| Audience 8.4 - A recent discovery, and man what a good one. A very strong recording for the time, minimal errors although maybe a touch hot on the upper end of the bandwidth but not enough to harm. The sound is pretty direct and forceful, if even a touch of rawness that harkens back to his really early days with Taste. |
Audience 8.8 - It's kind of a good thing that this concert is performed acoustically because the way this taper captured it I can't imagine an electric guitar, bass, and drums with the massive volume it would have been. That is because this sounds like taper was very close, and the hall acoustics are very "live", so, in essence because it is acoustic it isn't a loud, distorted mess...but could easily have been if this was any louder or closer to the stage. It's just at the breaking point volume wise, and there's the slightest touch of distortion affecting one frequency somewhere in the upper mid-range, this came close to being a problem but is thankfully kept at bay and never rose above the level of "minor annoyance" so all-in-all this becomes quite a keepsake memory for fans as it is a highly unusual type of gig.
FM Broadcast 9.0 - A tape that seems to be intact but missing a little of the sharpness and attack of a low gen or master which just means you crank it a little louder. It’s all there, the quality is there, but needs your input to get it up to loudness. Performance is cracking!
Rory Gallagher Hammersmith Odeon Theatre London, England 1-13-79 Rory Gallagher Group; May 1978 - March 1981: Rory Gallagher - guitar, vocals Gerry McAvoy - bass Ted McKenna - drums Set List: 01 - Radio DJ introduction 02 - Shinkicker 03 - Do You Read Me 04 - Off The Handle 05 - Out On The Western Plain 06 - Goin' To My Hometown 07 - Brute Force & Ignorance 08 - Secret Agent 09 - Shadow Play 10 - Tattoo'd Lady
Soundboard/Audience matrix 8.8 - This recording is pretty clean but is just a touch…how would I say, maybe doesn’t highlight the upper high end so it almost sounds like the edges were trimmed on the rock bush. It still delivers a punch to the gut, particularly if you like your drums to rattle your insides a bit because they do here, in a good way. Overall, this is a real fine set of tunes and is rather long and includes a pre-show interview at the end of the 3rd disc.
Rory Gallagher Cardis Houston, Texas, U.S.A. May 26, 1985 Disc One 01 - Double Vision 02 - Moonchild 03 - I Wonder Who 04 - Shinkicker 05 - Mississippi Sheiks (with Rain) 06 - Tattoo'd Lady 07 - Off The Handle Disc Two 08 - Big Guns 09 - Failsafe Day 10 - Out On The Western Plain 11 - Seven Days 12 - Banker's Blues 13 - Philby Disc Three 14 - Bought And Sold 15 - Shadow Play 16 - Bullfrog Blues 17 - Sweet Little Sixteen 18 - Nadine (encore audience cheering) 19 - Messin' With The Kid 20 - All Around Man 21 - Interview by FG (Pre-Show)
Dublin 1974 Soundboard 9.4 - This is a sweet one, it’s early in the new year (a year he would tour extensively during), and he’s in the beautiful city of Dublin, possibly thinking maybe this is how he’ll kick off the ambitious tour, and he just kills it! I would rate the recording higher but for some sizzle on the highs (cymbal crashes, etc.) that don’t hurt the tape so much as they don’t belong on a professionally made for release recording, if indeed that is what this was for. So, that being said you can still dive into this with the full knowledge that it will live up to the rating and then some!
Limerick 1972 Soundboard 8.8 - Sounds like this originates from TV or local radio and suffers from some compression limitations and occasionally drop outs due to sheer age. It’s still professionally recorded, so it’s got bones to work with and you’ll be able to get into it but because it is made for TV (or radio?) there is interruption for interviews – so you have to take this short piece for what it is. It’s filler for the excellent Dublin ’74 and it is fine in that capacity.
Rory Gallagher Carlton Cinema Dublin, Ireland January 2, 1974 Disc 1 1. -Cradle Rock 2. -Tattoo'd Lady 3. -Hands Off 4. -Walk On Hot Coals 5. -Laundromat 6. -Too Much Alcohol 7. -A Million Miles Away 8. -As The Crow Flies 9. -Pistol Slapper Blues 10. -Banker's Blues Disc 2 11. -Unmilitary Two Step 12. -Going To My Hometown 13. -In Your Town 14. -Bullfrog Blues Savoy Theatre Limerick, Ireland May 11, 1972 15. -I'm Tore Down 16. -Interviews 17. -Laundromat 18. -Interviews 19. -Pistol Slapper Blues 20. -Interviews 21. -Patch Of Grey Cloud (AKA Don't Know Where I'm Goin') 22. -Interviews 23. -Bullfrog Blues
Audience 9.1 - A fascinating document! Well, for one thing, it has that visceral, thump to your chest power and immediacy while you are immersed in the pit with your bros…but the crowd only makes this better. Such amazing atmosphere! The other thing is that this is NOT your mid 70’s blues guitar pub rock – it is much more along the punk/grunge aesthetic in how Rory is playing and his tone. Sure, he plays a lot of blues, but it does not come across the same as it did in ’74…it comes across as music that can breathe new life into what could be considered a dated musical form.
Rory Gallagher Inselwiese Dinkelsbühl, Germany 05. Juli 1986 Disc 1 01. -Ansage - Moonchild 8:03 02. -Shinkicker 6:39 03. -I wonder who 12:22 04. -Nadine 9:34 05. -Bad Penny 9:08 06. -Seven Days - I'm Ready 12:03 07. -Tattoo'd Lady 8:46 08. -A Million Miles Away 8:42 Disc 2 09. -Follow Me 7:01 10. -Out On The Western Plain 6:39 11. -Walkin Blues 7:06 12. -Rollin & Tumblin 5:43 13. -Big Guns 7:48 14. -I'm A Man 2:58 15. -Messin With The Kid 8:39 16. -Bullfrog Blues 6:37 17. -Seven Days - I'm Ready 10:22 18. -Follow Me 5:32
