). The Led Zeppelin songs were all competently done and well received, but the band seemed more like an above average bar band, rather than the type of outfit that should be backing someone of Robert Plant's stature.

The recording of this seems slightly better than the other two, not entirely sure why. Although it's somewhat undermined by the crowd, who were annoying on the day and manage to pervade this recording with their annoyingness (you can even hear the beginnings of a fight behind me).

[Note: for some reason the track order works fine on iTunes, but is off on my iPod. Not sure of why, if this comes up on your system try deleting the track numbers and putting them back in]


https://mega.co.nz/#F!IZ0yCajR!AYhFUDhd7rZmtyX5ZkNhMQ

Black Sabbath - 29 April 2013, Rod Laver Arena

I waited until some initial reviews started coming in before getting tickets to this. There was no way I was going to go if Ozzy was at his worst. The reviews suggested the show was pretty good, although some people still said Ozzy wasn't 100%. To be fair, I suspect if people didn't know his history I suspect (at least based on this show) that they wouldn't have noticed. He moved around a fair bit and his vocals were pretty good (although he did have an autocue for the whole night that he spent a fair bit of time checking). The only annoying thing, and this might have always been the case, is his 'banter' - it extends to 'I can't hear you' (or just holding his hand up to his ear) or 'let me hear you fucking scream'. Rinse and repeat (and repeat a few more times if the band still aren't ready). For the encore he even tried to start a chant; honestly, if you're show isn't good enough to get the crowd to want an encore enough, don't embarass yourself by trying to hype the crowd from backstage.
The set itself was good. I only really know the biggest hits, so not everything was familiar. It was also obvious that they have a 'sound', for me that meant things got a bit boring during the lesser tracks, but I'm sure most hardcore fans would disagree. Interestingly, the new songs (particularly Methademic) broke the mould a little and were actually quite good (Methademic more than Is God Dead? even though the former is only on the deluxe edition of the new album).

The siren at the start of the show caused a lot of distortion, but as soon as they turned it down a bit for War Pigs things were fine. The sound quality of the recording is good, despite this being a phenomenally loud show (given how loud Shihad were I turned the input volume down, which paid off).

https://mega.co.nz/#F!FclESIJK!BrzvDgSANARSWUQQbl4mcg

Tool - 28 April 2013, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

I was a bit worried about this show - I'd missed out on their sold out Big Day Out sideshow, and heard some really bad things about it (and the whole tour). On the other hand, the setlist for the first night in Melbourne looked really good, and Tool are on the long list of bands that I'd like to see at least once. So the afternoon of the show I bought a ticket. The show ended up being really good (apparently night one wasn't that great, so looks like I was pretty lucky).

Maynard James Keenan didn't say much, but apparently that is pretty much par for the course. Without an album to tour the set focussed on Aenima, which suited me as a big fan of that album. For hard core fans, Opiate made a relatively rare appearance. So overall, they did a good job of ensuring there was something for everyone. The twelve minute 'intermission' that was really only an excuse to pretend they didn't do an encore was a bit too cute for mine, plus I would have preferred that time be used for an extra song.

I'm pretty pleased with the sound quality of this one; unlike some of the stuff I record, I've actually given this a few listens, because both the performance and the audio justify it.

https://mega.co.nz/#F!8RUV1Q6Q!XJnVLSiuog5BjmKkXm5_QA

Soundboard Label

Just a quick note - I figured a few people who come here may be particularly interested in the stuff that I put up from webcasts, studio sessions, official free releases, radio sessions etc. So I've gone through and added a 'Soundboard' tag to anything that is from an official/semi-official source and of official release quality. So if you're looking for that stuff, look for the tag.

Neil Finn & Paul Kelly - Live from Sydney

I know someone who saw the Rolling Stones on their in/famous of Australia in 1973. There have only been a handful of tours/shows that I've seen where I think in twenty or thirty years people will be impressed (or even remember the band), but I certainly expect to have conversations in the future with people who find it unbelieveable that Neil Finn and Paul Kelly toured together and shared a stage and sang on each others songs.

For anyone that finds it hard to believe I can point them to this recording. It comes from the webcast of their final show of the tour at the Sydney Opera House. The set, as it was for the entire tour, is extensive and varied. The highlights are too many to mention (but if you insisted, it'd be hard to go past the two songs of each others that they sing on their own - Into Temptation and You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed). I might seem like I'm giving this show a big wrap, but I've been listening to this pretty much non-stop for the last week or so.

Unfortunately, while the sound is great, given its source, there were a couple of points where the sound dropped out (for some reason it's Kelly's songs that are affected - Before Too Long and One for the Ages). I've cut the silence, which makes it possible to miss them if you aren't paying attention, but they are a little annoying if you're listening closely.

As an added bonus I've included the short promo they produced, which includes snippets of a few songs in rehearal and some short interviews, plus the three songs they performed at the official tour announcement (also at the Sydney Opera House). The three songs are just the two of them performing with acoustic guitars, so are a little different to the performances from the show (particularly You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed, which was played on piano at the show).

Regardless of whether you attended this show, or any show on the tour, this is a must have for anyone who wants to hear two living legends at the height of their game.

[Almost forgot, for anyone who is a bit sensitive - the show does feature the use of a fairly rude word (what Neil describes eupemistically as 'the A word and the C word', before actually saying both)]

Don't Stand So Close to the Window
Four Seasons in One Day
Before Too Long
She Will Have Her Way
One for the Ages
Not the Girl You Think You Are
Sinner
Careless
Leaps and Bounds
Won't Give In
Only Talking Sense
New Found Year
Into Temptation
You Can Put Your Shoes Uner My Bed
They Though I Was Asleep
Private Universe
One Step Ahead
Dumb Things
Deeper Water
Better Be Home Soon
How to Make Gravy
Distant Sun

Winter Coat
Fall At Your Feet
To Her Door
Don't Dream It's Over

Love is the Law
Message to My Girl
Words of Love

Moon River

Bonus Tracks:
Romp Through Australia 2013
Into Temptation
You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed
Leaps and Bounds

[Link removed - this is to be officially released as 'Goin' My Way]

Blind Boys of Alabama - 30 March 2013, Bluesfest

For me at least, the Blind Boys of Alabama were one of the unexpected treats that make going to festivals worthwhile. It didn't hurt that they had a crowd that was both reverent and raucous. The band had a pretty good idea of what people wanted to hear, but still managed to play a few tracks that, at least for a casual listener like me, weren't familiar. It was great to get to hear Down in the Hole, although there were a few very weird seconds of trying to figure out what song they could possibly be playing that I would be so familiar with.

All the recordings from Bluesfest are of OK, but not super quality.

[Forgot to add the the setlist, sorry about that]

People Get Ready
Spirit in the Sky
Down in the Hole (w/ Charlie Musslewhite)
Take the High Road
There Will Be a Light
Free at Last
Amazing Grace
Look Where He Brought Me From
Higher Ground

https://mega.co.nz/#F!YEMSkTzZ!fge7Fy-EbQALcu7-SblgVQ