The La's Stripped Back
Amsterdam Bitterzoet, The Netherlands
26th August 2011 (2011-08-26)
RECORDING:
Type: Audience (master), recorded front of house, 3 metres back from the left,
ceiling-mounted PA.
Source: 2 x DPA 4060 mics -> DPA MMA6000 amplifier (100 Hz low-cut filter) ->
Edirol R-09HR recorder (44.1 kHz/16 bit WAV)
Lineage: Audacity 1.3.13-beta (tracks split, fades added) ->
FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]
SET LIST:
01. Son Of A Gun
02. Way Out
03. Come In Come Out
04. Feelin'
05. I Can't Sleep
06. I.O.U.
07. Knock Me Down
08. [untitled]
09. Clean Prophet
10. Doledrum
11. There She Goes
12. Timeless Melody
13. Liberty Ship
14. Callin' All
15. Failure
16. Looking Glass
17. [encore break]
18. My Generation
Running time: 50m 35s
MD5 CHECKSUMS:
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276f7a6b02978374e83b4c4bd300ecfa flac/02_way_out.flac
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cbd8a068b81e70b318c98fa1ea78e489 flac/13_liberty_ship.flac
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02b17d455ba8c7f4444c34c3a918f5ea flac/17_encore_break.flac
5c2611a4203a0ef8b6b22955d168d0ed flac/18_my_generation.flac
0bdd7718faa194acbfbfe77835c6db0f flac/checksums.ffp
NOTES:
This gig had been announced just a couple of weeks in advance. That, and the
fact that it would be taking place during the summer holiday, made me wonder
how many people would attend.
I had to bike through torrential rain to get to this gig at Bitterzoet on the
Spuistraat. When I arrived, I stood at the side of the road and literally
wrang out my T-shirt. I was soaked to the skin, with water dripping out of my
shirt and trousers. My jacket, which containing my recording gear, had been
protected under a plastic cover and was still nice and dry.
I entered the steamy cellar of Bitterzoet and was surprised to see that it was
close to full, if not sold out on the night. Obviously, the memory of The La's
lingers in the Dutch musical consciousness.
I manoeuvred my way to the front, donned my jacket and waited for Lee Mavers
to take to the stage, which he finally did at 21:20.
Grabbing his guitar, he launched straight into 'Son Of A Gun' with his bass
player. Without speaking a word to the audience and pausing for mere seconds
between songs, they stormed through the rest of the The La's one and only
album, playing every song, plus a couple of non-album tracks and an
instrumental not mentioned on the set-list.
The encore consisted of a single song, but it was a good one: a spirited cover
of The Who's 'My Generation', with Mavers' roadie joining in on drums.
And that was that: 17 songs in 50 minutes. What a pace.
I had a few problems with the right mic on tracks 9 to 11. The necessary
patching from the left channel has been done here to cover up the evidence.
It's time to replace one of my expensive DPA 4060s, I fear.
Other than the aforementioned minimal patching, I have performed no software
trickery to enhance the recording. This is a faithful reproduction of the show
as heard on the night. The sound is excellent throughout.
Enjoy!