Well, I'm finally getting around to digitizing my 700+ cassettes (at my wife's insistence--she wants them out of the house), so I'm going to start posting some goodies here. I taped many a show in the Toronto area from the late '80's to the late '90's, and also recorded a lot of radio broadcasts, mostly from CFNY, 102.1 in Toronto and the CBC. Hope you stumble across something you like, or even a show you were at!

addendum: I have had many comments about the fate of my tapes, so for those worried about them...the masters I am boxing up and storing in my parents' basement. The others (mixed tapes, recorded LP's, etc) are getting tossed. My wife is not evil or insensitive--we live in a small place, and the many boxes were getting in the way. This is something I'VE wanted to do for awhile, as well. She just gave me the push. Oh, and she doesn't have shelves of makeup, or hundreds of shoes, no matter what stereotypes you care to buy in to. Her comic collection, however....


Patti Smith--Phoenix, Toronto, July 5, 1995

Not my recording, although I was at the show. Patti had been in retirement for a while at this point, and decided to do a low-key show in Toronto to test the waters for a live comeback. It was my first chance to see her, and I was stoked, having been a Patti fan for quite a while. It was a very intimate show, with Patti's kids in the balcony, starting with poetry readings and some acoustic songs. She left the stage for a set by Detroit Energy Asylum, which was thankfully not on my tape. Apparently they were friends of hers who were elemental in getting her back on stage, but man....talk about try to hard. The lead singer embodied it, at one point even hip-checking the keyboard player off his bench to take over the piano parts. He didn't seem very impressed. Neither were we.
Anyway, Patti comes back on, does a few hits, wets herself, and it was great! So glad to finally see her in person. She really enjoyed it, the crowd were very appreciative, and it led to more touring. You're welcome.
The tape is a decent audience recording, which I got in trade from someone in Europe (Holland, I think). Thought it was strange I couldn't find a Toronto show with any Canadian tapers, but there you have it.

lineage:aud recording, unknown gen (but sounds pretty low), unknown equipment
editing with Cool Edit Pro and CDWav.

Track Listing:
01. intro
02. Piss Factory (spoken)
03. Dog Dream (spoken)
04. Why (spoken)
05. Perfect Moon (spoken)
06. Battlefield (spoken)
07. The Jackson Song
08. Don't Smoke In Bed
09. Ghost Dance
10. Wicked Messenger
11. Up There Down There
12. Love of the Common People (Lenny Kaye)
13. About a Boy
14. Dancing Barefoot
15. Because the Night
16. People Have the Power
17. Paths That Cross
18. Farewell Reel

Enjoy!

This is number 308 in an ongoing series.