The Chills - Then & Now (Live 1989 + 2021)

Subterania
Ladbroke Grove
London, UK
October 11, 1989

audience recording (sound quality: VG+; a solid recording with clear vocals and good instrum. separation)

01 intro

02 Wet Blanket

03 Singing In My Sleep

04 The Oncoming Day

05 Night of Chill Blue

06 Dan Destiny and the Silver Dawn 

07 Familiarity Breeds Contempt

08 Past Part Past Fiction

09 Effloresce and Deliquesce

10 Rain

11 House With a Hundred Rooms

12 I Love My Leather Jacket

13 Pink Frost

14 Dead Web

15 Whole Lot of Non Going On

16 Look for the Good In Others

17 encore break

18 Kaleidoscope World

19 I Saw Your Silhouette

20 encore break

21 Brave Words

22 Great Escape

ROB SEZ:  Got longevity? The Chills do. Thanks to the stubborn persistence of founder, lead vocalist, & songwriter Martin Philipps, The Chills are still at it more than 30 years after they began. Here's a pair of shows 31 years apart, with deep thanks to buenaventura, auto_pilot, and crankingamps for sharing their gems. The Chills' latest studio album is Scatterbrain, released in May of this year.

   

The Powerstation
Auckland, New Zealand
May 14, 2021

audience recording (sound quality: VG+; there's noticeable crowd chatter, but it's not intrusive during the songs)

01 intro

02 Night of Chill Blue

03 Bad Sugar

04 The Male Monster 

     from the Id 

05 Wet Blanket

06 The Oncoming Day

07 Destiny

08 Monolith

09 Kaleidoscope World

10 You're Immortal

11 Pink Frost

12 Lord of All I Survey

13 Doledrums

14 Little Alien

15 Heavenly Pop Hit

16 I Love My Leather Jacket

17 encore break

18 Dark Sensation [Snapper cover]

19 Rolling Moon

20 Hourglass

FLAC

   

The Chills - Amsterdam 1987 + bonus

De Melkweg

Amsterdam, Holland

Feb. 20, 1987

soundboard recording (sound quality Ex)

REPERCUSSION: This is the New Zealand band with which Peter participated significantly during recording sessions in the early 1990s in California for the album Soft Bomb (see more info below). If you don’t know The Chills, this show would make a pretty good introduction.
 

The Chills in the early days: simply electric

BIG THANKS to pherron and einzack for sharing this fine show!

SAMPLE: "Dan Destiny & The Silver Dawn (Melkweg 1987)"

01 intro

02 brave words

03 doledrums

04 dan destiny and the silver dawn

05 night of chill blue

06 I think I thought I'd nothing else to think about

07 matthew and son

08 I love my leather jacket

09 ghosts

10 wet blanket

11 creep

12 the oncoming day

13 singing in my sleep

14 16 heart-throbs

15 the great escape

16 living in a jungle

17 pink frost

18 rain

19 look for the good in others and they'll see the good in you

20 moonlight on flesh

21 background noise

22 drunken sailor

23 frozen fountain + applause

DISC 1 (MP3@320)

DISC 2 (MP3@320)

DISC 1 (Alt. Link)

DISC 2 (Alt. Link)

The (early 1990s) Chills, around the time Peter joined them to record Soft Bomb

PETER HOLSAPPLE and THE CHILLS

The Chills' Soft Bomb

I don’t know how Peter got connected with The Chills, but this much I can tell you: he was asked by the band to join them in the studio in late 1991 and early 1992 in Burbank, CA to record one of their best-known albums, Soft Bomb. In the liner notes, Peter is credited as contributing “Guitars (electric, acoustic, dobro & slide), Keyboards, and Violin” — plus he’s the third of 40+ people thanked by the band, after the producer and assistant producer. 

      "Male Monster from the Id" — best-ever song title?      

At the time of the Soft Bomb sessions, Peter co-wrote a song with Chills leader & lead singer Martin Phillipps. The very compelling song is called “Big Dark Day” and, rather inexplicably, was left off Soft Bomb. Instead, it was relegated to B-side status, at least being featured on “The Male Monster from the Id” single release and, subsequently, on some editions of a greatest hits collection. 

The “Male Monster…” CD single is worth seeking out, and not only to hear Peter’s co-write. The single’s title track is one of the best on the album and a second B-side, “I Wish I Could Do Without You,” is also no throwaway.

READ MORE ABOUT THE CHILLS' MUSIC  at AllMusic and The Chills' web site