Seattle Superfonic 1972 (Dog N Cat DAC-013)
Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, WA – June 4th, 1972 (late show)
Disc 1: Brown Sugar, Bitch, Rock Off, Gimme Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Love In Vain, Sweet Virginia, Loving Cup
Disc 2: Band introductions, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, All Down The Line, Midnight Rambler, Bye Bye Johnny, Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man
Hearing tapes from the beginning of tours is always intriguing since you can hear the band working on their set and getting used to being on stage again. This is especially true for the Stones in 1972 since they hadn’t toured the US in three years. Seattle Superfonic 1972 presents an audience recording from the Rolling Stones’ second Seattle concert and third overall on the tour (after the tour opener in Vancouver) and there was a general paring down of the set list. The Vancouver show included “Ventilator Blues”, “Torn & Frayed” and “Loving Cup”. The first two would be dropped with “Loving Cup” remaining for the Seattle shows. That track, in turn, would be dropped by the time the band played in San Francisco two days after. As can occur in shows early in a tour, there is some sluggishness and confusion on stage.
Things begin poorly with Keith (whose guitar really dominates the early part of this recording) hitting a very loud bum note near the beginning of “Brown Sugar”. The band begins to get their bearings with a scorching version of “Gimme Shelter” with a stand out solo by Taylor. Nicky Hopkins plays the ever-popular waltz “Over The Waves” as an intro to “Happy”. “Something very nice happened today. Does anyone know what happened today? (pause) Angela Davis got free today” Mick says before “Sweet Virginia”. “Loving Cup” is a nice addition and it’s a shame they dropped it after this performance. The show really begins to cook with “All Down The Line”. Keith’s amplifier cuts out at the beginning of “Midnight Rambler” and Mick plays harmonica to Charlie Watt’s drum beat until things come back on and the band resume with a chilling version of that track.
The rest of the show proceeds without incident. The tape is very good and clear but with noticeable tape hiss present. The tape is blessed with a crowd that is described by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as “unusually attentive…They came to listen and not to drown out the performers with their cheers.” Previous releases of this show include A Fair To Remember Revisited (VGP-141) and The Loveliest Night Of Seattle 1972 (Idol Mind 034/35). The Vinyl Gang release was coupled with the tape from the first show of the day but has been criticized for running too fast. This new release on DAC runs closer to the correct speed and sounds very nice.
