Marty Balin & the Wolfpack @ the Sweetwater (circa '89)

When boombox seeded his Marty Balin & the Wolfpack
concert a few days ago, it reminded me of a little
white cassette that has lain untouched in my tape
pile for sixteen years or so. During my days of
going to "party with Marty" at the Sweetwater, a
small but well-known club near his home in Marin at
the time, I had enjoyed one such show, and at its end
noticed a very quiet and unassuming person sitting
near me pull up his coat on the table to unveil a
tape recorder hidden underneath.

That explained the quiet 8'). I asked if he would
consider a trade for it, and thus a week or so after
the show I received a generic white C-90 with a
copy of the show. I wish _I_ had been quiet, because
at one point you'll clearly hear me say the song
selections were "really off the wall."

Listening to it just now, some sixteen years later, I
can understand why I thought that way. While I cannot
to my complete satisfaction say that this is the same
show as my review here, which would place the date
as July 15th, 1989, the setlist and certain elements
are very close (Kerry on guitar but very subdued;
Marty's vocal problems).

In fact, this could be Marty's debut with the Wolfpack.

At any rate, here's the review of that show: if not the
one here, most certainly very close to the same period --

*****************************************************

Marty Balin & the Wolfpack @ the Sweetwater 7/15/89
From hal Mon Jul 17 13:24:56 PDT 1989


The Sweetwater filled early, a squeezed mix of regular fans
and passers-by, where a look on the posters outside announced
to the curious that, in a small town more likely found in the
mountains than immediately off the Golden Gate Bridge,
a former lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane was performing
with the Wolfpack, and in a place that looked like a small
stand-up pub and little else.

Quite a few of the attracted had not heard of the planned
reunion tour, let alone the current band under which Marty
has performed recently, this time _sans_ the flash New York
guitarist and with a new name. But recognition came when
the newly confident Balin, who almost never opens with
Airplane songs, strode on stage with the beginning strains
of "Today." Since he played that at New George's recently,
and with Paul and Grace at the Summer of Love '87 Starship
reunion, it is easy to imagine the slow, dreamy ballad on
the setlist this fall.

He quickly dropped the memories, however, enjoying his
usual mixture of solo reliables like "Don't Mean Nothing"
with the odd KBC tune such as "Dream Motorcyle." Being the
Sweetwater, he had to play "Miracles" and even "Runaway";
the obligatory "Hearts" and the justly dreaded "Heartbeat,"
although I imagine Marty was singing it long before Don
Johnson. "Atlanta Lady" was welcome as usual. There were
even two new songs, "Freedom" supposedly on the new album;
hard to tell just yet what this will eventually sound
like, although the Wolfpack, a young east coast band,
know their history well and are nimble at catching the
elements that made Marty's ancient "Plastic Fantastic
Lover" a dance tune that transcended itself.

Now that he is out of the shadow of the other guitarist,
Kerry can be fast and melodic, and it easy to see why
Marty has chosen to work with him and the
keyboardist/saxophonist/oboeist -- Aviva's versatility
in switching instruments makes for a nice stage presence,
matched by the other female musician, Diane, olive-skinned
and with native American princess hairstyle, and plucking
away in tribute to Jack Casady on the bass.

This new confidence suits Balin, and he easily had the
crowd awake at 2:00 cheering to the encore "Volunteers,"
another surety of the Airplane setlist. Here, in his own
local, he was able to do it by himself, and if it took up
more of the attention, it did not detract from the songs
which kept his career alive. His voice was a bit strained,
as any singer with two bands, an album in the studio, and
a major tour ahead would be, but he was willing to give
it all for the small crowd of locals.

One other side of renewed success, however: his $7
cover is now up to $10. 8'(

hal

*****************************************************

This is not the complete concert, and several songs are
truncated; as expected in a stealth audience tape, the levels
can vary and there's even a dropout or two, most notable in
"Looking for Trouble."

But I'm actually rather happy with the quality! Crank it
up REALLY REALLY LOUD and the happy ambience of a small show
close to home comes through.

So enjoy! And continue the Marty & the Wolfpack torrent war 8').

Audience stealth cassette > 1st gen > WaveLab > CDWave > FLAC

halbroome@yahoo.com

An attempt at a setlist; I did not break it up into two CDs but
you can handily do so for burning if you use the noted "tape flip"
as your guide (besides, I like the idea of a "CD flip" 8')):

// To the Bitter End
Even Though
? Easy Now
Raining in Her Heart - Sound in the Night
Looking for Trouble [brief dropout]
Shock Me
Heartbeat
Runaway
Almost All of the Time
Turn Me Up
Stand Up //

[tape flip / CD 1 (11.1) > CD 2 (11.2)]

// Stand Up
Don't Give up the Fight
Don't Go Mess with my Girl
Dream Motorcycle
What Do You Really Like (We Dig Rock n' Roll)
?
Hearts
Distant Love
? //