Relisten

View NotesThis show is from Low's 1997 tour with Dirty Three.  Despite the fact that they'd just been dropped by their first record label (Vernon Yard), the band were in great form throughout this series of shows, and this is one of my favorite periods in their history.  They were in the midst of further exploring the sound they introduced on "The Curtain Hits the Cast" -- a starker, drier, more oblique approach which arguably reached its limit with "Songs for a Dead Pilot", before the band pursued a new direction with "Secret Name".  

Consequently you get lots of seldom-heard songs like Prisoner, No Need, Same, and Coattails.  There's also an early, instrumental version of Home that I've never heard on any other tape, and an alternate, faster version of Be There they played for a while before settling on the "Songs for a Dead Pilot" arrangement with keyboard.

This recording was made by Chris Trumbore, who clearly did an excellent job, but my copy is at least 2-3 cassette generations removed from his DAT master.  The sound quality is still very good, but there's a fair amount of hiss, with a little bit of distortion in a few places.

Side A ended with the start of Same, and Side B began with the same material, so I've spliced the two together.  Other than that, and putting fades at the beginning and end of the tape, I've left this recording untouched.  It peaks at 0 dB once during Coattails, so no gain should be necessary.

Chris, if you're out there, thanks for the recording, and we'd love to have a digital copy!

By the way, I'm still looking (probably in vain) for a recording of Low's performance the following night on the 29th at Mama Kin Music Hall in Boston, which was my first Low show ever.  Someone took a few pictures, but I've never found a tape.  I doubt it exists, but if by any chance someone made one, please get in touch.