Seven Nights Of Pleasure (Mid Valley)
04 December 1990 – Budokan – Tokyo, Japan [MVR 406/407]06 December 1990 – Budokan – Tokyo, Japan [MVR 408/409]
09 December 1990 – Yoyogi Olympic Pool – Tokyo, Japan [MVR 410/411]
13 December 1990 – Yokohama Arena- Yokohama, Japan [MVR 412/413]
13 December 1990 – Yokohama Arena- Yokohama, Japan – DVD
Discs 1,3,5,7 [MVR 406/408/410/412]: 1. Layla – orchestra intro 2. Pretending 3. No Alibis 4. Running On Faith 5. I Shot The Sheriff 6. White Room 7. Can’t Find My Way Home 8. Bad Love 9. Before You Accuse Me 10. Old Love Discs 2,4,6,8 [MVR 407/409/411/413]: 1. Badge 2. Wonderful Tonight 3. Band introductions 4. Cocaine 5. Auld Lang Syne (only on disc 413) 6. Layla 7. Crossroads 8. Sunshine Of Your Love DVD Disc 1. Crossroads 2. Sunshine Of Your Love
Having spent a fortune on this set, first thing that comes to my mind is wonder why this was named 7 Nights Of Pleasure when it only features shows from 4 out of the 7 nights played in Japan in 1990. Whether MVR is willing to issue the other 3 nights in a separate set or this is just their idea of a “best of” set from this tour, I don’t know. Either way, this is a fantastic opportunity to listen to previously unheard recordings from these 4 nights. Some people will be against bootleggers but I am not. Some people will believe they do a great harm to the music industry and/or artists. I don’t believe that. I would have never bought this set if Reprise had recorded these nights and then made them available to fans. But they didn’t do it, and had it not been by the taper, this music would have been lost forever. We could then discuss about the fact that whether this music should be traded for free or not. Well, I am not a taper but I know recording equipments are not cheap, you know, so I don’t see it 100% wrong that the taper sometimes wants to be paid for his work.
Anyway, this is just my opinion. I am just glad boots are out there. I think it sometimes is the only chance we fans have to listen to music that (sadly) would have never surfaced otherwise. In this case, MVR was about to go too far with this set, asking nearly 300 USD to let one of the 300-only existing copies go. I think this is just too much but I guess this just follows the law of supply and demand. As for the music contained in these sets is, I would say that again we are likely treated to probably the best existing audience recordings of these four gigs. They are a world away from the quality that would surface from Japan from the 1995 Blues Tour but still, a noticeable upgrade to the recordings from 1990 I at least used to have. For me, the best night as for sound quality is concerned is, without doubt the second one. It just beats the rest by far. Same set for each night except for 39 seconds of “Auld Lang Syne” just before “Layla” on the last night. This is an old Scottish song usually sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve but also used on other occasions as a farewell, as this is the case.
This Journeyman World Tour saw Eric in great form and these shows are no exception. Remarkable solos on “Sheriff” and “Old Love” on all nights but on the first one it is of particular note how EC treats us to one of his classic solos when he hits the same note for nearly 15 seconds at the beginning of the second solo on “Old Love.” “No Alibis” will always be a favourite of mine and so is “Bad Love,” which sees a great guitar work by Eric on all nights, particularly on the second one. “Badge” is always a pleasure to listen to and my favourite would probably have to be the one from the last night, had I to choose one. Funny how Phil Palmer used to start his solo on this song by reproducing it exactly as EC originally recorded it back in 1969. “Cocaine” and “Layla” are always crowd pleasers and feature more EC that you will find on “Sunshine Of Your Love,” which still featured a torturing percussion solo by Ray Cooper those days. Weren’t these meant to be guitar shows??
The bonus DVD contains the only video footage I know of in trading circles of the 1990 Japanese tour. Do not expect MVR’s magic here because it is just poor to say the least. It’s just shaky and sometimes you won’t even see the stage at all. This is absolutely for nobody else but completists.
All in all, another nice set to own. A probably too expensive one, but again, it’s MVR and sure it will never decrease in value.
