Live in San Francisco, 2005, by Tuxedomoon

Live in San Francisco, 2005

by Tuxedomoon

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Also includes a PDF with full liner notes, additional recollections by Blaine L. Reininger, and never-before-seen photos of the gig by Aaron Ross.

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	1.	The Waltz 05:07
	2.	Luther Blisset 07:18
	3.	Annuncialto 07:34
	4.	Baron Brown 04:38
	5.	Cagli Five-O 07:46
	6.	Here 'Til Xmas 04:27
	7.	Desire 07:09
	8.	This Beast 06:17
	9.	Diario Di Un Egoista 04:54
	10.	A Home Away 03:00
	11.	Dark Companion 04:32
	12.	Loneliness 09:42
	13.	The Stranger 05:44
	14.	Jinx (CUT) 01:46

about

You are now looking at a truly historical moment in the saga of Tuxedomoon: the brief reunion with original singer/performer Winston Tong in 2005. The band had flown to the U.S. for a short tour, and managed to recruit Winston as guest for their two "homecoming" San Francisco gigs. It was almost a full reunion of the “classic” line-up, save for Bruce Geduldig, who was on a sabbatical while tending to personal matters. Nevertheless, all sound-makers from the early to mid-1980s were present, and they certainly did not disappoint.

The key moment comes half-way through “Desire”, when Winston steps on stage… the electricity in the room is palpable.

The audio quality is not ideal, but it underwent a fair amount of attentive mastering: it is now quite enjoyable. Either way, it is one of those moments when the historical significance surpasses any other shortcomings - this recording most likely signals the very last time Tuxedomoon performed “The Stranger”. But hey, who knows what the future brings: we have been pleasantly surprised quite a few times before.

Heitor Alvelos, February 2021

“Blaine had been contemplating returning to San Francisco for some years already. […] he had something on the back of his mind: working with Winston Tong again.

[…] Tong had become quite reclusive over the years and actually seemed to fear what he imagined Europe had become, [and] that sums up to several inertia factors explaining why Tong would not leave San Francisco to meet with the band. Reininger was probably aware of this, but, like all the other members of Tuxedomoon, was genuinely willing to work with Tong again as he believed that this would foster the band’s inspiration. Going back to San Francisco was certainly the last chance of getting Tong involved.
Tong was of course not the only reason for the band’s return to San Francisco. For all of them (with the exception of Luc van Lieshout, who would discover San Francisco for the first time), it was a return to the source of their creativity. Going back to San Francisco was also the search for “some” answer to a question that had haunted at least some of them for many years: what if they had stayed there? Could they still fall in love with San Francisco in the same way as they all did in the seventies? In other words, did they have reasons to regret their leaving San Francisco for Europe in the early eighties?

[…] San Francisco was not exactly the kind of place that the band members could afford for an extended stay (most of the yuppies were gone by then but had left the city’s rocket-high prices behind). A few US gigs were scheduled, in the USA and Mexico City, but these were not really money making ventures. The band made about three times less money on their US gigs than for their performances in Europe. They found themselves in one of the only hotels that they could afford. The (in)famous St. Paul Hotel on Kearny street was a mainly residential hotel populated with a “bunch of weirdos” (dixit Reininger), namely people on welfare and, for many, after a life of drug abuse. For a band like Tuxedomoon, this hotel was quite inspiring in the end. Not that they actually enjoyed staying there, but it was surely evocative of other frequented places from the past and, according to Brown, its corridors looked a bit like the ones seen in Barton Fink, the movie by the brothers Joel & Ethan Coen. Many of the residents didn’t seem to have much else to do than waiting for the end and the hotel manager particularly seemed to like “quiet” guests. This made for a peculiar atmosphere that undoubtedly permeated the long jams they performed in the studio, developing what they later called “spontaneous” compositions that would become their next album, entitled Bardo Hotel.

The return to San Francisco was not only a change of continent but also a journey back in time, as Reininger, Brown and Principle met many of their friends from the old days.

[… Nevertheless…]

Winston Tong is absent from these memories, as he was from the band’s work at Peter Mayer’s Studio. Steven Brown does not recall having seen him there at all. Carlos Becerra remembers of a brief apparition à la Syd Barrett of a Winston humming around the others at work and then... disappearing for good. Tong did however show up when there was an audience to see him, namely at Tuxedomoon’s two shows in San Francisco at Rickshaw Shop and Café Du Nord.”

From Neil Martinson: ‘It was an amazing show, much better in my opinion than Saturday at  the du Nord. Winston sang backup on "Desire" and "This Beast," then for an encore sang "The Stranger," "Jinx" and "Nur Al Hajj." A second encore brought out "Litebulb Overkill" and an amazing impromptu "Pinheads On The Move" with Blaine on the piano. Over 150 people turned up for this show, and everyone seemed really happy (...)’ “

(Extract from Isabelle Corbisier's Tuxedomoon biography, "Music for Vagabonds", 2008; used with permission of the author.)

credits

released February 6, 2021

Recorded live at the Rickshaw Shop, San Francisco, 23 March 2005.

Performers:
Steven Brown
Peter Principle
Blaine L. Reininger
Winston Tong
Luc van Lieshout

Live visuals by George Kakanakis.
Live sound by Guglielmo Ridolfo Gagliano.

An audience recording provided by Steven Brown. Due to medium constraints, the tracks "Courante Marocaine", "Litebulb Overkill" and "Pinheads On The Move" were not recorded.

Mastered by Anselmo Canha, 2020.

Cover photo and concert photography by Aaron Ross.
Selfie by Blaine L. Reininger.

Graphic design and project management by Heitor Alvelos.

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Tuxedomoon Archives San Francisco, California

An opportunity to explore in detail variations of the classics beyond their officially released versions: how they evolved, how they were interpreted at different times, how they made use of then-available technology… and then there’s the never-heard-before material. Selected according to sound quality and/or historical relevance, an ever-evolving audio-biographical puzzle spanning 40+ years. ... more

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