Relisten

1:46:07

Taper:

neil d

Transferrer:

neil d

SHNID:

mekons2009-07-31.flac

Source:

Source: AUD > CoreSound Binaurals > MM-EBM-1 battery box (with bass roll-off) > Line In > iRiver H320 (Rockboxed)

Lineage:

iRiver H320 (Rockboxed) > AIFF > Sound Studio > AIFF > XAct > FLAC

Taper Notes:

View NotesMekons this go-round (from left to right): Susie Honeyman (fiddle), Lu Edmonds (saz, oud, vocals), Steve Goulding (cajon, vocals), Sarah Corina (bass), Rico Bell (accordion, acoustic guitar, vocals), Sally Timms (vocals and dignity), Jon Langford (electric and acoustic guitar, vocals). Plus special appearances by Barry B the Man from Atlantis and Chris Mills.

The first of two nights in New York City, this show was billed as the "acoustic" one, which meant mostly that the band was sitting down, and that Steve was playing a wooden box instead of a full drumkit. Otherwise, it was electrified as usual.

What was not usual was that founding Mekon Tom Greenhalgh didn't bother to show up for this tour (he was reported to be back in Devon attending to "family things"). Even without him, though, it was a great Mekons show, with a large block of material from 2007's "Natural," some old songs reintroduced after long absences ("Big Zombie," "Hole in the Ground"), and with Lu taking over lead vocal duties normally performed by Tom on "Beaten and Broken" and "Last Dance." Longtime Mekon associate Chris Mills took the stage for "Heaven and Back" to do his Tom Greenhalgh impression, though mostly this consisted of a bunch of half-hearted leg kicks (though exquisitely appropriate and well-timed leg kicks, for anyone who's seen Tom perform the song).

All in all, a great time was had by all, and the band seemed in especially good spirits at this relatively new Brooklyn venue - Sally in particular seemed appreciative both of the enthusiastic crowd and of the pear cider provided by the Bell House. And the recording came out great - the only unfortunate thing is that there's no video, meaning you'll need to imagine Jon's dance moves during "Cockermouth" and Lu, Steve, Rico, and Jon's hand gestures miming the action in "Powers and Horrors."