CARAVAN
The Fleece,
Bristol, UK

21st March 2022

Lineage:
Church Audio CA-14 omnis > CA-9200 > Edirol R-07 (@24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2 (Edits, downsample)> CDWave > TLH
Recorded 15' from house left speaker

Recording, transfer & artwork by boombox

2 sets - no support

Set 1 (57m37s):
1. Memory Lain, Hugh
2. Headloss
3. Banter
4. In The Land Of Grey And Pink >
5. Golf Girl
6. Better Days Are To Come
7. It's None Of Your Business
8. Band Introductions
9. For Richard


Set 2 (64m19s):
1. The Dog, The Dog, He's At It Again
2. Smoking Gun (Right for Me)
3. Every Precious Little Thing
4. Nightmare
5. Winter Wine
6. Nine Feet Underground
7. Encore Break & Banter
8. I'm On My Way

Caravan are:
Pye Hastings - guitar, vocals
Geoffrey Richardson - violin, flute, guitar, spoons, vocals
Jan Schelhaas - keyboards
Mark Walker - drums, percussion, vocals
Lee Pomeroy - bass, vocals

boombox's notes april 2022:
The venue wasn't full for this show which had been delayed due to the band all getting Covid midway through the planned Autumn tour, but it was still a respectable crowd for a Monday night to see the longest running Canterbury band other than Soft Machine. Pye's voice is not what it was, but then again the vocal mix was not great either. However, what was apparent from the off is the high level of musicianship and how much fun these guys have playing together - Pye and Geoffrey have been in the band together for 50 years and Jan has been around since 1975 and it shows. Mark (now celebrating 12 years with the band) drives them along and is clearly having a ball and it's hard to believe that it's less than a year since Lee replaced Jim Leverton: he too is a perfect fit. Setlist was a good mix of fan favourites, including the oft-requested, but rarely played, 'Winter Wine', plus some tracks from the last two albums.

I had forgotten just how loud gigs in The Fleece are - my ears were ringing two days later! Fortunately, my gear coped with the volume admirably well, although the mix was not great at times and Pye had some guitar problems at the start of the night, meaning he was very quiet in the first song. There was very little to do other than clean up a few loud claps, add a bit of a mid/high boost and bring up the overall levels just a tad. It's not my best Caravan recording, but for that particular venue, I'm still pleased with it.

Please go out and support the band by buying tickets and merch - the new album is very good too and highly recommended.

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

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