Recorded: 1995?
Tracks: Slippery Seal; Anticipation; Third Wheel; Yahee!; Doubt; I Dream of Jeanie; Kept Simple
Best track: Yahee!
Track to skip: the cello is way out of tune in Third Wheel, but it doesn’t really warrant skippage
This was Halogen’s first gig, recorded at Club Dada probably in early 1995. The lineup on this one is the same Gallman/Gros/McCormick/Sisson/Talbert line up as Demo #2 before. I think with any group a first gig will always have some rough spots and this one is no exception. Leslie Sisson is clearly nervous during most of the performance. She also has some rough spots in her cello playing on Third Wheel. I was actually surprised at the amount of bad notes coming from Matt Talbert on Anticipation. For a lot of the song he’s just kind of soloing and he often hits some sour notes. But ya know, all this is expected because it is their first gig and these songs aren’t just simple 3 chord pop things. It’s clear that Halogen weren’t content to just put out average, predictable music. The group’s instrumental, Yahee!, is very Indian-sounding and pretty unpredictable. I always loved how Halogen was unafraid to push what could be done in pop songs. Another interesting aspect is how Aaron Gros chooses to just play percussion for this show instead of bringing his drum set along. Halogen was a *very* ambitious band; for example, their ‘smooth jazz’ version of the theme from I Dream of Jeanie. It’s not smooth in the way that Kenny G is, but it’s still a bit smoother than traditional jazz. It’s pretty cool regardless and quite fun to hear; a great arrangement of the tune. Oh, and Mike McCormick does some cool beanie bass fills all throughout. This tape of the gig stops in the middle of Kept Simple so the closer of the night, Bridged, is not here. Also, it’s entirely possible they could have played Rest Assured after Kept Simple, as it was in the set at the time. Since I wasn’t at this gig I have no idea and I bet that any of them wouldn’t remember. All in all, it’s a good show. Lots of imperfections, but it’s clear how good these songs are and how the group are really pushing things, at least within themselves. I wish more Halogen live stuff was out there, but I guess the few gigs they did just weren’t recorded.
Rating: 84
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