San Francisco Winterland Arena March 25, 1977 GASP - 020
Overall:
A clear and detailed soundboard recording from the Wind & Wuthering Tour. The sound is good except that there isn't much bass to be heard most of the time. When the pedals come through, they're deafening. Much of the new material doesn't seem to work in a live setting, giving us some insight as to why Afterglow was the only W&W song to make the live Seconds Out album. I wanted to blame it on being early in the tour, but we're several months in at this point. Steve's guitar sound is obnoxious and all over the place on this recording, at times drowning out other instruments. The show doesn't really come together until Supper's Ready.
Sound: * * *
Inconsistant. Through most of the show, Tony, Phil, Chester. and Steve come through quite clearly. Mike is inaudible most of the time. The bass pedals rattle the speakers when they can be heard. At times, Steve's guitar drowns out everything with an obnoxious, nasal sound. I'm wondering if he was having trouble with his effects rack.
Mix: * * *
See above. Inconsistant.
Performance: * * *
The new songs just don't seem to work, but the older ones are performed tightly. The show doesn't really take off until toward the end, however.
Raw Notes
Disc One
1. Squonk - Left channel drops out for the first minute or two. Seems like this could have been fixed. Good stereo mix. Good tight performance, especially toward the end. Phils tambourine can be heard clearly. Crowd is there, but seems distant like many soundboard records. Phil chats up the crowd as Tony tests the Mellotron.
2. One For The Vine - Steve's guitar in the intro sounds a bit nasal with lots of echo. Something is missing during "Then one whose faith had died...". Maybe Tony moving from the electric piano to Mellotron. Phil's voice dissappears during the falsetto "Follow me". Phil blows his whistle during the instrumental section coming out of the quiet part. This loud section is quite different from the Duke tour version on 3SL. Not enough power during "They leave me choice". I don't think band were quite comfortable with this song yet. Probably why it was left off Seconds Out. But this is the only tour where we hear Steve play these W&W songs.
3. Robbery, Assault & Battery - Story: Harry the robber robs the Rice-a-Roni factory (for the San Fran crowd). I just figured out what's missing: Mike Rutherford. There doesn't appear to be much bass on this recording. Strange becasue everything else is clear and distinct. Tight performance. Some bass suddenly kicks in at the very end.
4.Your Own Special Way - Mike's story: Myrtle the Mermaid. A sailor demonstrates the mating dance of Myrtle? I'd like to be able to see this. Heh, "The new single is roaring up the Venezulean charts." Tony uses an annoying shrill synth sound over the nice strummed guitar. Phil flubs the lyrics... "You've followed me long, long enough." Again, the band seems uncomfortable with the new material. Can definitely see why this one was left off Seconds Out. Static in the left channel throughout.
5. Firth of Fifth - Phil introduces Steve as the only used car dealer who plays guitar. Steve intro's the song. "This one is short. Only seven minutes. Short for us." Still not enough bass, but this leaves lots of room to hear Steve. Phil changes the melody on "An inland sea, his symphony". Sounds like Chester is drumming on a wood block during the quiet instrumental section. Very nice performance of the loud instr section and guitar solo which Steve plays almost note-for-note from the record. Wow, bass pedals! Mike is back in the mix. So loud, it almost distorts. You can even hear some bass guitar.
6. Carpet Crawlers - Recording cuts directly to this song. ...and the bass is MIA again. No wait... it's there. Mike must be over on the next street somewhere. Decent performance. Could use a bit more energy.
7. ..In That Quiet Earth - Phil gives a scary laugh, then introduces Chester. Introduces this as three songs, but it's really two. They don't play Unquiet Slumbers. Something doesn't sound right at the beginning. Does Steve start on the wrong note? No bass. Chester and Phil do some syncopation. Drums and lead guitar are about the only things clear here. Again, new material. They are trying hard, though. Seques, of course, into...
8. Afterglow - This is the only song from W&W that made it onto Seconds Out. The lack of bass really hurts this one. Wow, then the pedals and Mellotron kick in and we have a wall of sound! Steve's guitar still sounds tinny.
9. I Know What I Like - The tambourine announces that it's time. Here we go, a fun three minute song stretched out into an endless nine. Phil's voice fades in the chorus and we can hear the background vocals pretty well. Not sure who that is. The Dance. Chester hits a gong at the end of it. Reference to the Gong Show which was on the air at the time? The Stagnation bit sounds nice as always, but too short.
Disc Two
1. Eleventh Earl of Mar - Mike introduces. Tells the crowd where Scotland is. Heavy stereo effect on the guitar. I know the lines kind of overlap, but it seems like someone could have sung the "Eleveth Earl of Mar couldn't get them very far" line. It is the title of the song, after all. "See the bishop on fire?" Steve's buzzy, tinny guitar fades between channels. Chester on wind chimes and sleigh bells during the quiet instrumental. Nice. A great song, but I've yet to hear a great live version. Though this one has a lot of energy, it just doesn't quite take off. Mellotron choir rattles the speakers. Tape Flip.
2. Supper's Ready - Phil Story: Romeo and Juliet in the back of his '57 Chevy. "Romeo, Romeo. Don't come one step closer with that thing!" Some hiss in left channel. "We will rock you, little snake" recording a bit loud. Lyric change: "The fight has begun, we've been released."Steve makes some wild sounds during Willow Farm that I've never heard before. At first, I thought the right channel was dropping out going into Apocalypse, but it's that heavy stereo effect on the guitar again. Loud echo effect on Phil's voice. Sounds cool when he holds out the note on "Better not compromise, it won't be easyyyyyyyyyyy!" Bass is gone again during the organ solo. Echo makes it sound like he sings "6666". Eggs is Eggs played a bit slow, but it works. Steve's final solo sounds like it's coming through a cheap transistor radio. Very nice performance. Some bass even audible in places. Easily the high point of the show so far.
3. Dance on A Volcano - Some guitar tuning before the song. Tony tests the Mellotron again. Never heard the band mess this one up. Steve's strange guitar sound finally doesn't sound out of place. Good job all around. "You'd better start doing it right... you know what I mean?" Seques into...
4. Drum Duet - Played a bit faster than usual... nailed as always. Short, but amazing. Segues into...
5. Los Endos - Cymbals jump between speakers. You can hear Steve scrap his hand across the strings clearly. During the Squonk reprise, his guitar effect finally goes out of control and starts to drown overthing else out. Good performance.
6. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - after a tape flip. Tony sometimes hits some sour notes trying to play this intro on an electric piano, but not here. Nice performance. Segues into...
7. The Musical Box (closing section) - Hey, bass pedals! Phil really growls the "NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!" part. Good job! Tape cuts off immediately.
