Opening for FoS.
Opening for FoS.
Bet al could get a mint for that silly suit compared to leather he tries to sell at auctions.
Late,
grmpysmrf
What synths were used with this touring lineup?
I remember when I saw Al’s suit I ran… I ran so far away.
What synths were used with this touring lineup?
This pic has done a lot to confirm what we were using. I had often thought that JD used a Roland String Machine but the synth in the pic is a Moog Opus-3.
Al used a Seq Circuits Pro-One but mostly for sequenced material. It was usually near his right hand on stage but in the pic it’s on the table to the left of the Opus-3. Since we were the opening act this night, we must have played a short set and therefore only used the Pro-One on one song, hence it’s position near the side of the stage.
I used a Moog Source 90% of the time. There’s a second keyboard below the Source which looks like a Casio CT-400 series. I only used the bottom keyboard for a couple of string things and for the piano part on Revenge so I wasn’t too particular. The Casio was a long-term rental, I used it a few times as I recall. Near the end of '82 I used a Yamaha SK20 for the bottom keyboard. In early '82, I used an Elka Rhapsody…which sounded fantastic but wasn’t very roadworthy.
If you look closely, you can also see Al’s Iceman guitar on stage, the same one he had in Special Affect.
Al’s stance in that pic is fantastic!
I threw on WS today in honour of this find.
Thanks for the pic Wempathy.
The people in the crowd at the stage really seem into it.
Not to make excuses, but the Park West brings that out I’m afraid. Beautiful venue, just the right size, great sound but kinda posh. If you want to sit on the main floor you have to grease the palms of the ushers. Drink prices are astronomical, etc.
Also, you were the opening act. Nobody figured Ministry would be a platinum selling band someday, they were probably all just thinking “When are these guys going to get off the stage so I can hear ‘I Ran’?”
cool. thanks wemp.
It’s cool, a lot of the bands you opened up for seemed to actually have a sound of that era that is still actually worth listening to. A Flock Of Seagulls, The Clash, Depeche Mode, etc. have a number of records with great tracks.
It’s cool, a lot of the bands you opened up for seemed to actually have a sound of that era that is still actually worth listening to. A Flock Of Seagulls, The Clash, Depeche Mode, etc. have a number of records with great tracks.
I know it’s been rumored that we opened for The Clash, and I had the great luck to actually see them twice, but I don’t recall opening for them. The headliners that come to mind that made the biggest impression on me were Tuxedomoon. Snakefinger too… because I used to listen to all the Ralph Records/Residents stuff back then and to actually see Snakefinger on stage, knowing that he didn’t tour a lot, was special.
I was just messing with R2. Opening bands rarely get much entusiasm unless they are well known at the time.
Usually true, but we were on our hometurf at the Park West and I do remember coming away from that show, and the afterparty at Jim & Dannie’s thinking that we really held our own that night.
Oh wow wempathy Nice! Thanks for sharing this with us I heard rumors their were live pic photos during the early days. This just now confirmed it’s true. Thanks!
al looks awkward in that suit. kinda looks like george (the drummer) from far away.
al looks awkward in that suit. kinda looks like george (the drummer) from far away.
Suits were de rigueur in '82. This was before everybody started dressing like farmers…like they do now.
Brilliant! Thank you for posting.
AFOS first and second albums were decent: I Ran, Telecommunication, Space Age Love Song, D.N.A., and Modern Love is Automatic.
D.N.A. won a Grammy, I believe.
Was Mike Score sporting that crazy seagull hair-do?
Was Mike Score sporting that crazy seagull hair-do?
I don’t recall but Cate tells me that he did indeed have the nutty hairdo at the show and at the afterparty, which I also don’t really recall. I do remember meeting him again in NYC by which time his hairstyle had been tamped down a bit.
When you guys were hanging out during Flock of Seagulls’ set, do you recall if, at any time during “Space Age Love Song”, Al leaned over to you and said, “This song would be really awesome if it was about Christmas Time”?
AFOS gets slagged off a lot, but the debut and ‘Listen’ are very good records, and the synths and guitar work of Paul Reynolds had an early influence on me as a budding musician. Their early Peel sessions are good, too. They did put out some stinkers after Reynolds left (“Who’s That Girl”), mainly because their sound became more pop-oriented after losing his signature guitar sound.
1002
Did “I Ran (So Far Away)” start that whole “Song Title (With Parenthetical Subtitle)” crap that seemed to get way out of hand in 80’s?