Red Mosquito

liebzz wrote:Bruce Springsteen - In Concert: MTV Plugged

Cute way to make headlines: go on MTV and flout their unplugged format with electric guitars. It sounded like rebelling against the format back then, but truth be told he just didn’t trust his makeshift post-E Street band to deliver a good enough unplugged set. His instincts there were probably right, but I don’t think they fair much better with electric instruments. What was meant to be a creative rebirth for Bruce ends up being just a neutered version of his old band, with all the personalities of those players sucked out. The band is frankly generic and it takes Herculean efforts from Bruce to squeeze out anything near the level of his glory days, that being the cheesed out but effective interlude and jam on Light of Day, a solid solo Red Headed Woman, and a should have been better rocked out Atlantic City. The Lucky Town songs outshine their Human Touch peers live here just as on the albums, but there’s a whole lotta mediocrity going on here from a performer who is currently riding most of the top spots on this list for me thus far. This one falls near the bottom.

The Essential Performance: Light of Day

Up Next: Page & Plant - No Quarter: Unledded

Indeed, this is easily his one release that I never choose to revisit. Unfortunately his VH1 Storytellers episode was released on video but not audio I believe.

oasisfan35 wrote:

liebzz wrote:Bruce Springsteen - In Concert: MTV Plugged

Cute way to make headlines: go on MTV and flout their unplugged format with electric guitars. It sounded like rebelling against the format back then, but truth be told he just didn’t trust his makeshift post-E Street band to deliver a good enough unplugged set. His instincts there were probably right, but I don’t think they fair much better with electric instruments. What was meant to be a creative rebirth for Bruce ends up being just a neutered version of his old band, with all the personalities of those players sucked out. The band is frankly generic and it takes Herculean efforts from Bruce to squeeze out anything near the level of his glory days, that being the cheesed out but effective interlude and jam on Light of Day, a solid solo Red Headed Woman, and a should have been better rocked out Atlantic City. The Lucky Town songs outshine their Human Touch peers live here just as on the albums, but there’s a whole lotta mediocrity going on here from a performer who is currently riding most of the top spots on this list for me thus far. This one falls near the bottom.

The Essential Performance: Light of Day

Up Next: Page & Plant - No Quarter: Unledded

Indeed, this is easily his one release that I never choose to revisit. Unfortunately his VH1 Storytellers episode was released on video but not audio I believe.

How it is that this turd is out in the digital world but Page & Plant is like trying to unearth the lost arc?

liebzz wrote:Orebolo - Volume I

A-goose-tic! John Arevalo, Rick Mitarotonda and Peter Anspach make up this acoustic trio playing the music from their various projects, but largely focused on their Goose material. Some of this is surely jammed out a bit, with less extended (but still extended) takes on Goose mainstays like Rockdale, Time to Flee, Arcadia, and Dripfield. Other highlights include Tumble, Echo of a Rose and Arise…but the winner here is a stunning cover of the Grateful Dead’s Ship of Fools. As a bonus, I also listened to their OurVinyl Sessions, which are live without an audience and include newer songs Hungersite, Slow Ready, Creatures, and a great Madhuvan. These guys are on the rise so it’s great to hear them play stripped down as a counterweight to their huge epic throw downs.

The Essential Performance: Ship of Fools

Up Next: Bruce Springsteen - MTV Plugged

I'm late to the party. I just found this thread and went through it. Very impressed with your analysis and enjoyed reading your reviews of many live albums that I've loved over the years. We have very similar tastes in music. I have a lot I'd like to comment on, but I'll keep it to the most recent posts. Orebelo is great. Not sure what Volume I is, but I'm familiar with the acoustic take of Ship Of Fools. Back in the beginning of COVID they started doing acoustic shows at the Solarium. The one from 4/26/2020 is hands down my favorite one. They cover Radiohead, The Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Prine and others. It's a must listen if you're a fan of Orebelo or Goose.

https://orebolo.bandcamp.com/album/2020 ... e-solarium

im a huge fan of Page & Plant - No Quarter: Unledded. I have the dvd. They made it themselves right? it wasnt an mtv thing

I dont really recall seeing that Bruce one on Mtv here.

VinylGuy wrote:im a huge fan of Page & Plant - No Quarter: Unledded. I have the dvd. They made it themselves right? it wasnt an mtv thing

I dont really recall seeing that Bruce one on Mtv here.

It was a special made for MTV.

LooseGroove927 wrote:

liebzz wrote:Orebolo - Volume I

A-goose-tic! John Arevalo, Rick Mitarotonda and Peter Anspach make up this acoustic trio playing the music from their various projects, but largely focused on their Goose material. Some of this is surely jammed out a bit, with less extended (but still extended) takes on Goose mainstays like Rockdale, Time to Flee, Arcadia, and Dripfield. Other highlights include Tumble, Echo of a Rose and Arise…but the winner here is a stunning cover of the Grateful Dead’s Ship of Fools. As a bonus, I also listened to their OurVinyl Sessions, which are live without an audience and include newer songs Hungersite, Slow Ready, Creatures, and a great Madhuvan. These guys are on the rise so it’s great to hear them play stripped down as a counterweight to their huge epic throw downs.

The Essential Performance: Ship of Fools

Up Next: Bruce Springsteen - MTV Plugged

I'm late to the party. I just found this thread and went through it. Very impressed with your analysis and enjoyed reading your reviews of many live albums that I've loved over the years. We have very similar tastes in music. I have a lot I'd like to comment on, but I'll keep it to the most recent posts. Orebelo is great. Not sure what Volume I is, but I'm familiar with the acoustic take of Ship Of Fools. Back in the beginning of COVID they started doing acoustic shows at the Solarium. The one from 4/26/2020 is hands down my favorite one. They cover Radiohead, The Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Prine and others. It's a must listen if you're a fan of Orebelo or Goose.

https://orebolo.bandcamp.com/album/2020 ... e-solarium

Thanks. Volume I is on streaming platforms as their only official full lengthish release. The OurVinyl Sessions is listed as an EP as well. They sound great. I watched one set from a show up on Nugs and was similarly impressed though the full band is just phenomenal.

liebzz wrote:the full band is just phenomenal.

Agreed. Goose is amazing. Not sure what is available on streaming sites but their set from The Peach in 2019 is widely considered to be their breakout performance and is also a must listen. I don't really use streaming sites, so I'm not familiar with what is on them. I can share any of these shows if you're interested. Just shoot me a PM.

With Goose, Nugs has nearly everything. It’s a really good source to get their shows.

Streaming platforms have a bevy of live material as well. The Alive and Well compilation, The Bingo Tour compilation, and a bunch of shows from 2019-2023, including the Radio City shows, and most recently the shows this spring from The Salt Shed in Chicago. I saw them at one of the shows at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester in March. Certainly among the best shows I have ever seen.

Just looked it up, Nugs currently has 279 of their shows for streaming.

liebzz wrote:Nugs currently has 279 of their shows for streaming.

If you have a Nugs account this is the same show I mentioned earlier for Orebolo:

https://www.nugs.net/live-download-of-g ... sPage=true

I saw them originally at Sea.Hear.Now in 2021. Then listened to the Alive & Well boot and then dug in from there. Good stuff.

LooseGroove927 wrote:

liebzz wrote:Nugs currently has 279 of their shows for streaming.

If you have a Nugs account this is the same show I mentioned earlier for Orebolo:

https://www.nugs.net/live-download-of-g ... sPage=true

I saw them originally at Sea.Hear.Now in 2021. Then listened to the Alive & Well boot and then dug in from there. Good stuff.

So… I wanted to see that exact show, but my friends convinced me to hold the spot after Patti Smith for Pearl Jam since we were quite close. I highly regret not just going over to that stage for Goose, which I 100% wanted to do.

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - No Quarter (Unledded)

This is the last of the sort of Unplugged week (this one is sort of unplugged in spirit since there’s a lot of breaking down and reforming these songs to fit a particular mood).

This one has always been a favorite of mine. Page & Plant back together (John Paul Jones got the Ament treatment and found out after the fact). Rather than an easy victory lap, they embark on an ultimately televised journey to rework their songs based on influences from anywhere and everywhere -South Eastern Asia, the Middle East, England, on the side of a mountain, whatever. This strip down and rework is often magical, inspires new songs, and rethinks the classics. I love all of this, but the trifecta of Four Sticks, Gallow’s Pole, and an otherworldly full orchestra Kashmir will always stick out the most to me. That this becomes my favorite Zep oriented live release says a lot.

The Essential Performance: Kashmir

Up Next: Nirvana - Live & Loud

Nirvana - Live & Loud

Just as we were recently discussing late 1993 Nirvana, this comes from the MTV special which was sort of a glimpse into Nirvana you didn’t much get at the time, where their music videos and albums were everywhere, but at least I was dying to see them in the live setting. Here, the band sounds good and loud, though I can’t say I quite prefer this to the other live albums of theirs we have covered. They still bring heat, particularly Grohl, and they mix in a bit of everything. That Scentless Apprentice is killer and very intense. Drain You, Breed, Serve the Servants, and About a Girl are also highlights, and to this point there’s certainly a mastery of the quiet/loud/quiet dynamic that runs throughout the show.

The Essential Performance: Scentless Apprentice

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Vault #5: Aladdin Theater, Las Vegas, NV 11/30/1993

We start the first of many Pearl Jam live runs on this journey next. This one will be a short run of theater shows in late ‘93 into the first half of ‘94 - undoubtedly a critical moment in Pearl Jam’s existence navigating their transition from clubs and small venues into theaters and subsequently to arenas and large outdoor venues. I am thankful Pearl Jam chose to let these shows see the official light of day through the vault series and beyond, a very intense set of shows.

liebzz wrote:We start the first of many Pearl Jam live runs on this journey next. This one will be a short run of theater shows in late ‘93 into the first half of ‘94 - undoubtedly a critical moment in Pearl Jam’s existence navigating their transition from clubs and small venues into theaters and subsequently to arenas and large outdoor venues. I am thankful Pearl Jam chose to let these shows see the official light of day through the vault series and beyond, a very intense set of shows.

My favorite period of live Pearl Jam and also the period when I first saw them.

Pearl Jam - Vault #5: Aladdin Theater, Las Vegas, NV 11/30/93

By this point in 1993, Pearl Jam’s energy and chemistry had sort of hit the point where they just couldn’t be contained, and it feels at points in this show that the whole place might break on their energy. Vedder truly had an enormous howl around this time that may be unmatched before or after this tour, and the band started expanding their sets to incorporate the new songs, and even some early Vitalogy tracks without compromising the songs that initially got them here. Early Tremor Christ and Whipping is pretty cool, but it’s the propulsive existing catalogue that owns this show - Go, Animal, Jeremy, and the most emblematic for me of this show, an absolute barn burning Deep.

The Essential Performance: Deep

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Vault #9: Mercer Arena, Seattle, WA 12/8/93

liebzz wrote:Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - No Quarter (Unledded)

This is the last of the sort of Unplugged week (this one is sort of unplugged in spirit since there’s a lot of breaking down and reforming these songs to fit a particular mood).

This one has always been a favorite of mine. Page & Plant back together (John Paul Jones got the Ament treatment and found out after the fact). Rather than an easy victory lap, they embark on an ultimately televised journey to rework their songs based on influences from anywhere and everywhere -South Eastern Asia, the Middle East, England, on the side of a mountain, whatever. This strip down and rework is often magical, inspires new songs, and rethinks the classics. I love all of this, but the trifecta of Four Sticks, Gallow’s Pole, and an otherworldly full orchestra Kashmir will always stick out the most to me. That this becomes my favorite Zep oriented live release says a lot.

I was at the Philly show when they toured this album and I only recently found out that it was the nadir of their relationship and that they had a serious fight backstage. I had noticed that Page was sucking the bag that night, but I assumed that he usually did. And Rusted Root opened too.

So I got the one In Utero show where Cobain was throwing shit fits, the short Riot Act show with the mosquito bites, the last Smashing Pumpkins show before Melvoin died and Chamberlain was fired, and this too. Lucky me!

Happy Trees wrote:

liebzz wrote:Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - No Quarter (Unledded)

This is the last of the sort of Unplugged week (this one is sort of unplugged in spirit since there’s a lot of breaking down and reforming these songs to fit a particular mood).

This one has always been a favorite of mine. Page & Plant back together (John Paul Jones got the Ament treatment and found out after the fact). Rather than an easy victory lap, they embark on an ultimately televised journey to rework their songs based on influences from anywhere and everywhere -South Eastern Asia, the Middle East, England, on the side of a mountain, whatever. This strip down and rework is often magical, inspires new songs, and rethinks the classics. I love all of this, but the trifecta of Four Sticks, Gallow’s Pole, and an otherworldly full orchestra Kashmir will always stick out the most to me. That this becomes my favorite Zep oriented live release says a lot.

I was at the Philly show when they toured this album and I only recently found out that it was the nadir of their relationship and that they had a serious fight backstage. I had noticed that Page was sucking the bag that night, but I assumed that he usually did. And Rusted Root opened too.

So I got the one In Utero show where Cobain was throwing shit fits, the short Riot Act show with the mosquito bites, the last Smashing Pumpkins show before Melvoin died and Chamberlain was fired, and this too. Lucky me!

Happy Trees indeed! I was at the mosquito bite show also. I saw Page & Plant at MSG in 1998 - my first show at the venue and it was a fun night though I guess 25 years later it’s hard to recall all the details but for a Stairway tease that the crowd went bonkers over.

Pearl Jam - Vault #9: Mercer Arena, Seattle, WA 12/8/93

If Vegas was the band full of piss and vinegar, this one might be slightly more laid back by comparison. Granted, this is an intense show, and one of the last of its kind with the band in a mode where each song could be their last. Time, and even the Spring 1994 tour would start the band a bit more towards pacing themselves for longer outings, my recollection being that it was the first form of their protest for the costs and fees for fans buying tickets through Ticketmaster, but then quickly became that expectation.

In this show, the band opens with Release then blitzes through a number of propulsive songs, but where I was very cognizant of the Ten songs in Vegas, the Vs. songs seem to stick out more here, including Glorified G, Go , and Animal. This show was probably released from the vault though for the rare occasion of getting that Momma Son trilogy in order: Alive, Once, Footsteps - and perhaps that is the big highlight of the show along with a killer set of encores featuring a jammed out I’ve Got a Feeling and Rockin in the Free World back when they played it at full blast.

The Essential Performance: Momma Son trilogy

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Vault #11: Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA 4/3/94

Pearl Jam - Vault #11: Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA 4/3/94

The first of Pearl Jam shows broadcast for free on the radio in the 90s, this was a very widely circulated bootleg for years, and also much of it released as the b-side to a three part Dissident single. This is also the first time I really heard Pearl Jam play live, recording it on my boombox, and straining next to the tiny speakers and trying to scrawl the song titles on the cassette J card. Z100 only played the main set, so I had no idea for years there was a whole other hour to this show.

In any event, despite the immediate need to flout convention given this show’s hype, this one is actually worth the praise. That main set may legit be the perfect main set and I don’t know that I have in my immediate arsenal of memory a single main set that’s ever topped it. Every song is absolutely incredible, from Release to Rearviewmirror to the massive killer echo on that bass on Jeremy, to Daughter, Go Animal, Why Go, down to set closing Alive and Blood. This is pure fire.

The band gets a little looser for the encores, with WMA in its rare full version with Dug Pinnick on backing vocals, an early yet well delivered Better Man, Rats (I had a new appreciation for the baseline on this performance), Satan’s Bed, a torrid Sonic Reducer and epic Porch. Indifference takes us home, but man alive is this a great show.

The Essential Performance: Jeremy

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Live at the Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA 4/12/94