Hey Avocadonauts , Kevzero here, welcome to Bootleg Corner. A post dedicated to the semi-authorized records. Throughout the years I’ve amassed a rather large collection of bootleg CDs, vinyl, downloads, even the occasional cassette; from live recordings to outtake sessions. So I’ve decided to create a space here to occasionally review some them  for you, and a place for other fans of Recordings Of Indiscriminate oRigin(RIORs) to gather together.

This Week: 

Talking Heads. Cape Cod Coliseum

Live at the Cape Cod Coliseum, Yarmouth MA, August 20, 1983 

Label. Cellar Dweller (United Kingdom) 2009

Track List:

Disc 1-Set 1 (39:32)

01. Heaven

02. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel

03. Love Goes To A Build On Fire

04. The Book I Read

05. Slippery People

06. Cities

07. Big Blue Plymouth

08. Burning Down The House

09. Life During Wartime 

Disc 2 – Set 2 (01:16:43)

01. Making Flippy Floppy

02. Swamp

03. What A Day That Was

04. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)

05. Once In A Lifetime

06. Big Business/Izimbra

07. Houses In Motion

08. Genius Of Love

09. Girlfriend Is Better

10. Take Me To The River 

Encores 

11. Crosseyed And Painless 

12. Burning Down The House II

Liner Notes: None

Performance: A-(C for encores)

 The Cape Cod Coliseum was, from 1972 to 1984, a venue built originally for ice hockey, minor league NHL affiliates to local youth teams, that was also used to bring major musical acts to the Cape; sparing  Cape Codders from having to make treks to Boston/Providence. From AC/DC to the Boston Pops, from Bob Dylan to The Clash, from the Grateful Dead to our subject this week, The Talking Heads, they all made a stop at the Coliseum(more than a few of those concerts will most likely appear on this blog). 

 The Talking Heads came to Cape Cod in 1983 during the “Speaking in Tongues” tour. The set list contains mostly songs from the album “Speaking in Tongues”,  some older songs, and a few solo songs, David Byrne’s “Big Blue Plymouth” and “What a Day That Was” and the Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” 

Recording: B- 

 A soundboard recording, for the most of the concert the recording is actually really well done, and  I would rate the recording higher,  but there are two glaring errors. First of which is the actual concert opener “Psycho Killer” is completely missing(there’s no mention that it’s cut on the CD or why it was cut in the first place)

The encores are taken from an unknown different source and are, rather obviously, vastly inferior in quality to the rest of the recording.

Highlights:

 The first set, even without “Psycho Killer” shows the band at their best.  “Burning Down the House” and “Life During Wartime”  are standouts in an already great performance. 

Lowlights: 

 The second set,  coming off a twenty minute break at the actual concert, starts out sluggish and doesn’t pick up until “Once in a Lifetime” Even though it’s still a good performance, it just doesn’t match the energy of the first set. It almost seems like the concert’s set lists should’ve been reversed.

 The encores, irregardless of the source and recording,  just aren’t very good. 

Recommended…

Yes, despite the aforementioned problems this bootleg is, for fans of the Talking Heads, a nice companion to their other, officially released, live albums

This Week’s, optional, Discussion: Do you have a favorite bootleg label?

I like Cellar Dweller they seem to have a lot of good material and are very trustworthy 

Next Time… A Siouxsie and the Banshees mystery album