03.11.2013
NL, Amsterdam, Melkweg (Oude Zaal)
Live in Amsterdam 2013
exc. Audience

01. [03:50] Ideology
02. [04:11] No One Knows Nothing Anymore
03. [00:25] [banter]
04. [03:57] Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key
05. [01:11] [banter]
06. [03:45] Chasing Rainbows
07. [02:28] [banter]
08. [03:39] All You Fascists
09. [01:53] [banter]
10. [03:54] I Ain't Got No Home
11. [02:40] [banter]
12. [03:11] You Woke Up My Neighbourhood
13. [00:46] [banter]
14. [03:04] She's Got A New Spell
15. [01:59] [banter]
16. [02:32] To Have And To Have Not
17. [02:21] The Man In The Iron Mask
18. [01:29] [banter]
19. [02:46] The Milkman Of Human Kindness
20. [03:13] [banter]
21. [03:19] Levi Stubbs' Tears
22. [00:18] [banter]
23. [03:42] Goodbye, Goodbye
24. [03:10] [banter]
25. [04:04] Sexuality
26. [05:46] [banter]
27. [03:30] There Will Be A Reckoning
28. [01:48] [banter]
29. [03:17] Handyman Blues
30. [01:31] [banter]
31. [03:38] A New England
32. [00:23] [banter]
33. [03:34] Accident Waiting To Happen
34. [01:12] [encore break]
35. [03:59] Tank Park Salute
36. [03:11] [banter]
37. [04:34] Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
38. [04:13] Help Save The Youth Of America

Total Running Time: [1:48:42]

Type: Audience master, recorded 4 metres back from the suspended left-hand side PA stack.
Source: 
Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) -> Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod (-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV)

Lineage: Audacity 2.0.5
    * Normalised to 0 dB.
    * Applied variable amplification across recording for consistent
      listening experience.
    * Added fades.
    * Split tracks.
    * Converted to 16 bit.
  -> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.3.0 20130526]

Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd)

NOTES:
The last time I saw Billy Bragg was a year and a half ago in a half-full Paradiso (after the gig was moved from De Duif). Tonight, Billy has downsized to the original Melkweg, making this the second night in a row here for this taper.

Support tonight is from Australia's Kim Churchill, but equipment failure makes short shrift of my attempt to record him. I'm forced to leave the room after the first song and adjourn to the lavatories to remedy the problem. Troubleshooting my equipment causes me to miss two thirds of Churchill's set, which is a great pity, because the part I do see is very good. He really gives it his all. Later, I purchase a couple of his CDs from the merchandise stand. One of them features a live performance, so that will compensate somewhat for my failure to record him tonight. Billy arrives on stage on the dot of 20:30, along with his band. The last time I saw him, he performed solo, so the contrast tonight will be interesting. The man from Barking is in fine flow tonight. Is he ever not? The stage banter is reliably plentiful and frequently hilarious. Bragg is a real raconteur. Before 'Levi Stubbs' Tears', Billy regales us with the tale of how the last time he played this song in Amsterdam, someone jumped up on stage mid-song and slung an arm around him while his friend in the audience took a photo of the scene. Billy goes on to explain that, when the chap in question attempted the same manoeuvre a second time, he went after him a second time and twatted him with his guitar. Sadly, Billy tells us, no-one filmed the incident. Whilst that may be true, the audio of the incident is on record. The gig in question is the one I was at eighteen months ago. Billy has embellished the facts somewhat. I don't recall his guitar making actual contact with the bollocks of the man in question, but he certainly did chase him over the stage. It was all good-natured fun, though. Personally, I prefer Billy when he's performing solo. In particular, tonight's full-band rendition of 'Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key' doesn't work for me.
The melancholy of the song is sacrificed to the more upbeat tempo and is much better conveyed by a bare bones execution. With other songs, the additional instrumentation has a more positive effect and I feel neutral towards it. I should be honest and confess that I wasn't blown away by Billy's most recent album, 'Tooth & Nail'. In fact, a lot of Bragg's later material is bland to my taste, and 'Tooth & Nail' is guilty of the same sin in places. On the other hand, it also contains a couple of gems, such as 'Handyman Blues'. The songs from the new album fare better live, but it's the older songs that
fire my soul. Those arrive in the second third of the set, at which point the band exit the stage and leave Billy to perform solo (tracks 14 to 21). They rejoin him for the final third of the show. There's no 'Greetings To The New Brunette' tonight, but other than that, everything I'd hoped would be played is included in the set. The resultant recording is excellent. It's a fine performance with great sound, given in a good atmosphere with a respectful audience. As always, samples are included in the comments to assist in deciding whether or not to download this.

Dimeadozen.org: Torrent 470794 (by ianmacd)