Steamhammer
1972-07-13 ::: Soho, City of Westminster, West End, London, England
Marquee (club) ::: 90 Wardour Street ::: BT-M-AUD *REMASTER*
DimeTravel remaster of "Penumbra" source (2006 2CD-r Siréne-151 Japan boot)

~*~ Mk2 version, carefully remastered fixing various issues, without EQ* or NR ~*~

01. ==bandmember intros//song intro//tuning==
02. Penumbra(*)
03. Telegram (Nature's Mischief)
04. ???
05. ==applause/song title==
06. Riding On The L&N ->
07. Hold That Train
08. ==applause/thanks/encore break/clapping/club promoter==

Encore :::
09. Junior's Wailing

Total Time ::: 1:09:52

::: VG+ up-close stereo AUD (some bass distortion thru most or would be VG++). Check samples to flee, weigh, dream.
::: Warts: Repaired dullspots & dropouts but surely missed a few. Taper cut off deck between most songs. Some continual low-level distortion when bass&drums are going full-bore (partly sound bouncing off back wall?). #07 1st minute some clapping (but reduced).
::: CONTRAST CLAUSE: This is the Mk2 DimeTravel NO EQ*orNR remaster. The Mk1 original "Penumbra" bootleg CD files may be found elsewhere.
::: This is a DimeTravel remaster of"Penumbra"source (2006 2CD-r Siréne-151 Japan boot CD1 all tracks).
::: Jonesy opened & tape date correct as per www.themarqueeclub.net/1972
::: "Speech" recorded winter'71 & issued early'72, so band touring to promote new album.
::: Steamhammer had switched to Bruce Michael Paine vocals since the LP sessions.
::: #02(*)"Penumbra" not necessarily same parts in"Speech"album order, so not broken down here by title.
::: #04 unsure of the title for this one. If you know, do say so & we'll correct it.
::: Supposedly a completed post-Steamhammer album by Axis exists, recorded for Brain label. It would be cool to hear it while I'm living, rather than waiting for the angels to sing me the songs (or worse).
::: SOMEONE must have taped Armageddon. There's a fake around, but it would be FANTASTIC if someone share a real live set, regardless of quality.

Recording Information ::: unknown portable stereo reel recorder/microphones -> master reel (you can hear reel startup between 1 or 2 songs) -> "Penumbra" bootleg (2006 2CD-r Siréne-151 Japan) -> 2021 wav rips by DIMER propylaen.
NOTE: Unconfirmed that Siréne "Penumbra" actually master tapes as stated but it's likely as all sources are Japanese taper(s) & hadn't circulated prior to boot release.

Remastering 2021-06-xx ::: master stereo audience wavs from boot -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset (NOT to normalize volume), channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, clap, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, +0.5% averaged pitch (speed) fix with single pass after frequency analysis & with CD pitch verification, NO equalisation (*NO EQ except 90secs Lchan dullspot at 43mins into tape), NO noise reduction] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. Freed 2021-06-xx.

Line-up ::: Martin John Pugh - electric guitar, vocals // Louis Cennamo - electric bass, electric bowed bass, vocals // Bruce Michael Paine (or Payne, depending on where you see it) - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, rhythm electric guitar // John Lingwood - drums, percussion.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 804 ::: Thanks to the original taper. Thanks to DIMER propylaen for freeing the goods! Sincere thanks to whomever uploads this for me. ::: Corrections welcome ::: It is beyond belief to me that this has been around for 15 years, but none of the material has ever surfaced on DIME as of June 2021 - but at least it's finally here. Funny - worked on my 1st-ever Jonesy tape&5 days later realised they'd also opened for this Steamhammer gig! This is an excellent listen overall, the slight distortion is a shame, but overall the fidelity is fine & acclimation provides more enjoyment. REALLY enjoy listening to full shows by this band, a lot of the circa '70 tapes are festival gigs where they only had a 30 minute time slot. Also great to get our FIRST-ever live gig from their home country - but it turns out to be taped by a Japanese guy! Cool, but I ask again, where are the UK tapes? There must have been some hardcore fans. This line-up provides quite a different listen than the earlier ones, but still fascinating. As I said in some other notes about this band, if you've neglected the "Speech" era, DON'T MISS THIS! It'll crack open yr eyes & ears. WAY more intense than LP in some respects - not so methodically arranged&a better amalgam of psych&prog aspects of the band (IMO). Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Here are some of my notes (with thanks to DIMER zubbid as well) from a previous upload for "1972-06-09 Stuttgart" only about 4 weeks before this Marquee gig, but they seem relevant. "Straying quite far from their British blues roots here & encorporating psychedelia into more progressive lands. This is another missing link, as the band has gone thru more changes. Bradley died in February (replaced by Lingwood) and the Fuzzy Duck vocalist, Garth Watt-Roy, who guested on "Speech", has been replaced by regular band-member Bruce Michael Paine on lead vocals (and some guitar). It is, perhaps, not exactly "Penumbra" in the album form, but I am sure some of you will be able to figure out what's going on. DIMER zubbid pointed out, "Interestingly, they appear to have subsequently made up some words for the bit (Part 2: 'Battlements'?) that starts at 3:20-ish on the studio version", for example, and we get a full on bass assault wh ich mutates into a bowed bass wonder for an intro, etc. I'm actually partial to this version over the record, as I think it is heavier and, while the song parts are arranged it sounds less methodical - there is some serious chaotic mayhem going on, due in great part to the astonishing, fantasically heavy bass/bowed bass of Mr Cennamo, whose contributions are innumerable here." I followed zubbid's advice & went for the single track for "Penumbra", as, "despite an obvious spot for a potential break in Penumbra, it sounds like the audience understood that the piece was continuing through that silence; there must've been some visual (lighting, body language) cue that they were supposed to hold their applause until something else happened". And then, neither he nor I was entirely ready to commit to the breakdown of the parts here, seeing as how some adaptatations appear to have been or are being made to the piece. Then, as a set closer, we get an old Steamhammer jammer fave, "Hold That Train" which takes on a whole new light with the band's new line-up at this time - don't expect the "straight-forward" song you are familiar with, but something more demented with familiar threads woven thru it."(THIS PARAGRAPH IS FROM STUTTGART NOTES).

Support the artists and/or their families! (Martin Pugh's site seems to be no longer operating). All Steamhammer titles are still available & WELL worth acquiring. The Repertoire CD's are still floating, I think, so do yourself a favor & buy them & hope some of the royalities line the right pockets. Don't know where to start? If you don't own the first album (self-titled aka but not called "Reflection"), it is one of the mighty, and its two follow-ups are royally excellent as well.

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!