Quicksilver Messenger Service - At the Kabuki Theatre
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Free Music Notes for At the Kabuki Theatre
Free Music Review: mellowed down spacerockers
Hit: 4 Stars
QMS delivered one of the all time greatest live albums with "Happy Trails", psychedelic jamming at it's absolute best. After that they augmented their line-up with singer/songwriter Dino Valenti and the brilliant keyboard-legend Nicky Hopkins and even some horn and percussion for their classic albums "What About Me" and "Just for Love". Dino actually wrote the hitsong "Get Together" but with QMS his songwriting took on a more personal flavour, mostly portraiting his endless romances with younger girls, songs that - in my ear - hasn't really stood the test of time too well.
On this New Years Show from 1970 we hear a 5-piece band, the core four: the marvelous guitarduo of John Cippolina and Gary Duncan, the fine, soulful bassplayer David Freiberg, who later rose to fame and glory with Jefferson Starship and drummer Greg Elmore plus Dino. And the later certainly turns this into a performance much more based on songs, not on long exploratory jams.
Most of the material is from the aforementioned albums WAM og JFL, and many of the songs really suffers from the absence of Hopkins and the horns, specially the great titlesong from "What About Me" - whose protest-lyrics sounds scaringly relevant today though - and "Call On Me", which is delivered in a 15 min. version, albeit rather slow and with a very strange mixture of sound. Perhaps the guy at the mixing desk was tripping? But when they delve into standards like "Dr. Feelgood" these psychedelic pioneers sounds embarrasingly like a second rate barroom band. Not to say that the show doesn't have it great moments though, especially in the interplay between Duncan and Cippolina, but also Freiberg's bass is impressive throughout.
All in all the sound isn't that great. This is a amateur-recording of a radiobroadcast, and as with the Jefferson release from Golden Gate Park it doesn't seem as if the guys at Charly has done that much remastering. And the bonus tracks are complete waste.
Certainly a worthwhile buy for all 'hippies' young or old, but there must be better QMS shows around.
Free Music Review: Worth it for it's historical value alone
Hit: 4 Stars
A lot of people have complained about the poor sound quality of this release, and those complaints are, for the most part, justified. This is not the best sounding live CD you'll ever own, to put it very charitably. In fact, at times the sound is pretty abominable, and the mix is often terrible. Occasionally, in the middle of a song, it will sound as if they spliced in a piece from an entirely different (and quite inferior) recording of the same performance. This may, in fact, be exactly what was done as part of the restoration process. At the same time, in all fairness, at times the sound is actually reasonably decent, all things considered. But the point is, don't expect this to be a professional sounding recording.
That having been said, if you are a fan of this band, buy this. Many of the actual performances, sound quality aside, are very good. There is also some on-stage banter, and at one point even a station ID for KMPX (San Francisco's original "underground FM" radio station), adding historical perspective and indicating that this was recorded from a live broadcast (which may also explain some of the technical problems). More importantly, this is the last live recording of QMS with both Dino Valenti and John Cipollina present-- and in fact, the only one I'm aware of. Certainly there are a few bootleg audience recordings or perhaps some soundboard tapes that may surface someday, but for now, this may be all we have. And since neither artist is still with us, there will never be a reunion concert.
All of which makes this recording, warts and all, of significant historical importance. Besides which, if approached with the right frame of mind and a tolerance for the less than stellar recording quality, this is a truly enjoyable album. If you love this band, this is something you really should have. Taken for what it is, on its own merits, it's darned near priceless. I'd recommend it.
Free Music Review: Help preserve a moment in time
Hit: 4 Stars
As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" it is always enjoyable to hear live material from their contemporaries.
Sometimes fans of the great sound of San Francisco circa 1960's and early 70's lose out on terrific music because they are hung-up on the fidelity first and the recorded material second.
It would be a great world if everything sounded like George Martin was in control or had the passion of those that work on the Grateful Dead remasters, but we don't always have our cake and the ability to eat it to.
To pass on the two disc set from 1970 with not only the tracks Quicksilver would be known for such as the definitive "Pride Of Man", "Mona", "What About Me", etc, but the bonus studio recordings with Nicky Hopkins would be a major error.
We have all been to concerts that have been superlative but the acoustics may not have been extraordinary, so why should we feel every disc must sound like gold? If you are a fan of the band how could you go wrong with a live CD that helps us remember John and the ability to recapture history from so far back?
Be thankful the Kabuki Theatre has opened its doors to us!
Be well always,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"
Free Music Review: An Important Relic
Hit: 4 Stars
I was fortunate to see Quicksilver Messenger Service in concert on two occasions, and this welcome release is a terrific souvenir of a great band. The sound quality is hardly state of the art, but that's a minor quibble. Of primary importance is the fact that this is the only live document (except for bootleg recordings) of QMS with both John Cippolina and Dino Valenti in the line-up. And as David Crosby once declared, Valenti "does his level best to stir up your guts with a spoon!" I prefer Dino's ballads (check out his 1968 solo album), but here he's obviously "up" for a largely high voltage gig. Even if one finds his voice an acquired taste, the double leads by Cippolina and Gary Duncan are not to be missed. In the final analysis, well over half of what's presented here is essential Quicksilver.
Free Music Review: Hooray For Licorice!!!!
Hit: 4 Stars
I thought that this compilation of live performances at the Kabuki were quite good - however, there were several moments (such as in Pride of Man), where the vocals seem to suddenly leap out at you and way overlap the instruments. Other standards by QMS - Subway, Mona, etc. were way up there in the best of this 2 CD Set.
On the whole, this is pretty reflective of what the band sounded like in those days - raw and naked energy as it happened (and as I can remember them!(I'm surprised that I still can) - no cover ups nor re-dubs - like the Dead - they are like licorice - either you like them or you don't!
Hooray for licorice!
PW