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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BL'AST: SPORTMAN'S LODGE, SUN VALLEY, CA. 6.20.85. SOUNDBOARD RECORDING.

Hailing from Santa Cruz, CA and originally forming under the monicker M.A.D. (standing for Mutually Assured Destruction, of course) in late 1982, Bl'ast (the apostrophe was used to make their visual logo "more dynamic" according to vocalist Clifford Dinsmore) are of my favorite hardcore bands to ever exist. Detractors will often cite that they made a career out of imitating label mates Black Flag but this opinion doesn't lend itself to the fact that Bl'ast were a great band in their own right and definite forerunners of the stoner rock sound. Without question, guitarist Mike Neider and drummer Bill Torgerson selected a Dan Armstrong guitar and Ludwig Vistalite drums respectively because their heroes Black Flag made this look renowned. Henry Rollins mentions this briefly in a "Get In the Van" entry where he clearly discredits the band for being unoriginal and tacky.

Regardless of the fact that "Power Of Expression" LP has been permanently burned into my prefrontal cortex, I still get excited every single time it finds itself on my turntable. This soundboard recording is nearly just as powerful. This 1985 set recorded in Sun Valley, California showcases Bl'ast performing material that would find itself on their debut album shortly after. The sound quality is excellent and the mix is nothing to scoff at. This is a remarkable recording that should find itself in the collection of any self-respecting Bl'ast devotee.

Track list:

1. Our Explanation

2. I Don't Need It

3. Break It Down

4. E.I.B.

5. Fuckin' With My Head

6. School's Out (Alice Cooper)

7. Surf and Destroy

8. The Future

9. It's Alive

10. 12XU (Wire)

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BLACK FLAG: POLLIWOG PARK, MANHATTAN BEACH, CA. 7.22.79. AUDIENCE RECORDING.

After playing a handful of local gigs and making a small name for themselves during the first part of 1979, Black Flag was somehow booked to perform in front of little over 1000 people on a Sunday afternoon in Manhattan Beach's Polliwog Park on July 22, 1979. Clearly the event organizer had no knowledge of what Black Flag represented. The Tourists and Big Wow were two new wave groups that opened the show and I have read in some sources that Black Flag was a last minute replacement. Either that or Greg Ginn did his typical finagling when it came to speaking to a promoter; Ginn's angle to bypass a booking refusal was to tell a promoter that Black Flag were "a rock group with jazz influences".

The crowd of Southern Californian families had no idea what was about to hit them that afternoon. Expecting a relaxing Sunday afternoon in the park while casually listening to a tame, bearded Eagles type rock group, onlookers were treated to the unadulterated vitriol of a young Black Flag. One fan reflected on seeing Black Flag that day: "They played for my winning Little League team that day. They were a last minute replacement band. We threw chicken bones and watermelon at them". 100 or so ardent Black Flag fans turned out for the performance and acted totally unruly. A local newspaper described that crowd as "jumping up and down in the traditional punk pogo and pelted the band and nearby crowd with oranges, tomatoes, watermelons, cans, rocks, and bottles".

The audience source of this recording is indeed primitive sounding for the casual listener of Black Flag. Regardless of the quality, this is truly a significant and historic performance. It's incredible to think that this performance even lasted 24 minutes (6 minutes of it being an actual riot) and that the plug wasn't pulled on the band during one of the first few songs. Unfortunately there is considerable clipping during "Machine" and a drop out during "I've Had It". Regardless, this is an enjoyable listen and truly a lasting punk rock document from an era when bands were truly confrontational.

If anyone has a different source of this performance, I would love a copy.

Track list:

1. Don't Care

2. White Minority

3. I've Heard It Before

4. Machine

5. I've Had It (cut)

6. Nervous Breakdown

7. Spray Paint

8. Jealous Again

9. Police Story

10. Promoter speaking to the crowd/rioting

11. Revenge

12. Fix Me

13. Depression

14. Louie Louie

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http://www.mediafire.com/?mj5dz0hldlc

MEAT PUPPETS: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, PHOENIX, AZ 11/28/81. SOUNDBOARD RECORDING.

Before the Meat Puppets began releasing records showcasing their sun damaged style of country punk, they were experts at constructing wild-eyed, art damaged hardcore. Their debut EP "In a Car" ranks as one of my favorite hardcore records of all time because of its courageous and reckless spirit. The five tracks on their debut 7" EP speed along at a face-melting velocity but seem to move in multi-modal directions depending on the track that you're listening to. The lyrics are often totally incomprehensible and when they were printed they were even more baffling. When considering all of this, it makes total sense that your average hardcore lunkhead wanted to spit all over them when they opened for label mates Black Flag.

This soundboard recording documents the Meat Puppets tearing through a total of 33 songs from their first 7", first LP, and features a whole smattering of oddball covers ranging from the Grateful Dead to Black Flag. It is pretty amazing to think that a hardcore band could even muster the patience to perform a set that is an hour in length. This recording clocks in at just under one hour and the band uses the cover song piss takes to regain their energy to shred on the faster paced songs. Like their records from this time period, the overall performance on this recording is sloppy but highly engaging.

Setlist:

1) Saturday Morning

2) Our Friends

3) Playing Dead

4) Electromud

5) Unjust

6) Reward

7) Milo, Sorghum & Maize

8) H Elenore

9) Blue-Green God

10) Melons Rising

11) Dolphin Field

12) In A Car

13) Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Bob Nolan)

14) Love Offering

15) Litter Box

16) Meat Puppets

17) Teenagers

18) Hearts

19) Foreign Lawns

20) The Gold Mine

21) Walking Boss

22) No Values (Black Flag)

23) Big House

24) Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf)

25) Reach Out (Iíll Be There) (Four Tops)

26) Rabbit Fighter (T-Rex)

27) Down on the Corner (CCR)

28) Standing on the Verge of Getting It On (Funkadelic)

29) I Know You Rider (Grateful Dead)

30) I Am A Child

31) Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix)

32) Out in the Gardener

33) 1970 (Stooges)

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4UMVX2QM

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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BLACK FLAG: ELECTRIC BANANA, PITTSBURG, PA 7.4.81 SOUNDBOARD RECORDING

For all intents and purposes, Black Flag was the first American hardcore group to exist. Emerging from a Southern Californian beach community, they gained international notoriety through incessant touring and undoubtedly shaped local scenes wherever they played. The emergence of their own record label definitively influenced the means by which independent artists could release their own material and thus the greater scope of American punk rock. Perhaps stating this is palpable and overt at this point. Regardless, the influence of Black Flag should never be understated.

This recording consists of a good soundboard recording featuring Dez Cadena on vocals. Perhaps Dez had the least prowess as a front man considering the efforts of Keith Morris and Henry Rollins, but nonetheless Dez shines on this tape. This one starts with a sarcastic thank you to the Pittsburg police department and promptly erupts into a vehemence of magnificence. The Flag tears through 28 songs with fierce tenacity. The recording is an excellent soundboard with some nice rough characteristics. There is a slight cut during “Revenge.” I believe this is on the original master because I’ve yet to hear a version that is complete.

This is the first of many Black Flag tapes that will be featured on this site.

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