There are only a handful of bands that I would trave more than a few hundred miles to see. Since 1978, third on that list would be The Radiators. Now, after 33 years, The Radiators are calling it quits. Ed Volcker, the band’s keyboardist and principle songwriter made the call.
Like the Grateful Dead, The Radiators tried hard to make record albums, but they’re a touring band, most comfortable—and at their best—playing live in front of an audience. “Zig-Zagging through Ghostland” was as close to a hit as The Radiators ever saw.
The Krewe of Mystic Orphans and Misfits (MOM)‘s annual masquerade balls in New Orleans were not to be missed. Similarly, the Krewe of Druids, Alchemists, and Dervishes (DAD)‘s private shows—around Halloween—in the Twin Cities ran for 25 years. Starting with the Halloween 1986 show at the Metrodome Radisson through last year’s show at the Fine Line, these shows were among The Radiators’ finest.
Ever since the mid-1980s there has been a very strong connection between the Twin Cities and the Radiators. It’s fitting, then, that the band staged a three-day stand at the Cabooze on the Minneapolis West Bank, its home away from home. As luck would have it, these shows fell on 12-14 May 2011, seven weeks after my open-heart surgery to repair the mitral valve. The Thursday and Saturday Cabooze shows would be the first test of how I managed packed—and I mean packed; the Cabooze was way over capacity for both shows—club shows after major surgery. Even though the shows occurred two weeks ago, I’m only now getting it together enough to be able to write about them. I couldn’t believe the shows were as outstanding as I remember, so I wanted to wait for the recordings to become available before writing anything. The recordings of the shows I went to—Thursday and Saturday—were actually better than I remember. Much better. And Friday’s recording makes me wish I had made the trifecta.
Thursday’s show featured Peter Ostroushko sitting in on fiddle the entire night. Because of that, I’d have to say it was my favorite. There were no highlights—both of the shows were simply stellar—but I have to say seeing Ostroushko on the Stones’ “Paint It Black” followed immediately by Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love” left my head just about as frayed as his bow.
The Radiators will close it all out at The Last Watusi shows at Tipitina’s on Thursday, 9 June 2011 (acoustic show) and electric shows Friday, 10 June 2011 and Saturday, 11 June 2011. All three shows will be webcast on iClips. Too bad iClips uses Flash.
Here are the Cabooze setlists:
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Set one
- Bring Me The Head Of Isaac Newton
- Roll Me Over
- Smoking Hole
- What’s Going On
- The Train Is Off The Track
- Hot Dog
- Crazy Mona
- Fine Like Wine
- Crazy Mona
- Run Red Run
- Fall Of Dark
- You Can’t Keep No Secrets From The Holy Ghost
- Little Sadie
Set two
- Introduction
- Barnburner
- Diamond Joe
- Little Paradise
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Dragon’s Blood
- Lost Radio
- Parchman Farm
- Delia’s Gone
- Paint It Black
Encore
- Sunshine Of Your Love
- Jambalaya
Friday, 13 May 2011
Set one
- Monkey Meet
- Girl From The North Country
- Wild And Free
- Murder In My Heart
- Papaya
- Hot Lube
- Love Trouble
- Red Dress
- From Me To You
- Rollercoaster
- Jump Back
- Sunglasses On
- My Creole Belle
- Soul On Fire
- Ace In The Hole
- Death Of The Blues
Set two
- I Don’t Speak Love
- Deep In My Voodoo
- Make Fire
- Burning Down The House
- She’s 19 Years Old
- 19th Nervous Breakdown
- Good Things
- Lucinda
- Theme From The Magnificent Seven
- Cissy Strut
Encore
- Reefer Man
- You Rascal You
- Ain’t No Grave
- I Walked With A Zombie
- Screwloose
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Set one
- Last Getaway
- Light My Pipe
- Devil’s Dream
- Daddy’s Coming Home
- Number Two Pencil
- Further On Up The Road
- Creeping Vine
- Hold Back The Flood
- Jigsaw
- Tell Me How Do You Feel
- Hardcore
- Pump It Up
- More Trouble Coming Everyday
- Let’s Dance Let’s Shout
- Hardcore
Set two
- Salty Jane
- Let The Red Wine Flow
- River Run
- Morning Dew
- Stealin’ A Feeling
- Danang
- I’ve Got A Feeling
- It’s Your Thing
- Mr. Big Stuff
- I’ve Got A Feeling
- Chick’s To Young To Fry
- Like Dreamers Do
Encore
- Going Up The Country
- Crazy Mixed Up World
- Psychotic Reaction
- Rosie
Here are the links to Randy Vogel’s soundboard recordings for nugs.net:
0 responses. Comments closed for this article.