Let's Active - Boston 1988 (aud)

LOSSLESS REPOST

The Paradise
Boston, MA
Oct. 25, 1988

   

audience recording (sound quality VG+; there are a few momentary glitches here and there and a chatty girl near the taper you can hear from time to time, but the rest of this is smooth sailing, with nice sound from the PA....)

  

Mitch & Co. on location, "In Little Ways" video shoot

01 Every Dog Has His Day

Yes, Virginia — it was a single (at least in the UK)

02 Last Chance Town

03 Talking to Myself

04 I Feel Funny

05 Writing the Book of Last Pages

06 Horizon

07 In Little Ways

08 Sweepstakes Winner

09 Night Train

10 Orpheus In Hades Lounge

11 Bad Machinery

12 Room With a View

13 Mr. Fool

14 Too Bad

15 The Swinging Creeper
    (Ventures cover)

16 Pow R Touch (P. Floyd cover)

17 I Can't Reach You (Who cover)

18 Crows On a Phone Line

19 Ten Layers Down

20 Call Me Animal (MC5 cover)

21 Badger (cuts out)

ROB SEZ: When I acquired this tape, I forgot to make a note re: who to thank, but I'm pretty sure it's dB's Fan (...again!)

FLAC

   

MP3@320

Let's Active:
Mitch  Easter – guitar, vocals

Angie Carlson – keyboards, vocals 

Eric Marshall – drums

Jon Heames - bass
 

Let's Active - Rutger's Univ., N.J. 1986 (aud)

LOSSLESS REPOST

The Rose Room

Rutger's University

New Brunswick, NJ

March 4, 1986

     

audience recording (sound quality: VG; transfer from first-generation tape)

   

He had a hunch that, eventually, I would use

the watermelon photo. Sorry about that, Mitch…
Creem magazine photo

ROB SEZ:  I got an unexpected surprise when I was digitizing dBF’s tape and heard Mitch welcome Gene Holder as part of the show’s live ensemble. I’m guessing the band at this point didn’t have a permanent bassist. Since Gene was living in Hoboken, Mitch called up his old friend to play the gig. Nice little coincidence. Mitch & Co. put the emphasis on tunes from the about-to-be-released Big Plans for Everybody (my favorite Let's Active album). Gotta love those encores, with 3 killer covers in a row! THANK YOU KINDLY to the taper and the usual HUGE THANKS to dB’s Fan for the share.

01 Waters Part

02 Ornamental

The band, circa 1986
Y'all remember "Thing" from The Munsters?
I'm getting a flashback due to this photo...

03 Writing the Book of Last Pages  

04 Leader of Men

05 Talking to Myself

06 Still Dark Out

07 Crows On a Phone Line

08 In Between

09 Every Word Means No

10 Reflecting Pool

11 In Little Ways

12 Won't Go Wrong

13 Last Chance Town

14 Prey

15 Hush (Deep Purple cover)

16 Back of a Car (Big Star cover)

17 He's a Whore (Cheap Trick cover)

TT: 65:37 mins.

FLAC
     
MP3@320

Let's Active:

Mitch Easter – guitars & vocals

Angie Carlson – keyboard & vocals

Eric Marshall – drums

Gene Holder – bass

Let's Active - Chicago 1986

LOSSLESS REPOST

Cabaret Metro

Chicago, IL

July 2, 1986

   

audience recording (sound quality VG++; transfer from first-generation tape source; virtually no bothersome crowd noise; this one sounds so good, I almost rated it Ex-)
  

This band photo was an hommage to a John Mayall album cover

ROB SEZ: At first, I didn’t consider this show for the blog because it’s one of the more common ones. Silly me. After actually listening to it, I can hear it’s one of the best shows around, combining a great performance and very good sound. Massive thanks to to the taper and to john52il for sharing.

Summer 1986 - a good time
to catch Let's  Active in concert

01 Intro

02 Waters Part

03 Leader of Men

04 Talking to Myself

05 Writing the Book of Last Pages

06 Prey

07 Flags for Everything

08 Fell

09 Won't Go Wrong

10 Reflecting Pool

11 In Little Ways

12 Every Word Means No

13 Whispered News

14 Route 67

15 Back of a Car (Big Star cover)

16 Dancing Days (Led Zep cover)

   

TT: 54:51 mins.

FLAC
  
MP3@320

Let’s  Active:

Angie Carlson – keyboards, backing vocals

Eric Marshall – drums

Dennis Ambrose - bass

Mitch Easter – guitar, vocals

Let's Active - Winston-Salem, N.C. 1985 (sbd)

LOSSLESS RE-POST

Ziggy’s

Mitch at the mic, Einstein a Go-Go, Florida

groovy photo by Allison Durham

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Oct. 12, 1985

soundboard recording (quality VG; multi-generation source tape)

00 intro

01 Ornamental

02 Talking to Myself

03 Still Dark Out

04 Writing the Book of Last Pages

05 Crows On a Phone Line

06 Reflecting Pool

07 Won't Go Wrong

08 Invisible Hills

09 Last Chance Town

10 Leader of Men

11 Room With a View

12 Sunshine of Your Love

TT: 43 mins.

ROB SEZ: Been a good while since I've posted anything from our heroes. But, hey — anytime's a good time for Let's Active, right? Judging by the length of the set, they must've been opening for some other act at the top of the bill. BIG THANKS to dB’s Fan, who must’ve supplied me with this tape, like so many others.

  

The late, great Ziggy's

WAV lossless files
  
MP3@320

  

Let’s Active:

Angie Carlson – keyboard, 

                        additional guitar 

Mitch Easter – guitar, vocals

Faye Hunter – bass, vocals

Rob Ladd - drums
  

CONGRATULATIONS, MITCH!

Last night, Mitch Easter was inducted into the N.C. Music Hall of Fame, along with Big Daddy Kane, Merle Watson and others. It couldn't have happened to a cooler human being or more influential musician in this part of the world. 

R. E. M. + Let's Active - One Night in Charlotte 1982

LOSSLESS RE-POST

Let's Active
Viceroy Park
Charlotte, N.C.
Jan. 23, 1982



audience recording (sound quality VG to VG+; from best available, first-generation tape source; club show with a typical amount of chatter near the taper)

MITCHELL BLAKE (right), John Michael, Michael Edward & Peter Lawrence in 1982 

01 Single File  
02 I'm Sorry  
03 Safety In Numbers  
04 Counting Down 
05 Out of Sight, Out of Mind
06 Prying Eyes  
07 Dirty Reasons  
08 We Do the What If  
09 title unknown 
10 Make Up With Me  
11 Law of Averages 

TT: 38:12 mins.

MANY, MANY THANKS to kneesfudd for the analogue-to-digital transfer & generous sharing. Thanks also to the original taper & trader. One of Let's Active's first public shows, and the earliest-known live recording. 

Let's Active:
Mitchell Blake Easter - guitars, vocals
Faye Elizabeth Hunter (RIP) - bass
Sara Teresa Romweber (RIP) - drums

R. E. M. 
Viceroy Park
Charlotte, N.C.
Jan. 23, 1982

audience recording (sound quality VG to VG+; sounds like same tape source as the Let’s Active set; see above comments)

01 Ages of You
02 Catapult
03 Shaking Through
04 Laughing
05 Romance
06 Sitting Still
07 Permanent Vacation
08 Pretty Persuasion
09 That Beat
10 Gardening at Night
11 9-9
12 1,000,000
13 Wolves, Lower
14 Radio Free Europe

Encore:
15 White Tornado 
16 Stumble
17 Ghost Riders In the Sky

TT: 1:1:04

Repaired & remastered by kneesfudd. MUCHAS GRACIAS to him and the original taper & trader, tomcannon.

R. E. M.:
John Michael Stipe - lead vocals
Peter Lawrence Buck - electric guitar
Michael Edward Mills - electric bass, backing vocals
William Thomas Berry - drums, percussion, backing vocals
  
FLAC
  
MP3@320
        

Let's Active - Chicago & Detroit 1984

LOSSLESS RE-POST

Cabaret Metro

Chicago, IL
Nov. 23, 1984
WXRT-FM broadcast

    
FM capture (sound quality: VG; source sounds like a multi-generation tape; this is a very listenable show, but does not boast pristine quality)
       

Love, LOVE this one of Faye and Mitch — at MTV Studios in NYC

ROB SEZ: I thought of calling this post "Two Shows In 96 Hours." By whatever name, it's a rare opportunity to hear our heroes in back-to-back concerts. The setlists are different enough to keep it interesting for the listener, and both shows feature strong performances by the band.

01 In Between

One of the late greats: Faye Hunter

02 Back of a Car

03 Ring True

04 Co-star

05 Crows On a Phone Line

06 Prey

07 Easy Does

08 Flags for Everything

09 Room With a View

10 Lowdown

11 Every Word Means No

12 Grey Scale

13 Blue Line

14 Waters Part

   

DJ intro (I always delete these, but it’s included here for the completists…)

St. Andrew's Hall

Detroit, MI

Nov. 20, 1984

    
audience recording (sound quality VG; some audience chatter between songs, but not overly intrusive during the music — it’s from JEMS, which means it’s the best possible source with the best available sound)

SINCERE THANKS to JEMS for taping and Mike Z for the transfer

01 Prey (cuts in)

Only slightly spooky: original lineup, 1983 tour

02 Easy Does

03 Flags For Everything

04 Room With A View

05 Lowdown

06 Every Word 
     Means No

07 Grey Scale

08 Blue Line

09 Whispered News

10 Waters Part

11 I Won't Let It ‘appen
     Agen (Slade cover)

12 Edge of the World
     (cuts out)

WAV lossless files

MP3@320

LET'S ACTIVE:
Mitch Easter - guitar, vocals
Faye Hunter - bass, vocals
Jay Peck - drums
Tim Lee - keyboards