Following up yesterday's post with a recreation of American Music Club's gig at the University of Bristol on 21st October 1994.
I was a relative newcomer to the words and music of Mark Eitzel and American Music Club at this point, my entry point being the single Johnny Mathis' Feet and the parent album Mercury.
A couple of singles were released to promote seventh album San Francisco and a tour announced, and I was there like a shot.
Memories of the gig itself are vague, even down to who I went there with. I think it must have been my college girlfriend, though the timing of the gig suggests that it was very close to the time that we broke up and I moved away from Bristol for a while. Either that, or I bought the tickets pre-split and had to find a last-minute gig buddy.
I'm pretty sure it was the former though, as my college ex was a fan of Strangelove, especially Patrick Duff, so for her this would have been the appeal of the gig over the headliners.
Sadly, not my first time seeing Strangelove - I would have seen them at least once at the Bristol Community Festival at Ashton Court - but I can't remember much, other than they were 'good'.
Likewise, memories of the AMC set are hazy, to say the least. There was a pre-gig moment where I spotted Mark with guitarist and long-time foil Vudi (aka Mark Pankler) in the foyer, but didn't dare speak to them.
On stage, I remember a tight and enjoyable set, with no sign of the growing tension within the band that would ultimately bring American Music Club to an end the following year. Nearly half the set was given over to San Francisco, opening with The Thorn In My Side Is Gone and including the two singles Can You Help Me and Wish The World Away.
The setlist for the Bristol show isn't available online, so I've plundered the one for the following night at The Forum in London for info. Fourteen songs, and surprisingly no sign of 'hit' single Johnny Mathis' Feet, although Mercury did get a couple of showings with If I Had A Hammer, the sublime I've Been A Mess and Apology For An Accident to close.
At that time, I hadn't delved further back into the AMC back catalogue so the other familiar song was Western Sky, which I recall reading in Melody Maker was Mark's nod to Nick Drake and Northern Sky. The other songs from California and Everclear were first-time listens for me, though the recollection of the impact (immediate or prescient) of a song like Ex-Girlfriend is sadly lost in the mists of time. Oh, to have kept a diary at the time!
What I do recall though is that my love for the band and their frontperson grew on the back of this night, and remains strong to this day. I missed the opportunity to see American Music Club again when they reformed in the 21st Century, and last week's chance to see Mark perform solo only reinforced what an incredible songwriter he is. Screwed up and screwed down, capable of moments of visceral agony and heartbreak, and intense, technicolour beauty.
On paper, the recreated setlist looks fine at 14 songs though comes in at a smidge over 50 minutes, which is short for a headline show, so I'm guessing that either a song or two may be missing, the live versions of some songs were considerably extended and/or Mark entertained us with a lot of between song banter. If only I could remember!
As with yesterday's selection, what is apparent from hearing all of these songs in this particular sequence is that this is a cohesive collection of music. Three songs here reappeared in Mark's acoustic set thirty years later - Why Won't You Stay, Western Sky and I've Been A Mess - and I couldn't find contemporary alternative versions of any of these, so I have repeated the studio versions used yesterday.
1) The Thorn In My Side Is Gone (Alternative Version) (1994)
2) Ex-Girlfriend (1991)
3) Firefly (1988)
4) Hello Amsterdam (Album Version) (1994)
5) I Broke My Promise (1994)
6) Why Won't You Stay (Album Version) (1991)
7) The Revolving Door (Original Band Demo) (1994)
8) If I Had A Hammer (Album Version) (1993)
9) Western Sky (1988)
10) I've Been A Mess (1993)
11) Can You Help Me (1994)
12) Wish The World Away (Original Band Demo) (1994)
13) The Dead Part Of You (1991)
14) Apology For An Accident (Home Demo) (1993)
1988: California: 3, 9
1991: Everclear: 2, 6, 13
1993: Johnny Mathis' Feet EP: 14
1993: Mercury: 8, 10
1994: Can You Help Me EP: 1
1994: San Francisco: 4, 5, 11
1994: Wish The World Away EP: 7, 12
In doing some of the background research for the last two posts, I visited the excellent music blog Nothing's Going To Happen, a real kindred spirit albeit active a long longer than this here blog.
In January 2021, American Music Club were in the spotlight with a bespoke 20-track selection titled Shades Of Weariness 1985-2008. If you enjoyed the above, then you will love this and, good news, FLAC and MP3 links are still active.
A word of warning though, take a packed lunch and drink with you. Once you start exploring the other posts on Nothing's Going To Happen, you'll be there for hours!
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