UMR is proud to announce PETE TOWNSHEND LIVE > IN CONCERT 1985-2001 an expanded 14-CD box set and digital set featuring seven long-out-of-print live albums by Pete Townshend.
Newly remastered by Jon Astley at Close To The Edge, the set gathers together for the first time all of the live solo recordings that were only available via Pete Townshend’s website, Eel Pie. All of the albums have been out of print for two decades.
The box set features expanded deluxe packaging in a CD-size hard slip case and tray with new art by longtime Townshend collaborator Richard Evans, including updated gatefold CD wallets, and a 28-page booklet with sleeve notes by Who and Townshend archivist Matt Kent, a new exclusive foreword by Pete Townshend, plus rare photos and memorabilia.
The live shows included in the box set are Pete Townshend’s Deep End live at Brixton Academy in London recorded on the 1st and 2nd November 1985 and featuring David Gilmour of Pink Floyd on guitar, a live full rendition of Pete’s album Psychoderelict and more recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, 7th August 1993 during Pete’s only full solo tour, an intimate show from The Fillmore in San Francisco on 30th April 1996 around the time of his first solo compilation album CoolWalkingSmoothTalkingStraightSmokingFireStoking, Pete returned to his old stomping ground for the first time in 30 years for a live show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 9th November 1998; there are also two nights at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, usually home to ballet and modern dance, presenting music from Life House. It was the only time a full Life House show has been attempted and the only time some of those songs were ever performed, and finally, two shows from the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California (where the Tommy musical first ran) on the 22nd and 23rd of June 2001.
The shows included in this boxset were all previously released online through Pete’s company, Eel Pie; there was only one run of each CD, and they all quickly became collector’s items. While Townshend has often performed short solo sets for charitable causes for, amongst others, Amnesty International, The Prince’s Trust and The Who’s own Double O charity which helps victims of domestic abuse and those suffering from addiction, full solo shows have been few and far between. When Pete has put on an entire solo show, the set lists have been picked from his own output, including specific Who songs, and cover versions of artists who have influenced him over the years.
Speaking of performing solo or performing with a band that wasn’t The Who, Pete Townshend said “I always have too much to do, too much responsibility, and not enough time. I have to live enough life to provide me with inspiration and context for my songs, I have to then spend enough time in my home studio finessing songs so they feel worthy of my band (The Who), then I have to re-record them with that band, then speak eloquently about them to the media, justifying my creative divergences, then I must tour endlessly behind the new music, continuing to celebrate the old stuff as well, and then start all over again. The idea that I would do all that for The Who and then do it for myself as well is simply plain insane. And yet for a while I tried. It didn’t go well. One career is enough.”
As Who and Townshend archivist Matt Kent puts it, “When Pete Townshend plays a solo show it isn’t just a concert, it is an EVENT. These CDs represent just how good these events are.”
PETE TOWNSHEND
LIVE > IN CONCERT 1985-2001
DISC ONE: Brixton Academy, London, 1 & 2 November 1985
Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
Won’t Get Fooled Again
A Little Is Enough
Secondhand Love
That’s Alright Mama
Behind Blue Eyes
The Shout
Harlem Shuffle
Barefootin’
After The Fire
Love On The Air
Midnight Lover
Blue Light
I Put A Spell On You
I’m One
DISC TWO: Brixton Academy, London, 1 & 2 November 1985
Driftin’
Magic Bus
Save It For Later
Eyesight To The Blind
Walkin’
Stop Hurting People
The Sea Refuses No River
Boogie Stop Shuffle
Face The Face
Pinball Wizard
Give Blood
Night Train
DISC THREE: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NYC, 7 August 1993
Intro
English Boy
Meher Baba M3
Let’s Get Pretentious
Meher Baba M4 [Signal Box]
Early Morning Dreams
I Want That Thing
Intro : Outlive The Dinosaur
Outlive The Dinosaur
Gridlife
Flame [Demo]
Now And Then
I Am Afraid
Gridlife 2
Don’t Try To Make Me Real
Intro : Predictable
Predictable
Flame
Meher Baba M5 [Vivaldi]
Fake It
Intro : Now And Then [Reprise]
Now And Then [Reprise]
Baba O’Riley [Demo]
English Boy [Reprise]
DISC FOUR: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NYC, 7 August 1993
Pinball Wizard / See Me Feel Me / Listening To You
Let My Love Open The Door
Rough Boys
Behind Blue Eyes
The Kids Are Alright
Keep Me Turning
Eminence Front
A Little Is Enough
You Better You Bet
Face The Face
Won’t Get Fooled Again / Let’s See Action
Magic Bus
DISC FIVE: The Fillmore, San Francisco, 30 April 1996
Let My Love Open The Door
English Boy
Drowned
The Shout
I Put A Spell On You
Cut My Hair
Sheraton Gibson
I’m One
Heart To Hang Onto
Parvardigar
A Legal Matter
DISC SIX: The Fillmore, San Francisco, 30 April 1996
A Friend Is A Friend
I Am An Animal
All Shall Be Well
Slit Skirts
Eyesight To The Blind
Driftin’ Blues
Now And Then
Rough Boys
I’m A Boy
Magic Bus
DISC SEVEN: Shepherds Bush Empire, London, 9 November 1998
On The Road Again
A Little Is Enough
Pinball Wizard
Drowned
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
You Better You Bet
Behind Blue Eyes
Baby Don’t You Do It
English Boy
Three Steps To Heaven
Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
Sheraton Gibson
Substitute
I Am An Animal
North Country Girl
DISC EIGHT: Shepherds Bush Empire, London, 9 November 1998
(She’s A) Sensation
A Friend Is A Friend
Now And Then
Let My Love Open The Door
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
Acid Queen
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Magic Bus
I’m One
DISC NINE: Sadler’s Wells, London, 25 & 26 February 2000
One Note
Purcell (Quick Movement)
Teenage Wasteland
TIme Is Passing
Love Ain’t For Keeping
Goin’ Mobile
Greyhound Girl
Tragedy
Mary
I Don’t Even Know Myself
Bargain
Gettin’ In Tune
Pure And Easy
Baba O’Riley – Orchestral
DISC TEN: Sadler’s Wells, London, 25 & 26 February 2000
Baba O’Riley
Hinterland Rag
Behind Blue Eyes
Let’s See Action
Sister Disco
Relay
Who Are You
Join Together
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Tragedy Explained
The Song Is Over
Can You Help The One You Really Love?
DISC ELEVEN: La Jolla Playhouse, 22 June 2001
Pinball Wizard
Let My Love Open The Door
Heart To Hang Onto
Cut My Hair
Slit Skirts
Drowned
Greyhound Girl
Tattoo
The Sea Refuses No River
DISC TWELVE: La Jolla Playhouse 22, June 2001
Saint James Infirmary
Eminence Front
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Behind Blue Eyes
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Electric)
DISC THIRTEEN: La Jolla Playhouse, 23 June 2001
Pinball Wizard
Let My Love Open The Door
Heart To Hang Onto
Cut My Hair
Slit Skirts
Drowned
Greyhound Girl
Tattoo
Collings
Eminence Front
DISC FOURTEEN: La Jolla Playhouse, 23 June 2001
Sheraton Gibson
Won’t Get Fooled Again
I’m One
Behind Blue Eyes
Driftin’ Blues
Eyesight To The Blind
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Electric)
