Out of the 128 Camper Van Beethoven shows in the archive I thought by chance one would document one of the nights I had seen them in D.C. back in the mid 80’s but most recordings were from 2003 to present - so no such luck. Ditto for the Robyn Hitchcock shows. While much of the archive is devoted to bands I’ve never heard of like the Disco Bicuits which have 700+ shows for instance, there is something here for everyone. Maybe even one of those ‘lost shows’ from your past. I did find two very different but enjoyable live sets.
While probably not new to many fans, Mojave 3’s Black Session from November 11, 1995 has a certain legendary status as being their first live show and is in my opinion on par with their official releases. A set of 8 songs slowly unwinds for the C’est Lenoir radio show in front of a small audience. A charming recording full of first-gig jitters that make it hard not to like.On a related note, emusic.com now has Slowdive’s last and hard to find out-of-print LP Pygmalion which I’d been curious about for sometime but couldn’t find a copy. Pygmalion further explores the territory of ambient textures and Eno influenced soundscapes.
Getting back to the Archive - The Minutemen were giants of their time and still stand as one of my favorites from the 80’s hardcore scene. Listening to this complete set from March 9, 1983 recorded in NYC does nothing in the way of changing my opinion. Blazing through 38 songs with hardly a pause between for fans to yell “Van Halen!” makes me want to yell "San Pedro!"