BR5-49 at Tramps (02-20-1998)

On February 20, 1998, BR5-49 returned to Tramps in New York City.  Just like their show at Tramps in '97, the group played another 30 song marathon set filled with country, fiddle-y goodness.  Enjoy!

Set list:

1. I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train
2. Bettie Bettie
3. Even If It's Wrong
4. Change The Way I Look 
5. Right Or Wrong
6. Hometown Boogie
7. Long Black Veil
8. Out of Habit
9. I Ain't Never
10. They Call Me A Playboy
11. Love's Gonna Live Here
12. Humdinger
13. My Eyes Are Jealous
14. Me And Opie Down By The Duck Pond
15. Take Me Back To Tulsa
16. Go Boy Go
17. Hillbilly Thang
18. Down Here Nobody Knows My Name, Back Home My Name Is Mud
19. Applause
20. Storybook Endings (If You Stop Believing)
21. Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)
22. You Are Never Nice To Me
23. Cherokee Boogie
24. Ole Slew Foot
25. Gone Gone Gone
26. Big Mouth Blues
27. Fraulein
28. Wheels and a Crowbar
29. Seven Nights To Rock
30. Honky Tonk Song
31. One Long Saturday Night

Railroad Jerk at CBGB's (02-16-1996)

On February 16, 1996, "industrial-folk," "junkyard-blues" group Railroad Jerk played CBGB's wit support from Five Style.  Although the band called Manhattan home for the majority of their career, their formation In the 1990s, Railroad Jerk released four LPs on Matador Records and shared various bills with the likes of Guided By Voices and Cat Power.   Later in 1996, the band would release their fourth and final album entitled, "The Third Rail." They played some songs from that record at this show! The end of the tape includes a few songs from Five Style, who shared the bill with Railroad Jerk.

Wilco at Irving Plaza (02-15-1997)

On February 15, 1997, Wilco played a show at Irving Plaza that is infamously remembered for the "Deli Tray Incident."  At around 50 minutes into the group's set, Jeff Tweedy retreated backstage and emerged with a tray full of cold cuts - and oh yes, he proceeded to throw those meats into the crowd! 

Aside from all this salami tossing, the band played a really amazing sets featuring all of your favorite songs from 1995's A.M. and 1996's Being There (my personal favorite Wilco album).  This show was also taped for the HBO show, "Reverb."  I included a link to the Youtube video of Reverb episode below.  Enjoy this one!

Click photo for video of the show!

Set list:

1. Misunderstood
2. Far, Far Away
3. Forget The Flowers
4. That’s Not The Issue
5. Someday Soon
6. New Madrid
7. Red-Eyed And Blue
8. I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
9. Someone Else’s Song
10. Why Would You Wanna Live
11. I Must Be High
12. Passenger Side (punk)
13. Hotel Arizona
14.  Monday
15.  Kingpin
16. Outtasite (Outta Mind)
17. Box Full Of Letters
18. Casino Queen
19. We’ve Been Had
20. The Long Cut
21. Dreamer In My Dreams
22. Will You Love Me Tomorrow

Die Kreuzen at Maxwell's (02-14-1992)

On February 14, 1992, Die Kreuzen brought the love for a special Valentine's Day show at Maxwell's.  They headlined a bill that also featured Bewitched and Sugarshock.  I tried to see if the band made any tour stops between the show at CBGB's on February 7th and this show - while I couldn't find much information about this tour, it turns out they at least played The Moon in New Haven, CT on February 9th! 

Freakwater at Mercury Lounge (02-13-1998)

On February 13, 1999, alternative country group, Freakwater, graced the stage of Mercury Lounge.  The New York Times published a glowing review of the band's performance: 

The band has only two acoustic guitars, a stand-up bass and a fiddle, and a performance style straight off the front porch, but the singers' voices put the band on the hard-edged end of the country scale. Their timing is willfully imperfect, unsynchronized; Ms. Irwin, on her way to a note, scrapes against the roughest nodes of the throat she can find, and Ms. Bean, often pitched an octave higher, opens her mouth wide to holler her lines.

But these subtle frictions are their skills, and their peculiar combination of voices is hard to forget. Though there was some humor in songs like ''My Old Drunk Friend,'' Freakwater skips down-home niceties and gravitates toward darkness; Ms. Irwin and Ms. Bean found the stark fear lying behind the putatively optimistic tune ''Keep on the Sunny Side of Life,'' and excavated it whole, singing with beaming eyes as though the song possessed them.

Click here to read the full New York Times review!

Sloan at Bowery Ballroom (02-13-1999)

On February 13, 1999, the Toronto via Halifax quartet, Sloan, brought their power-pop goodness to the Bowery Ballroom! The band embarked on an extensive 1999 tour in support of their 1998 album, "Navy Blues."  Sloan is most well known for their sharing of songwriting from each member of the group and their unaltered line-up throughout their career.  If you like what you hear, Sloan will be playing THE BOWERY BALLROOM again (19 years and change later) on May 18, 2018! See you there!

Butthole Surfers at CBGB's (02-12-1986)

On February 12, 1986, the Butthole Surfers played a very memorable show at CBGB's.   Around this time, the band was transitioning from a more traditional punk rock band to a bit of a psychedelic, freakout/crazy/whoa.  The band had just released the "Cream Corn" EP a month prior, which saw them experiment with blues, industrial music, psychedelic rock, and country rock in the space of four songs.  Enjoy this psychedelic shit!

Set list:

1. John E. Smoke
2. Cherub
3. Suicide
4. Graveyard
5. Moving to Florida
6. 100 Million People Dead
7. To Parter
8. Tornadoes
9. Pittsburgh to Lebanon
10. Psychedelic Jam
11. Lady Sniff
12. U.S.S.A.
13. Comb
14. Concubine

Yung Wu at Maxwell's (02-08-1987)

Click photo for FLAC download!

After the first disbandment of the Feelies in 1980, original members Glenn Mercer and Bill Million continued to play in various projects in and around Northern New Jersey.  Some of the more noteworthy groups include The Willies, who are credited with an appearance in Jonathan Demme's "Something Wild," The Trypes, which included future Feelies' bassist Brenda Sauter, and of course, Yung Wu! Yung Wu is one of my personal favorites in the Feelies' universe, as it features Pooja Desai's favorite Feelie, Dave Weckerman, on lead vocals.  Yung Wu released one full length LP entitled "Shore Leave" in 1987.  Bar None Records plans to reissue this long out of print album in 2018, so make sure you get your hands on it!

Urge Overkill, Superchunk, and Smashing Pumpkins at Maxwell's (02-08-1991)

On February 8, 1991, Urge Overkill, Superchunk, and the Smashing Pumpkins played a triple bill for the ages at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ!  Former Maxwell's co-owner and booker, Todd Abramson, shared some memories of the show in a 2013 interview with Godfrey Chan of the Sir Wrangle A Lot blog:

That was funny [Smashing Pumpkins] played here twice too, the first time, they played with Superchunk and Urge Overkill and nobody was touring together, so I put them together and there was little bit of controversy over who was going to play when.

Urge Overkill—they were more into the rock star thing so they wanted to close, which is fine. Superchunk was more salt of the earth, so they were happy to play in the middle.

I booked Smashing Pumpkins to play first and their Sub Pop 45″ came out and they already had a high powered agency behind them.

“Why do we have to play first?”, they asked.

So I had to come up with something, “The other two bands have played here before and you haven’t,” and the agent said, “Oh, that’s a great answer, you should be a lawyer.”

All three groups played magnificent sets.  For fans of the Smashing Pumpkins and Superchunk, this show captures both bands in their infancy.  To put things in perspective, Superchunk had not yet released "No Pocky For Kitty" and the Smashing Pumpkins were still four months away from releasing their debut, "Gish!" This is one of my favorites in the McKenzie Tapes collection thus far - I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Die Kreuzen at CBGB's (02-07-1992)

On February 7, 1992, Milwaukee natives and Touch & Go Records forefathers, Die Kreuzen brought their act to New York City's CBGB's. This show occurred mere month before the group decided to call it quits until their eventual reunion in 2012.  Fun fact: future Nirvana produced, Butch Vig, produced nearly all of their records! There's a handful of Die Kreuzen tapes in this collection, so stay tuned for more in the coming months. 

Henry Rollins (spoken word) at City Gardens (02-07-1987)

Click photo for FLAC version.

On February 7, 1987, Henry Rollins performed a spoken word set at City Gardens.  In comparing this performance to the one at Maxwell's in January 1985, the former Black Flag frontman's prose definitely took a big step forward! The picture on the front of the tape is an original taken by Dave McKenzie!

City Gardens has always sparked my interest as a venue. It was located in one of the most dangerous areas of Trenton at the time, but the space served as a crucial mid-way point between Philadelphia and NYC for the best touring acts of the era. The Ramones performed there a whopping 25 times and City Gardens played host to other legendary acts including the Minutemen, Black Flag, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Ride, Dinosaur Jr., and many more. Jon Stewart of Daily Show fame was employed as a bartender in the late 1980s. I also heard that the venue sold some nasty hot dogs....

Original photo from the show courtesy of Scott Brandt

Tape cover photo (taken at Maxwell’s, not at this show)

Hüsker Dü at Irving Plaza (02-07-1986, 7:30pm and 10:30pm shows)

Click photo for FLAC version!

On February 7, 1986, Hüsker Dü worked their way downtown for back to back performances at Irving Plaza with support from fellow Twin City legends, Soul Asylum, and Philadelphia's Persian Gulf. These tapes come complete with a set list, a ticket stub, and the original flyer for the show! After these shows in New York, the band would work their way down the eastern seaboard before playing a handful of shows in the United Kingdom in March and April of that year. Hüsker Dü would also return to Irving Plaza only a few months later to play another rockin' gig!

Late show setlist:

1. Flip Your Wig
2. Every Everthing
3. Makes No Sense At All
4. Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
5. If I Told You
6. Folklore
7. I Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
8. I Don't Know For Sure
9. Terms of Psychic Warfare
10. Powerline
11. Books About UFOs
12. Hardly Getting Over It
13. Sorry Somehow
14. Eiffel Tower High
15. Green Eyes
16. Celebrated Summer
17. What's Going On?
18. Eight Miles High (The Byrds Cover
19. Reoccuring Dreams
20. Ticket To Ride (Beatles cover)
21. Love Is All Around (Sonny Curtis cover)

Early Show setlist

Hüsker Dü at Columbia University (02-06-1986)

On February 6, 1986, Hüsker Dü played Wollman Auditorium at Columbia University! The band was touring in support of their last full length release on SST records, "Flip Your Wig," which was released in September 1985.  This was the first of three shows in two days, as the band played a double header the next night at Irving Plaza.  Check back tomorrow for those tapes, along with a few others! 

Set list:

Click photo for FLAC version!

1. Flip Your Wig
2. Every Everything
3. Makes No Sense At All
4. The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
5. I Apologize
6. If I Told You
7. Folklore
8. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
9. I Don't Know For Sure
10. Terms Of Psychic Warfare
11. Powerline
12. Books About UFOs
13. Hardly Getting Over It
14. Sorry Somehow
15. Eiffel Tower High
16. Green Eyes
17. Celebrated Summer
18. Keep Hanging On
19. Crystal

Soul Asylum on the Rock of Rages Program on KPAI in Minneapolis, MN (02-05-1984)

On February 5, 1984, Soul Asylum appeared on the Rock of Rages program on KPAI - Fresh Air Radio in their hometown of Minneapolis, MN. The band kicked off the interview by discussing their origins under the name "Loud Fast Rules" and the reasoning behind the abrupt change to "Soul Asylum."  As it turns out, the band members thought the original name was... kinda... "dumb." Aside from an entertaining interview, Soul Asylum played a few acoustic songs in studio, including a cover of a Rolling Stones classic, "Dead Flowers" and some early originals. Soul Asylum would play a double header the next day in Minneapolis.

James Brown was also in town, but you had to shell out 10 bucks to see him. 

The program ends with a Black Flag song!

D Generation at CBGB's (02-03-1995)

Click photo for FLAC version!

On February 3, 1995, New York glam rockers D Generation played CBGB's.  I hadn't listened to this band prior to digitizing this recording, but their sound definitely draws heavy influence from the fellow NYCers, The New York Dolls.  This show captures D Generation on the cusp of a major label deal, as the group would go on to sign with Columbia records in late 1995.  The band then released their second album, "No Lunch," in 1996.

Bad Brains at Max's Kansas City (02-1979)

In February 1979, D.C. punk pioneers Bad Brains played the legendary Max's Kansas City.  This would be the first of two gigs that Bad Brains played at Max's in 1979, as they'd return to wrap up the year in December. 

Set list:

1. I
2. Don't Need It
3. Jammin' at the Atlantis
4. Pay to Cum
5. Supertouch / Shitfit
6. The Regulator
7. Why'd Ya Have to Go
8. Don't Bother Me
9. Success
10. Banned in D.C.
11. The Big Takeover
12. Stay Close to Me
13. Attitude
14. You're a Migraine
15. Just Another Damn Song
16. The Man Won't Annoy Ya
17. Redbone in the City
18. I

The Leaving Trains at Maxwell's (01-31-1987)

Click photo for FLAC version!

On January 31, 1987, Los Angeles, California's The Leaving Trains played a marathon hour and a half set at Maxwell's! The group released "Kill Tunes" on SST records in 1986 and subsequent to this show, would release "Fuck" later in 1987.  The Leaving Trains were known for their chaotic performances and the photos below seem to suggest that this performance was WILD! The pictures are courtesy of Dave McKenzie.

Oh and here's a fun fact: Frontman Falling James Moreland was briefly married to Courtney Love in 1989.

Bad Brains at Elks Centre in Philadelphia, PA (01-30-1982)

On January 30, 1982, Bad Brains passed through Philadelphia and put on a legendary show! Do you think they knew that the Eagles would be playing in the Superbowl 36 years later???!!??

The Elks Centre was a staple in the Philadelphia punk scene of the 1980s.  The venue hosted seminal bands of the era including Black Flag, Circle Jerks, the Dead Milkmen, and Minor Threat.

Set list:

1. Supertouch / Shitfit
2. Attitude
3. Jah The Conqueror
4. FVK
5. Big Takeover
6. Banned In DC
7. Joshua's Song
8. Right Brigade
9. Destroy Babylon
10. ?
11. The Meek
12. Pay To Cum
13. Riot Squad

Interview with Paul Westerberg of the Replacements on WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey (01-1986)

Fresh off their first ever appearance on Saturday Night Live, Paul Westerberg chatted with Vicky Gonzalez of WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey.  It's an interesting interview that features dialogue separated by your favorite Replacements' songs. Did you guys get a chance to listen to "The Replacements: For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986"??? Well, this interview pre-dates that very show by one month! Although the Maxwell's show is not mentioned in the interview, after dates at City Garden and the Ritz on February 1st and February 2nd, the Replacements graced the Maxwell's stage on February 4, 1986.  The newly enhanced, multi-track recording of this show is available at your local record store!

Buzzcocks + Stiff Little Fingers in Liverpool (01-29-1981)

Side B of the above tape contains two interesting sets.  First, four songs from an unknown date in 1980 from the Buzzcocks (see set list below) and then Stiff Little Fingers at an unknown location in Liverpool on January 29, 1981.  I'll be posting that Bad Brains Max's show when the calendar turns to February - stay tuned!

Buzzcocks setlist:

1.  I Believe
2. Breakdown
3. Fast Cars
4. Boredom