[Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Weinberg. See her outstanding photography here]
John Vanderslice has been another steady favorite of this site (one of his performances from back in October appeared in our Top 25 Concert Moments of 2010) and that status is well-earned through his universally strong performances, outstanding songwriting, and engaging rapport with his crowds. Those qualities were all on display during this recent show at the Mercury Lounge, an epic 90+ minute performance that showed off some stripped-down versions of songs from his 2011 release, White Wilderness, including the brooding “Overcoat” with its boombox accompaniment, streaming below. As some fans sat onstage (Vanderslice set up extra chairs so some of the more vertically challenged could see), the veteran, together with percussionist Jason Slota, gave an outstanding set filled with classic hits and other highlights. Vanderslice kept things loose, chatting at times even during songs, and stopping once or twice to fix mistakes. No less than six guests jointed him onstage at various points, including opener Damien Jurado during the encore, and Ian Bjornstad during “Underneath the Leaves.” The show ended, in classic Mercury Lounge fashion, with Vanderslice, Slota and Jurado playing four songs unplugged from the center of the floor. Jurado proclaimed it “the best show of the tour,” and why should we disagree?
hi and lo recorded this set from our usual location in the venue with the Schoeps microphones. The sound quality is excellent, with the caveat that the four encore songs at the end, being unplugged and in the middle of the floor, are harder to hear and suffer from more crowd noise than the main set. Enjoy!
Stream “Overcoat”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/06 Overcoat.mp3]
Stream “Up Above the Sea”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/12 Up Above the Sea.mp3]
This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC or MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].
John Vanderslice
2011-05-12
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY, US
Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded and produced by hi and lo for nyctaper.com
Equipment: Schoeps MK4v > Nbox+ > Sony PCM-M10 @ 24 bit / 44.1 kHz
Location: ~20 ft from stage, at right stack
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>WaveLab 5 (eq/fades/dither)>FLAC v1.2.1 (Level 8) with TLH v2.6.0 (Build 168)
Tracks [Run Time 1:38:01]
01. Intro
02. Scorpio Rising
03. Convict Lake
04. The Parade
05. White Plains
06. Overcoat
07. Trance Manual
08. Pale Horses
09. Exodus Damage
10. Kookaburra
11. Do You Remember
12. Up Above the Sea
13. I’ll Never Live Up to You
14. Too Much Time
15. Underneath the Leaves
16. Thule Fog
17. White Dove
18. It’s Time to Go
19. (Encore Call)
20. Nikki Oh Nikki
If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT John Vanderslice, visit his website, and purchase his official releases from the links at his website [HERE].
We also recorded John’s set from the following night at Rock Shop and that will be posted within the next 24 hours.