Disco de Wire: “Live at the Roxy/Live at the CBGB Theatre”

Though much concert documentation has been made of early punk groups such as The Ramones or the Sex Pistols, lesser known groups have not had their live material unearthed in official form. Wire is one of the most important punk/post punk groups from the time but has been reticient to release live recordings until recently ("Wire on the Box:1979"). By 1979, Wire were clearly in the post punk camp. It is fascinating to hear them progress to this stage live. The first disc includes two full concerts from 1977 from the Roxy where Wire are clearly still in the traditional punk phase (including the unreleased Ramones take off "Mary is a D---") but with later traits to come (classic songs such as "Strange" come off well). The sound quality is reasonable for a recording of this nature. The 2nd disc (I had heard about the concert from a friend who was in the scene at the time, great to hear it live)is from CBGB's from 1978 and unfortunately, the sound recording takes a nose dive in quality, which is a shame because by this time Wire had fully evolved into the band it would become (highlights include "I am the Fly"). However, in releasing the full concerts, instead of the usual greatest hits live or tampering with the sound, Wire has done the listening public a favor. This is assuredly the way they sounded live but is furthest from nostalgia (Wire still record and perform) but rather a blueprint for future bands who decided to take their sound from the sonic minimalism of punk and into something more sophisticated and essential.

This is a collection of three Wire performances, two at the Roxy in London and one at the CBGB Theatre in New Work. Ultimately I found this release very disappointing, especially considering its high price and the terrible sound quality of the CBGB performance.

On the first disc are two sets recorded at The Roxy in London, recorded some time before the release of their debut album, Pink Flag. They feature identical setlists and were performed to an almost empty room, so there is little audience interaction. The liner notes reveal that these recordings do have some historical value, however, as they were instrumental in getting the band signed to EMI.

On the second disc there is a short set they performed at the legendary CBGB Theatre in New York, featuring material from their first two albums. This performance was recorded by a radio station, but very badly! The sound quality is just awful, making me seriously regret my purchase.

I have recently read the great 33 1/3 book on Pink Flag which references these Roxy recordings more than a few times, so I had to hear them for myself. I have Behind The Curtain so I had an idea, I guess, what to expect, but boy was I still in for a surprise. Wire are really rough on the 1st disc, with some early songs (jettisoned by the time Pink Flag came around) somewhat of an embarrassment, and some of the Pink Flag material crudely played (Lowdown is far too fast, not as heavy, something like 12XU is too slow, Mr Suit is far more imprecise than you know it as.) That said, as a document to 'how it came to be' - Pink Flag never came from NOTHING it came from ideas integrated into traditional rock combo music (note their non-ironic cover of Glad All Over!) and as a history lesson it's fascinating. As something to put on when ya'all feel like rockin', it's maybe not as successful.

Now the 2nd disc I think will get a lot of play around here. In deference to the reviewer on here, yes, it is pretty roughly recorded - it's slightly distorted and the mix isn't that fantastic. But as a document on Wire's first trip to the U.S. - post Pink Flag, perhaps at their peak, this is a great listen. Most of the material is from the just-recorded Chairs Missing but because this was their first trip to the States they threw in some Pink Flag material (though not 12XU! They're STILL Wire). An example of what a great band they were is the live version of 106 Beats That - it's faster, mathematically almost 10% faster than the studio version! And it's really, really played with a lot of guts. It is also great to hear stuff like "Marooned" and "Men 2nd" without the production of Chairs Missing, just a raw rock band. Closing the set with a raucous yet precise version of "Mercy" - I always loved this song and never knew there was this much Rock Power in there!

So with shaky performances on one disc and shaky production on the 2nd, sure, you may not want to part with 20 bucks for this (though there are several used copies for less) - but if you're an obsessive 70s Wire fan, you cannot go wrong and I guarantee once you adjust to the weird radio sound on the '78 set you will love it very very much!