The Meat Puppets were simply one of the most unlikely but ultimately rewarding redemption stories of the entire year of 2007 in music. When we saw them perform at Knitting Factory in August of 2007, the band was tight, focused and performed a powerful set. The challenge for this band in 2008 has been to maintain that level of proficiency.
At Terminal 5 on Friday night, the Meat Puppets had the unenviable task of opening for two outstanding bands with strong fan bases and also had to begin their set at 7:30. Despite the restrictions, the band continued the momentum from last year and added something old and new — a reckless and devil-may-care energy to their music. The result was a set of standard Pups with some nice surprises and twists mixed in. While Johnny Cash’s “Tennessee Stud” was an inspired cover choice performed well, a cover of the Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” was a misstep that ended abruptly. “Up On the Sun” and its extended jam continues to be one of the set highlights, but the harder and faster version of “Lake of Fire” seemed somewhat unfocused. Overall though, the Meat Puppets remain one of the best resurrection stories in modern music, and if the band continues to perform energetic sets without allowing the recklessness to fuel discord, they may remain a vital unit for years.
We recorded the set from the same location as the two previous recordings. However, given that the venue was only half full for this performance, the recording has virtually no crowd noise and excellent clarity. Enjoy!
This recording is now available to Download in FLAC and MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].
Meat Puppets
2008-09-26
Terminal 5
New York, NY USA
Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Floor – Dead Center 100 Feet from Stage
Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-09-30
Setlist:
[total time 56:48]
01 Buckaroo
02 Sam
03 Up On The Sun
04 Snow
05 Touchdown King
06 Lost
07 The Whistling Song
08 Bali Hai
09 Coming Down
10 Look At The Rain
11 Oh, Me
12 Tennessee Stud (Johnny Cash)
13 Tomorrow Never Knows (Beatles)*
14 Lake of Fire
If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Meat Puppets, visit their website, and purchase their Official Releases directly from the Anodyne Records website [HERE].
Thanks. Is there a definitive setlist for thursday night? or a recording?
tenn. stud was written by johnny driftwood. cash did record a well known cover on the american recordings album; but it isn’t his composition.
actually it was jimmy…none the less, it was my highlight of the meat puppets show.
Does anybody know if their ATP performance was taped? They played their II album completely!!!
Track #8 is “Bali Hai” from South Pacific, lyrics modified at the whim of Mr Kirkwood, but “Bali Hai” nonetheless, a longstanding favorite cover by the Meat Puppets.
Peace, Adam