The dB's at Maxwell's (12-07-1986)

On December 7th, 1986, the dB’s played at Maxwell’s! Though the members of the dB’s originally met and began playing together during their teenage years in North Carolina, they eventually made their way up north to New York, with three-fourths of the band settling in Hoboken during their original run in the 1980s. The band released four full-lengths prior to breaking up in 1987, and two years prior to this gig, guitarist Chris Stamey left the band prior to the recording of their third LP, Like This. Jeff Beninato would subsequently join the band on bass, including for this show. In 1987, the band released their fourth album, The Sound of Music, and their set on this night at Maxwell’s includes a couple of tracks from that (at the time) yet to be released record, including “Never Before And Never Again” and “Today Could Be The Day.” They also sprinkled in a few covers, including the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” to kick things off and “See No Evil” by Television to close out their set. Though the band broke up in 1987, they’ve played shows sporadically over the last 15 years and released their fifth album, Falling Off The Sky, in 2012. Just recently, the band released a compilation entitled I Thought You Wanted To Know, which includes remastered early singles, demos, and a series of live Recordings from 1978-1981.

Setlist:

  1. Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Buzzcocks cover)

  2. She Got Soul

  3. Living a Lie

  4. Lonely Is as Lonely Does

  5. Never Say When

  6. Today Could Be the Day

  7. New Gun In Town

  8. I Lie

  9. Never Before and Never Again

  10. White Train

  11. Darby Hall

  12. Change With the Changing Times

  13. Any Old Thing

  14. Amplifier

  15. Love Is for Lovers

  16. The Room's Still Spinning (Will Rigby song)

  17. A Spy In the House of Love

  18. See No Evil (Television cover)

  19. Feliz Navidad