husker_du1984-06-23.flac16

Husker Du
1984-06-23
Venue: Unknown
Location: Maxwell’s, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

01 Something I Learned Today
02 It’s Not Funny Anymore
03 From the Gut
04 Wheels
05 Everything Falls Apart
06 Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill
07 I Apologize
08 Books About UFO’s
09 If I Told You
10 What’s Going On
11 Broken Home, Broken Heart
12 Diane
13 In a Free Land
14 Statues
15 Eight Miles High

Source: Unknown

This is an audience recording of a firestorm.  Such a sound cannot be captured on a mere cassette tape, but I think a bit of the mania is preserved here for all you Husker Duskers.  This was another packed-to-the-gills night in the backroom of Maxwell’s and the show starts with Bob telling the crowd that there would be no encore... they wouldn’t be able to leave the room and maneuver their way back in through the wall of bodies.  This show took place just a few weeks before the release of Zen Arcade... I’m sure the tour was planned to promote the album, but SST’s pressing and distribution had been delayed.
Memoryville:
If you’ve read Michael Azerrad’s wonderful book, “Our Band Could Be Your Life” you have some idea of how hand-to-mouth the touring circuit was for a band like Husker Du.   I’m sure they were happy to get a decent payday; six bucks each from 220 sardines, maybe 20% going to the opening act... that would be about $1000 for the headliner.  The bands also got food and drink at cost - it was Maxwell’s policy to charge them 1/3 of the menu/bar prices for whatever they consumed (and then only if the bartenders actually bothered to jot it down on their tab - a nod and a smile goes a long way).
I introduced myself to Bob Mould early in the evening (I was supposed to interview the band... I’ll get to that later) and he told me how “honored” he was that Steve Fallon had booked them into a “Pop Shrine” like Maxwell’s (his words).  He was just so appreciative and pumped-up about the gig and it turned out to be the start of a long friendship and business relationship between Bob and Steve.  ‘Eight Miles High’ had come out a couple months earlier and was in heavy rotation at the club.  Bob told me that their new DOUBLE album would be out in a couple of weeks.  Wow, a double album.  And they had studio time booked in a few weeks to record the follow-up.  Wow, a follow-up to an as-yet-unreleased double-album.  How cool is that?  Needless to say, they were on a roll.
During these years I had a short stint as a critic at The New York Rocker and was asked by a guy to interview Husker Du for a short-lived audio cassette magazine - I think it was called Bang!  The guy was supposed to bring his portable cassette recorder over to the club in the early evening for me to conduct this interview (for which I was completely unprepared).  He didn’t show up as scheduled and once I started deejaying at 10:00 I figured I was off the hook so... party time!  (The bands paid 1/3 of the bar prices, but employees drank for free and I took full advantage).  The show was incredible.  I was completely wasted by the end of the night and as we were shooing-out the last of the hardcore stragglers this guy from Bang! shows up with his battery-operated portable and... me du husker innervu.
OK.  It’s 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning, the club is closed, a handful of “insiders” are hanging out after-hours and I sit down with Bob and Grant at the bar in the empty back room to conduct a fucking interview.  “So, wha’ does Husker Du mean?” I skillfully queried.  Grant blessed me with a patient answer.  I asked about their new album... both guys offered enthusiastic replies.  And as I struggled to conjure Baba Wawa moment #3 my friend Darren came to my rescue.  Somehow he knew they were big fans of professional wrestling and the three of them started talking about “the only sport that’s NOT fixed!”  And for the next hour they talked about nothing else.  I gave the tape to Mr. Bang! a couple of days later (I spot-checked the thing and could be heard giggling in the background like a complete idiot throughout).  He later opined that it was “a weird interview, but kind of interesting.”  He never asked me to interview another band.
I love Husker Du.
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 01.flac:9ca37ea77b804aec111eb6e9a8543275
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 02.flac:1d886c5bb677b4d1f05966d25661531f
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 03.flac:6a2e523e50d543f4bc8ee86b4e57d012
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 04.flac:1986c06a8a1ec630efc0ec0a873201aa
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 05.flac:c696538b5a62442e28ffdc9bb8ed4768
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 06.flac:4a7b3a0c8d0c601fba69d6cbdb3b3b2b
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 07.flac:a5be1024ac039eefcb7349b8d22d9c6b
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 08.flac:6c4ab05d7cda370191bc8c85b38832d6
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 09.flac:d67aa6433b0f16ae84d6865d97e16259
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 10.flac:7dcd0836aa0562d76e96288b75996059
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 11.flac:f95c8fb8808ac0f1c0670658f43dd71d
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 12.flac:b720ecaf8b5953ff669926c64299dc4f
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 13.flac:efd59333b689e5c26e025ce7ddeb3679
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 14.flac:27a65bd22c840e40a3a46ab31efcd056
Husker Du 1984-06-23 track 15.flac:c1d2bea3c0ff82c1163dd805dc3a94c5