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reviews
in each issue, editors david and elina review bootleg(s) and give the disc(s) marks out of 10 for both interest and sound quality. in this issue, we also have a review of another rare bootleg - the limelight in belfast, 1993.

classic suede disc 3: restrained emotion
by david gejlemo

number 3 in the classic suede series starts off with the very last show from suede’s marathon 1992 uk tour. they had been on the cover of melody maker, released two singles, made their tv debut, played their first festival and been on top of the pops. a great year for suede or any band for that matter. on this last show, the band took the stage at victoria sw1 club, london to an audience brett describes as “a nice frisky bunch”.

the sound varies, poor on some tracks and better on others. you will enjoy this even if the sound isn’t great.

suede were already a tight band at this time, and brett’s voice is great. the gig is also interesting because of the small tempo differences in the music and singing compared to on cd, there’s just that little difference that makes you go “hmm”. it’s like a time machine back to london 1992.

there’s a lot of small talk between songs, which is nice. brett keeps telling the crowd to move back, but the recording is almost clinically free from crowd noise.

the version of “brass in pocket” is fantastic! the cd is worth buying for this track alone. and collectors will have to track this bootleg down also for the inclusion of previously unreleased track “diesel”.

the main show on this cd finishes off with a rocking version of ‘to the birds’ and then we are thrown into “he’s dead” recorded live at the borderline, london, october 15, 1991.

the borderline recording is a bit more muddled than the sw1 club one. then again there aren’t exactly many recordings from 1991 around, so most people will love this just because it’s such an early gig. listen carefully and you’ll spot some lyrics that were changed before release. the greatest thing about it, though, is the inclusion of aforementioned song “diesel”. it is a mystery that they didn’t polish this little gem and released it in some shape, way or form. someone in the audience can be heard uttering “i’ve never heard this one before, i think this is a joke, actually”. so maybe my enthusiasm for this piece isn’t something i share with the majority J. i still think it could have been something, if they wrote some proper lyrics for it.

the cd ends with the classic “my insatiable one” (with notably different lyrics) merged into album track “moving”. the borderline songs have annoyingly been cut at the end but it’s no big deal. if you find this CD (it’s still available at camden market), you should get it.

track listing:
sw1 club: “metal mickey”, “moving”, “my insatiable one”, “animal nitrate”, “pantomime horse”, “he’s dead”, “the drowners”, “painted people”, “brass in pocket”, “animal lover”, “sleeping pills”, “to the birds”

borderline: “he’s dead”, “painted people”, “the drowners”, “diesel”, “my insatiable one”, “moving”

david’s score:
interest: 10
sound: 6

elina's score:
interest: 10
sound: 5

classic suede disc 3: blue jam
by elina nuutinen

disc number four from the classic suede bootleg series is called blue jam and it contains the 12th july 1993 gig from clapham grand, london, i.e., the jarman benefit gig.

the show begins with a whole lot of audience noise, but people seem to calm down pretty fast and brett’s lines in between the songs are clear and understandable. the sound quality in general is nothing to write home about, though. the sound level keeps on jumping up and down even mid-song, but brett’s vocals remain pretty clear throughout the record. he reaches pretty high notes a couple of times, btw, always a pleasure.

the first track on the album is “the big time” with avi from sharkboy on lead vocals. the rest of the setlist consists of most of the first album songs (only “breakdown” and “animal lover” are missing), “still life”, b-sides and a couple of covers. one of the covers is the widely available “brass in pocket” with chrissie hynde, the other one “caroline says” with siouxsie sioux (even though this was really just bernard & siouxsie playing, not the whole of suede & her).

the sleeve cover of this bootleg (or cd-r, if you like) is a bootleg cover at its best: lots of typos. “he;s dead”, “still lfe”, souixie soiux...

all in all, this bootleg is well worth purchasing. no one who buys bootlegs expects the sound to be perfect, and the interest level of the material is what matters. and this one sure is interesting: not only is this a kind of a legendary gig, but also contains the aforementioned visitors. oh, and brett humming every now and then is also very nice to hear.

track listing:
"the big time" (with avi of sharkboy), "to the birds", "animal nitrate", "metal mickey", "pantomime horse", "he’s dead", "still life", "caroline says" (butler/siouxsie duet), "brass in pocket" (with chrissie hynde), "so young", "sleeping pills", "she’s not dead", "the drowners", "my insatiable one", "moving", "high rising", "the next life"

elina's score:
interest: 10
sound: 7

david’s score:
interest: 10
sound: 6

limelight, belfast, northern ireland, march 28, 1993
by mark bettis

this was the first of a number of gigs suede would play in northern ireland across the 1990s. it was a sunday, and a typically cold and damp one too, as we queued outside belfast’s tiny limelight club. the wind whipped our faces us as we queued down the otherwise deserted avenue linking the bbc building to the ‘markets’ and ‘lower ormeau’ communities. belfast was a very different place back then, and this gig came on the back of some fairly cataclysmic events in the province, and a good 6 months before the “joint declaration” which was truly the beginning of a meaningful peace-process. they were dark days, people were genuinely frightened by the recent upsurge in bombings and gun attacks. at that time suede were one of a number of shining lights that graced the stage of the limelight prior to peace breaking out. the kids, throwing caution to the wind, came in their droves.

of the 500 or so people crammed inside the venue, only a handful had seen suede perform before. they had released a clutch of indispensable singles, and the album was due in the shops the following day. for followers of suede these were exciting times, the next day suede’s debut album would go down as the fastest selling vinyl album ever.

the limelight is not the greatest venue in the world to see a gig; the tiny triangular stage was stuck in the right-angled corner of the long l-shaped venue. the cables from the stage connected to the desk via hook in the ceiling taking them over the crowd. behind the desk, one of suede’s crew video-taped the show on a camcorder – i’m sure i’ve seen footage of this set on one the tv specials that aired during 1993 (possibly opening shot).

this was a short ‘showcase’ set, like suede’s gigs up and down the uk at that time, it was a chance for us to get a dose of the adrenalin (and chemical) rush of suede songs and performance. brett was clad in a rather flimsy blouse, which over the course of the evening would slowly dissolve into nothing. i can’t remember too much else about the rest of the band, though bernard played his gorgeous gibson es-355, which i think was then stolen on during their tour with the cranberries in the us later that year. they guys were tight, and as you will hear on the tape they brought the house down with a stunning, incendiary performance.

the standout moment of the night was brett’s comedic interaction with the crowd and the subsequent performance of the drowners. in the face of much baying and heckling, “what…? wanker?… nice and loud please john”, was his typically understated response, before kicking into an extraordinary version of the already-classic track. however “john” must have cranked it up too loud, because just as the song reached it’s first chorus, the guitar cables shorted out so, thinking on their feet, the “slow down” part was slowed right down as was the rest of the chorus. the sound man swam across the sweaty mass of smelly students to the stage to fix the problem, which he did just in time for the beginning of the second verse which bernard launched into like a man possessed.

i made a tape of the show using a sharp dicta-phone, which i’d previous only used to record audio letters to my girlfriend while i was on my gap year abroad. it was a f*ucking loud show, and i think i had the recording level set just above the minimum to ensure something resembling the music registered on the tape. given the equipment, the recording is surprisingly alright, though i wouldn’t recommend listening to it on headphones. there’s distortion throughout, except on the quieter tracks, but if you put it through one of those cd players that has a single tone knob, you should be able to make it sound pretty good, and the distortion sort of evaporates. the electric atmosphere is captured, and the full, short set has been preserved for posterity. i guess anyone who is reading this today is likely to be an obsessive or a completist, i would say that this recording is probably for you, not for the average person who would probably be better off with those crystal clear early radio 1 broadcasts. to conclude, a great night, great memories.

track listing:
“animal nitrate”, “moving”, “insatiable one”, “metal mickey”, “pantomime horse”, “he’s dead”, “the drowners”, “painted people”, “so young”, “sleeping pills”, “to the birds”