Live In Boston, USA 22 May 1976 (SRS Records Vol. 14)
Boston Garden, Boston, MA – May 22nd, 1976
Disc 1 (44:22): Audience, Venus & Mars/Rockshow, Jet, Let Me Roll It, Spirits of Ancient Egypt, Medicine Jar, Maybe I’m Amazed, Call Me Back Again, Lady Madonna, The Long And Winding Road, Live & Let Die, Picasso’s Last Words, Richard Corey, Bluebird, I’ve Just Seen A Face, Blackbird, Yesterday, You Gave Me The Answer
Disc 2 (69:29): Magneto & Titanium Man, My Love, Listen To What The Man Said, Let ‘Em In, Time To Hide, Silly Love Songs, Beware My Love, Letting Go, Band On The Run, Hi Hi Hi. Bonus Tracks, The Forum, Los Angeles, CA – June 23rd, 1976: Soily. Madison Square Garden, NY – May, 1976: Nightbird & Co. Interview with Alison Steele, WNEW
Live In Boston is a 2004 release on the Russian SRS label, in an extremely limited edition (250 copies) which took months to track down. This is another excellent sounding release capturing Wings in the midst of their massive Over America tour in front of a wild Boston crowd. Paul and Denny Laine make a big deal about their appearance by saluting the Irish in the audience and asking “how does it feel to live in Boston?” Denny even asks if there are anyone from Salem before “Magneto & Titanium Man.” The audience gets so out of hand that the band have to stop the show before “My Love.”
Indeed the beginning of “Maybe I’m Amazed” is drowned out on this tape with constant shouts of “sit down!” Before “Time to Hide” Denny again jokes around singing “I wanna hold your leg.” Someone close to the mic replies, “Which one!”
Disc two features the bulk of their latest album At The Speed of Sound (“tracks 3, 5, and 7” Paul tells them) with the biggest ovation for “Silly Love Songs” which was at number 1 on the Billboard chart that week. The title is capped off with “Soily” from the final night of the tour in Los Angeles (which was officially recorded and filmed) and an interview with Allison Steele on Nightbird where they speak about rumours of a Beatles reunion and Bob Marley among other topics.
The band are loose and definitely HOT in this show. Even the horn section are tight like Thaddeus Richard’s tenor sax in “Listen To What The Man Said.” What a pleasure to listen to! Although this is a silver copy of a cdr release (complete with the “Soily” encore and Nighbird interview) I cannot recommend this title high enough. The Watchtower released this tape on Ride in the Sky (WT 2004126/7) in similar sound quality but not including the “Soily” and Nightbird bonuses. Everybody should own this release and listen to it until the greatness of this Wings lineup is acknowledged.
