On July 16, 1986, Lou Reed played the first of two sold out show at The Ritz! Billed as "The New York Original Comes Home," Reed treated the crowd to some classic songs including "Sweet Jane," "Walk On The Wild Side," and many tracks from his fourteenth solo album "Mistrial," which was released the previous month. Thanks to St. Pauli Girl for putting on this concert series!
On July 16, 1987 California punk pioneers, Angry Samoans, played at Maxwell's! They played an interesting set that included many of your favorite Angry Samoans' songs. The group alluded to playing a Joan Baez cover, but I received word via e-mail that they were punking us!
On July 15, 2000, Queens of the Stone Age played at the Bowery Ballroom. The band had just released their second full length album, "Rated R," in June 2000 on Interscope Records. The band took a brief break from the Ozzfest tour for this gig at the Bowery Ballroom. They kicked off their set on this night with track one off of this brand new record, "Feel Good Hit Of The Summer."
Set list:
On July 13, 1989, Nirvana made their first ever appearance at Maxwell's! At this point in time, Dave Ghrol had yet to join Nirvana and the group was performing as a four piece with Jason Everman on guitar. At this gig, Kurt Cobain asked Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis to join Nirvana. In an interview with Spin magazine, Mascais recalled the show:
“Nirvana was playing Maxwell’s and after the show I was talking to Kurt and [Sonic Youth’s] Thurston Moore. Kurt said, ‘you should join my band.’ I think he was sick of the guy Jason [Everman] who was in the band at the time, and thought I should play guitar. I didn’t think much about it. Later, there was also talk of playing drums on a single [1990’s ‘Sliver’] they were doing, but it ended up being [Mudhoney drummer] Dan Peters.”
The group played a ferocious set of songs from their debut LP Bleach, which was released in June of 1989. They'd also play "Polly," which would appear on their 1991 classic, "Nevermind."
Set list:
On July 12, 1997, Cobra Verde played at Brownie's! The Cleveland, Ohio post-punk group had just released their their second full length LP, "Egomania" in May 1997.
For those who were unaware, the history of Cobra Verde is significantly connected to fellow Ohioans, Guided By Voices. The band originally started as a one-off studio project for Scat Records, a St. Louis-based imprint responsible for releasing records by seminal Cleveland bands such as electric eelsand Dayton, Ohio band Guided by Voices. Petkovic, the sole continuous member throughout Cobra Verde's 20-year history, enlisted guitarist Doug Gillard and drummer Dave Swanson, with whom he had played with in Death of Samantha with studio engineer Don on bass. Petkovic reflected on how he came up with the name "Cobra Verde" in a 1996 interview with Flipside Magazine:
“I didn't even have a name for the thing until the cover art for the record was being sent off," said Petkovic, in a 1996 interview with Flipside magazine. "So I had a friend call me who happened to be hanging out with Werner Herzog – so he asks Herzog to suggest a name. So he says Cobra Verde -- the name of the last film he shot with Klaus Kinski – in honor of Klaus."
Fun fact, the same line-up also recorded Guided by Voices 1997 album, "Mah Earwhig!"
On July 9th, 1988, Australian punk rockers Hard Ons played at Maxwell's! The group had just released their 2nd LP, "Dickcheese" in April of 1988 and set out to the USA to tour in support of this record. This set contains lots of hard and fast jams from this LP, plus many others!
On July 3, 1992, Sonic Youth played a secret show at at CBGB's with Polvo opening! Unlike the last string of Sonic Youth tapes from June of 1988, this gig captures the band in what many would argue is their prime. The group received increased notoriety in the late 80s and early 90s with the release of two critically successful albums, Daydream Nation (1988) and Goo (1990). On July 21, 1992, Sonic Youth released another highly praised record, Dirty, and they treated the CBGB's crowd to a setlist of songs from this yet to be released album. They bookended their set with two classics - "Teenage Riot" and "Expressway To Yr Skull."
The band also played Central Park Summerstage on Independence Day in 1992. Video footage of that show is available on YouTube.
Set list:
Encore:
Sonic Youth played back to back nights at CBGB's on June 23, 1988 and June 24, 1988! The band exclusively played songs from Daydream Nation at these gigs with some fun twists, including alternate lyrics and different styles. Similar to the Maxwell's shows from June 8th and 9th of 1988, the band was still in the process of working out the songs that would appear on Daydream Nation. For instance, Thurston Moore sang "Cross The Breeze" on night one. Night two also features a very different sounding version of "Rain King." Sonic Youth entered the studio to record Daydream Nation in July 1988 and the album was officially released in October of that year.
June 23rd Set List:
June 24th Set List:
On June 23, 1984 Hüsker Dü played at Maxwell's! Fans of Zen Arcade and Metal Circus will be pleased with the setlist at this gig, as the band played lots of classics from those two records, including "It's Not Funny Anymore," "What's Going On?," "Broken Home, Broken Heart," and "Diane." Maxwell's regulars/legends Darren Viola and Guy Ewald also conducted an interview after the gig, portions of which are available on Youtube. Ewald remembered the interview in 2013:
"I remember it pretty well in spite of being totally drunk. I don't know how I met the Bang! guy... he probably hung out at Maxwell's and knew my name from my short misadventure writing for The Rocker (at Glenn Morrow's urging). He asked me if I could interview Hüsker Dü at their upcoming Maxwell's gig and I agreed. It didn't occur to me to prepare any questions, I figured I talked with musicians all the time so it would come naturally. He was supposed to come over in the early evening with his tape recorder, but he didn't show up so I figured I was off the hook and proceeded to have a blast, going nuts during Hüsker's set, deejaying, swilling beer and toasting shots of tequila or whatever.
"Right before 3:00AM closing Mr. Bang showed up and gave me the tape recorder and... me du husker interview.
"As often as not [club owner] Steve [Fallon] used to like to hang out after hours so it wasn't unusual for some workers and an inner circle to be there till dawn and beyond. We were sitting at the little bar in the back room, and like I say, I was really drunk. I asked a couple of stupid questions and then my friend Darren came to my rescue and started asking them about professional wrestling. I don't know how he knew they were fans, but he was knowledgeable too.
"That interview was basically conducted by Darren. He and his wife were the most dependable regular customers at Maxwell's back then. All I did was giggle in the background like a fucking idiot. I was really embarrassed by it and never really listened to it after spot-checking the tape on the Sunday after. I remember Mr. Bang told me the interview was 'weird, but interesting.' I was never asked to do another one."
Set list:
On June 20, 1986, The Replacements played at The Ritz! The band was on tour in support of their 1985 release, "Tim!" This set included an unusual amount of cover songs, ranging from Sonny & Cher To Aerosmith. As usual, it sounds like the Mats were having a blast on this night.
Set list:
On June 19, 1987, California alternative rock kings Red Kross played two sets at Maxwell's! This appearance at Maxwell's comes right around the release of the band's second full-length album, "Neurotica." This release represented a bit of departure from their hardcore roots, as it the band fused multiple genres, including garage rock, power pop, and punk. On this night, Redd Kross played an early and late set. I believe this tape is the late show.
On June 15, 1996, Mudhoney played at Irving Plaza! The Seattle grunge rockers were touring in support of their 1995 album, "My Brother The Cow" on Reprise Records. The group opened with Mudride and then went straight into Suck You Dry. The Mudhoney "Tourbook 1995" also notes that Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon were in attendance!
On June 12, 1987, Wire played at Maxwell's! At this gig, the band debuted several songs that would appear on their 1988 album "A Bell Is A Cup Until It Is Struck." The balance of the set mostly consisted of songs from 1987's "The Ideal Copy." Unfortunately, no tracks from "Pink Flag," "Chairs Missing," or "154." Nevertheless, this tape sounds really great!
Set list:
On June 10th, 1989, Sun Ra & His Interfalactic Arkestra played at Maxwell's! This is an incredible set occuring a few years before Sun Ra passed away.
On June 9th and 10th of 1988, Sonic Youth played at Maxwell's! The band played these gigs right before releasing their magnum opus, Daydream Nation, in July of 1988. Their sets on both nights previewed songs that would appear on Daydream Nation, including "Candle, "'Cross The Breeze," and "Teenage Riot!" "Total Trash" and "Totally Trashed" from the Daydream Nation deluxe edition were also played on the 9th.
Set list - June 9th:
Set list - June 10th:
On June 9th, 1998, Sonic Youth played 2nd of a 3 night run at Irving Plaza in support of their 1998 album, "A Thousand Leaves." The band's setlist consists mostly of songs from this new release, but also features two songs from their "SYR" series, "Anagrama," and "Stil," which they performed during their encore. For the balance of their encore, they performed "Shadow of a Doubt," and "Death Valley '69," from their classics "E.V.O.L.," and "Bad Moon Rising!"
Setlist:
Encore:
On June 6, 1997, Palace Brothers played at Tramps! In April 1996, Will Oldman released "Arise Therefore," his last album under the moniker "Palace Brothers." Steve Albini produced this record! Later in 1997, Will Oldham would release Joya under his own name. Thereafter, he would go on to release his work under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy, including 2017's "Best Troubador."
Thank you to Scott Brown for the set list and band info:
Band : Will Oldham, Jack Carneal, Willy MacLean, Ned Oldham, Aram Stith, Jason Stith
Set list:
On June 6, 1986, Sonic Youth played at Paard Van Troje in The Hague, Netherlands. The group released their third LP "EVOL" in May 1986 on SST Records, and followed the release with a European tour. Their setlist on this night featured mostly songs from this new release but those in attendance also got a sneak peak of "White Kross," a song that would appear on their next record, "Sister." Sonic Youth made appearances in two other Dutch cities, Groningen and Lindhoven, before returning for a performance at CBGB's on June 13th, 1986.
Set list:
On June 3, 2000, folk singer-songwriter Bonnie Price Billy played at Bowery Ballroom! In 1999, Will Oldham released his first album under the moniker Bonnie Prince Billy entitled "I See A Darkness." This was Bonnie Prince Billy's second ever appearance at The Bowery Ballroom and he treated the crowd to a lengthy set.
Set list:
On June 2, 1986, The Feelies returned to Maxwell's for another gig! Following their performances on May 9 and 10th of 1986, the group returned to their home venue to film a live performance for a Japanese documentary. A portion of this documentary can be found on YouTube. In this short interview clip, the band describes what they love about playing at Maxwell's, their performance in "Something Wild," and their cult following in Osaka, Japan.
As it turns out, The McKenzie Tapes has an actual VHS tape of this documentary, which I will post as soon as I either bring it to Staples or digitize it myself. Enjoy!
