Customer Reviews

At the Kabuki Theatre

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Back around the time this was recorded, Stereo Review magazine was publishing some fabulous monthly reviews of contemporary music, written by Mr. Steve Simels. Back in that analog age, it was necessary to divide the review into two pieces, the quality of the music and the quality of the actual recording. The recording here, most of the time, sounds like it was done on a battery powered mini reel to reel, and occasionally spliced together from different source tapes! Jarring changes in volume and tone, muffles, etc. As to the music, the first CD is pretty doggone inspired, rocks on very well, maybe the liveliest version of "You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond" (mis-typed as "Band") I ever heard. Dino Valente's distinct high lonesome vocals, solid drumming, driving guitars, etc. The second disc is generally painful with a few bright moments, but mostly dispensable.

I love QMS. I am lukewarm about Dino Valenti. But everything else about them is great. This recording is obviously taken from a radio broadcast. The music may have been good but the sound quality is very ordinary. Greatdul Dead have shown that old tapes can be cleaned up to provide listenable recordings. No one bothered with this one. Unfortunately.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" it is always enjoyable to hear live material from their contemporaries.

Sometimes fans of the great sound of San Francisco circa 1960's and early 70's lose out on terrific music because they are hung-up on the fidelity first and the recorded material second.

It would be a great world if everything sounded like George Martin was in control or had the passion of those that work on the Grateful Dead remasters, but we don't always have our cake and the ability to eat it to.

To pass on the two disc set from 1970 with not only the tracks Quicksilver would be known for such as the definitive "Pride Of Man", "Mona", "What About Me", etc, but the bonus studio recordings with Nicky Hopkins would be a major error.

We have all been to concerts that have been superlative but the acoustics may not have been extraordinary, so why should we feel every disc must sound like gold? If you are a fan of the band how could you go wrong with a live CD that helps us remember John and the ability to recapture history from so far back?

Be thankful the Kabuki Theatre has opened its doors to us!

Be well always,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

I think this is the last live recording of all of Quicksilvers original band members, and if you are a fan of that band you will like this cd. The sound quality is horrible, but if you do some real intense work on your equalizer dials you can get a fair mix. I like getting to hear "Fresh Air" and "What You Going To Do About Me" with some of the other songs like "Mona" & "Pride of Man". If you are a solid Quicksilver fan this is a must have.

I'm a sucker when it comes to Quicksilver Messenger Service. I fell in love with Happy Trails, and really enjoyed their first album. Everything else after that was always a hit and miss proposition. Each subsequent album had it's glorious moments, but were interspersed with sub-par, almost amateur songs. And... I hate Dino's voice. But... this album had the dual guitar attack of John and Gary, and the set-list didn't sound half bad, so I plunked down the money to buy it. As mentioned before, this is from a radio broadcast so the quality of the song is good, but not great (and sometimes bad). The performances, again, are hit and miss. And... no one in the band seems to know how to end a song! So many flubs. But... there are some great guitar solos, and for the most part John and Gary are sounding great.

If you don't know who QMS is, then get Happy Trails. You won't be disappointed. If you are a "completist", then add this to your collection. Just be forewarned the quality of the recording is just so-so. There are a few gems in here, but also a lot of mediocre stuff as well.

This is a most enjoyable recording which benefits from being played repeatedly, loud, in a car with a good stereo with at leat four speakers. Initially,indoors, I was disappointed because I thought John Cipollina was too far back in the mix and I wasn't sure about the sound quality. But, like many live recordings, it improves the more you listen to it. There is improvisation and atmosphere in the performance, which is not present in the studio material of this period. When you know what to listen for, you will hear John playing on the left and Gary on the right, "duelling" wonderfully, with probably the best live vocal permormances I have heard by the band. As someone who is too young to have seen the band live, this is a delight. I wish some more recordings would be released.

While I started digging the music of the QMS in the late 60s, I missed all their live performances as I was living out of the country till the mid 70s. So for me to be able to hear their amazing live performance like this is absolutely PRICELESS!! For anyone who didn't get a chance to hear them in their prime, this album, along with the "Unreleased Quicksilver - Lost Gold and Silver," is a rare and precious opportunity to hear their timeless sound!!!

Despite the ill-engineered sound quality, the essence of the music of this musical unit of highly and uniquely talented musicians is quite well-captured on this recording, and lets you travel back in time where the music really happened, and did it ever!!!

Many of their originals released on their JFL and WAM albums sound different in this live performance, and I particularly like "Freeway Flyer" and "Subway" better on this release because they sound more energetic and candid. Duncan's guitar work on "Freeway Flyer" in particular is one of the most dynamic and wickedly kinetic stuff I've ever heard on any 1-4-5 number! He's definitely got MOJO and voodoo in his guitar playing... If Miles Davis ever had a chance to hear him, he'd have hired Duncan along with or instead of Stern or Robben Ford.

Also, I really enjoy listening to the QMS renditions of the old Blues classics like "Doctor Feelgood" and "Not Fade Away" because you'd get to hear Duncan's live-wire guitar solos just jump out and RIP. When it comes to playing Blues guitar and taking it to another height, Duncan is right up there with the Blues guitar virtuosos like Albert King, Mat Murphy, Phil Upchurch, John Scofield, and Barry Finnerty. Cipollina also added some nice slide-like work to these tunes.

All throughout their entire performance, the excellent rhythm work laid by Greg Elmore and David Freiberg provides such a great platform for the other instruments and vocals to take off on. In fact Elmore's great drum work is another grossly underrated aspect of this exquisite jam band which deserves way more attention and credit.

If you are musical enough to appreciate the true essence of their highly charged and timeless music in their exciting live performances regardless of the recording quality, you will be greatly rewarded when you listen to this "Live At Kabuki."

When I first heard about this my thought was "They had concerts at the Kabuki theater?" I got the answer in the form of this cd. This is a very good place to start or simply enjoy the music of one of the best bands of their time.While I was never a big fan of Dino I always appreciated his contributions to music of that era. He was even one of the founders of this group.And what a group it is.This live show is packed with the hits you want to hear from QMS."What about me", "Fresh air",even short renditions of "Pride of man" and "Mona". John Cipollina is in great form as is Gary Duncan. These guitar stylists helped to shape what became known as the psychedelic sound.A very enjoyable 2-disc set.Highly recommended !!!

I was fortunate to see Quicksilver Messenger Service in concert on two occasions, and this welcome release is a terrific souvenir of a great band. The sound quality is hardly state of the art, but that's a minor quibble. Of primary importance is the fact that this is the only live document (except for bootleg recordings) of QMS with both John Cippolina and Dino Valenti in the line-up. And as David Crosby once declared, Valenti "does his level best to stir up your guts with a spoon!" I prefer Dino's ballads (check out his 1968 solo album), but here he's obviously "up" for a largely high voltage gig. Even if one finds his voice an acquired taste, the double leads by Cippolina and Gary Duncan are not to be missed. In the final analysis, well over half of what's presented here is essential Quicksilver.

As someone who was there in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the late 60's and early 70's, I saw QMS a number of times. I should have been at this show but couldn't decide between the Dead at Winterland or QMS up the street at the Kabuki....so I went to a New Year's party and listened to both. The Dead were on KSAN and QMS were on KMPX.
I have to say the Dead were way better that night but QMS was at the end of their rope and the Dead were just starting to rev up to the stratosphere.
A little background to this concert:
John Cipollina had already left the group when this was recorded. A dismal gig at Winterland three months earlier (I was there) headlining for the Dead and the Airplane was the last straw. Obviously, he was unhappy with the direction of the band under Dino Valente's increasing influence. He wasn't the only one. Quicksilver was booed almost off the stage by the hometown crowd when they showed up with a 5 man horn section and stunk up the joint. Everyone was so primed for them after great sets by the Dead and Airplane and they came out and fell flat on their face.
This gig was a last hurrah. They brought John back one last time and the results are the usual uneven. Sure, it had only been 3 months since they played live, but they are not as tight as they were earlier in the year. Nicky Hopkins was gone by this time, as well. Too bad.
While there are great moments (how can there not be when you have Cipollina and Duncan together), too much Dino Valente was the recipe for disaster with this group.
For years I've been pleading with whoever will listen and has access to release some of the gigs from early in 1970, (3/21/70 at the Olympic in LA would be heaven) when this band was at their absolute peak-the original 4 plus Nicky Hopkins and Dino Valente before he became overload. Maybe someday we'll see some of those concerts on CD. In the meantime, the Kabuki will have to do.