Saw Allan about 15 times, from 84 till just before he passed, got talk to him every time, had dinner with him many beers, lots of jokes and some serious talk about the music business, super humble giant of a musician, sorely missed RIP Allan.
wow! I am pretty jealous David. I only met him briefly a few times. That was the nice thing about Allan though. He was a megastar to us fans but still very accessible and always a true gentleman
Regrettably I never saw Allan Holdsworth play with this band, the first time i was going to see Allan play was with this band and the concert was cancelled because of the departure of Gary Husband. But this band is cooking, the interplay between Allan and Gary and Gary and Jimmy is unbelievable! great recording!
I was at The Bass Clef in 86 but I don't remember any guests and I was aware of Steve Topping at the time - maybe he did two nights? There was a queue to get in that went round to Hoxton square, first time I saw him, great gig, met him art the bar afterwards, as per other comments, lovely humble guy, thanks for uploading.
Yes, he did at least two nights. I wasn't aware of Steve at the time, so it was a nice surprise. He's a great player, totally different to Allan. As Allan said of him, he has a great right hand technique.
*How lucky you are to have been there! Thanks for the upload and historical photos & info. I have this show on a couple of CDRs sent to me back in the late 90s when I was big into trading boots. I have considered remastering it -- like I love to do and uploading it here -- but now I shall not -- you have beat me to the RUclips finish line. Have a great day and consider checking out all the Holdsworth, Topping and other fusion on my channel. Ciao!*
Thanks for your comments JRFSM. Yes, we were all very fortunate to have been there. Great times, great memories ( blue remembered hills). I will indeed check out your channel. All the best.
Cette vidéo est un délice pour abolir le déferlement des bruits et des images du quotidien et entrouvrir l'espace d’un ailleurs où contingences et représentations cèdent la place à l'immatérialité du sensible. La puissance expressive de l'architecture sonore rompt ici avec toute forme de transcription du réel pour s'attacher à l'extension d'un univers fabuleux dans lequel la couleur et le rythme des compositions constituent une expiration qui donne vie à l'exaltation 🤓
I saw him at bass cleff in 86. Presumably this occasion. Unless he played there more than once that year. He appeared with his synthaxe & played Atavacron before the album was released. I don't think I was ever more keen to see an album released so I could hear the incredible music again.
@@nogbadthebad2609indeed it does thank you. I saw him six times from 1979 to 2007. One of the best funnily enough was with Ian carrs Nucleus in 79. Mind blowing. Wish I had a tape of that. Just wish I hadn't been so shy. I'd have spoken to him if not. But then what also inhibited me was I also thought he must get tired of people coming up & saying.. Hey i think you're great. So at least I spared him that lol
Great to hear this set with Gary Husband on drums. I have yet to ever find any live recordings with Jeff Berlin on bass. I’ve seen a different performance with Steve Hunt on keys and he played the head to Non-Brewed Condiment, and KILLED IT!!! Akagi certainly had the ability to play it, but he didn’t in this performance.
Thanks for your comment. Glad you enjoyed it. There is a rock goes to college DVD with Allan and Jeff Berlin, but obviously that is Bruford and not Allan's solo stuff.
Thanks for uploading my recording Nogbad! You have a very good memory of the show... all true. It was an extremely cold night, bitterly so but the music more than made up for it. So brilliant to finally see Allan. I used a bulky recorder with a built in condenser and I think it sounds great considering. The bleed was always there sadly, because I was only able to afford less than optimum cassettes at that point. The recorder belonged to a girlfriend of a close friend and first saw action in 1981 (BOC on the fateful pre- Donnington SWU swing when Albert got fired. We saw him destroy his hire car at Dunstable when the rest of the band had had enough). It did a whole slew of Zappa shows both at the Odeon (82 and 84) and in the US in 1984. (x2 at the Pier in NYC). We got busted at the door in Poughkeepsie on that trip though and had to run it back to the car through a deeply dodgy district. It also captured Utopia and Missing Persons that trip. To get it into Wembley for Joni in 1983 I buried it under squash kit and security took one look and I was in. The guy I sat next to told me where Joni was staying and after the show I hotfooted over to Knightsbridge where I met the band in the lobby and Joni actually bought me a drink at the bar before going up to her room. She did not stay to drink it with me though. That recorder brings back some happy memories. The AH would have been one of the last done with it as I moved onto a Sony pro in 1988 for the Zappa tour of that year. I caught AH with the Pro a couple of times as well. Finally I was the guy with the album sleeves. I got IOU, Metal Fatigue and IOU done but AH declined to sign Velvet for exactly the reasons you say. Still got two of those sleeves. Thanks so much because hearing this shows brings some very good times to mind Murray
Murray, so good to hear from you!!. It's been a long time. I think that was the last time I saw you. Hope you are well, and still a big Zappa fan. Thanks for the details of the recording. I'd forgotten it was you with Velvet Darkness album! I was also at the Joni Mitchell, Wembley concert so jealous you got to meet her. I had a really bad seat for that gig. BTW I hope you took the opportunity to pick your feet in Poughkeepsie! All the very best to you, and thank you very much for capturing this for us all to enjoy.
Very welcome Paul. It is so important to keep Allan's music and memory alive. The Allan Holdsworth Archive - Fanpage does such sterling work in this regard.
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, his music and incredible musicianship is there for us all to marvel at. What an incredible legacy he left. Apparently there is full length documentary coming up in 2025. Let's hope it does him justice.
Perhaps to relieve you, he does in fact play the head for NBC, twice at the conclusion of his solo around 48 minutes. In all the (very limited) recordings that exist of performing this with Kei/on the Synthaxe, Kei takes the first blow with Allan comping underneath, then Allan finishes the song and plays the head there. The rare other times it has been played were in standard tuning, on the DeLap, and in a trio format and where he plays it each time.
Thanks, yes, I spotted that, it just seems empty (to me) at the beginning without it. It kind of gives the impression he has forgotten how to play it, but he clearly hasn't (of course) as he plays it flawlessly at that time reference
As a complete Holdsworth fan I thought this gig was absolutely fantastic! Even the recording quality added to the genuine small club feel. Reminded me of his gigs at the Half Moon + 100 club. Cheers
@@pobinr Splendid! Would love to hear it. Could you remind me who the bassist was? I remember an acoustic double bassist. Was it Jeff Clyne or Ron Matthewson? Or even Roy Babbington?
right hand channel has a lot of bleed through from what I guess is the other side of a cassette tape...very noticeable during Gary's drum solo in Letter's of Marque....but still great to hear this gig. cheers.
BTW, The third time I saw Allan was when I was living in Aberdeen (Scotland) in 1994 at the Aberdeen Arts Centre. The recording of that gig has been posted by gliss bliss here ruclips.net/video/NN6gKVDDDqo/видео.html It was amazing. I sat in on the sound check and before that started, Gary Husband got on the piano that was in the theatre and played some amazing stuff.
Hi - this is fantastic. Thanks for up loading. I still my cassette copy somewhere in storage. I've also found some photos from the gig, taken most probably by my friend Glen. BT Dubz - I recall Murray and my friends Tim and Peter being there but please remind me of your name by dm on IG or FB? Thanks.
Great to here from you Mo, I am Ian (from Wales). Use to see you at gigs in the early to mid 80s, first met you at the guitar trio gig in summer 1983 outside Hammersmith Odeon. You actually took some of these photos with my camera, you were closer to the front than we were so I handed you my camera. As you can see, Murray has been in touch.
@@nogbadthebad2609 AH! IAN! Wow, how long has it been?? I remember we used to chat on the blower quite often. How are you man? Are on FB? Hunt me down.
@@mohammednazam4644 Last time we spoke on the phone was late 90s. I think you were gigging with the Jazz Warriors (amongst others). I'm not on FB but I'll find a way to contact you Mo. Be great to catch up.
all that amazing phrasing and it's continually drowned out by truly obnoxious and unnecessary show-boating from in particular the drummer who I think is a great musician in his own right being a double virtuoso but cmon dudes..... what Allan is doing is profoundly subtle .... especially on Devil where every time he starts to get going, the other blokes think this is their cue to start smashing like Hulk.....every god damn time notice how when anyone else is soloing Allan is not suddenly strumming loudly and fiercely but blending into the background and supporting without getting in the way.... one of the most important musicians of ours or any time and such poor recording documents....but we plenty of Bieber and Swift in HD y'all
I take your point, and I agree with you 100% in saying Allan is vastly overlooked. Just take the recent Rolling Stone top 250 guitar players of all time. Allan isn't even on the list (along with Al Di Meola) ands yet many who say Allan was the best are on the list. At least Vernon Reid (who was 49 spoke up about it. Well done Vernon, he has always been a champion of Holdsworth's.
improv was interesting. At one point it seemed like it sounded like a cross between bill bruford era King Crimson, pre Holdsworth Soft Machine and Miles Davis Bitches Brew.
![Eminem - Fuel (feat. JID) [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t5H_CewqpKA/mqdefault.jpg)
Saw Allan about 15 times, from 84 till just before he passed, got talk to him every time, had dinner with him many beers, lots of jokes and some serious talk about the music business, super humble giant of a musician, sorely missed RIP Allan.
wow! I am pretty jealous David. I only met him briefly a few times. That was the nice thing about Allan though. He was a megastar to us fans but still very accessible and always a true gentleman
@@nogbadthebad2609 I have some hilarious stories about him and me
@@nasticanasta Can you offer any up here? The one that made me laugh was the William Shatner story on his memorial videos.
I was too darn shy to walk up to him & start chatting to him. Wish I had
Had a table chat with him in 1985 at Fitzgerald's in Houston. .could not believe I was with a legend. . 🎸 🎵 🎶 🎵
Regrettably I never saw Allan Holdsworth play with this band, the first time i was going to see Allan play was with this band and the concert was cancelled because of the departure of Gary Husband. But this band is cooking, the interplay between Allan and Gary and Gary and Jimmy is unbelievable! great recording!
Thanks to Murray for he recording. Glad you enjoyed it. As someone else said on here, the recording has captured the a great small venue vibe.
I was at The Bass Clef in 86 but I don't remember any guests and I was aware of Steve Topping at the time - maybe he did two nights? There was a queue to get in that went round to Hoxton square, first time I saw him, great gig, met him art the bar afterwards, as per other comments, lovely humble guy, thanks for uploading.
Yes, he did at least two nights. I wasn't aware of Steve at the time, so it was a nice surprise. He's a great player, totally different to Allan. As Allan said of him, he has a great right hand technique.
*How lucky you are to have been there! Thanks for the upload and historical photos & info. I have this show on a couple of CDRs sent to me back in the late 90s when I was big into trading boots. I have considered remastering it -- like I love to do and uploading it here -- but now I shall not -- you have beat me to the RUclips finish line. Have a great day and consider checking out all the Holdsworth, Topping and other fusion on my channel. Ciao!*
Thanks for your comments JRFSM. Yes, we were all very fortunate to have been there. Great times, great memories ( blue remembered hills). I will indeed check out your channel. All the best.
Cette vidéo est un délice pour abolir le déferlement des bruits et des images du quotidien et entrouvrir l'espace d’un ailleurs où contingences et représentations cèdent la place à l'immatérialité du sensible. La puissance expressive de l'architecture sonore rompt ici avec toute forme de transcription du réel pour s'attacher à l'extension d'un univers fabuleux dans lequel la couleur et le rythme des compositions constituent une expiration qui donne vie à l'exaltation 🤓
That is the deepest, most poetic critique of Allan's music I have ever read. I am so glad you enjoyed it. All the best.
The keyboardist is monster here.
👌
Listen to the man when hes playing his own music! Like setting an caged bird free. Its tangible. What an incredible Man.
Great gig and the venue that started it all (Hackney) RIEP Peter Ind
Glad you enjoyed it Alan. Great venue, sadly gone like so many other live venues.
Jimmy Johnson sounds fantastic as always.
You have to say, Allan only played with the best. All of them, such incredible players.
ALLAN AT HIS 40...........EXPLOSIVE IMPROVIZATIONS SINCE THEN! ..... THEN!
MANY THANKS FOR THIS MATERIAL!
You are welcome Nano, glad you enjoyed it.
I saw him at bass cleff in 86. Presumably this occasion. Unless he played there more than once that year.
He appeared with his synthaxe & played Atavacron before the album was released.
I don't think I was ever more keen to see an album released so I could hear the incredible music again.
I think they only played the one night there, so it must be this one. Hope it brings back good memories for you.
@@nogbadthebad2609indeed it does thank you. I saw him six times from 1979 to 2007. One of the best funnily enough was with Ian carrs Nucleus in 79. Mind blowing. Wish I had a tape of that.
Just wish I hadn't been so shy. I'd have spoken to him if not. But then what also inhibited me was I also thought he must get tired of people coming up & saying.. Hey i think you're great. So at least I spared him that lol
Love Nucleus, I didn't realise he was playing with Ian Carr in the late 70s. Allan as far as I know was always ready to talk to anyone. @@pobinr
Great to hear this set with Gary Husband on drums. I have yet to ever find any live recordings with Jeff Berlin on bass. I’ve seen a different performance with Steve Hunt on keys and he played the head to Non-Brewed Condiment, and KILLED IT!!!
Akagi certainly had the ability to play it, but he didn’t in this performance.
Thanks for your comment. Glad you enjoyed it. There is a rock goes to college DVD with Allan and Jeff Berlin, but obviously that is Bruford and not Allan's solo stuff.
Thanks for uploading my recording Nogbad!
You have a very good memory of the show... all true.
It was an extremely cold night, bitterly so but the music more than made up for it. So brilliant to finally see Allan. I used a bulky recorder with a built in condenser and I think it sounds great considering. The bleed was always there sadly, because I was only able to afford less than optimum cassettes at that point. The recorder belonged to a girlfriend of a close friend and first saw action in 1981 (BOC on the fateful pre- Donnington SWU swing when Albert got fired. We saw him destroy his hire car at Dunstable when the rest of the band had had enough). It did a whole slew of Zappa shows both at the Odeon (82 and 84) and in the US in 1984. (x2 at the Pier in NYC). We got busted at the door in Poughkeepsie on that trip though and had to run it back to the car through a deeply dodgy district. It also captured Utopia and Missing Persons that trip. To get it into Wembley for Joni in 1983 I buried it under squash kit and security took one look and I was in. The guy I sat next to told me where Joni was staying and after the show I hotfooted over to Knightsbridge where I met the band in the lobby and Joni actually bought me a drink at the bar before going up to her room. She did not stay to drink it with me though.
That recorder brings back some happy memories. The AH would have been one of the last done with it as I moved onto a Sony pro in 1988 for the Zappa tour of that year. I caught AH with the Pro a couple of times as well.
Finally I was the guy with the album sleeves. I got IOU, Metal Fatigue and IOU done but AH declined to sign Velvet for exactly the reasons you say. Still got two of those sleeves.
Thanks so much because hearing this shows brings some very good times to mind
Murray
Murray, so good to hear from you!!. It's been a long time. I think that was the last time I saw you. Hope you are well, and still a big Zappa fan. Thanks for the details of the recording. I'd forgotten it was you with Velvet Darkness album! I was also at the Joni Mitchell, Wembley concert so jealous you got to meet her. I had a really bad seat for that gig. BTW I hope you took the opportunity to pick your feet in Poughkeepsie! All the very best to you, and thank you very much for capturing this for us all to enjoy.
@@nogbadthebad2609 SO cool of you guys to chat and share these memories, after so long, over 30 years!
@@unknownbone174 Thanks, it was a very unexpected pleasure to hear from Murray.
Thank you...so rare to hear "Three Sheets to the Wind" live. Much appreciated.
Very welcome Paul. It is so important to keep Allan's music and memory alive. The Allan Holdsworth Archive - Fanpage does such sterling work in this regard.
There is another live recording with the same lineup, same year as well, recorded in Frankfurt.
i said the same thing. ditto for shallow sea
Awesome stuff! Allan lives on through his music ':- )
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, his music and incredible musicianship is there for us all to marvel at. What an incredible legacy he left. Apparently there is full length documentary coming up in 2025. Let's hope it does him justice.
rare to hear three sheets live!
Thanks JTB, yes I agree. Hope you enjoyed the recording. Happy new year.
What an incredible gig that was!
It was amazing to be there Tony and see him for the first time. No RUclips etc. back then, so the impact in those days was even greater.
WAS THERE......24TH BIRTHDAY ON 24TH FEBRUARY 1986
Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
Not Day Goes By.....without Image and Electricity...... @@nogbadthebad2609
Thanks for this Gem, I saw Allan & the Iridium in 2014 he signed my copy of Believe It.
Glad you enjoyed it Charles. He is so missed by us all. A true one off.
Steve Topping is really ripping it up here. Awesome to hear them playing together 😊
Yes, he's a great player isn't he, with a signature sound. I've been listening to his solo work recently.
@Nogbadthebad yes. I am a big fan. I have all his CDs!
Fantastic thx so much
You are welcome graeme
Thank you
You're welcome Greg. Hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you for sharing this 🙏 you made my day...🍻✌️
No problem Scott, hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for the upload, and the bonus pics - Excellent work!
Your are very welcome.
..❤
Perhaps to relieve you, he does in fact play the head for NBC, twice at the conclusion of his solo around 48 minutes. In all the (very limited) recordings that exist of performing this with Kei/on the Synthaxe, Kei takes the first blow with Allan comping underneath, then Allan finishes the song and plays the head there. The rare other times it has been played were in standard tuning, on the DeLap, and in a trio format and where he plays it each time.
Thanks, yes, I spotted that, it just seems empty (to me) at the beginning without it. It kind of gives the impression he has forgotten how to play it, but he clearly hasn't (of course) as he plays it flawlessly at that time reference
Thanx for sharing! Cheers from Brazil!
Thanks, hope you enjoy it.
As a complete Holdsworth fan I thought this gig was absolutely fantastic! Even the recording quality added to the genuine small club feel. Reminded me of his gigs at the Half Moon + 100 club. Cheers
Thanks Nader, glad you enjoyed it. I agree, I like the sound too for the same reason. It captures the atmosphere of the venue.
I've got a tape of him at half moon circa 1980
@@pobinr Splendid! Would love to hear it. Could you remind me who the bassist was? I remember an acoustic double bassist. Was it Jeff Clyne or Ron Matthewson? Or even Roy Babbington?
@@naderzekrya5238 Paul carmichael bass, Gary drums. The iou trio
@@pobinr ahh ok, nice! I saw him slightly earlier with John Stevens drums, Ray Warleigh sax + upright bass
Amazing thank you!
You're welcome Ivan, hope you enjoy this blast from the past.
right hand channel has a lot of bleed through from what I guess is the other side of a cassette tape...very noticeable during Gary's drum solo in Letter's of Marque....but still great to hear this gig. cheers.
Yes, I've noticed that too. I tried various digital audio tools to try and get rid of it, but sadly to no avail.
@@nogbadthebad2609 it's great to hear it at all. thanks
BTW, The third time I saw Allan was when I was living in Aberdeen (Scotland) in 1994 at the Aberdeen Arts Centre. The recording of that gig has been posted by gliss bliss here
ruclips.net/video/NN6gKVDDDqo/видео.html
It was amazing. I sat in on the sound check and before that started, Gary Husband got on the piano that was in the theatre and played some amazing stuff.
awesome
Glad you enjoyed it Greg
Hi - this is fantastic. Thanks for up loading. I still my cassette copy somewhere in storage. I've also found some photos from the gig, taken most probably by my friend Glen. BT Dubz - I recall Murray and my friends Tim and Peter being there but please remind me of your name by dm on IG or FB? Thanks.
Great to here from you Mo, I am Ian (from Wales). Use to see you at gigs in the early to mid 80s, first met you at the guitar trio gig in summer 1983 outside Hammersmith Odeon. You actually took some of these photos with my camera, you were closer to the front than we were so I handed you my camera. As you can see, Murray has been in touch.
@@nogbadthebad2609 AH! IAN! Wow, how long has it been?? I remember we used to chat on the blower quite often. How are you man? Are on FB? Hunt me down.
@@mohammednazam4644 Last time we spoke on the phone was late 90s. I think you were gigging with the Jazz Warriors (amongst others). I'm not on FB but I'll find a way to contact you Mo. Be great to catch up.
all that amazing phrasing and it's continually drowned out by truly obnoxious and unnecessary show-boating from in particular the drummer who I think is a great musician in his own right being a double virtuoso but cmon dudes..... what Allan is doing is profoundly subtle .... especially on Devil where every time he starts to get going, the other blokes think this is their cue to start smashing like Hulk.....every god damn time
notice how when anyone else is soloing Allan is not suddenly strumming loudly and fiercely but blending into the background and supporting without getting in the way....
one of the most important musicians of ours or any time and such poor recording documents....but we plenty of Bieber and Swift in HD y'all
I take your point, and I agree with you 100% in saying Allan is vastly overlooked. Just take the recent Rolling Stone top 250 guitar players of all time. Allan isn't even on the list (along with Al Di Meola) ands yet many who say Allan was the best are on the list. At least Vernon Reid (who was 49 spoke up about it. Well done Vernon, he has always been a champion of Holdsworth's.
that's Gary husband dude, he could have taken the keyboard spot as well. maybe in his monitor it was all really loud?
improv was interesting. At one point it seemed like it sounded like a cross between bill bruford era King Crimson, pre Holdsworth Soft Machine and Miles Davis Bitches Brew.
Thanks, hope you enjoyed it.