Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Mineapolis, MN
First Avenue
20 February 1989
(01:26:42)

disc one (41:28)

001 start
002 From Her To Eternity
003 Long Time Man
004 Your Funeral My Trial
005 Deanna
006 I'm Gonna Kill That Woman
007 Jack's Shadow
008 Mercy
009 The Mercy Seat

disc two (45:13)

2-001 Knockin On Joe
2-002 City Of Refuge
2-003 The Singer
encore:
2-004 By The Time I Get To Phoenix
2-005 Train Long Suffering
2-006 Sugar Sugar Sugar
2-007 Saint Huck
2-008 New Morning

Original cassette, recorded on unknown deck and clip-on mic >
analog transfer to HD via CDWav (tracking) >
processes applied in SoundForge:
DC offset correction;
fades applied for first and last track of each disc, and also between tracks 2-003 and 2-004, to eliminate the loud engage/disengage sound of the deck, at the tape flips;
normalized to approximately -6.0dB to reduce saturation;
channels balanced - average adjustment between .50dB - 1.0dB, to balance between stage side (left channel) and stack side (right channel) >
flac conversion via Traders Little Helper

I don't remember who asked me for this just recently - the PM reply default deleted the message I had replied to, so whoever you are, this is for you!

This show marked the first time I had seen Nick Cave in what was reported to be a sober condition, and in good form, In some respects, Cave seemed a bit self-conscious of his stage demeanor - his voice waivered more than in previous performances - and he actually spent a good deal of the show sitting on a barstool. All of this added up to a somewhat reserved performance, and I'm afraid I found myself a tad disappointed, as I wasn't particularly thrilled with most of the new material, either. It didn't help matters much, that the sound was a bit muddy to begin with, and that I was standing a bit closer to the stack side of the stage than the deck I used to record this seemed to be able to handle, and the recording came out a bit overstaurated and murky. In theory, I hoped to record from a position that would allow for a decent balance of stage mix and P.A., but it didn't turn out as well as it might have if I had used higher-end mics. I don't recall the type of deck I used, but I think the low-end clip-on mics I used were the real culprit - unfortunately, that was all I had at the time.

The recording also reflected the angle I faced the stage, to such a degree that if I turned even slightly, the dynamics of the entire recording changed. Grant Hart was standing on my right, and was talking to me through most of the show, so I kept trying to shift my mic away from the conversation. Hey, I didn't want to be rude, you know - Grant's a good guy, and I don't want to sacrifice being friendly for a stealth recording - you just have to be happy with what you get, sometimes. You can hear Grant call out "Blind Jemon Jefferson" toward the end of the set.

All said, though, it's probably not as bad as I might be making it sound, and as is often the case with these things, the ears tune in to the sound pretty quickly, I think. It's not a bad performance - far from it - just lacking in the feeling of danger that went along with earlier performances; most likely due to the fact that Nick was trying to be a bit more aware of how he presented himself. Besides, I really never liked the song "Deanna", I could take or leave "Sugar Sugar Sugar", and could have done without "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". I miss the deep gutteral drawl from previous performances of "The Singer", but this version has an interesting gospel-tinged flavor that presented it in a different light. Overall, not a bad mix of the old and new, I suppose. Personally, I just wish I had been able to pull a better recording out of this show, but I guess it's really not that bad after all. Enjoy!