Wow!

Eamonn wrote:

---

Short set but great as a time capsule since the '88-'90 years are so barren in both Pulp recordings and actual gigs they played.

Some good Jarvis banter here and Russell isn't too out of tune. Unlike the next gig which looks like it was the televised New Sessions back at the Leadmill three months later. And a couple of days before My Legendary Girlfriend came out. Unfortunately they don't play that song on this 1990 show although he does plug the next single.


Audio of an older Leadmill gig also recently appeared on YouTube, not sure of its already out there: youtu.be/paupwSe_5mM

---

I think that recording you linked to is from this gig. If I recall correctly, it was also shared as part of the Pulp Portfolio project.

-- Edited by salmon92 on Wednesday 20th of May 2020 10:53:51 PM

Very good spot there Stephen! Like everyone else I never suspected there'd be a tape of this one. And it's surprisingly good, considering the New Sessions one a couple of months later is pretty ropey. Maybe that one just caught them on a bad night, or just an especially unforgiving recording.

Weird setlist. Considering they were supporting World of Twist (and, indeed, considering Mark Webber's always mentioned this show being the one where they won the kids over with their new disco sound) you'd think they'd pull out a few more disco bangers, but it's mainly the ballady songs other than Countdown at the end.

Here's hoping a few things from 1988 and 89 will show up one day to fill the gap.

Oh, and re the 1986 show on Youtube, that is indeed the November Leadmill one that's done the rounds but with the encore chopped off.

I think New Sessions seems ropier than is strictly fair, as the guitar is very high in the mix - and out of tune. The tracks with the violin leading them are much better.

I don't think there's *that* much between the two gigs, really. I am impressed at how tight they sound in this, though. Nearly two years since their last gig.

Also, historically interesting in that Jarvis talks about 'Countdown' being the next single out in March, when it turned out to be My Legendary Girlfriend (that they didn't even play this night!) instead.

The 12" with three tracks? Could it have been Countdown and the two MLG remixes?


And yes, Mark, weird setlist on this. Love is Blind and Countdown are great, but the rest of the set is similar to the Freaks shows.

This gig was recorded by the amazing YouTube guy who uploads shedloads of long-long Peel sessions. He happened to be in Sheffield for one night only, and taped this gig. He's only recently dug it out of his loft and converted it.

Was Separations in the can by this point or were they still tinkering with the mix and overdubs the odd time Jarvis and Steve were back up from London?

Looking at the wiki, this seems to be the only thing at all that Pulp did in 1990...I think Russell describes it as a fallow year in his book (think it was the same year he spent time selling ice creams).

Given all that, they don't sound bad at all here. Muscle memory rather than recent practice, I guess!

Ace version of Separations..

And then a mountain of live recordings and video for 1991 and then almost no video from '92 but plenty of live tapes...
I really like this 1990 tape, far superior to the nasty new sessions recording..

I doubt it, unless any other recordings from any year between '87 and '89 suffice and/or are being held in someone else's back pocket.

Doesn't the Death comes video have the disco 12" version as it's soundtrack?
And the actual Aug '88 show exist on a 4 track tape that needs a bit of a mix to pull the tunes together?

Just release the footage then !

Sturdy wrote:

---

I asked Mark Webber about the Aug '88 Day that Never Happened recording a few years ago. It's not 4-track - just a direct feed from the sound engineer's headphone mix. This apparently makes it a rather frustrating listen as the engineer kept soloing various instruments to check the sound. Seems like it's not something that would be releasable sadly.

---

 Im almost certain it is the Death Goes To The Disco version that was used on the video.

I just find it bizarre that a recording would be made with a feed from a live mix that isolates instruments.
Every soundboard/mixing desk I've ever encountered has dedicated outputs either for stereo or mono monitoring during a performance, no matter how primitive the equipment these are the minimum of features..
And this is the Leadmill, no stranger to hosting live entertainment, surely their gear would be substantial and up to date enough to make a reasonable stereo or mono mix recording on a tape device?
If, as you describe, that they are the facts then it's sheer incompetance to blame..
Bearing in mind that this was to be made into a concert film release, so an audio recording of reasonable quality would surely be an important addition along with the visual footage?
So, to that end i kind of don't believe that a decent recording doesn't exist..

-- Edited by JASON on Tuesday 28th of July 2020 11:40:09 AM