Tracks marked with an (*) are also available in FM Broadcast version. Audience tape is generally OK although Craigs guitar occasionally tends to dominate in places and Smith is a touch indistinct at times. FM is a tad bass heavy in places and with a little hiss but generally very good.
It starts with an intense reading of "Smile" with Mark screaming the title and expressing the words with more than usual verve. "Lay of the Land" is dominated by some incredibly adept bass playing from Hanley S - this is best heard on the FM version - a good tight reading of the song. Again Smiths intonation is more assertive. The false end catches the audience out about half way through as the band mines another two minutes out of the tune.....and then again towards the end as Smith chuckles as they start clapping.
Nice to hear "Craigness" in a live setting and this version is competent, perhaps feeling a little listless after the maddening rush of the first two numbers. Smith mangles the phrasing and his delivery means the lyrics are lost in the overall band sound. "2x4" ups the tempo again and is taken at a fair pace. The vocal performance is almost "scat" like with Smith dancing around the melody - interesting North Manc twang predominates and there is a touch of insouciance.
"Draygo's" seems to be plagued by slightly out of tune guitars on the audience tape but they sound fine on FM. The drums dominate as Smith yelps his way through. There is some serious fret scratching from Brix. An inaudible mumble leads into a raucous "No Bulbs" - again there seems to a slight guitar tuning problem and Smith varies the lyrical content quite considerably. "Kicker" starts off sort of low keyish after a request to stop the lights from flashing as the band are "all epileptics"- the guitars dont lock in - and the bass and drums drive it - the words are mangled considerably- an Ipswich conspiracy is mentioned - for some reason, to my tired old ears at least, the song sounds more like "Eat Yr'self fitter" than "Kicker".
"Stephen Song" is excellent - full of brooding menace. "Copped It" fades in on the audience tape but is complete on FM- its a good performance with a slight subliminal swagger to it. I assume keyboards are provided by Paul Hanley. Mark appears to turn into a tellytubby about half way in. "Trip Dispenser" suffers from Craigs guitar being too loud on the audience tape but is fine on the FM version. The performance feels a little sloppy in places.
The gig concludes with a languid "Middlemass" complete with cackhanded keyboard playing from someone....I assume its Brix (?) or Paul but there appear to be two drummers and one guitar so I assume its the former - but I could be completely wrong. There are some awful bits of out of tune instruments as the guitars and the keyboards clash on the melodic bit towards the end but its does not detract from the overall strength of the delivery.
Great gig - band on good form - some oddities and some great lyric variation from Mark
It starts with an intense reading of "Smile" with Mark screaming the title and expressing the words with more than usual verve. "Lay of the Land" is dominated by some incredibly adept bass playing from Hanley S - this is best heard on the FM version - a good tight reading of the song. Again Smiths intonation is more assertive. The false end catches the audience out about half way through as the band mines another two minutes out of the tune.....and then again towards the end as Smith chuckles as they start clapping.
Nice to hear "Craigness" in a live setting and this version is competent, perhaps feeling a little listless after the maddening rush of the first two numbers. Smith mangles the phrasing and his delivery means the lyrics are lost in the overall band sound. "2x4" ups the tempo again and is taken at a fair pace. The vocal performance is almost "scat" like with Smith dancing around the melody - interesting North Manc twang predominates and there is a touch of insouciance.
"Draygo's" seems to be plagued by slightly out of tune guitars on the audience tape but they sound fine on FM. The drums dominate as Smith yelps his way through. There is some serious fret scratching from Brix. An inaudible mumble leads into a raucous "No Bulbs" - again there seems to a slight guitar tuning problem and Smith varies the lyrical content quite considerably. "Kicker" starts off sort of low keyish after a request to stop the lights from flashing as the band are "all epileptics"- the guitars dont lock in - and the bass and drums drive it - the words are mangled considerably- an Ipswich conspiracy is mentioned - for some reason, to my tired old ears at least, the song sounds more like "Eat Yr'self fitter" than "Kicker".
"Stephen Song" is excellent - full of brooding menace. "Copped It" fades in on the audience tape but is complete on FM- its a good performance with a slight subliminal swagger to it. I assume keyboards are provided by Paul Hanley. Mark appears to turn into a tellytubby about half way in. "Trip Dispenser" suffers from Craigs guitar being too loud on the audience tape but is fine on the FM version. The performance feels a little sloppy in places.
The gig concludes with a languid "Middlemass" complete with cackhanded keyboard playing from someone....I assume its Brix (?) or Paul but there appear to be two drummers and one guitar so I assume its the former - but I could be completely wrong. There are some awful bits of out of tune instruments as the guitars and the keyboards clash on the melodic bit towards the end but its does not detract from the overall strength of the delivery.
Great gig - band on good form - some oddities and some great lyric variation from Mark