Saturday, May 24, 2008

Boot Tracker, Oktober 13th 1976, Kean College NJ

Regulars know I'm a big fan of Fanatic releases. Rob continuously release great shows from the pre-Darkness tours taped by the now legendary Joe Kivak. I enjoy listening to each and every one of them. But then again, I am a Fanatic. You need to be to stomach these recordings from time to time. Though Rob released quite a few tapes of great quality, every once in a while there's a recording that really does the name of his record label justice. A hardcore fan will find many things to enjoy on this recording, for the more casual bootleg collector this recording is best left alone. The sound is exceptionally muddy and cluttered, even for a fanatic like me it is hard to get a sense of the show. Which really is too bad. Because on the moments you do manage to catch that spirit of the night, it proves to be enchanting. So I once again thank Rob, mister Anonymous and Joe Kivak for putting in all that work and effort to bring us Boss addicts this release. Earlier releases of this show had cuts all over the place, this recording restores most of them, that alone made it worth my while.

Redeeming factors on this recording are the quieter moments shining through quite a bit better than the raucous raving Rock and Rollers. Uncharacteristically for 1976 shows there were no covers played on this show, save for "It's My Life". However the guitar intro on this version is one of the best I've ever heard, a slow burner, filled with tension that chocked me up before he even got to the story. Springsteen's relates his memories with such clarity on this one, you almost feel the unease he must have felt entering the house, his hair tucked in his collar. You see his father sitting on that kitchen table, his mother hiding in the other room. You feel his old man brooding with alcohol fed discontent, waiting to give his son a piece of his mind, ready to play out this scene of helplessness once more. Too men trying to connect in their rage. After the claustrophobic rage and frustration in "It's My Life" and "Backstreets", the unabashed cockiness of "Growing Up" comes as sweet release. Unfortunately there still seems to be a cut in this story, so we never learn how the space traveler on his way to Mars wound up in New Jersey. We'll leave that one up to our imagination.

"It's My Life"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, only burn mp3s for personal use, but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The Quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 2 out of 5
Show 3,5 out of 5
Artwork 4 out of 5

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i heard this in boston the same year could it even be played now? it the type of song hat you just sat there and took it in could this be done in the pit era?


ps keep up the goo work