Warren Zevon
February 26, 1988
Olympia Theater
Dublin, Ireland
Master recording
Sony D-3 with stock mic ---> AGFA LNX 90
Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth adjusted transfer --->
M-Audio WAV capture --->
Adobe Audition ---> FLAC
01. [intro]
02. Lawyers, Guns and Money
03. Detox Mansion
04. Boom Boom Mancini
05. Johnny Strikes up the Band
06. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
07. Excitable Boy
08. Sentimental Hygiene
09. Accidentally Like a Martyr
10. Werewolves of London
11. The Factory
12. Veracruz
13. Carmelita
14. Play It All Night Long
15. Reconsider Me
16. Ain't That Pretty At All
17. Desperados Under the Eaves
18. Poor Poor Pitiful Me
19. Jeannie Needs a Shooter
I spent the first six months of 1988 living in Ireland, ostensibly to study, but more often hanging out and soaking up, if you will, all the wonderful elements of that wonderful land. More gracious people I have never encountered.
The music is great, too. I was lucky enough to see Luka Bloom, Paul Brady and Van Morrison while I was there (a surprise U2 gig got scrubbed at the last minute). But when Warren Zevon came through, a bunch of us had to go. By this point in the trip, my fellow students knew about my taping jones, having heard me talk endlessly about the tapes I knew would arrive from Springsteen's Tunnel of Love Express tour (they did!).
Good sound at the Olympia, but I wish I would have gotten around to transfering the master sooner. I recorded using Agfa LNX 90s, the only cassettes I could find at that point. They haven't held up as well as other brands, but overall the sound is remarkably good. It's the entire show, from start to finish. I've left off superfluous bits: the intro where I wish Kris a happy birthday, and send greetings to an old taper friend I'll call "Bob" (if you're reading, ping!). I also edited segments comprised solely of applause. Why does this matter?
Perhaps two years ago, someone upped a low-gen dupe over at Archive. There, you can stream and download, but here you're getting it off the master. My good friend Butterking answered the call on this one, gently cleaning up the sound. I was all over the place on the levels that night, so he corraled the outliers. In addition, his EQ gives a gentle boost to the upper end and shapes the low end.
A little back story: later in 1988, Warren stopped in Portland to play the Pine Street Theater. He greeted people afterward, and couldn't have been nicer. We chatted a bit about how "Jeannie Needs a Shooter" got completed, and I told him that I had dug the show in Dublin. That stopped him cold, and he got a bit downcast. "Which time," he asked? "Oh, in February, at the Olympia. It was a very good show," I told him. He appeared relieved, and explained that before he had gotten sober, he performed in Dublin and wasn't in very good shape. No such problem by 1988, obviously. He signed a handbill from the Pine Street gig, then he and Tim Schmit and I believe a fellow from the Holy Modal Rounders (!) took off together.
Thanks to "Bob" for safekeeping back when, and to Butterking for the transfer.