Dave Jones is one of the coolest people you've never met. Not only is he a rabid music fan with impeccable taste, but he also owns and operates Reverberation Music, essentially the best music lover's specialty shop EVER. Warning: if you are a hardcore vinyl junkie, love rarities on vinyl (especially live ones) and .... I won't even go on about it, it's too dangerous...but if you are someone like that - GO TO HIS WEBSITE. There is stuff there we've never even HEARD of, and releases that make us dizzy and cause involuntary salivating. Anyway. Seriously. We love you, Dave. Cheers, mate! (Yeah that wasn't very short, was it? We're working on it).
******
I graduated from high school in 1984 & music just kept progressively getting better as the decade went on. I also managed a CD store from 1987-90 before selling full time at record shows & mail order & saw the beginnings of shoegaze really kind of morphing out of the psych-space rock of that time (Spacemen 3, Loop, Telescopes etc). Seems like really Lush kind of started it with that Cocteau Twins sound with wailing guitars. I was very lucky to see many of the best bands multiple times in Detroit/Chicago/Grand Rapids. I’ll take 1991-95 over any period in my life for live music. Anyway, here are 5 off the top of my head that I really liked (& I could probably change this list daily as my memory comes back).
Slowdive - Soulvaki Space Station
Probably my fave song period (funny how the bass actually is similar to Paul McCartney’s "Band on the run"). Saw them open for Ride in '92, Catherine Wheel in '93 & then their 2nd to final show in Detroit in 1994. Amazing live sound. "Mellon Yellow" is a close 2nd fave track.******
Blind Mr. Jones - Sisters
More great stuff by a band that got lost in the shuffle of shoegazery.******
Catherine Wheel - She’s My Friend
The much better original mix of this on Club Wilde, pre-Ferment. Saw this band live about 5 times.
******
Verve - Blue
Managed to see them 3 times in 5 days in 1993. Day 1 - Detroit, day 2 - Chicago (this gig in the video!), rushed back from the suburbs from The The/Depeche Mode to catch this show at the Cabaret Metro & then 3 days later in my hometown of Grand Rapids. Best tour ever.******
Lush - Deluxe
They were great at the 2nd Lollapalooza tour in 1992 (Miki’s guitar & hair color were the exact same color of dayglo pink/red); saw one of their final gigs in Toledo in 1997. I even stood right next to Miki watching ex-Slowdive Mojave 3 on the "Shaving the Pavement" tour at St. Andrews in Detroit.
