well, let me break the bad news to google, bing and yahoo enthusiasts - no, there is no download, illegal or otherwise, of this set here. sorry for that. happy hunting if you are looking - perhaps, oddly justifiably so - to get your hands on it.
i recently, at the behest of my (considerably) better half, ordered the CD set of Ed Kowalczyk's concert in Sydney earlier (as opposed to later) this year, look you see. this 20th anniversary celebration of the album Throwing Copper is, distinctly alas, only available via ordering off his site in the USA. being in England now, with a fully functioning postal system, means that we could at least do so safely.
this, i imagine, is a major bummer for the many, many fans of the Throwing Copper album - and Live fans in general for that matter - in South Africa. that band and this album are, and were, bloody massive down there, man. a huge fan base exists, and they did two amazing, sell out tours before Ed left the band in, shall we say, somewhat unpleasant circumstances, going on the stories he has told since.
with the SA Post Office at the best of times mildly occasionally reliable, but right now still in the middle of a strike which has seen them burning mail rather than deliver it, i wish i could tell you of some constructive, legal way to get the album down there. i am sorry, i can't. i hope, perhaps Rodriguez style, that somehow at least one copy of it makes its way to the country, and fan sharing does its thing.
should the SA Post Office all of a sudden condescend to just deliver mail like they are paid to do, then go ahead and order. it is very much well worth it.
some of my more English friends, in England-land, might be a bit baffled by all of this. the band Live are kind of known here, but do not seem to have had any huge success. a bit of a shame, but with so many talented English bands on the go - in particular in the 90s - it was a tough market to crack, England, for wandering American minstrels.
for those curious, but unlikely to throw $$$ at America for something they are unsure of, i would suggest a worthwhile gamble is the studio recording of Throwing Copper, which you can get new or used at a very reasonable price indeed. just click on the album name there and go see for yourself.
of all the albums Live did, this one was what you would call the "most complete". there is no filler on it, every track is superb, and it flows really, really well. the standout tracks are two of the best tracks the band ever did, which would be I Alone and, in particular, Lightning Crashes. and Iris.
i shall not forget where i bought the studio version of this album for my (considerably) better half. it was at Sun City, no less, and we were in the presence of the legendary Alex Brown when we did. not an easy thing to forget, not even after a decade or so of therapy.
disc one, as many of you will have clocked, is the entire Throwing Copper album, in order and from start to finish. it has become incredibly trendy for artists to do gigs like this, and for me it's a very good thing indeed. disc two features 6 classic Live tracks, and surprisingly only one Ed solo song, Grace. Ed has done two great solo albums thus far, and a few more numbers from them would have been nice. that said, mostly the gig seems to have been a celebration of the amazing songs he wrote and did with Live, so fair enough.
a worthwhile investment? yes, going on how my (considerably) better half likes it, and how much i have enjoyed it. be warned, though - the US$20 price for the CD set is joined on purchase by a US$14.60 shipping fee, which for me pushed the price somewhat slightly north of twenty of them English pounds.
it would have been quite nice to get the DVD of this gig too. however, the US$25 price on that would have translated as £15.61. that .61, or if you like 61p, look you see, would have been an expensive problem. importing things to the UK is fine, so long as the value is below £15. if it goes so much as 1p over, you get hit with customs tax, import tax and "admin fees" which total about £15. crazy, really, and sadly it means we won't be getting the video of it. hey ho.
if you are a fan and were wondering if this CD set is worth getting, or had no idea it was an actual thing, well the answer is very much yes. it's an outstanding quality recording of an amazing performance.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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