This show flies under the radar a bit, since the massive and incredible Cat Club performance, inspired Graystone Hall show, and Chicago Metro gem all hail from this same time period. Those shows are longer, better quality, and two out of the three include brain melting versions of “Whirling Hall of Knives”…
So, you may ask, why am I posting this one…aside from the fact that I got a request for it…well, I’ll tell you…
The Court Tavern is just as it says, a TAVERN…the shows were held downstairs in a Fire Inspector’s worst nightmare of a cramped basement…holding maybe 100 people, but probably crammed with close to twice that due to overselling…
I always found it amazing that the band could fit on CBGB’s stage, and I’ve seen them squeezed into Fast Lane II in Asbury Park, but this place makes those dives look palatial…I can’t image a smoke machine getting kicked on in this joint, the ceiling is only 8 feet high and the room maybe 50’x100’…MAYBE…
The palpable and not entirely unfounded fear of death, confounded by the fact that not many people could have been there, may be the reason the band is a bit more playful here…they break out the “Human Cannonball” that hadn’t been played since the spring European tour, and which had never been played with Teresa prior to this…nor since.
The Cartoon Song (Jimi acoustic part) shows up here coming out of their soundcheck, which is done onstage just prior to starting the gig…we are fortunate it was recorded, as it includes rare noodles of Blue Cheer’s “Second Time Around”, a song the band would eventually cover…in 1991!...here it is alluded to a full 5 years prior to it becoming part of their set (as “Blue Cheer” on setlists)
Cartoon Song, itself isn’t played again until July of 1987…and the noodling of the never-played-live “Eindhoven Chicken Masque” is always welcome on the few soundchecks that exist where Jeff plays it…
The rest of the set settles into the old staples we all love, but the first 5-6mins of the set are the reason we search these things out!...
Since a first gen has come to light, the quality here is pretty solid, but still not the perfect 8/30/86 Metro experience…Because of this, though, it is a lot less common than the others…so enjoy it, but please:
DO NOT SELL!!
DO NOT DISSEMINATE IN MP3 FORMAT – allow everyone to enjoy this in lossless quality for generations to come!
Butthole Surfers
Court Tavern,
New Brunswick, NJ
August 27, 1986
Source\Lineage: Aud(1)>unknown transfer>.wav>flac
1) >tune up<
2) Cartoon Song
3) Human Cannonball
4) Graveyard
5) Sweat Loaf
6) Creep in the Cellar
7) To Parter
8) Johnny Smoke
9) Cherub
10) No Rule
11) 100 Million
12) the Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave
13) Moving to Florida
14) Pittsburg to Lebanon
15) Suicide
16) Gary Floyd
17) U.S.S.A.
18) Comb
