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Recorded earlier this year at The Neptune, Seattle Hiss Golden Messenger has released the first in a series of live releases recorded on the Hiss Mobile Recording Unit (HMRU for short).
Wise Eyes: Live at The Neptune, Seattle, WA, 2/25/22 is now available through Bandcamp and contains 17 tracks, recorded and mixed by Luc Suèr and mastered by Chris Boerner. It also includes some beautiful artwork by Darryl Norsen.
This 17-song performance – one of the best of the 2021-2022 winter tour – finds the band in peak form and full steam ahead, drawing on deep cuts and crowd favorites from their extensive catalogue, including barn-burning renditions of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and ” Bertha” from Grateful Dead.
MC Taylor: “50% of sales benefit the National Network of Abortion Funds. Each future release will partner with a different organization that is doing a good job in our collective universe.
“We arrived in Seattle on a Friday. February 25thth. We had been on that particular stage of [the] tour for about a month and on the west coast for about ten days. We were in good shape. Hiss hadn’t been to Seattle since 2019 – a city that has always given us a warm welcome – and we’ve come from a number of shows including two nights in Portland, a gig at the Fillmore in San Francisco and The Troubadour in Los Angeles, all of which were sold out. The anticipation in the Emerald City was great.
“We played at the Neptune Theater in Seattle’s University District, a place none of us had ever been to before. Built in 1921, the Neptune is a 1,000-person room with a main floor and balcony featuring nautical King Neptune-themed decor. It’s a sprawling rococo place and the vibe was good from the moment we loaded in. The day before, while visiting our friend Tucker Martine’s studio in Portland, we received advance warning from Jessica of Deep Sea Diver and Natalie Allison and Meegan of the band Joseph, all Northwestern natives, that the Neptune was a stone’s throw from a restaurant called Thai Tom away, which they unanimously considered the best Thai food they had ever had. You steered us correctly.
“Everyone in the band and crew felt this performance was a fitting opening release for our Hiss Live series. On a good night, Hiss vibrates the air at a very specific frequency, and I can hear that on this show in Seattle. I also hear all kinds of joy: the joy of the five of us together on stage, the inner musical jokes and joy of making music together and the joy of the audience to hear music that moves them and most of all the joy of Everyone of us in this building Everyonemoving beyond our worries, stress and fear for a little while to create something hopeful together. Does this make sense? We were all part of the performance. This is an idea that really ingrained itself in my marrow after years of being unable to play after feeling the futility of COVID-induced Zoom gigs: We are all part of the performance.
“wise eyes was recorded and mixed by Luc Suer and mastered by Chris Boerner. Design and graphics by Darryl Norsen. All songs except “Mama Tried” and “Bertha” composed by MC Taylor. Special thanks to Chris Frisina, Carley Bingham and Merge Records. Hiss Golden Messengers are MC Taylor, Chris Boerner, Alex Bingham, Sam Fribush and Nick Falk. Curious about a scorching Saturday night show in Charleston? Highlights of two legendary Denver sell-out nights? A parsimonious and intimate mid-winter solo performance in the frosty city of London? Or even demos and sketches turned into songs you know and love on Hiss albums? All All of that and more are fair game with our Hiss Live series.”
– MC Taylor, Durham, NC, August 2, 2022
Order through Bandcamp
Also available from Nugs.net
