audience cassette
Lux Interior, Poison Ivy Rorschach, Bryan Gregory, Nick Knox
This is a very strange gig (which took place just 3 weeks after probably The Cramps strangest gig ever at Napa State Mental Hospital). At this gig they're playing at a beach party at Peter Ball's mansion (Ball was drummer for "Bernie and the Invisibles"), 15 feet down a cliff on a cement slab built into the cliff face overlooking Lake Erie. The audience watched from the beach 40 feet below! Lux & Co performed overlooking Lake Erie where boats were moored and people on the boats watched the show and danced and then enjoyed the 4th July fireworks (which sadly isn't on the recording!).
In 1990/1991 the book "The Wild Wild World Of The Cramps" was released. In one chapter it mentioned this gig . It's a stereo recording, either recorded with 2 mics or a single mic with great separation. The vocals and drums and audience applause are more prominent in the right channel and the guitars are more prominent in the left. There's a slight hum between songs but it's coming from the bands equipment and not a tape fault as I first thought.
The Cramps played another unusual gig in July when they drove to Ohio to play at a private party in Bratenahl just outside Cleveland. "We played on the edge of a cliff overlooking Lake Erie. It was really great," Lux told me. "At about 15 feet there was a ledge and we set up on there. Then there was another drop down to Lake Erie itself."
Ivy commented: "Sound travels across water, and there were people on yachts and boats dancing."
Lux: "Yeah, they were twisting on their boats. It was so weird playing to a bunch of... boats!"
(From "The Wild Wild World Of The Cramps", page 35)