The City National Grove of Anaheim
Anaheim, CA
August 11th, 2011
"21st Century BAD: Down At The Grove"
EX- / VG+
Lineage / Equipment: 5' - 8' from rail dead center / fob -> 6.5' h -> slavesound omni's -> custom bb - no bass roll-off -> edirol r09 (44.1/16) -> sandisk 8gb ultraII+ 15mb/s -> reader -> audition 3.0 - slight level boost (no normalization) -> har-bal 2.3 moderate eq (bass attenuate, treble boost) -> audition 3.0 - de-clap filter -> cd wave editor (track split) -> tlh (flac 8, etc...) -> DIME -> you -> sense of enjoyment -> sharing is caring -> support the artist (yes) -XX convert to mp3 (no!!!).
Taper / Engineer: mixter_
K.I.L.L. = Keep It LossLess
00. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly*
01. Medicine Show
02. V. Thirteen
03. A Party
04. Just Play Music!
05. BAD
06. Rob Peter Pay Paul
07. Sightsee MC!
08. Everybody Needs A Holiday
09. C'mon Every Beatbox
10. The Battle Of All Saints Road
11. Rewind
12. Encore Break One
13. The Bottom Line
14. E=MC2
15. Encore Break Two
16. Rush
01:30:00
Big Audio Dynamite are...
Mick Jones - Lead Vox, Lead Guitar
Don Letts - Keyboards, Samples, Effects, Additional Percussion, Vocals, Toasting
Leo 'Ez-Kill' Williams - Bass, Ocassional Vocals
Greg Roberts - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Dan Donovan - Sadly, Not Present
Andrew 'Davo' Davitt - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
A Brief History of B.A.D....
After unceremoniously leaving The Clash in 1983, Mick Jones went on to form Big Audio Dynamite in 1985 after a brief
stint in General Public in 1984. The band were perhaps nearly 20 years ahead of their time. It was a more optimistic form of Thatcherism angst set to a dance beat. The work that Mick began on The Clash's magnum opus "Sandanista!" became the seeds for B.A.D. The band played an amalgamation of punk, early hip-hop, dub-step, dance-hall, and synthesizer dance music. Early on, this was set to the backdrop of Ennio Morricone's "Spaghetti Western" soundtracks, including liberal doses of Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach film samples as well. Truly, a very novel concept at the time, as Sony soon found out when the label was unprepared for the fallout caused by the band using said samples without legal clearances. Like fellow post-punk rebels, Public Image Limited, Big Audio Dynamite enjoyed moderate success in the U.K. and college radio and clubs in the U.S. as the term "Post Modern" began to become hip. Unfortunately the band in it's several incarnations never saw the global success of The Clash. Still, B.A.D. did outlive The Clash and did enjoy a brief Jones/Strummer reunion during the recording of "No. 10 Upping Street" in 1987. Furthermore, it's nearly impossible to discount the influence Big Audio Dynamite had on bands such as The Beastie Boys, Muse, LCD Soundsystem and Damon Albarn's Gorillaz. The latter of which, Mick Jones played with extensively during 2010's Plastic Beach Tour.
The performance...
The band played a handful of shows scheduled around 2011's Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago including this Southern California stop. Mick's voice is in fine form. Don, Greg and Andrew help round out the vocals. The band played an extremely tight hour and a half set of songs almost exclusively from the first four albums. The band's political take on apartheid "A Party" appears here among a crowd that doesn't understand its significance. Classics "Medicine Show", "Just Play Music!", "C'mon Every Beatbox", "The Bottom Line" and "E=MC2". B.A.D. II's "Rush" does make an appearance at the end of the set. The "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" infused hit "The Glode" and the Jones/Strummer penned "Beyond The Pale" sadly do not. The new track "Rob Peter Pay Paul" is played. It's a great melodic number slightly reminescent of "V. Thirteen" and is hopefully a preview to new material being recorded. No Clash songs
were played. This isn't really what this reunion is about is it? All the band members appeared to have a great time playing to an enthusiastic near capacity crowd. There were many smiles to be found. Don Letts stated afterward that he felt it was one of their best shows. I wonder if he say this to the fans after every show? Hmmm.
Of note...
Original keyboardist and musical director Dan Donovan was conspicuously absent. The details of his departure are still unclear. Many think his erattic behavior at some of the recent shows may be the cause while others state that he may just have been very unhappy with details regarding the reunion. After all, in 1990 Mick did (re)boot the band. Still, like The Specials re-formation without Jerry Dammers, "the show must go on, so to speak." I must add that one time B.A.D. II guitar tech, Andrew 'Davo' Davitt did an amazing job taking over. His Les Paul playing added a great deal of depth to the overall sound. To Dan I say, anyone once married to Patsy Kensit is probably due some much needed therapy. God speed!
The recording...
The Good: Solid pull from six feet from the rail. Perhaps a bit too close as their is a fair amount of reverb from not squaring with the stacks. Mick's Telecaster leads are the highlight as I was direct line of sight to his Marshall stack. Vocals are prominent and clear throughout, thanks to contributions from the entire band.
The Bad: A bit more reverb than I normally care for. Leo's bass lines are a bit boomy as his syle of playing and the room dictate. I sharpened this a tad in EQ without eradicating the power. Still, these are reggae style lines not rock.
The Ugly: A few world famous intoxicated O.C. douchebags make their presence known. Thankfully, most weren't up front and surprisingly most of their shouting and other crap is not directly "on-mic". One tall, stumbling Armenian dude (complete with designer sunglasses affixed to the crown of his head) slurs some poop between a few numbers. Also, one clapper to my right insisted on cupping his hands.
Well done! I minimized him in post so you won't have to take off your headphones between numbers.
In spite of some mildly adverse conditions, I'm going out on a limb and giving this an EX- / VG+. Shoot me or sue me if you feel otherwise.
Please support the band by going to one of their fantastic live shows...
http://www.myspace.com/bigaudiodynamite
Also, please check out support band "The Chain Gang Of 1974". They were very good. This time I did tape them.
http://www.thechaingangof1974.com/
Thanks go out to all the members of the band who stuck around after the show to meet the 30 or so die-hards who waited after the show. They chatted, signed autographs and took pictures in dark Anaheim Stadium parking lot. Truly a class act.
For fans of...
The Clash, General Public, Ennio Morricone, Clint Eastwood, Bob Marley And The Wailers, Mikey Dread, Carbon/Silicon, Gorillaz, London SS, The Specials, Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros, Blur, The English Beat, The Good, The Bad And The Queen, Gnarls Barkly, Dreadzone, The Beastie Boys, Public Image Limited. Oh yeah and Prince (why the hell not).
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