GUIDED BY VOICES
"Throw the Switch..." / "...It's Rock-n-Roll Time"
Live at Irving Plaza
New York City, NY
June 14th and 15th, 1996
Audience Master Recording
also included: photo scans (courtesy Ruth Ann Schmidt) and ticket images

Lineage:
AUD > stock stereo mic clipped to baseball cap > Sony D-3 > cassette* > Tascam 424 mkII
4-track recorder > .wav (44.1kHz) > Audacity 1.2.3 (edits, fades, volume adjustments) > 
Peak 4 (compression, amplification) > CD Wave Editor (tracking) > FLACFrontend > flac8
* both cassettes are on Maxell XLII Position-High tape; the final encore on the 15th was 
included on the same tape as the rest of the show, but comes from a different AUD source

gbvdb reference:
04-14-96: http://www.gbvdb.com/album.asp?albumid=1177
04-15-96: http://www.gbvdb.com/album.asp?albumid=1178

additional photo link:
http://web.archive.org/web/19970501160842/www.gbv.com/irving.html
(Note: some of these images are actually from the show in Washington, DC on June 8th, 1996
according to photo source Ruth Ann Schmidt)
(There is also a photo in the book "Guided by Voices: A Brief History, Twenty-One Years of
Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock-n-Roll" by James Greer)

Lineup:
Robert Pollard / Tobin Sprout / Mitch Mitchell / Leland Cain (of V-3) / Kevin Fennell

Notes on Quality:
It is difficult to accurately judge the sound quality of this source for a number of
reasons.  By no stretch of the imagination does it sound "bad", but there were a number of
issues in the source that needed to be addressed.  First of all, I have serious doubts that
the band did a soundcheck for the show on the 14th because the mix changes dramatically
throughout the first three or four songs (while the taper was still setting his levels, no
less).  To some extent the same thing happens on the 15th, but to a much lesser degree.
Secondly, Bob's mic seems to have been mixed rather loudly at these particular shows, so as
he moves about the stage, twirls the mic, and occasionally drops it, it picks up more of
whatever it is closest to (listen closely to the solo during "Striped White Jets" on the
14th when Bob's mic sputters out to hear what I'm talking about). Third, the recording mic 
was clipped to the taper's baseball cap, which means that every time he turned his head, 
the stereo mix was slightly altered going to tape.  I used compression and fine volume 
adjustments to try to even out the worst of these "stereo moments", but some remain audible 
to the discerning headphone listener.  Additionally, these cassettes are nearly ten years
old, so some dropouts, tape hiss, and general deterioration of the source are inevitable 
(for instance, the first half of "Smothered in Hugs" on the 14th is marred by phasing in 
the higher frequencies).

In order to save tape, the taper stopped recording somewhat frequently during lengthy set
breaks.  These breaks and the two tape flips have been faded together and volume adjusted
for continuous play.  The fourth encore on the 15th (FOUR ENCORES?!) was added to the tape
from another source.  The quality of this encore is worse, but it is included for
completeness sake as well as for being (as far as I know) the only source for this encore.  
(In my opinion, there was no way they could have topped the third encore, but I'm glad to 
have the fourth anyway.)  Certain audience members got a little too loud a little too close 
to the mic at times, but these moments are few and far between (and generally funny!).

Technical issues aside, this is an important recorded document from many perspectives.  The
rarities in this set list go on and on - highlights include "Party" (only played 
twice live and once for a Peel Session in England), "Chance To Buy An Island" (only played 
seven times), Tobin Sprout's "Atom Eyes" (only played seven times live with Guided by 
Voices and once on the Peel Session), and two takes of the almighty GBV anthem "Over the 
Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox".  Historically, this would have marked Kevin Fennell's last two U.S. 
dates as a member of the band.  Another big plus for these recordings is the vocal presence 
of Tobin Sprout, captured more clearly than is typical in live audience recordings from 
this era.  I remember the fan reaction to these shows being overwhelmingly positive (I know 
of more than one audience member who was moved to tears by "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" 
on the 15th), so these may very well have been THE shows to attend on this tour.

To sweeten the deal, I've thrown in a number of photo and ticket scans that I managed to
cobble together.  All photos (except one or two) come courtesy of Ruth Ann Schmidt, the 
original photographer, and were scanned with great (and much appreciated) effort from her 
master prints.  No artwork is included, but it shouldn't be too difficult to put some 
together for yourself from these images - which are in their own right fascinating.

Enjoy!   

"Throw the Switch..." June 14th, 1996
DISC ONE:
01. Party
02. Postal Blowfish
03. Chance To Buy An Island
04. Man Called Aerodynamics
05. Rhine Jive Click
06. (Guided by Budweiser)
07. Cut-Out Witch
08. "Wished I Was a Giant"
09. Game of Pricks
10. King and Caroline
11. Motor Away
12. Shocker in Gloomtown
13. (You People Make Me Nervous)
14. Hot Freaks
15. (There Goes Myron!)
16. Burning Flag Birthday Suit
17. Your Name Is Wild
18. (Comfortable and Loved)
19. Bright Paper Werewolves
20. Lord of Overstock
21. Lethargy (featuring Mitch Mitchell on lead vocals)
22. I Am a Scientist

DISC TWO:
01. Always Crush Me (slightly cut-in, no vocals lost)
02. Underwater Explosions
03. Tractor Rape Chain
04. My Valuable Hunting Knife
05. Smothered in Hugs
06. (Leland Cain)
07. Pimple Zoo
08. Don't Stop Now
09. Office of Hearts
10. Weed King
11. A Salty Salute

12. (Encore Break)
13. (Meet My Team)
14. 14 Cheerleader Coldfront
15. Yours to Keep
16. Echos Myron
17. Striped White Jets (Bob has microphone difficulties)
18. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory

19. (We Got Shit)
20. Matter Eater Lad
21. Big Boring Wedding
22. Gold Star For Robot Boy

23. (Encore Break)
24. (Beer!)
25. Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox
26. Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy

"...It's Rock-n-Roll Time" June 15th, 1996
DISC ONE:
01. "Wished I Was a Giant"
02. Striped White Jets
03. Rhine Jive Click
04. My Son Cool
05. Marchers in Orange
06. Cut-Out Witch
07. Non-Absorbing
08. (In-Store Rock, the Final Frontier)
09. Bright Paper Werewolves
10. Lord of Overstock
11. Shocker in Gloomtown
12. Chance To Buy An Island
13. Atom Eyes (featuring Tobin Sprout on lead vocals)
14. Underwater Explosions
15. Sheetkickers (slightly cut-in)
16. Game of Pricks
17. Your Name Is Wild
18. (In Other Words, Hot Freaks)
19. Hot Freaks (with guest backing vocals from Tony Lee of Railroad Jerk)
20. My Valuable Hunting Knife
21. Awful Bliss (featuring Tobin Sprout on lead vocals)
22. I Am a Scientist
23. Man Called Aerodynamics
24. Burning Flag Birthday Suit
25. The Official Ironmen Rally Song

DISC TWO
01. (We Got Stage Hands)
02. Jar of Cardinals
03. King and Caroline (Matt Sweeney on bass)
04. Motor Away (Matt Sweeney on bass)
05. Don't Stop Now
06. Office of Hearts
07. A Salty Salute

08. (You Just Can't Pick Up a Guitar and Say 'I'm Mitch Mitchell')
09. Lethargy (featuring Mitch Mitchell on lead vocals)
10. Smothered in Hugs
11. Gold Star For Robot Boy

12. (Encore Break)
13. Johnny Appleseed
14. Yours to Keep
15. Echos Myron
16. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory

17. (Encore Break)
18. (Where the Fuck is Joey Ramone?)
19. Exit Flagger
20. Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox

21. Matter Eater Lad
22. Weed King
23. Pimple Zoo

--------------------------------------------------
DO NOT SELL OR CONVERT TO .MP3!  FAIR TRADE ONLY!
--------------------------------------------------