One of the two or three best shows of the best touring year of a halfway decent rock band is on sale now in glorious soundboard format. What it is: canonical versions of 'Taste' and 'AC/DC Bag,' the bustout of 'Sneakin' Sally' after eight long years, a goofy '500 Miles' cover in the middle of 'Harpua,' an unfinished 20-minute 'Hood' so good you won't mind that it turns into 'My Soul,' and a half-hour improvisatory encore including a wild 'Frankenstein' and a triumphant 'Sally' reprise. An ideal introduction to the band as well - your digital stocking-stuffer for the young music fan in your family, right there.
I got my first copy of this show on XL-II from Dave Rainie and company at a local tape-trading party up in Porter Square in January '98, something like two weeks after the show - we daisy-chained a stack of tape decks and spun five or six simultaneous copies. It sounded perfect to me. I first heard electric Miles Davis (Live Evil, not exactly the easy stuff!) a few weeks later, and my destiny was written. Some of my fondest memories of college, those. Heh: I didn't even know where Porter Square was back then. Some days I think I still don't.
