Van the man captured at his peak performance
This album has been a long time favourite of mine. This is the closest it gets to seeing him live. And when actually seeing him live wasn't always a guarantee that you would get a great performance. But in this recording the microphones and recorder have probably captured him at his peak!
There is a lot to say about the performance of the band and Van himself. One thing is for sure: the music comes to life in a way that I have not witnessed on any of his studio recordings. Yes, the strings and horns are sometimes so slightly off-tune and the rhythm has its quirky sloppy moments. And of course Van's voice is something of an acquired taste at times.
But when it all glues together, and thats probably >95% of the time on this recording, it is an amazingly groovy, bluesy, swinging record that draws you into the recording venue and into the music. And it has been perfectly captured by the recording.
I've often played songs like Cypress Avenue or Listen To The Lion from this album to friends to demonstrate them how captivating a good recording played in a good system can be. This is a masterpiece of 'being there' and 'experiencing it'.
There is one 'but': this pressing was a bit disappointing...
I have an original release for, who knows, maybe 30 years now. I've played it so many times that I thought "lets buy the re-issue to have an even fresher experience of this recording". The opposite was true: my original release sounds more open en dynamic than this re-issue. And even though it has annoying clicks and pops from dust and some scratches, I still prefer to listen to that one.
That said: even this release sounds great on its own. It still is able to pour all that musical energy into your room and I would highly recommend it.
