IQ - Giessen, Germany
 
Album info
 
Recording Date  : 16-07-1988
     
Length  : 71:30
Format  : FLAC
Track List
 
01 Intro-No Love Lost 06:07
02 Nomzamo 06:38
03 Sold On You 05:12
04 Nothing At All 04:53
05 Human Nature 10:01
06 The Wake-Headlong-Gateway 09:57
07 Nothing At All (Radio Broadcast) 04:11
08 Human Nature (Radio Broadcast) 09:33
09 The Wake-Headlong-Gateway (Radio Broadcast) 09:44
10 Falling Apart At The Seams (Early Version) 05:14

Notes
Recorded at the VFB Waldstadion, Giessen, Germany. Great recording, mostly audience, and some tracks taken from a radio broadcast. Includes a very interesting bonus track!
FLAC files received in trade.


From the info file:

IQ
Dedicated to the Noisy Bunch of Bastards
Giessen, VFB Waldstadion
16 July 1988

Complete audience recording
(2nd generation copy)
1, Speaker Introduction / No love lost
2. Nomzamo
3. Sold on You
4. Nothing at All
5. Human nature
6. The Wake / Headlong / The Last Human Getaway (closing section)

Radio broadcast
(3rd generation copy)
7. Nothing at All
8. Human Nature
9. The Wake / Headlong / The Last Human Getaway (closing section)

Bonus track:
10. Falling Apart at the Seams (VERY early version)
(London studios - probably june 1988)

1988 was another busy year for IQ, although not as hectic as 1987.
But the band was trying to capitalise the good reaction from both the Nomzamo album and the european tour from the previous year. Thanks to the good sales figures, the band was able to enter the 'summer festivals' network, which enabled them to play some of them, in particular in Germany, where Nomzamo sold well. Germany was also the only country where a limited edition of the record was released, as a double album with the second LP being a live one, capturing a few tracks from the June 1987 tour.

But that year was not only busy on the live side. In spring 1988, the band started writing the follow-up to Nomzamo. The first bunch of tracks that were written and demoed first were Sold On You, Wurensh (not everyone knows that the title was a mix of letters from 'new rush', stating the similarity of the track from the style of the canadian trio), Nostalgia, Nothing at all, Falling Apart at the Seams and a few more that did not make the final album. IQ rehearsed extensively over May & June 1988, in order to have a couple of songs ready for the forthcoming summer fest tour. The ones that seemed more ready and suitable than others were Sold on You (a poppy short track that was later the single from the next album) and the live favourite one Nothing At All. The other ones remained in a more embryonic status (but we'll talk about them later...).

The Giessen music festival festival had been running for a few years, starting back in the early 80's to take advantage of all forthcoming new acts, coupled with some old band. The 1988 one featured also Jethro Tull as one of the headliners.

This performance is one of the most 'covered' from the IQ history, since a complete audience recording circulates, a partial radio broadcast plus the complete video, which was shot from the stage by somebody (probably) closely affiliated to the band. Other shows from The festival were broadcasted live and are circulating, Jethro Tull being one of them.

The stadium was almost packed when IQ hit the stage in late afternoon. Unfortunately, despite being in summer, the rain was present for the whole festival (you can hear the glimpses falling on the umbrella and captured in the recording); even Paul Menel had to apologize about it before Human Nature.
Nevertheless, many fans were coming just for the band, including a few brave americans. At one point Paul pointed to them calling them 'a noisy bunch of bastards' and cheering to them.
The show was very good indeed and the audience reaction quite promising, considering that IQ was one of the first bands to hit the stage. The band simply kicked its ass off (as Miles would say) and played a super-set, in particular during Human Nature, especially Mike (although he fucks-up with the solo at one point!).

In this set you will find both the audience and the radio version, the latter being incomplete (but that's all they broadcasted!).

As a bonus I've included a nice little version of Falling Apart at the Seams, recorded prior to the tour. It's simply an incredible, early version, with different lyrics and even the guitar solos and very different. Personally, I prefer this version to the official one...but that's just my taste. I will be curious to read your comments on it. This was recorded in the band's studios where they used to rehearse (I've been there a couple of times but I just don't remember in which part of London is it!!).

And, finally, this vine is dedicated to my little son, Andrea, due to come to this world in no more than 10-12 days.

Here it is...a little trip in the memory lane.