8/24/00

Howdy folks! Well, Craig and I jumped into the digital age and recorded the recent Colorado tour with mini-disc recorders. I used a Sharp 702 portable unit and Craig tried out a refurbished Sony MZ-R55. I used my old reliable Sony ECM-929 stereo microphone and got great results. Nice bass and treble response. Craig plugged in the mike from his Sony D3 cassette recorder and was impressed. At the Tres Hombres gig we did a recording test with me taping the show with a Sony D3 cassette deck and Craig using a mini-disc. We both had the same D3 microphone and were literally side-by-side. The difference between the two tapes was amazing. The mini-disc is also nice because of it’s small size, but loading the disc takes about 30-45 seconds and you can easily get a song cut if the band tears into another tune. I’ve heard if you put some information on the disc before the show, like the location and date, it will load faster, but I haven’t tried that yet. Besides being re-recordable, it’s also easy to label and index the tracks on the mini-disc and it’s handy 74-minute length makes it easy to copy onto CDR. Craig’s had a rechargeable battery and a battery pack that held two AA batteries, giving him 4 hours of recording time. We’ll see if the mini-disc is a workhorse like the D3 cassette deck if and when it gets dropped on the ground, but for now I give a big thumbs-up to the mini-disc recorder!! Drop me a line with your recording experiences, I would be interested to hear about your gear and shows that you’ve recorded. Give a friend a tape and spread the word! Support the band and don’t be a slug!!

— Reverend Bob

COURT GRILL • Pomeroy, Ohio • 1/19/2000
195 minutes • CDR • excellent (soundboard recording)
Chris Duarte • John Jordan • Jason Patterson

Brand New Day / I’ve Been Abused / Big-Legged Woman / Crimino
Crazy / Leave Her Be / All Night / How Long? / Soul Thang / Shiloh
Hey Joe / C-Butt Rock / Just Kissed My Baby / Metaphor Song
Azul Ezell / My Way Down / Watch Out, I’m Coming / Cleopatra
encore: People Get Ready

This one is a must! This is an incredible show all the way through! The band is in a jammin’ mood, so there are lots of extended versions like a 15-minute “How Long?” and a 20-minute “Watch Out, I’m Coming” with a real Robin Trower feel to it, just to name a few. There’s also a rare version of “Hey Joe” and a killer version of “Soul Thang”. Red-hot!

WHITE RABBIT • San Antonio, Texas • 6/1/96
90 minutes • cassette • very good (audience tape)
Chris Duarte • John Jordan • Barry “Frosty” Smith

C-Butt Rock / Scrawl / Catch The Next Line / Crazy
Crimino / Tailspin Headwhack / Just Kissed My Baby
Big-Legged Woman / Shiloh / My Way Down / Killing Floor
Crash / Sunshine Of Your Love (ending cut)

This recording has a lot of bass on it, but you get used to it after a few songs. Because of how it was recorded, Frosty is right up front in the mix and you can hear what a truly powerful drumnmer he was! At the beginning of “Catch The Next Line”, Chris throws in some nice Muddy Waters licks. During the middle of “Big-Legged Woman” the show starts to gel and the band goes into overdrive. They pull out the stops for a nice version of “Shiloh,” and “Killing Floor” is one of the highlights of the show. They take it down to just above a whisper and then come back and kick you square in the teeth! We get a tasty version of “Crash” (one of my favorites) before winding up with “Sunshine Of Your Love”—a good show worth having.

TOAD'S PLACE • New Haven, Connecticut • 11/23/97
115 minutes • video w/tripod • excellent- (audience recording)
Chris Duarte • John Jordan • Erick Tatuaka

.32 Blues / I’ve Been Abused / Crazy / Crimino
Letter To My Girlfriend / Big-Legged Woman
The Thrill Is Gone / Shiloh / Cleopatra / Walls
My Way Down / People Get Ready

The quality of this video is great! It’s nice and clean, good use of the zoom lens, and the sound is in great stereo. Hats off to whoever made this tape! It’s also a real good show. A cookin’ “.32 Blues” starts off with some footage of Erick playing with three sticks! Some very cool guitar work in “I’ve Been Abused” and it only gets better from there. I tried to pick out some highlights, but the whole show is a highlight! If you can find this video, definitely get a copy! (And hey, you sweethearts out there—Erick isn’t wearing a shirt for most of the show, either!)

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