Shriekback live at the Paradiso
It’s an 80’s triple assault! First Journey, then Prince’s ’88 aftershow, and now the circle is complete with a 1984 Amsterdam set by Shriekback. I posted a year ago about my fondness for their 1986 record ‘Big Night Music‘. This show comes a couple years before that release.
Made up primarily of Barry Andrews, Dave Allen, and Carl Marsh, this British group formed in 1982. Andrews was originally in XTC, and Allen came from Gang of Four. Put together Allen’s strong presence on the bass, Andrews’ synthesizer and whispered vocals, Marsh’s rhythm guitar and more melodic vocals, and a mix of cool drum programming and live percussion, and you have a funky, ethereal, and very unique sound.
Shriekback got together again in 2004 after a long hiatus and recorded their 2005 release, ‘Cormorant’. You can hear a couple tracks from every one of their albums on their web site. When this Amsterdam show took place in October of 1984, they had an EP and an album under their belt (‘Tench’ and ‘Jam Science’).
This is a short set, and I’m not sure if there was more to their set this evening or not, but it’s a neat glimpse into Shriekback’s world, circa 1984.
Shriekback
Live at the Paradiso, Amsterdam
August 10, 1984
1. Flayling
2. Hand On My Heart
3. Feelers
4. Mothloop II
5. White Out
6. Suck
7. My Spine (Is The Bassline)
Lineup:
Barry Andrews: keyboards, vocals
David Allen: bass, backing vocals
Carl Marsh: guitar, vocals
Martyn Barker: drums
Pedro Ortiz: percussion
- Check out Shriekback’s web site and listen to tunes from all of their albums.
- Buy Shriekback music: Amazon US | Amazon UK
8 Comments
bill
And the one super Shriekback single was: Hand On My Heart. Thanks
Jim
Thank you Pete. For posting Melchmusic.
R.J. Beach
Great stuff, as always! Brought back some good memories. I saw them open for Simple Minds at the Tower Theatre in Philly back in ’86. Unbelievable energy.
Thanks for posting.
j t
There was an album called Care between the Tench EP and the Jam Science LP.
Shriekback Fan
Hi – what is the possibility of reposting this? All the links have gone dead… Thanks!
grahamb23
Thanks so much for reposting this
harm3001
thanks ! had no idea any live shriekback w/d allen existed .. was looking after seeing ‘Despite Dense Weed’ on You Tube
Dave Sez
PS: I forgot to say don’t forget to check the comments to each Gang of Four post on the blog below – it’s where I’ve put links to other gigs besides the one posted. Cheers, Dave Sez.