PiL
- London, Rainbow Theatre, UK
December 26th, 1978
Running Order:
1. Theme
2. Low Life
3. Belsen Was A Gas
4. Annalisa
5. Public Image
6. Religion
7. Attack
8. Public Image
Running Time:
42 minutes (approx)
Sound Quality:
(8) low gen very clear Audience Recording
Tape Gradings Explained here
review by DINO EVERETT
Notes:
This is the fourth and final live recording with original drummer Jim
Walker. To our knowledge no recording of the previous night's Xmas Day
performance exists.
Review:
The recording reviewed here is taken from the 'Extra
Issue' bootleg LP, the best (known) recording available from the
gig. Although obviously taken from the same source, the other two LP's;
'No Life
Like Low Life' & 'Nubes'
are slightly more muddy and Lo-Fi, with 'Nubes' being the worst of the
three. The difference in sound quality probably comes from poor mastering,
rather than the recording...
Johnny's voice on these early PiL tapes is amazing. He has the ferocity of the Pistols mixed in with the dischordal genius of Keith Levene's guitar. I honestly think that Johnny's voice changed to the more sing songy style of later PiL over the years because of the drastic change in the guitar sound that would accompany him, but that's just me.
This is a fun gig even if it seems without the drama of the Belgium and Paris gigs. John does add a line to 'Annalisa' which I always enjoyed when he screams "I hear you run with the devil" before the "go crawl like rabid dogs" line. There are a few breaks in the tape, most notably the beginning of 'Theme' is snipped and there is a cut after 'Annalisa', which was the end of side one of the LP and again after 'Attack'. This is one I would definitely recommend picking up.
