It is one of the great regrets of my life that I have never seen these guys perform.
Well, actually, I saw an early CBGBs gig when Richard Hell was in the band, and boy did they suck.
But the incarnation of the band in the clip above is beyond transplendent.
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I saw their first reunion tour in NYC in 1992, which was amazing (and where I realized that I was so in thrall to the guitar-playing that I had failed to notice what an incredible drummer Billy Ficca is). I saw them again about 10 years later, and they were really uninspired and boring. I saw them again in 2007(?) in Central Park at their first show without Richard Lloyd, and I hate to admit that they were very good (I think Verlaine took it up a notch because he was glad not to share the stage with Richard anymore).
Until I got the Live at the Old Waldrof bootleg in the early 90s (prior to the official Rhino version) I had always considered Ficca the weak link.
I have no idea why, because he's absolutely incredible.
Saw them at the Bottom Line -- 78 or 79? The music was just incredible, but I remember thinking how weird it was that Verlaine and Lloyd didn't look at each other once the whole night.
Of course, a week later they announced their break-up in the Village Voice. That explained a lot.
Also saw the legendary New Year's Eve 76/77 show at the Palladium -- a triple bill of Television, John Cale and the Patti Smith Group. Television sucked, actually, because their sound set-up was way too small for a big theater and you couldn't hear them, just a murky noise. It was still one of the great concerts of my life, though.
I had forgotten how much Richard Lloyd was responsible for the sound of the band.
Allan Rosenberg
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