John Peel's 50th Birthday party captured for posterity by the BBC, also featured "House of Love" and "The Wedding Present".
Excellent capture albeit vox is a bit to the back at the beginning.
Lets say from the outset that this is all a bit lumpen. Wolstencroft seems to have decided to reduce everything to a mid pace ramble with heavy bashing and everything suffers accordingly. its almost like he is trying to be Burns/Hanley P together and fails.
Smiths vocal on "Mere Pseud Mag" is so atonal as to be distracting....almost like he is forcing his atypicality. Add to that Bramah's guitar histrionics on "Arms Control Poseur" and the 1989 band trying to do material from the past and failing somewhat then you end up with a bit of a self indulgent mess, in parts.
I'm assuming that Charlotte Bill's flute parts on "I'm Frank" are being played by Marcia as a keyboard patch. Some coruscating slide guitar from the boy Scanlon on this one by the by.
The mix does not assist Hanleys usual submarine bass and the whole thing feels like a bit of an underrehearsed melange. I assume its Marcia doing the innappropriate keyboard noises half-way through "Fiery Jack"....I do wish she wouldn't.
Mark says "We have learned this 'specially for John's birthday" and the band launch into a suitably sloppy vesion of Gene Vincents "Race with the Devil". As far as I know this is the only time the band has played this song. its a simple 12 bar blues with unintellgible vocals.
The band gets its collective thing together for a mesmerising "Carry Bag Man" which begs the question why they didn't do a selection of contemporary material. Band is tight and Smith seems more at ease with this material and the emerging songs from "Extricate".
It closes with a tumble through "Mr P" which again gets into a lazy sort of rhythm which resolves itself after the middle 8 guitar solo from Bramah, and finishes in good order.
The recording concludes with a ritual singing of "Happy Birthday" for John, and then a little thank-you speech from the great man.
Worth it for the only live version of "Race with the Devil". A mixed bag of stuff some of which works very well and some of which fails on most levels.