Music For Small Bedrooms But Spacious Minds

A special Dubhed selection today, featuring The The live in concert, 1989 to 2018. 

 

Fellow blogosphere traveller Strictly Rockers reached out on Friday to say hello, a familiar name not least for his impressive run of Imaginary Compilations over at The Vinyl Villain. In fact, his debut ICA inspired one of my first ICA contributions a few years later and the format of today's selection. 

 

We both grew up in Bristol, have never knowingly met but likely were at the same gigs, pubs and record shops in our callow youth. In the very full Venn diagram overlap which is our music collection, you'll find The The.

I've previously posted a mixtape that I recorded in 1989 and a late-period The The compilation but never a live selection. I've only seen The The live in concert once, a relatively intimate gig at the University of Bristol's Anson Rooms in 2000. As this selection will demonstrate, regardless of the band performing with Matt Johnson, The The live is an exciting proposition. 

I already had quite a few live songs from various singles, a collection that's been added to considerably in the last couple of years by The Comeback Special album and ongoing series of Official Bootlegs, available via The The's official website.

So, the real challenge was keeping this selection under 100 songs and twenty-odd hours! I'd (over) ambitiously aimed for 10, failed spectacularly and ended up with 16 and even then there are glaring omissions. However, I think I've largely managed to stitch the sequence into a largely seamless set and I had a lot of fun doing it. I hope you get the same enjoyment from listening to it...!

 

1) Dogs Of Lust (Live @ Palladium, Köln, Germany, 16th December 2000)

2) Sweet Bird Of Truth (Live @ Sony Music Studios, New York, 6th May 1993) 

3) Flesh & Bones (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 5th July 2018)

4) The Sinking Feeling (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 12th July 1990)

5) Helpline Operator (Live @ Palladium, Köln, Germany, 16th December 2000)

6) (Like A) Sun Rising Thru My Garden (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 5th July 2018)

7) The Mercy Beat (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 12th July 1990)

8) GIANT (Live @ somewhere, The The Versus The World tour, 1990) 

9) Soul Catcher (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 5th July 2018)

10) Love Is Stronger Than Death (Live @ Sony Music Studios, New York, 6th May 1993) 

11) Armageddon Days Are Here Again (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 12th July 1990)

12) Voidy Numbness (Live @ Palladium, Köln, Germany, 16th December 2000)

13) Out Of The Blue (Into The Fire) (Live @ somewhere in the USA, The The Versus The World tour, 1989)

14) Uncertain Smile (Live @ Later...With Jools Holland, BBC2 TV, 11th June 1993) 

15) Beyond Love (Live @ Royal Albert Hall, London, 12th July 1990)

16) True Happiness This Way Lies (Live @ Brixton Academy, London, 5th June 1993) 

 

1992: Dogs Of Lust EP: 15

1993: Love Is Stronger Than Death EP: 4, 7, 11

1993: Slow Emotion Replay EP: 2, 10

2021: Official Bootleg 002: 8

2021: Official Bootleg 004: 16

2023: Later... With Jools Holland (bootleg): 14

2023: Official Bootleg 007: 1, 5, 12

2023: Official Bootleg 008: 13

2023: The Comeback Special: Live At The Royal Albert Hall: 3, 6, 9

 

Music For Small Bedrooms But Spacious Minds (1:23:17) (KF) (Mega) 

 

I've refreshed links to my previous The The selections as well...

Testament To Reality (October 1989)

Truth Is Nothing But A Point Of View (August 2022)