Hüsker Dü: Live At The Lawrence Opera House in Lawrence, KS 05-12-84
Before we get started, I’d like to thank KJHK for making this all possible. Now the band that you’ve been waiting for! Please give a warm, Opera House welcome for, SST recording artists, Hüsker Dü!
May 12th, 1984 was the first time that I ever saw Hüsker Dü. Since I’d dutifully purchased and absorbed all of their albums (being particularly blown away by Metal Circus, easily my most played record the Fall and Winter of 1983) I thought I knew what I was in for. I knew dick.
Not only had I never experienced a band that had so mastered the art of inserting those unrelenting song blocks into their set, but an amazing 13 of the 19 songs they play here (and there were more that my tape recorder missed) were unreleased by them at the time. As a result I spent the next two months playing and replaying this tape in an unwitting prep session not just for their MegaHugeAwesomeDouble LP Zen Arcade (from which they played 7 songs), but also for their HowManyFuckingGreatTunesCanTheyWrite? followup New Day Rising (5 songs here) which was released only 6 months later.
The Lawrence Opera House (now known as Liberty Hall with a great adjacent video store — ask for Doug!) was a big boomy venue with a cool balcony and decrepit charm to spare. As a result the sound here is kind of echoey, but the mix is solid and the Hüskers are tight as hell. If you’re put off at all by the audio don’t fret; I trucked up to Kansas City for their gig the next night as well and, while the set was largely the same, I managed to capture about 6 more songs with a fuller overall sound. That recording will be coming along soon enough so, you know, watch this space for links.
No flyer, but here’s a review of the show from issue #5 of Lisa “Zero” Kelley’s local ‘zine National Priorities:
Hüsker Dü: Live At The Lawrence Opera House in Lawrence, KS 05-12-84 (192 kbps)
01 Something I Learned Today (2:06)
02 It’s Not Funny Anymore (1:47)
03 From The Gut (1:21)
04 Wheels (1:46)
05 Everything Falls Apart (1:47)
06 The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill (3:16)
07 I Apologize (3:29)
08 Books About UFOs (2:40)
09 Folklore (1:31)
10 If I Told You (2:07)
11 What’s Going On (3:19)
12 Somewhere (2:28)
13 Pink Turns To Blue (2:20)
14 Newest Industry (2:48)
15 Broken Home, Broken Heart (1:56)
16 Diane (3:53)
17 Masochism World (2:32)
18 Eight Miles High (Byrds) (5:03)
19 Statues (Incomplete) (1:59)
I can hear myself talking to you between some of the songs. It’s too bad this gets cut off at the end; my tape of the show has me saying “fucking awesome, so fucking awesome” as “Helter Skelter” trailed off….if I recall correctly, I babysat both tape recorders in the balcony as you and Jack went down to the main floor. I apologize to the inattention given to your tape recorder–I thought you had a 60-minute cassette running when I thought it was a 90 minute set.
Here’s a set list I snagged from either of the two shows–I believe it is the KC show:
http://mentalexcursions.org/wiki/images/c/c3/Huskerdu-setlist.jpg
> http://mentalexcursions.org/wiki/images/c/c3/Huskerdu-setlist.jpg
Cool posting, love the show. I also liked seeing the setlist, I have never heard the Russian Safari song, you wouldn’t happen to have a tape of that one?
Thanks alot for the Husker show – was definately new to me. Since I know alot of fellow Husker Du fanatics who’d love to get their hands on that one, would it be possible for you to trade this show in a lossless format (.wav or flac) with me? (Same would go for Black Flag, Saccharine Trust, Tom Troccoli’s Dog: Live At The Lawrence Opera House in Lawrence, KS 09-29-84 – i love SST!)
Thanks alot!
DD
“Cat”, “Old Mil” and “Russian” were not played at either here or the Lawrence show (both of which I’ve recorded in their entirities. The set list wound up to be a misleading red herring. Huskerphiles–whose handwriting is that?
I’m sending the last part of the show to Jason tonight so everyone can have the complete set.