Love With Johnny Echols (With The Crystal Teardrop support set)
The Fleece,
Bristol, UK

30th April 2026

Lineage:
Sound Professionals SP-CMC-9 cardioids > SP-SPSB-20 > Edirol R-07 (@24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2 > CDWave > TLH
Recorded front rail, just off centre

Patch for first 40 seconds of The Crystal Teardrop - steviedee recording:
Lineage - Roland R-07 > Sound Professionals TFB-2 > Cool Edit Pro 2

Main recording, transfer and artwork by boombox

THE CRYSTAL TEARDROP (43m13s):
1. Running Out Of Time
2. Colours Changing
3. Borrowed Time
4. Nine Times Nine
5. If I'm Right
6. Into The Unknown
7. Touch The Sun
8. It's Too Late
9. Last Chance
10. ...Is Forming
11. I'm Rowed Out (The Eyes cover)

THE CRYSTAL TEARDROP are:
Alexandra Rose - vocals, guitar
Leon Jones - guitar, electric sitar
Stuart Gray - keyboards
Ed Quigley - bass, vocals
Huw Woodward - drums

LOVE with JOHNNY ECHOLS (89m11s):
1. Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale
2. My Little Red Book
3. A House Is Not A Motel
4. Gazing
5. Stephanie Knows Who
6. Can't Explain
7. ¡Que Vida!
8. Your Mind And We Belong Together
9. Johnny B. Goode
10.You I'll Be Following
11.Orange Skies
12.Alone Again Or
13.And More
14.Andmoreagain
15.The Red Telephone
====DISC SPLIT FOR ENCLOSED ARTWORK====
16.Live And Let Live
17.You Set The Scene
18.Signed D.C.
19.Wonder People
20.Always See Your Face
21.7 And 7 Is

LOVE with JOHNNY ECHOLS are:
Johnny Echols – lead guitar, backing vocals
Rusty Squeezebox – guitar, vocals
Mike Randle – guitar, backing vocals
David "Daddy O" Green – drums
James Nolte – bass, backing vocals

boombox's notes may 2026:

The Crystal Teardrop had been on my radar for a while and did not disappoint. Clearly influenced by psychedelic and garage rock from the mid-60s, they would not sound out of place on the seminal 'Nuggets' compilation, sitting on the more melodic side of psychedelia with Indian influences, though they also reminded me of the energy of 80s mod revival bands like Makin' Time. Their debut album, bought at the show, is excellent and in concert, the songs really come to life. Love need no such introduction. Celebrating 60 years of the first two albums, slight variations of this iteration of the band have now been together for over thirty years and as we look forward to whatever they do to celebrate next year's 60th anniversary of "that" album, it seems like Johnny Echols shows little sign of slowing down. I was worried for him on the last tour, but he is looking fitter than he has in a while and is clearly loving these tours. Setlist was near perfect for me - nice change of set opener and IMHO 'Da Capo' is still the best Side A of any album ever made and we got nearly all of it. (I wish they would play 'The Castle' more often, though.)

Recording came out really well considering the location and the notoriously muddy and ear-splitting sound in the venue: in fact, the mix was pretty good for both bands. There was little to do on it really other than fades and a few odd loud claps to sort before bringing up the levels. TCT almost caught me out by just walking on stage, plugging in and playing. I got all the songs, but missed the intro jam, hence the need for the patch. Stuart's keyboards were initially pretty low, but came to the fore in a monster version of '...Is Forming', which I thought was going to morph into 'White Rabbit' at any moment. For Love, James' bass was very low on the night, which was a pity, as he has really grown in the band.

Please support both bands when they go on tour and buy your tickets early - we need live music experiences like this.

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

Images for this show: