| Identifier | 8969262 |
| Created At | Tue May 23 2023 23:54:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) |
| Media Type | cdr |
| Media Count | 2 |
| Sound Rating | a- |
| Note | Hogweed 11
This was the first of two evenings that Genesis played their Lamb show at the Hippodrome. The second night's gig has been widely known since from an excellent audience recording, originally in circulation as the TAKRL double vinyl boot 'Swelled and Spent', and variously reissued on CD, culminating recently in the FAde project's debut release, FAde01. Shortly after I established the Hogweeds project I was contacted by a member offering a previously untraded tape of this 2nd May show. Upon receiving a copy of this new recording, I was delighted to conclude that this was not only a new recording, but that it was of a previously unknown show. I attempted first to confirm with the taper the date of the recording, but was told that he had attended several Lamb shows in the UK, and whilst he held a ticket stub from the 2nd May performance, he could not say for sure that the recording originated from that performance. He was not too confident about his memory :-) Comparing this recording with others, a few things stand out. Firstly it includes a performance of The Knife, indicating it was one of the last shows of the UK tour, as previously they had played 'Watcher' as the second encore. For instance there is a recording of the Bristol show on the 30th, and 'Watcher' was played there. Secondly, Peter's 2nd Rael story is very similar to the Bristol show, and also to the 2nd May Birmingham performance. As mentioned in the notes for FAde's release, the 2nd May recording has always been attributed to that date, but there is no conclusive proof that this is the case. It may also be the 1st May show. Equally, it is only the taper's memory that this new recording was made on the second night, and could equally be the first. I did send a copy to someone who attended the 1st May show, and they concured that at the very least it was certainly a Birmingham date. In the absence of any indication either way, I am concluding that this new recording is the performance of the 1st May, and thus avoiding all the confusions that would ensue from trying to argue for a re-accrediting of the more well-known recording. But in all possibilty, either recording could be either night. Having established this recording's authenticity, I requested permission to remaster and release it, which the taper granted. Subsequently I received the master tapes, and it is from them I have made this remaster. I should also mention that the original CDR transcription that I recieved has recently found its way into a few people's hands, however it does have a few problems on it, which have been corrected on this version. The tape itself is quite good mono, I think most traders would grade it as a B, and more towards a B+ than B-. It is a little muffled and lacking detail, but on the plus side, has little distortion or tape saturation, and documents nearly the complete show. Beginning with a new transcription from the masters (pitched correctly - I think the original transcription was a bit fast), I have then carefully denoised the recording. As usually with my approach to denoising, you will still hear tape hiss, but the treble is much brighter and sharper than on the original tape, while the hiss levels should be notably attenuated. The eq balance was fairly OK, although as is usual with a lot of old amateur recordings, the lower mid-range was a bit boxy, and so I've softened it off a little. One major problem with this recording was microphone bumps. The mic was hand held, or at least in a position where it could easily be tapped. And it was, frequently. I have gone through this recording and removed each bump, one by one. There are a few that are still present, because it was too difficult to isolate them from louder sections of the music. But most of them were in quiet sections, quite a few being taps in time with the music. Someone was enjoying the gig :-) One other problem I haven't been able to do anything about is pitch drops during Chamber of 32 Doors and Lilywhite Lilith. These seem to occur at the same physical sections of the tape on the A & B sides, and I'm guessing that maybe the tape has been stretched in these places. By contrast, battery or voltage instabilities, or the tape grabbing, would cause pitch surges. The recording documents nearly the complete show. There is a tape flip at the beginning of 'Carpet Crawlers', and the first few seconds is missing there. But the tape runs out about a minute into 'Lamia', and only picks up again at the beginning of 'Silent Sorrow'. In both these instances, I have patched the show using excerpts from the Colston Hall, Bristol, tape of the 30th April. This recording has a similar B+ sound quality to this tape, and blends in reasonably well, although you'll notice the join on 'Lamia' if not 'Carpet Crawlers'. Finally, and you'll hear this yourself - this is a cracker show. Enjoy :-) Birmingham Hippodrome 1st May 1975 Hot on the heels of the previous two nights performances at the Colston Hall, Bristol, it was a trip north to Birmingham for the last two dates of the UK leg of the European tour. The cosy confines of the 2,000 plus seat Colston Hall was an ideal environment for the sophisticated visuals of the Lamb production, and the Birmingham Hippodrome offered a similar ideal size venue tailor-made for all to witness perhaps the most ambitious rock theatre to hit the road thus far. The band without doubt were hitting peaks with an assured strength of purpose in their playing with over 90 Lamb performances behind them at this time. The closing dates of the UK tour saw the band high on confidence and giving their best musically. I can’t emphasize enough what a joy it was to fully take in the nuances of the three screen visual production with its hundreds of myriad images flashing sometimes across all three, the occasional animation, all gloriously on view for everyone to be drawn into and fall under the spell. The opening wide-screen Manhattan dawn skyline with Tony’s piano commencing the show sent shivers down the spine in anticipation of what was to come. Those of us fortunate enough to catch earlier shows on the tour knew what to expect and it was now time to fully take in the combined musical/visual production and relive once more the Rael saga. Cuckoo Cocoon with PG lying in front of Tony’s keyboards playing flute; the swagger and dynamism of Back in NYC, including the exploding hurled Molotov; the first real gasps of the audience with the swirling Lamia guise. Highlight musically was the radical Waiting Room with the piece taking a slightly different direction each playing. This evening’s version was a gem. To add to the drama of the piece PG would appear silhouetted on the centre screen dancing grotesquely with what appeared enormous fingers almost embracing the entire stage. Stunning! Over two hours had quickly past before we are treated to the old favorites Musical Box and The Knife. Another great Lamb show and best of all, another show to look forward to the following night. Andy Wilkinson September 2002 |
| Trades Allowed |
Performance
| Genesis 1975-05-01 The Hippodrome, Birmingham, UK | |
|---|---|
| Set 1 | The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Fly on a Windshield Broadway Melody of 1974 Cuckoo Cocoon In the Cage The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging Rael story pt.1 Back in N.Y.C. Hairless Heart, Counting Out Time Carpet Crawlers The Chamber of 32 Doors, Rael story pt.2 Lilywhite Lilith The Waiting Room |
| Set 2 | Anyway Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist Interlude The Lamia Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats The Arrival - The Colony of Slippermen Ravine The Light Dies Down on Broadway Riding the Scree In the Rapids It! |
| Set 3 | Henry story The Musical Box The Knife 'Old Man River' playout |
| Comment | This was the first of two evenings that Genesis played their Lamb show at the Hippodrome. The second night's gig has been widely known from an excellent audience recording, originally in circulation as the TAKRL double vinyl boot 'Swelled and Spent', and variously reissued on CD, culminating recently in the FAde project's debut release, FAde01.
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