(TV) Television, Vancouver, BC, June 25, 2015

[Bob Beatty <bobjb2002@yahoo.ca>]

Had the pleasure of attending (& recording) Television's Vancouver sho
w Thursday.
Setlist:1. 1880 or So2. Prove It3. Elevation4. Glory5. Torn Curtain6. Frict
ion7. Venus8. Persia9. Guiding Light10. Marquee Moon(Encore):11. See No Evi
l.........................................The one & only prior time I'd see
n/heard Tom play live was a solo acoustic show he played to a tiny audience
 (40 - 50?) in Vancouver back in 1990.I was somewhat disappointed then, wis
hing I could hear Tom play electric Fender instead. Twenty five years later
, my wish gets fulfilled, & Tom didn't disappoint.Highlights to these 
ears were Tom's soloing on Persia, & at the end of Torn Curtain (which remi
nds me of that recent Rip quote Keith found & posted.Rip QUOTE: ��I look at his hands and how he’s playing his guitar and I can��t grasp at how those notes make the sounds they do.")I too thoug
ht, during Torn Curtain, how does Tom wring / ring such unique & 
"sexy" sounds out of his guitar? Also, Tom on Marquee Moon was a highl
ight. That song already sounds epic on the album & recordings, but hea
ring/seeing it played live in person, its epic qualities are even more
 apparent. 
The sound mix was fairly good, not muffled or muddy as Russ & some others s
aid the Seattle show of a few days earlier was. The guitars, especially, we
re nice & clear. Fred's bass could have used a bit more volume, perhaps. An
d I wish Billy's drums had been more prominent in the mix.  One thing 
I was looking forward to was hearing Ficca's drumming live but he was left 
in the background too much, imo.  I've not ever seen Richard Lloyd pla
y live, but in video & audio live recordings  of Lloyd era Televi
sion, compared to Rip doing Lloyd's parts, Rip seems competent enough, but 
doesn't elicit "wow" responses in me the way Lloyd could do. But I'll 
happily accept Television (version 3, Rip era) than have no Television at a
ll.  And I wonder if one reason Television version-3'stouring so 
much nowadays & (to my benefit) even coming to my town located at
 a far edge of the known world for the first time, may be that Tom get
s along much better with Rip than Lloyd, & couldn't  easily conte
mplate being on the road with Lloyd nearly as much. 
Tom & the band appeared to be in a good mood & seemed appreciative of 
the audience's enthusiasm.  There were a number of occasions during th
e show when Tom seemed playing at the peak of his onstage creative abi
lities, 100% in the moment of creating, & he & his guitar  seemed as
 one. I was glad to get to witness that.
My major complaint was that along with justified enthusiasm from the audien
ce was too much unjustified rude, loud chattering in the middle of songs.
  Why can't people wait till it's between songs before talking lo
udly? Sheesh. Unfortunately, I ended up near some particularly loud -t
alkers & a few screamers, although they quieted down a bit b
y the second half of the show. I should have moved but was on the pack
ed floor, standing, & it didn't seem so easy to move.  I hope if 
there's a next time, that Television plays a Vancouver venue with
out a bar & without as many loud, rude drunks  jabbering mid-song
 &/or screaming at maximum volume.  
I was very pleased to hear the band to unexpectedly do "Glory." & wish
 they'd played more from "Adventure."  And in my fantasy world, if , b
y good fortune I'd been given the  opportunity to design the setlist, 
I'd have wanted to include Little Johnny Jewel, Kingdom Come (the Televisio
n version), Mi Amoré, Poor Circulation, & Breakin' In My Heart, a
mong others. Wouldn't have minded hearing a bunch of fave Tom solo songs, e
ither.  Can't have everrything!
I made an audio recording of the whole show. Aside from loud talkers somewh
at marring some songs, the audio quality turned out well. I used a a Z
oom H1 audio recorder which has good quality mics & does a good job.  
Once I do tracking on the file,  I'll upload it to a file hosting site
 & will share the link here, & will also post it to dimeadozen.or
g. -Bob







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