Peter Gabriel : The Lostbrook Tape Series - Volume 12

 I didn’t have a ticket to this concert, but I received an offer I couldn’t refuse – a first row seat directly in front of Peter Gabriel’s piano for his first gig as a solo artist!  It was a privilege to witness this historic event from such a location.  
We already knew that Genesis could survive without Gabriel, and all doubts about Peter were erased when he released his first solo album eight days before this concert.  The “visible’ band that included Larry Fast, Steve Hunter, and Tony Levin was already first class, but the addition of Robert Fripp, even though he was hidden  behind the stage, was a prog fan’s dream.  Gabriel took to the stage wearing a simple sweat suit, sat down at the piano in front of me, and played the opening chords of “Here Comes the Flood.”  
Near the end of the first verse, Fripp’s signature sound appeared out of nowhere, and the crowd roared in approval as it welcomed back not one, but two progressive rock icons.  If I craned my neck at just the right angle, I could see Fripp behind the amplifiers, and even convinced myself that he was tilting his head back at me.  I thought the concert was spectacular, but just before “Down the Dolce Vita,” Gabriel declared, “It’s been a total zero.”  I think he was unhappy with a few things:  a tape machine that malfunctioned, a slip-up when he introduced “Humdrum” instead of “Why Don’t We”, and the introduction of “Ain’t that Peculiar” as “Ain’t it Peculiar.”  He may have also been upset with the relentless calls for Genesis songs.  I thought I detected a little extra anger in the Rael character, especially when he hurled the mic stand across the stage.  In my opinion, Peter didn’t need to be concerned.  His performances didn’t just get better over the years.  They improved exponentially.

March 05, 1977
Capital Theater
New York, NY
USA

Recording Equipment: Internal Mic - Sanyo tape deck - Alesis TapeLinkUSB - Audacity - WAV
Taper: Lostbrook
Mastering: CQ

01 Here Comes The Flood (piano version)
02 On The Air
03 Moribund The Burgermeister
04 Waiting For The Big One
05 Why Don't We
06 Excuse Me
07 Humdrum
08 Solsbury Hill
09 Ain't That Peculiar
10 Indigo   (splice tape flip)
11 All Day And All Of The Night
12 Here Comes The Flood
13 Slowburn
14 Modern Love
15 Down The Dolce Vita
16 Back In NYC

Tapers Story:

I first became enchanted by live performances after talking my way into the taping of Dick Cavett’s Woodstock Show on August 18, 1969 at WABC studios in New York. This was quite an accomplishment for an eleven-year-old without a ticket. My first major concert was The Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden on July 25, 1972. I was so impressed with the enormity of that event that I jumped at the chance to acquire some of the vinyl bootlegs from the Exiles on Main Street tour. These recordings surely planted a seed in my mind, but unfortunately, I waited over 25 concerts before attempting my first recording in late 1975. Over the next ten years, I recorded approximately 125 concerts in the New York City area. In 1985, I moved to Virginia and recorded sporadically, accumulating a few dozen shows in the Washington DC area over the next 15 years.

My motive for taping has always been selfish. I simply wanted to enjoy the performances over and over again. I didn’t realize that I was recording both musical and personal history or that I was witnessing the high-water mark of progressive music. I thought it would last forever, but in the back of my mind, I must have known that I had something special. With one or two exceptions that I later regretted, I refused to trade tapes. Very few friends were ever given copies. I have never considered selling them – I have too much respect for the artists. I protected my tapes for decades, never knowing what to do with them as they sat dormant on a shelf. In 2010, I found the time to make digital transfers of my tapes and rediscovered the amazing moments I had recorded. I also found an answer: I needed to get these tapes to my friends that were with me, whose history I had also captured, and to others who would appreciate this collection. 

My equipment was low-tech but yielded surprisingly good results. Almost all of my recordings prior to 1989 were made with the built-in condenser mic on a Sanyo desktop cassette recorder (model unknown). 
When the unit began to fail in 1977, I replaced it with what I thought was a better recorder, but the tapes were distorted. I quickly purchased a new Sanyo that was identical to my first and never again attempted an upgrade. In 1989, I bought a smaller, Walkman-type unit – a Panasonic RX-SR29, which performed nicely with its condenser mic. I was never interested in producing soundboard-quality tapes, and was almost always happy with my “souvenirs.” I used TDK tapes initially, then Maxell.

Recording a concert was always an adventure. Through trial and error, I arrived at the following procedure: 
To get past the ticket-takers, I wore loose pants and stuffed the recorder down the front where the odds of being frisked were minimal. I wore a loose t-shirt or sweatshirt to cover the “bulge” and held my breath. The dead batteries and cheap tape I kept in the recorder were occasionally confiscated, but my friends were already inside with the real supplies. Once inside, I would meet my friends and exchange the batteries and tape. We had excellent seats for many concerts, but that put us in close proximity to ushers and stage security. We needed to be in a constant state of vigilance, and we were also busy with the timing of the tape-flips. I would occasionally take photographs with a cheap camera, which gave me additional equipment to juggle. Without fail, someone in my row would be in the wrong seat, and an usher would have to sort it out. It was all I could do to keep the recorder hidden without covering the microphone. It was always chaotic, but the reward was great as we listened to the concert again on the way home.

I’m indebted to all those who assisted and inspired me along the way: Gary, Steve, and Paul/Rich, Rob, and Paul/John, Sue, Al, and Rich/Jody, Laurie, Danny, and Martha/Geri and Allison/Howie and Linda/Kathryn. Thanks to Mike for all of his efforts. Most of all, thanks to my family – K, M, E, and B – for their support and patience.

You are cordially invited to enjoy these time capsules. There is always room for one more in our row, but if we are loud or talkative, please don’t judge us too harshly. We were swept away by the magic of the moment, and we hope you will be too.

Lost Brook
January 2011