Vancouver Calling...

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BasingSt78
Corner Soul
Posts: 22
Joined: 29 Jul 2013, 4:46pm

Vancouver Calling...

Post by BasingSt78 »

Hey All, I have been to The Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. As we all know, the guys played there on 31 Jan 1979. Probably my favorite tour, but so few shows... Here is why the lack of a Vancouver tape haunts me: I went there in 1983, and the only thing they cared about was if you were bringing your own alcohol. Cameras and tape recorders were NO problem. It is painfully hard to accept nobody recorded the show. It would be such an historic find to secure a good quality tape of that show.

BTW, That 1979 Peppermint Lounge poster is a bad joke. I've been there many times, it is tiny; holding ~ 400 people maximum. The Clash signed on for 2 shows a night for a total of ~ 800 people? (For three nights in a row!) Perhaps in 1976, but not in 1979. Why someone would take the time to manufacture such a fraud is beyond my comprehension. BasingSt

soundboard
Corner Soul
Posts: 2
Joined: 07 Mar 2010, 2:37pm

Re: Vancouver Calling...

Post by soundboard »

Hey BasingSt78,
Agree with you - I know people recorded shows there - one guy said super easy to get equipment in..
(Psychedelic Furs show)
Someone must have recordings of the Clash but has not transferred yet to digital.
Heres hoping for some Clash.
Soundboard

BasingSt78
Corner Soul
Posts: 22
Joined: 29 Jul 2013, 4:46pm

Re: Vancouver Calling...

Post by BasingSt78 »

SB, Amen brother. By 79, cassette decks were everywhere. I'm certain a huge venue like The Commodore would have had a deck hooked up to the mixing desk outputs. Cassettes cost what back then, $4 USD for a Maxell XLII? That is all it would have taken, plus someone to flip the tape if nec. I know a lot of the soundboard mixes are duff, somehow the guitars get pushed way back in the mix. Or the drums are hollow, the vocals too prominent, etc... You could have rolled a reel to reel deck on a cart into the Commodore and they would not have cared. Whether Green or Bernie would have had you tossed is an open question. My guess is if Bernie saw it he would have let it go then tried to confiscate the reels after! Miserable sod--- if anyone is sitting on a goldmine of recordings, it is him. I fully realize we would not have had The Clash without Bernie, but he is not exactly fan friendly, is he? Letts is high up on my list of suspects as well. With Joe gone, I don't think any of the original members are in any rush to dig up the past. I hope I am wrong. BasingSt

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