Out of 12 shows played in Germany on their first European tour, this seems to be the only one that has surfaced thus far, having been recorded by the band. It is set at the Arbeiterjugendzentrum (AJZ) which roughly translates as the Labourer or Blue-Collar Worker Youth Center in Bielefeld.
There are naturally numerous reasons why someone might enjoy or dislike a live recording, the sound quality being only one of them. As such, I find it quite ironic that it is the very issue of the sound quality that leaves me wondering if I should embrace this bootleg or dismiss it as crucially flawed.
Indeed, while the vocals, bass and (to a slightly lesser extent) drums surely sound good in the mix, I regret to note that Ian's guitar (still the only guitar at this point in time) can hardly be discerned most of the time which naturally results in the recording lacking depth and texture.
This is probably the reason why the sound level is rated merely "poor" on the Live Series website which, in all honesty, I find rather harsh. Intimately I find the recording still enjoyable overall and think it merits some attention, even if only because it features a handful of treats including, for one, the very first appearance of In Defense of Humans on the European continent.
(…)
(…)
Further, the listener once again gets to hear the musical exploration which has been played a number of times in the course of the 1988 European tour, yet is actually titled in the set list presented here and filed under Heart on My Chest.
Also, you get a song dubbed Preprovisional which, contrary to what the title might suggest, sounds nothing like the song Provisional (recorded with one guitar and featured on the June 1989 Margin Walker EP and October 1989 13 Songs compilation album) or the song Reprovisional (which basically is another version of Provisional with Guy's added guitar as it is performed on the April 1990 Repeater album).
Dixit Guy Picciotto: "We also had a very early song which we played late in 1988 a few times in Europe which had the chords to 'Hello Morning' but some of the lyrics to 'Provisional' and we refer to that one now as 'Preprovisional' even though it sounds nothing like the song. When we ended up recording 'Provisional' at the end of that tour [A/N: at Southern and Greenhouse Studios in London, England in December 1988] I took the lyrics off the 'Hello Morning' chords and used them on 'Provisional' instead. Later when we recorded 'Hello Morning' during the ARGUMENT sessions [A/N: a song recorded in January and February 2001 at Inner Ear Studios, the same time that the band was recording their last album, The Argument, and released in October 2001 on 7" and on CD] we resurrected those old chords that had never been used and I added new lyrics to them."
(…)
(…)
Last but not least, this bootleg premieres Promises, another song recorded in London right after the 1988 Euro tour and released as part of the June 1989 and October 1989 Margin Walker EP and 13 Songs compilation CD respectively.
And while this song is rhythmically and lyrically still a work in progress at this time and even features some dual vocals, you do get a complete rendering, while a couple of other gigs on this European tour only feature an instrumental part (cf FLS #0054: Hoorn, Netherlands 10/15/88; FLS #0073: Linz, Austria 11/10/88; FLS #0082: London, England 11/24/88).
Note that a total of 19 songs were played during this particular show, making it the longest of the 1988 Euro gigs, together with the aforementioned Linz, Austria and London, England shows.
To conclude, it can be mentioned that the audience is not all that audible in the mix, but considering the band repeatedly (yet mostly in a subtle manner) addresses the issue of people engaging in stage-diving, aggressive dancing and macho bravura, it seems the listener isn’t missing out on any groundbreaking events.
It does provide for some entertaining responses by the band though, especially when Ian breaks out his best Germanglish to express his concern regarding men monopolizing the dance floor: “Come to think of it, the world is only 50 percent Jungen and 50 percent Mädchen, yeah?”
The sound isn't great, but i wouldn't call it poor. This one is worth getting for the one time perforamance of Heart on My Chest, Prepovisional and the first version of Promises.
All through this recording, I kept wondering if I will come back to it for future listening. The vocals, bass and (to a lesser extent) drums sound quite good in the mix, but the guitars can hardly be discerned most of the time which, eventually, results in the recording lacking depth and texture. However, it still is enjoyable overall, and offers some special treats. Note the once only (?) musical exploration/improvisation that is Heart on My Chest, as well as the work in progress on Reprovisional (here appropriately named Preprovisional) that not only sounds completely different from the eventual studio take but even includes a line from Break-In in its lyrics.. .
1. | Merchandise | |
2. | Margin Walker | |
3. | Interlude 1 | |
4. | Furniture | |
5. | Interlude 2 | |
6. | Give Me The Cure | |
7. | Interlude 3 | |
8. | Burning | |
9. | Suggestion | |
10. | Lockdown | |
11. | Burning Too | |
12. | Bad Mouth | |
13. | Break-In | |
14. | Waiting Room | |
15. | Interlude 4 | |
16. | Bulldog Front | |
17. | In Defense of Humans | |
18. | Interlude 5 | |
19. | Glueman | |
20. | Encore 1 | |
21. | The Word | |
22. | KYEO | |
23. | Interlude 6 | |
24. | Heart on My Chest | |
25. | Preprovisional | |
26. | Promises | |
27. | Outro |
Please Note: Available recordings have been mastered to correct for volume shifts, drop outs, etc. but some sonic anomalies will still exist, especially early in the set when the mix is being settled. The band has rated each show for sound quality and set the general price of a download at $5 per show. If you have a different price in mind feel free to utilize the alternative pricing option.
This recording was made by me with a normal tape deck plugged into the desk. Attendance was about 400 which was good for a band that didn't had a record out basically. What helped of course was the fact that Ian was in the band as Minor Threat never toured Europe. Day after the show was a bank holiday which didn't hurt. 2 days before Naked Raygun played AJZ. Also their first European tour.
Bobo