Live Gigs: Reading 1990

OK, it’s yet more flashback gigs and it’s the old early 90’s Reading fest this weekend, starting on this Friday morning and going to be posting 91 and 92 the next couple of days tooo! It wasn’t also TV show like the American one I blogged about on last weekend so most of it’s bootleg recordings of some kind that’s been uploaded to YouTube! So yeah, we’re all going to England this weekend but maybe, you live in the UK so you’re NOT going anywhere but reminding I’m in Australia, you know? Here’s what I’ve found: five almost full set by let’s call them my favorite acts who played there that year plus tagged one big name on the very end with only couple of songs!

This was before Reading got super mega-big and all the stuff I found on YouTube are just fan’s in the crowd hand-held video recordings or just bootleg recordings of that time. No really high grade stuff, just a warning about sound/visual below! Including also some photos as well because it’s only five full sets, well almost. Once again, I wasn’t at this gig myself but I’m going to say those early 90’s line-ups at Reading fest are the best and would have be called total classic now, right or wrong?

Off course, I’m going straight to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds which on opening day Friday, billed third from the top. Youtube crowd filmed below does almost all the songs, cuts out partway though Cindy cover which is a song The Bad Seeds never official recorded/released but years after when Cave sung with Johnny Cash in 2002 they did do a version of that song which can be found on Cash’s Unearthed boxset. Both Hooker and Leadbelly cover where on Bad Seeds’ Kicking Against The Pricks cover album. NC&TBS were on The Good Son album promo tour at this point, those brand new songs/singles were The Ship Song and The Weeping Song but full setlist below:

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Setlist at Reading Festival, England on August Friday 24th 1990:

• The Mercy Seat
• The Witness Song
• I’m Gonna Kill That Woman (John Lee Hooker cover)
• The Weeping Song
• Foi Na Cruz
• Deanna
• The Carny
• The Ship Song
• The Good Son
• City Of Refuge
• From Her To Eternity
• Black Betty (Leadbelly/Traditional cover)
• Tupelo
• Cindy (Traditional cover)
• Shivers (The Boys Next Door cover)

Bootleg recording on cassette tape was released which according to Discogs website, linked here is edited setlist with the tracklisting missing both The Witness Song and Tupelo.

NC&TBS far away crowd photo as found on the old tumblr website.

NC is on pay for these couple of photos website but because I didn’t but can still use them with all the watermarks!

Secord from the top on the same day/night was Faith No More and once again almost the full setlist can be found on Youtube but you can only listen to it, audio only this time. This one is taken from another bootleg recording released on vinyl soon after which can be found on Discogs website, linked here but I’ll pass the front cover but warning really isn’t the best sound. Also missing a couple of songs but full setlist below, worth to note FNM does throw in very little tiny bits of Public Enemy, Madonna, New Kids On The Blocks songs plus Sweet Dreams by Lloyd Landesman was a Nestles commercial from the 80’s, you know or maybe you might not know? Also Easy which wasn’t recorded/released until 1992 pops-up here too:

Faith No More Setlist at Reading Festival England on August Friday 24th 1990:

• From Out of Nowhere
• Introduce Yourself
• The Real Thing/911 Is Joke
• Underwater Love
• As The Worm Turns
• The Crab Song
• Vogue/Chinese Arithmetic
• We Care a Lot/The Right Stuff
• Sweet Dreams (Lloyd Landesman cover)
• Surprise! You’re Dead!
• Epic
• Woodpecker From Mars
• Easy (Commodores cover)
• War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

FNM Mike Patton in Youth Against Drug t-shirt, giving the kids an anti-drug message at a rock festival, maybe?

Mike doing an Axel Rose before him, wearing a Scottish kilt on stage!

The headliners on that same Friday night were The Cramps and you can find a couple recording of it on YouTube, I’m going with this audio only one because it’s better than the shot from the crowd plus sound and visuals aren’t that good and this one isn’t a bad recording, also must be from a bootleg of the time but can’t find it on Discogs website so sorry, no link but this one easy wins the best sound on today’s 91 Reading post:

The Cramps headlining setlist at Reading Festival, England on August Friday 24th 1990:

• Mule Skinner Blues (Jimmie Rodgers cover)
• Chicken
• The Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon
• Bop Pills
• What’s Inside a Girl?
• Everything Goes
• Mama Oo Pow Pow
• Daisy’s Up Your Butterfly
• God Damn Rock ‘n’ Roll
• Primitive (The Groupies cover)
• Goo Goo Muck (Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads cover)
• Her Love Rubbed Off (Carl Perkins cover)
• Journey to the Center of a Girl
• Mystery Plane
• Hot Pearl Snatch
• Saddle Up a Buzz Buzz
• Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love
• You Got Good Taste
• Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
• Psychotic Reaction (Count Five cover)
• Shortnin’ Bread (Traditional cover)
• Drug Train
• Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?
• Tear It Up (Johnny Burnette cover)

The late great Lux Interior in 1990 wearing just underpants, well black jockstrap live on stage!

Lux before he almost got totally naked!

Skipping to Sunday night next with The Fall. Big pity I can’t find any photos of the late great Mark E. Smith. I would say 90’s could the low-point in their career, signed to major label didn’t seem to help but off course, that’s following their peak 80’s which is a hard act to follow and I’ve say before on my little blog I total love their 2000’s/2010’s. So maybe, I’ll should change my opinion about 90’s The Fall? According to a fan website of The Fall, guest member was added to line-up just for this show who was Kevin Riddles of NWOBHM bands Angel Witch and Tytan on the keyboards:

The Fall setlist at Reading Festival, England on August Sunday, 26th 1990:

• You Haven’t Found It Yet (instrumental)
• Arms Control Poseur
• Blood Outta Stone
• Black Monk Theme
• Hilary
• Hit the North
• Bill Is Dead
• Wrong Place, Right Time
• Big New Prinz
• Zagreb
• Life Just Bounces
• Bombast
• White Lightning
• British People in Hot Weather
• Jerusalem

I’m going say the best band on the Saturday or well, that’s my favorite act from this list, is The Young Gods from Switzerland but they’re NOT on YouTube! So who is? Buzzcocks are, who are filmed by two cams and edited together, I’ll say could be almost professional and is pretty wicked cool:

Buzzcocks setlist at Reading Festival, England on August Saturday, 25th 1990:

• What Do I Get?
• I Don’t Mind
• Love You More
• Promises
• Wallpaper World
• Never Gonna Give It Up
• Autonomy
• Nothing Left
• Successful Street
• Everybody’s Happy Nowadays
• Harmony in My Head
• Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)
• I Believe
• Orgasm Addict
• Mad Mad Judy
• Boredom

Amazingly I can only find a couple of songs from Pixies headlining Sunday night set, here’s their opening songs Cecilia Ann (The Surftones cover) and Levitate Me:

Worth to note or what I can find of about this year which is NOT much really, anyway Jane’s Addiction did a total no show and no real reasons seem to be given at the time so just guessing, they might been just too drug fucked to find Reading? Above is, I guess, let’s call it the top five sets, well that’s the ones I can find on YouTube plus one small bit of Pixies so call it top six, maybe? I think, maybe few other acts are on it but I’ve calling that the very best and NOT watching any more myself, maybe you might wanna to go look it up yourself if you dig anyone else? Yeah, I’ve passed on some pretty big English acts who seem to be uploaded, sorry to fans of them! Anyway, it seems more video cameras are around a year later in 91 which is coming at same bat-time and same bat-blog tomorrow! Anyway hope dug something above, if you pressed play?

Cheers! 🙂