Shellac + Mission Of Burma > Serralves > Live Recording

Shellac + Mission Of Burma
Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal
Recording Equipment: CA Cardioid > STC 9100 > Tascam DR-07
25.05.2010

Shellac don't tour a lot, you know, so getting the chance to see Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer play in my hometown, 5 minutes away from my house, is kind of pure luck (and persistence from the promoters). Now add to the lineup post-punk legends Mission Of Burma and I guess you can't really ask for more. This was my first Shellac gig and certainly one of the best ones I've been to. Mission of Burma were awesome, combining the rawness of punk with some more sophisticated elements -- somewhere between the Ramones and the Wire -- but Shellac are Shellac. All I can say is that if you've never seen them live and you happen to catch them, don't think twice, 'cause it's true what people say about them: they're the best live act around. Three immensely talented, eccentric guys improvising a setlist of fucked up minimalist rock songs, a mix of brutality and velocity, style and sarcasm, guts and brains.
As for the recording, it's probably our best one so far, the sound is very clear and natural. I'm missing 4 songs of the Shellac setlist, so in case you spot them, drop us a line. Also, if you're interested in the FLAC files of the audio recording, I will trade them for video footage of this night. Finally, I've included the traditional Shellac Q&A for streaming below plus two songs from each band. I guess this will whet your appetite.

Setlist - Mission Of Burma
1. 1,2,3 Party | 2. 1001 Pleasant Dreams | 3. Good Cheer | 4. Donna Summeria | 5. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate | 6. Them Two | 7. After The Rain | 8. 2wice | 9. Let Yourself Go | 10. This Is Not A Photograph | 11. Academy Fight Song | 12. Max Ernst

Setlist - Shellac
1. Ghosts | 2. Copper | 3. My Black Ass | 4. ??? | 5. Canada | 6. A Minute | 7. Squirrel | 8. ??? | 9. Steady As She Goes | 10. Prayer To God | 11. Killers | 12. Il Porno Star | 13. The End Of Radio | 14. ??? | 15. ??? Boycott | 16. Poke

Mission Of Burma - Let Yourself Go Live At Serralves by ashtapes
Shellac - Steady As She Goes Live At Serralves by ashtapes
Shellac Q&A Live At Serralves by ashtapes

Download: Mission Of Burma at Serralves | MP3 | 80 MB

Download: Shellac at Serralves | MP3 | 130 MB

Sonic Youth > Coliseu do Porto > Live Recording

If it wasn't for the two encores, this would have been a very nice concert from a band that proved to still be -- as if they needed to -- in great shape. With the two encores featuring songs as "Candle" and "Death Valley 69" this was a memorable concert. I'm not one of those who thinks that Sonic Youth should be paying more attention to their old stuff. No, they don't really need to. They're still releasing good and relevant material. Yesterday -- as in their recent shows, with the exception of two dates in Spain last week due to Mark Ibold's absence -- they played The Eternal almost in its entirety in a bit more than one hour plus two songs from Sister, "(I Got A) Catholic Block" and "Stereo Sanctity". The album works extremely well live, but it was the last four songs that made the night so special. And this is not a bad sign. This is what happens when a band has to carry the burden of releasing albums such as Daydream Nation and EVOL relatively early in their career. Albums that were not only genre-defining, but also crashed into people's lives and crossed generations.

The recording is not as bad as i thought it would be, considering the high, echoing ceiling of Porto's Coliseum and the fact that i was way more focused on Kim Gordon's legs than on my recorder. Anyway, you can tell for yourself.

Setlist

1. No Way | 2. Sacred Trickster | 3. Calming The Snake | 4. Anti-Orgasm | 5. (I Got A) Catholic Block | 6. Malibu Gas Station | 7. What We Know | 8. Antenna | 9. Leaky Life Boat | 10. Stereo Sanctity | 11. Walkin Blue | 12. Poison Arrow | 13. Massage The History | (Encore 1) | 14. The Sprawl | 15. Cross The Breeze | (Encore 2) | 16. Candle | 17. Death Valley 69

Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster Live At Coliseu by ashtapes
Sonic Youth - Candle Live at Coliseu by ashtapes

Download: Sonic Youth at Coliseu do Porto