Initially an intermittently clear and then muffled recording of the band at Manchester's Oxford Road night spot. Matters are clearer after song 2. Mark's volume is in and out at times and Hanley S tends to dominate. A chatty and occassional intrusive audience.
Feels a lttle lethargic from the outset with the first two numbers lacking a little zip until Mark stokes things up. Mark continues the lyrics to "Capital" as a preview to "Gramme Firday". Some interesting little funky bits in "Spectre vs Rector" which bear listening to. There is also a lenghty bridge between parts 1 and 2.
A chap next to the taper says "Don't like it" and when Mark explains that "Its time for all you minor groups to get your note books out" the same person says "oh oh he's on fire". The rest of "Middlemass" - which suffers from timing problems at the start - is unfortunately somewhat disturbed by a conversation very close to the taper.
A muscular "Wired" moves things up a notch or two and I get a sense that Mark is pushing the band to play it faster about half way through.
A lengthy "NWRA" has some sound problems and is a bit overblown in the bass notes of the keyboard department giving a muddy sound which together with low vocal volume from Mark does not aid the listening experience.
The initial parts of "Winter" are again beset by audience chatter. There are also some interesting sounds coming from the keyboard. Apart from these distractions this is a very good reading with Mark in full strop mode.
Matters conclude with a pacy roll on-roll off which is cut short at the end.
Not an essential gig in the pantheon due to the lethargic feel and the omnipresent whittering of the audience.