HEART - London, England 1978

Went with my bestest fwends last Fwiday night to see Heart at ye olde Gibson Amphitheatre. Our good buddy Ric has been playing bass with the Sisters Wilson for a awhile now, and it was a most impressive show, loaded with all the hit singles plus some wicked covers (the expected Zep, plus Who and Petty tunes and Ann Wilson killing on John Lennon's "Isolation".)

In tribute, here follows a U.S. rebroadcast of a 1978 BBC Rock Hour show. Sound is perfect, hits are included, rock flute is rawked, Zep's "Rock and Roll" is duly covered, and a pair of vintage Toyota commercials are interspersed for your amusement. BarraCOOda!

HEART "BBC Rock Hour"
London, England - October 1, 1978 (FMB)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2

IRON MAIDEN - Tokyo, Japan 1981

"Put them in the Iron Maiden."
"Iron Maiden? Excellent!"
"Execute them."
"Bogus!"

Hesher heaven...that was the L.A. Forum last night. To exalt my survival of the full-frontal Iron Maiden assault, here's the only other top-quality Maiden boot I've found so far. It's an alternate, or full-length, or some kind of sought-after version of the long-ago, limited-release Maiden Japan EP. It sounds balls-out great, 17 tracks off the first two albums, featuring original howler Paul Di'Anno and drummer Clive Burr. Plus, I personally respond to the tasty tidbit of Queen's first hit "Keep Yourself Alive" dropped into "Sanctuary."

Cheers to Hear Rock City for this one. Up the Irons!

IRON MAIDEN "Maiden Japan"
Sun Plaza - Tokyo, Japan - May 24, 1981 (SBD)
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IRON MAIDEN - Ipswich, England 1983

Seeing the mighty Iron Maiden for the first time ever tonight at the fabulous L.A. Forum. Hoping to survive and live to blog another day...meantime, here's one of the best Maiden boots ever, a near-perfect audience recording of a U.K. gig only days before Piece of Mind was unleashed upon the land. Hear ye, fear ye! (This one goes out to cousin Dave way down in Ol' Virginny.)

IRON MAIDEN "Maiden Ipswich"
Gaumont Theatre - Ipswich, England - May 8, 1983 (AUD)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2

FRANK ZAPPA - New York, NY 1981

My first Zappa post, hallelujah. No time to write, gotta get this 3-day weekend started ASAP. I'll merely post what tiny text done came with this here boot, a 31-track epic from the old Ritz:

"In Yojimbo's own words, 'One of the most popular FZ shows, and probably one of the most widely spread in its FM form.' A classic and a must-have for any serious FZ fan. Enjoy!!!" (Thanks to Liborio’s Garage and AstroNation for this floss-monster.)

FRANK ZAPPA
The Ritz - New York, NY - November 17, 1981 (FMB)

DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2 / DOWNLOAD 3 / DOWNLOAD 4

AEROSMITH - New York, NY 1975

Next Generation To Take A Pass On Aerosmith
The Onion — February 11, 2008

BOSTON — In an address made to the rock-and-roll community Tuesday, the nation's children aged 5 to 14 announced their intention to opt out of being influenced, stirred, or otherwise affected by the rock band Aerosmith. "We are aware the classic American band has, since their rise to fame in the 1970s, repeatedly come out of nowhere to penetrate popular culture, be it with their 1986 comeback duet with Run-DMC, the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire, which prominently featured 'Dude Looks Like a Lady,' or their 2001 Super Bowl performance with Britney Spears," said a spokesman for the so-called Generation Z, 13-year-old Max Hersch. "But we are respectfully declining. No Aerosmith for us, thanks." When reached for comment, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler called attempts to evade the band "futile," adding that the rock quintet's influence over the young set is just one "Dream On" duet with Hannah Montana away.

Okay, Onion...so Aerosmith wasn't the greatest band ever or nothin'. I suppose they've lived way past their use at this point; they probably did years ago. But still — listen to this before you make up your minds, kiddies, for this was the early, dirty, greasy, sloppy, druggy Aerosmith. Try it! You just might dig it!

AEROSMITH "King Biscuit Flower Hour"
Central Park - New York, NY - August 29, 1975 (FMB)
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THE POLICE - Amsterdam, Netherlands 1979

I recently had a hankering for the perfect early Police show, one that had to include "So Lonely," "Next to You" and "Reggatta de Blanc" at the very least...well hell, this one has "Reggatta de Blanc" twice. Throw in "Be My Girl, Sally," "Peanuts" and even the '77 B-side "Fall Out," and you have one of the ass-kickingest Police boots ever. Plus, it was taped in Amsterdam, so at least 2/3 of the band must be high.

The soundboard audio is so perfectly balanced and in-your-face that, like all the best boots, you gotta wonder "How could they not have released this?" And this ain't no laid-back, jazzy-cool, middle-aged reunion show; this is pure, manic punk energy. Ladies and lads…the Savage Young Police!

THE POLICE
Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands - June 22, 1979 (SBD)
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Obama vs. McCain: War of the Music Videos

This week, John McCain is The BOMB:




But last week, Barack Obama was the "Yes We Can" man...




In other news, this recent Time magazine article warmed the cockles of my hackles. Read Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back and smile...

BLUE CHEER - Tokyo and Osaka, Japan 1999

I dragged my ass to see Blue Cheer at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood a couple of nights ago. I was curious to hear a band some argue are the true originators of heavy metal – pre-Sabbath, pre-Zeppelin, pre-Deep Purple, pre-Steppenwolf – as well as one of rock's original power trios, post-Cream and Hendrix Experience.

Two words: fockin' gnarly as fockin' fock. Is that five words? Well, it’s my blog, and the f-word is allowed here once in a blue moon.

Original Blue Cheer guitarist Leigh Stephens got the boot back in 1969, after Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside, their first two and best albums. But original drummer Paul Whaley and vocalist-bassist Dickie Peterson are still hard at it, touring clubs as I write this (they play hometown San Francisco tonight.) Peterson’s gear-grinding voice is fuglier than ever; he looks like an evil little MetalliMuppet and sounds like a redneck Wolfman Jack on crack (and smack, and crank.)

The heavy lineup on this February 1999 show is the same one I saw, with Andrew "Duck" MacDonald ripping it on the axe. MacDonald first joined about 20 years ago, then left, then re-upped in '99 for good. The only drawback here is a couple of generic, '80s-sounding metal numbers they've since left behind; you’ll probably want to drop "Down and Dirty" from the set. (Hey, the '80s were tough on everyone.) Based on the show I caught, their brand-new material is far preferable, especially the ass-smokin' dope tune "Rollin' Dem Bones." The rest is all killer kutz from the two aforementioned proto-stoner-sludge-metal masterpieces.

This show is solid soundboard quality – it was officially released for a brief time, in fact – but the needle is jammed deep into the red zone the whole way, which suits Blue Cheer just fine. This one you may actually want to turn down a bit…legend has it they were the first American band to use Marshall amps, and they weren't called the Loudest Band on Earth for nothin'. Dig it, scooter tramps!

BLUE CHEER Live in Japan
Tokyo and Osaka, Japan - February 11 and 13, 1999 (SBD)
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GRATEFUL DEAD - San Francisco, CA 1966

My first Grateful Dead post is in honor of tonight's reunion benefit concert for Barack Obama's campaign at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco. It's not a full reunion, for both the obvious reasons and because, oddly, Bill Kreutzmann is sitting this particular show out. Still, it's the first performance by anything resembling the Dead in almost four years, and it's clearly for a good cause (even though, I admit, I'm still an Edwards man deep down.)

Anyway, this one is a really early Dead boot -- so early that it's actually the Dead's first-ever performance at the Avalon Ballroom. They'd switched the band's name from The Warlocks less than six months earlier. The sound quality is surprisingly great, and the fine young freaks perform many tunes that would end up on their speed-damaged first LP as well as the first known version of their perennial cover tune "Good Lovin'."

If you're in a place to, vote tomorrow!

GRATEFUL DEAD
Avalon Ballroom - San Francisco, CA - May 19, 1966 (SBD)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2

BLACK SABBATH - Ontario, CA 1974 and Asbury Park, NJ 1975

Still here at work, ever so busy and no time for the old in-out. Instead, I'll settle for violating all y'alls ears with two of the greatest boots ever by Los Shabbatos Negros, as they're called down in the barrio. Taken from their peak period, these two slabs of soundboard Sabbs are downright ¡caliente!

Now, heed ye, and know this: quality Sabbath boots are few and far betwixt, so savor the flavor of black, squirming eee-hee-heeveel while you can, and Satan Claus take the hindmost!

Big ups to Nargo the Bort and The Ultimate Bootleg Experience for these. Now ¡andale!

BLACK SABBATH "Cannabis Confusion" at California Jam
Ontario Speedway - Ontario, CA - April 6, 1974 (SBD)
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BLACK SABBATH "Sabotaged"
Convention Center - Asbury Park, NJ - August 5, 1975 (SBD)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2