Barbara Manning
M-Room, Philadelphia, PA
June 29, 2011

Source: AUD > CoreSound Binaurals > MM-EBM-1 battery box (with bass roll-off) > Line In > iRiver H320 (Rockboxed) > AIFF > Sound Studio > AIFF > XAct > FLAC
Recorded and mastered by neil d
Light dynamic compression in Sound Studio

01 intro
02 Dreaming
03 Rhombus
04 Sympathy Wreath
05 Buds Won't Bud
06 Better By Bounds
07 14 Days (Nick Lowe)
08 Coy Tongue
09 Driver's Seat (Peter Blegvad)
10 Straw Man
11 Wishes Don't Tie You Down
12 Scissors
13 Ipecac (wrong key)
14 Ipecac
15 Life/Luck
16 Deep Sea Diver
17 Someone Wants You Dead

The last time Barbara Manning came to the East Coast was in 2001, with her then-band the Go-Luckys. Since then, she's moved back to Chico, California to finish the degree she abandoned in order to take up rock stardom, released the excellent EP "Enjoy the Lonely Time," started more bands than you can shake a stick at, and disrupted the Chico Music Awards (as she explains during this set).

Now, thanks to a touring New Zealand guitar player who needed a headliner and a local promoter with frequent flier miles to burn, Barbara conducted a special one-day-only tour, just herself and her electric guitar. Unfortunately, the show was in Philadelphia and I live in Brooklyn; fortunately, it coincided with an already-scheduled family trip to D.C., so I was able to stop off in Philly and attend the show along with my eight-year-old son - who got to chat with Barbara beforehand about baseball, music, and the Liberty Bell, stayed up almost till midnight to hear her set, fell fast asleep halfway through, then woke up just long enough to say, "That was awesome!" before conking out again.

The sound was great at the M-Room, a nifty little club in Fishtown with a small performance space attached to a bar-restaurant area. Mics were taped to the left wall about eight feet up, so there's minimal crowd noise. All in all, a great show, including one unreleased Barbara Manning original ("Wishes Don't Tie You Down"), and a recording I'm really happy with.

Big thanks to Barbara for making the trip and giving her blessing to my recording, to Jim Moran for arranging the show, and to the M-Room for its sensibly lenient policy on allowing eight-year-olds to attend grownup rock shows.