Nick Lowe & The Impossible Birds
Wetlands
New York City, NY
January 30, 1995
(Two Of Us Masters Volume 15)

Recording: Shure Mic > Sony WM-D6C

2020 Transfer: Master Tape > Nakamichi DR-01 (azimuth adjusted) > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity > iZotope RX / ozone 5 (mastered) > Peak Pro 6 (post production) > xACT 2.39 > FLAC

01 12-Step Program (To Quit You Babe)
02 True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
03 Without Out Love
04 Lover Don't Go
05 The Rose Of England
06 Trail Of Tears
07 Dream Girl
08 Cruel To Be Kind
09 Where's My Everything?
10 I'm Coming Home (Johnny Horton)
11 14 Days
12 Tombstone Every Mile
13 Half A Boy And Half A Man
14 Crying In My Sleep
15 Soulful Wind
16 I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock And Roll)
17 Bo Bo Skediddle
18 Raging Eyes
19 Shelley My Love
20 Allons Rock 'n' Roll
21 You're My Wildest Dreams
22 I'll Be There (If You Want Me To)
23 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
24 36 Inches High
25 Big Big Love

Known Faults:
-Tombstone Every Mile: last notes cut
-Half A Boy Half A Man: start cut
-36 Inches High: start cut

Robert Treherne - drums
Paul Riley - bass
Geraint Watkins - keyboards
Bill Kirchen - guitars

Welcome to Volume Fifteen of the "Two Of Us" Master Series.

Between 1983 and 1999 there was likely not a taper or taping duo more active than the "Two Of Us". For the better part of a decade and a half they taped over 250 artists with an array being taped multiple times.

If you collect Springsteen then you are already familiar with some of their work, "fmcleanboots" has posted a half dozen or so of their "Tunnel Of Love" tour shows but has decided to pass the baton.

What you don't know is their passion was not just for Springsteen but for music and that passion runs deep. It is astonishing how many artists they taped.

They followed tours taping club shows, theater shows, arena shows, big artists, mid-level artists and local artists. If they were following a tour and the tour had an off night they'd see who else was playing that night to tape.

Always focused on enjoyment of the show as the priority, tickets were for the most part acquired outside of the venue as they worked to obtain the best possible seats, continually trading up until the correct seats were acquired.

The results of this were the captures are uniformly excellent but on occasion the start of the show was sacrificed as a trade-off for the seats. The heavy lifting was done by the Sony WM-D6C and an external Shure Mic before moving to DAT for the last couple of years.

None of their masters have ever been circulated and have been safely stored for the past three to four decades in a climate controlled environment. Tapes transferred so far are in pristine condition.

Though we may do some mini releases of a series of shows in order for one portion of a tour for the most part shows will not be released in order, there are just too many of them.

This will be a very exciting series and we hope along the way we upgrade existing circulating audio and offer up shows that do not have any circulating audio.

We hope you enjoy the ride, this is definitely not a dark ride.

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Nick Lowe & The Impossible Birds @ Wetlands 1995

Volume 15 of our series features the elder statesman of British pop/rock and now alt-country touring in support of his mid-career masterpiece "The Impossible Bird" his best release since "Labor Of Lust".

Everything about this show hits the bullseye starting with his brilliant touring band "The Impossible Birds" featuring the wonderfully twangy guitar of Bill Kirchen.

The show is a master class in song craftsmanship but if the audience came expecting the whimsical rocker from earlier in his career they were not going to find him here.

This is a mature grown up and evolving rocker moving in a new direction, the first half of the show primarily focuses on the adult themes of lost-love and regret.

The Impossible Birds breathe new life into some of the greatest pop songs ever written, not that they need new life. "Cruel To Be Kind", "I Knew The Bride" and "What's So Funny..." and a brilliant "36 Inches Higher" sound as fresh as when they were first written, taking more time with his phrasing and pronunciation, you feel like you are hearing them for the time.

Quality is excellent and stable from start to finish, Two of Us did an excellent job capturing the complete show with only minor cuts. It's close with a wonderful stereo soundscape, highly recommended for the quality and the wonderful performance.

Thanks to "Two Of Us" and their dedication to capturing all these great shows as well as trusting me to be the caretaker of their work. Also, a big thank you to my friend "fmcleanboots" for putting me in touch and laying the groundwork that has resulted in what in this release and future releases.

Artwork and samples included...

mjk5510 & Two Of Us

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

Images for this show: