Melbourne Tennis Centre, Melbourne, December 11, 1986

Melbourne Tennis Centre
Melbourne, Australia
December 11, 1986
Audience Recording.

Overall:

When you put on an audience recording, there's often a jolt to the system that says, this doesn't sound good. But after two or three songs, your ears will adjust and you often find the experience quite enjoyable, as if you are standing in the crowd. Unfortunately, that isn't the case with this recording. While the band is in good form and the mix is well-balanced, the sound seems distant. Listening for over two hours is an exhausting experience as your ears strain to separate the band from the ambient sound. Worse, the tape recorder had auto-leveling which removes all dynamics from a live recording. The highlight here is a performance by what Phil calls The Invisible Touch String Ensemble on a rare live recording of “Your Own Special Way” which the band hadn't played since 1978. Well, they'd played it the previous night, actually... For hardcore fans only.

Sound: * 1/2

The taper was apparently quite some distance from the stage and using a tape recorder with auto-level adjustment. At times it's difficult to make out the band over the ambient noise.

Mix: * * *

When you can hear the band, the balance is quite good. Only in a few sparse places does the guitar drop out. There are a couple of moments where the keyboards aren't as loud as they should be, but overall, had the taper been closer to the speakers, this would have been a top-notch recording.

Performance: * * * *

The band is tight form and energetic for this performance. No obvious mistakes. There is another uninspired version of "That's All" and a couple of the songs from the new album sound a bit too much like the studio versions, but these are minor quibbles.

Raw Notes:

Disc 1

1. Mama - Drum machine sounds quite distant. Crowd is clapping along and cheering a bit. They react as band comes on stage. This was apparently recorded quite far from the stage. Cheers for Phil's first vocal line. Auto-levels. Not a very good recording. Phil dodges some of the high notes. Solid performance. Hmm, my copy has gaps between the songs.

2. Abacab – Good energy at the start. Microphone feedback during first “When we do it”. Again. As the song gets louder, the auto-levels make it hard to hear the band. Some nice heavy thumping by Chester on the toms going into the ending guitar solo. Band is in good form. Tight. “We had some good fun last night, but we're going to have some better fun tonight!” Phil introduces Domino as being about someone inevitably Pushing the Button. Then into the Domino Principle routine with the crowd.

3. Domino – Good mix. Good energy. Phil is warmed up and no longer ducking high notes as before. Phil adds an extra “Now see what you've gone and done” going into the short key solo, then The Last Domino section. Nice performance. Introduces “some friends”. The Invisible Touch Australian String Ensemble. Introduces a “song we haven't done since 1978. Well, we did it last night, actually. And we did in Brisbane as well... and Sydney.... and Adelaide.“

4. Your Own Special Way – Some audience chatter during the first verse. Song sounds nice with strings. Softer songs come through better on this recording. Sings “As the ship moves” instead of “When the ship moves”. Great to hear this one on the IT Tour. Phil sings the chorus in a different order from the studio version. Short story about a guy who's been locked up for a long time. Wondering what his girl is up to.

5. In Too Deep – very similar to album version. Sounds like IT String Ensemble may be playing here as well. But it might be Tony's keys.

6. The Brazilian – Again, very similar the album. If had not been for the different intro, it would have been hard to tell the difference. Crowd chatters through most of it. Drum outro is also slightly different. Interesting to hear the actual ending instead of the fade out.

7. That's All – Crowd cheers and claps along. A bit lacking in energy. I don't think this song ever worked all that well live. Dropped after this tour, I believe. Audience Participation Time. Someone in the crowd shouts “Other world” just before Phil says it. “HA! I hear you say...” Crowd shouts “HA!”.

Disc 2

1. Home By The Sea – Intro was on Disc 1. Auto-levels wreak havoc again. Very nice performance. Mike's guitar is hard to hear during Second Home. Sounds muted. Daryl's bass can be heard although the recording has little bottom end. Tony has been sounding good all evening. Audience response is faded out.

2. Throwing It All Away – De da day. Bit of feedback going into third verse. Very album-like overall like the other IT material. Perhaps because the band were still using all the same gear that was used on the record. Phil intros Daryl and Chester. After Daryl's intro someone screams loudly and the crowd laughs. Phil asks “Do you love him?” (I think that's what he says.) Phil gets crowd clapping the beat going into...

3. In The Cage - ...and crowd quickly gets off beat. Suspect a good, intense performance here, but hard to tell for sure. Tony's solo is a bit low in the mix in places. Phil sings “I am my own bad luck” lower. Hard to hear Daryl's shredding during “Round... round...” section. Into “In That Quiet Earth”. Bass is missing at first. Comes in a several bars into the song. May be pedals missing. Tape flutter. Short gap (tape flip?) heading, as we all know into...

4. Afterglow – Solid performance.

5. Invisible Touch – Starts off with strange sounding drum machine. Hard to hear Phil at first. Can't hear Tony's accents after “Something you just can't trust.” Phil sings “though she will mess up your life” like on the album instead of “fuck up your life” like on other live recordings. I'm thankful the band resisted the urge to stretch this one into ten minutes.

6. Drum Duet – Nailed as always. Amazing stuff.

7. Los Endos – Crowd response sets off the auto-levels. This sounds good even on IT era gear. Seems just a bit rushed going into the Dance On A Volcano reprise. Chester stomps the kick drum hard! Into Squonk section. Like a good Genesis fan, I sing the “There's angel standing in the sun” at the right moments while I type. “Thank you very much!”

8. Turn It On Again (w/ That Damned Medley) – Crowd claps along again, quite loudly at the beginning. Phil tries to get the crowd to sing “I... I...” but if anyone does it, it didn't make it onto the tape. “We're so pleased to be back in our hometown of Melbourne, Australia.” Does the full “Someone to Love” section with band intros. ...into Satisfaction. ...Twist and Shout.... I'll Be There...You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling... Pinball Wizard... In The Midnight Hour... and back into Turn It On Again. Crowd applauds for some time after the band leaves. Phil returns and offers more thanks.. (I think). Fade out.