Wantagh, NY (23-Jul-89)

"...Faith, Hope & Charity..." that's how I was going to start this review. You need a lot of Faith & Hope in watching this, Faith in that it really is Bob on the screen there, and not just some double in a bad wig, Hope that it might just clear enough for you make out the stage, Faith that it is the stage the camera's pointing at. Assuming that the fuzzy shapes that appear now and then, are Bob & Co, what do we have ?. Full show, steady camera-work, very little obstruction, good sound, but re-dubbed ? don't know, there's a bad drop-out around "Stuck inside.." and "Song to Woody" that seems to coincide with the camera being kicked over, that would imply not.
So far so good, but my schemes come to a halt with Charity. It's not the right word. Charity, in the olden sense, towards the camera-man ?. No, I value it more than that. It's a bad, bad recording, but so what ? For all I've downloaded on Dime (and others) I've never once even been tempted to check out the mp3 samples first. My outlook in collecting is very simple. Do I want to hear/watch it ? and do I have it ? A Yes and a No, and I'll hit the download button. For me the choice is simple, listen to a 20th generation (with a couple of mp3 steps thrown in) tape, or not listen to it at all, it's a no-brainer, I'll get it. If a better copy comes along, good, but if not, good. [bit of Zen there...] Needless to say I've no truck with those who wouldn't touch anything unless it was accompanied with a sworn statement from the taper, detailing everything up to and including his wife's maiden name. And as to that BT site, gave up on that a long time ago, Dime's bad enough with it's senseless, illogical, unworkable, stupid rules. Let them wallow in their own fantasy world.
I've only given it the one star, for by any criterion it's a bad recording, but as it's the only Wantagh '89 tape out there, it's just as valuable as any Liverpool '01, or a Bologna '05.
As I was thwarted in my original choice of quote, here's one that'll better describe my feelings.
"Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
Multi; sed omnes illacrimabiles
Urgentur ignotique longa
Nocte, carent quia vate sacro."
[Horace]