The Stems - Live Across 33 Years (1986 + 2019)

unknown venue & city  
Australia
Dec. 1986
  
soundboard recording (quality: VG; ripped from vinyl bootleg "Can't Turn the Clock Back"; exact date unknown)

R.I.P. Richard Lane (guitarist & keyboard player)

01 Sad Girl
02 Stomping All Over the World
03 Running Around
04 Man with the Golden Heart
05 She's a Monster
06 Zero Hour
07 Psychotic Reaction
08 She's Fine
09 Does It Turn You On
10 You Can't Turn the Clock Back 
11 All You Want Me For
12 No Heart
13 Can't Resist
14 Make You Mine
15 Tears Me In Two
   
Croxton Bandroom
Melbourne, Australia
Nov. 4, 2019
  
audience recording (sound quality: VG+)

The Stems - Thirty-some Years On

01 She Sees Everything
02 Just Ain't Enough
03 Move Me
04 For Always
05 Jumping to Conclusions
06 Feel a Whole Lot Better 
     (The Byrds cover)
07 Mr. Misery
08 Get to Know Me
09 Undying Love
10 Surround Me
11 At First Sight
12 Make You Mine


Los Conciertos
    de Radio3
(venue & date unknown)
late 2019 (broadcast Dec. 18, 2019)
  
audio rip from video (soundboard recording - quality: Ex-)

01 She Sees Everything 
02 Just Ain't Enough
03 For Always
04 Undying Love
05 Surround Me
06 At First Sight
07 Make you Mine
  
ROB SEZ: The Stems!! If you have a hankering for garage rock with a pop sensibility, there's no finer group today than Australia's The Stems. Dom Mariani and co. got their act together in the 1980s, then broke up after recording only one proper album. Luckily, time healed some wounds, and The Stems reformed for an album and tour 20 years later. When Mariani is not fronting one of several other bands, he will cycle back to The Stems, which he did again in 2019. HUGE THANKS to pete2020 for sharing the 1986 recording, Angelo for the Radio3 set, and crankingamps for recording & sharing the Melbourne set. There's a bonus goodie baked into this one. You'll find it after you open the download folder. Please enjoy.

FLAC

MP3@320

The dB's - New York, N.Y. April 1982 (sbd)

LOSSLESS REPOST

The dB's

(venue unknown; possibly The Ritz)

New York, N.Y.

April 1982 (exact date unknown)

   

probably Chris Stamey’s last live show with The dB’s, mk. 1 

   
soundboard (sound quality VG++; sounds like it’s from a 1st-generation tape; the rhythm guitar is/was kinda loud compared to other instruments, so I reduced its volume; on a few songs, there's some distortion in the vocals)
   

You can hypnotize yourself if you stare
into their eyes for at least 3 minutes…

photo illustration by Magnet magazine

01 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know

The dB's, with Chris on his way out

Winston-Salem Journal photo

02 Living a Lie

03 Happenstance

04 Storm Warning

05 Dynamite

06 Tomorrow Never Knows 

07 Amplifier

08 pH Factor

09 I Feel Good (Today)

10 Excitement

11 Walking the Ceiling
     (It's Good to Be Alive)

12 Bad Reputation

13 Neverland

ROB SEZ: First, let me thank the taper and especially Scott R for sharing this rare recording with me. Obviously, this is not the usual length for a dB’s headlining set. It's just 13 songs because the guys were playing on a multi-act bill. At the end of the last song, Peter says, “Pylon’s up next.” It’s possible this was a show on April 22 at The Ritz for which The Teardrop Explodes was scheduled to headline, but never performed due to an intra-band blowup backstage. The dB's set features what may be the briefest version of “Tomorrow Never Knows” the band ever played onstage. Performance-wise, there's a chaotic energy that gives the recording an edginess I find appealing. Is this because Chris had already told the band he was leaving to focus on his own music? We may never know. I'm pretty sure this is the last known live performance before Chris departed The dB's. The whole thing is very enjoyable, but the last half of the show really cooks. TURN IT UP!

    

The dB’s:

Chris Stamey – guitar, vocals
Peter Holsapple – guitar, keyboard, vocals

Will Rigby – drums & vocals

Gene Holder – bass

FLAC
  
MP3@320

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Reunion, London 2004 (sbd)

Hammersmith Apollo 
London, UK
Oct. 15, 2004
   
Instant Live limited ed. release
    
soundboard recording (sound quality: Ex; an excellent, flawless recording)

01 Rattlesnakes

02 Why I Love Country Music 

03 Speedboat

04 Charlotte Street

05 From the Hip

06 Cut Me Down

07 Brand New Friend

08 Sweetness

09 2CV

10 My Bag

11 Sean Penn Blues

12 Mainstream

13 Perfect Blue

14 Patience

15 LC banter

16 Lost Weekend

17 Perfect Skin

18 Mr Malcontent

19 Jennifer She Said

20 Four Flights Up

21 Heartbroken

22 Forest Fire

    

live photos courtesy of M.M.Minderhoud 

ROB SEZ: This one's pretty special and it's exclusive to this blog. Did you ever bid on one of those 1-penny eBay auctions? I have, but never won the "a penny plus shipping" deal — until a coupla weeks ago. That's when I bid on this rare, officially sanctioned, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions limited-edition reunion recording. I still can't believe I was the only fan in the world paying attention & bidding. A few days later, this lovely artifact arrived on my doorstep. And of course I'm sharing it with you. LC and the guys reunited to perform a handful of live shows in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Rattlesnakes, an album fully represented here, minus 1 song. You can tell the band spent 2+ weeks rehearsing for a 1-week tour: the performance is impressive for 20 years on. I thought the Instant Live artwork was boring: the CD equivalent of a brown paper wrapper. So I added the pertinent info and a photo from one of the 2004 UK shows to create custom artwork. If you like Lloyd Cole and haven't heard this, it's a must have. One more thing: I thought the straight-from-the-soundboard recording sounded kinda flat. One pass of modest compression did the trick, and now it sounds much more lively. PLEASE ENJOY. 

   

FLAC

MP3@320

   

Lloyd Cole - Live 1990-1993 (FM + sbd)

unknown city/venue 
unknown month/day 
1990 "X Tour" show

TV broadcast source (sound quality: VG+)

01 Why Don't We Do It 
     In the Road?
02 Perfect Skin
03 No Blue Skies
04 Brand New Friend
05 Mister Malcontent
06 Don't Look Back
07 A Long Way Down
08 Mainstream
09 What Do You Know 
     About Love?
10 I Hate to See You 
     Baby Doing That Stuff 
11 Sweetheart
12 Jennifer She Said

ROB SEZ: Gotta love Lloyd Cole. (Well, you don't have to love LC, but I sure do.) He's a class act, going all the way back to the 1980s and "Lloyd Cole & The Commotions." The man offers consistently great tunes, intelligent lyrics, all compellingly played. I'm on a mission to persuade Lloyd's unaware fans from the 1980s that he kept making worthy music, up through today. Were there a few failed experiments and overly-indulgent missteps along the way? Of course. But Lloyd's artistic success-to-failure ratio should be the envy of many wealthier & more popular artists. This is a good time to revisit Mr. Cole's mighty impressive back catalogue. I don't mind suggesting this is a good use of your quarantine time. HUGE THANKS to BBGrant and all the tapers for their generosity.
   

Lloyd Cole's early 1990s live dream team,
including Robert Quine and Matthew Sweet

Cirkus
Stockholm, Sweden
Nov. 4, 1991

FM recording
(sound quality: Ex-)

01 Rattlesnakes
02 Patience
03 Butterfly
04 There For Her
05 Man Enough
06 A Long Way Down
07 She's a Girl and I'm a Man

Black Sessions #39
Studio 106 
Paris, France
Nov. 9, 1993

FM recording (sound quality: VG+)

01 So You'd Like to Save the World
02 Unhappy Song
03 A Long Way Down
04 Undressed
05 Wild Mushrooms
06 Forest Fire
07 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
08 Can't Get Arrested
09 Sold
10 No Blue Skies
11 "Same Old Song" (title uncertain)*
12 Mystic Lady

*Mr. Cole himself could not recall song no. 11 when asked about it many years later. (As far as I can tell, it's not a cover.) If anyone can positively identify it, please leave a message.

   

Anyone out there have LC's 1995 Black Session to share?
If so, please get in touch.

FLAC

MP3@320

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - FM Broadcasts 1984 + 1985

Barrowland Ballroom 
Glasgow, Scotland 
Sept. 9, 1985
   
FM recording (sound quality: VG++)
  

01 Rich

02 Patience

03 Why I Love Country Music

04 Sweetness

05 Brand New Friend

06 Grace

07 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?

08 Four Flights Up

09 Rattlesnakes

10 Speedboat

11 2CV

12 Forest Fire

13 Perfect Skin

14 Perfect Skin (outro)

Le Palace

Paris, France

Dec. 4, 1984

    

FM recording (sound quality: VG++)

      

01 Rattlesnakes
02 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? 

03 Glory (Tom Verlaine cover)
04 Andy's Babies
05 Charlotte Street
06 Patience
07 Speedboat
08 Beautiful City
09 Perfect Skin
10 Forest Fire
11 Glory (Reprise)

musicians:
Blair Cowan - keyboard, accordion
Lawrence Donegan - bass
Stephen Irvine - drums
Neil Clark - guitars
Lloyd Cole - vocals, guitars

ROB SEZ: Call it "coronavirus nostalgia" if you like, but lately I've had a hankering for classic artists from ages past. This extraordinary band is among them, with Glasgow & Paris being the perfect gig locations to satisfy my nostalgia. I've posted other Lloyd Cole & The Commotions ROIOs here in the past, but not these. HUGE THANKS to the original tapers as well as BBGrant for sharing the 1985 recording and to HARMONIZER09/ APOPTYGMA for sharing the Paris recording. Avid LC fans will appreciate the appearance of the rarely-played "Beautiful City" (a Rattlesnakes-era outtake) in the 1984 set. Look for another Lloyd Cole share next week — without The Commotions.

FLAC

  

MP3@320