HUSKER DU: GOOFY'S UPPER DECK, MINNEAPOLIS, MN. 8.12.83. SOUNDBOARD RECORDING.

This performance was recorded shortly before the ambitious double-full length “Zen Arcade” was released in 1984 on SST. Having already released "Everything Falls Apart" on their own label Reflex and "Metal Circus" on SST, the Huskers were making titanic leaps forward. If "Metal Circus" was a collection of anthems both slow and fast, "Zen Arcade" was the "Tommy" of underground music. As a themed record about a kid leaving home for the first time to run away to the big city where he finds strange (and often disturbing) adventures, it covers more ground than a Greyhound bus over it's four sides of wax. The songs alternate from raucous angry assaults (nearly all of side 2) to psychedelia to unrepentant pop songs to straight up rock classics. Of course there's some some self-indulgent filler (thirteen and a half minutes of "Reoccurring Dreams") on the record, but nearly every classic needs such a throwaway for good measure.

Goofy’s Upper Deck is a defunct hardcore punk club that was situated in downtown Minneapolis. This venue lasted for only 2 years and shut down in October ’83. The bar was a working class drinker’s den and strip club until the owner employed a broad-shouldered bouncer named Dan Cotlow who was a nascent hardcore punk. Fred Gartner began booking hardcore punk shows on the second floor while Cotlow managed the strip club downstairs. The six-inch stage at Goofy’s Upper Deck hosted such classics touring bands such as Black Flag, Minutemen, Discharge, DOA, Code of Honor, Social Distortion, and Battalion of Saints. Bob Mould was setting up shows at Goofy’s by November of ’82. Goofy’s saw it’s end as a hardcore venue when Final Conflict played there in August ’83 when a full-scale riot ensued. A toilet was ripped out of the floor and thrown two floors below to the floor.

This Husker Du show is almost certainly the preeminent live document of them during their “Zen Arcade” phase in trading circulation that I’ve heard. This performance is also one of the most commonly circulated Huskers shows out there. This soundboard recording isn’t perfect, but the band’s performance is enormously sweltering. Mould’s fervent vocals are equals parts talking, shouting, and singing. His masterful guitar work is laden with feedback that it’s a striking jolt of cacophony. The only word to describe Grant Hart’s drumming on this recording is excessive. Greg Norton’s straightforward bass playing (and Rollie Fingers moustache) rounds out the sound.

John Clegg plays saxophone on “What’s Going On” and “Drug Party”. He was a jazz musician who was on the periphery during the early days of Husker Du. He worked at a record store with Grant Hart in St. Paul and would occasionally jam with the band. Clegg’s saxophone wail adds a psychotic edge to these two tracks that adds to already existing sense of sonic supremacy.

Track list:

1. Something I Learned Today

2. It's Not Funny Anymore

3. From the Gut

4. Wheels

5. Everything Falls Apart

6. Chartered Trips

7.Sunshine Superman (Donovan)

8. Eight Miles High (Byrds)

9. Broken Home, Broken Heart

10. What's Going On?

11. Newest Industry

12. Pride

13. I'll Never Forget You

14. What Do I Want?

15. Data Control

16. Drug Party/ Punch Drunk

17. Out On a Limb

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HUSKER DU: MABUHAY GARDENS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 7.24.81 SOUNDBOARD RECORDING

Husker Du’s infancy period consisted of one year of taking inexpensive amphetamines and racing through songs without any regard for melody. Of course, this attention to melody would later define the majority of their recorded output. Claiming that the Huskers weren’t concerned with melody may come across as pejorative and uncomplimentary, but during the year of 1981 Husker Du was a full-scale sonic blitzkrieg. Ostensibly speaking, their debut album “Land Speed Record” does not stand a chance when compared to their later catalog. The first few years of the band’s existence is still a period worth considering. This San Francisco show from July of 1981 chronicles this period arguably better than the live album that was officially released on Mike Watt’s New Alliance label.

This tape is a strong and clear soundboard recording that features a mix that boasts considerable integrity. Husker Du largely grew up in public and this document exhibits a band embracing a naturally sloppy approach. The sense of energy the Huskers had in 1981 was charming even if it’s crude and undeveloped. It can be argued that Husker Du was caught up in the hardcore zeitgeist of the early 1980s, but they seemed to transcend that definition with a different sense of urgency and fervor. This show defends this claim, strongly.

(There is some speculation about the date of this show amongst Husker Du aficionados. This show either occurred on July 24th or 25th, 1981. I listed the show as on the 24th because that's what my tape originally had written on it when I received it years ago.)

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