Cracker opened a 3 day run for the Grateful Dead in Eugene OR in 1994. This is the 1st of the 3 show run. This show is more of a standard Cracker set vs. the killer 6/18/94 set w/Morgan Fichter.
Recorded by: ?
Equipment used: Soncy TCD-D7 & Nakamichi CM-300 shotgun mics
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Soncy PCMR-500/ M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
BONUS POST today. That’s right- you get an On This Date, this one, and a 3rd one! Don’t get too excited, the 3rd one sounds kinda terrible.
Anyway, for the Cracker fans unaware of the show- Loveline was a show on KROQ where listeners would call up with the “love” problems. Dr Drew Pinsky plus whatever DJ at the time (this one is Riki Rachtman), AND the guest(s) would try to help with advice. David and Johnny were in the studio for this one. Loveline was on the air from 1983-2025, but I am most familiar with the 90s crew since I lived down there at the time.
This was right after the KROQ Almost Acoustic Xmas show- the show ended probably an hour before this started. In fact, I should probably check my DAT of AAC to see if I inadvertently recorded some of this and never knew.
Recorded by: ?
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
It’s Monday, so back to audio for you all. Cracker were alternative radio darlings for a minute in the early 90s, so they played some of these radio gigs. They come out and play both of their singles right off the bat- Teen Angst and Low. They close the set with a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser”, which they played often back then but this is probably the best quality recording/performance I have heard of that one. No Camper songs. I think they blew past their time limit- nobody played this long until he headliners, and all of the subsequent sets seemed to be shortened when compared to the night before.
Over the next few weeks (weekdays), I will be posting sets from the 1993 Almost Acoustic Xmas. On the night of Dec 11th, I was driving to grab dinner for the family and I turn on KROQ and I hear that they were broadcasting the entire show live on the radio! I listened to KROQ regularly back then and did not recall any advertising for the broadcast. I hauled ass back home and grabbed a DAT and started recording. I was broke back then, so I have these sets scattered over about 5 DATs. I think I only lost a couple minutes of one set due to tape change- General Public. I even was able to edit in the interviews from other sections of the tape. The Blind Melon interview is a sad foreshadow of their future.
Anyway, hope you enjoy these. I became a fan of at least a few of these bands through this broadcast.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Sony TCD-690 off FM
Transfer by Shayne with Sony PCM-R500 and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
Here’s the last Cattle Club video I filmed(I think). I happened to be in town over the Christmas holiday, visiting family so I checked out Cracker at Cattle. They played there twice in 6 months! This one is so loud that it distorts the stock mic on the camera. I did not record any other audio sources either. Damn.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
This was a great coincidence- Gary Shurtleff and I had a friend in the bay area named Karl(RIP) who wanted me to tape a show, so he loaned me his NICE Sony TR-81 camera. I spent the entire weekend videotaping my sister’s softball games and then headed to Cattle to see if Cracker would let me video. As usual, CVB and Cracker’s manager Jackson Haring was totally cool with taping so I got this early cracker show. Notice the beautiful sequined dress that bass player Davey Faragher is wearing. Stock mic so there is some distortion.Once I used that camera, I had to drop the $800 to buy one for myself. 🙂
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment Used: Sony TR-81
Additional help by: Jackson Haring
Some friends and members of the band asked me to dig this one up, so I bumped it up on the priority list. Cracker is opening for Primus here, and someone in the crowd apparently threw something and hit David early in the set. To retaliate, they play the current song (Euro-Trash girl) for over 20min. You can hear the crowd howling in protest about halfway through the song. Classic! David hurls the insults mid-song after he gets hit at about 15:50. MUST LISTEN.
Recorded by: ?
Equipment used: ? (sounds like a sony WMD6C)
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
Hiss removed with Izotope rx7’s spectral denoise.
I pulled out a really early Cracker tape for Today’s “On This Day in History” post. I can’t remember his name, but a guy came by my apartment back in 1991 and asked for a bunch of Camper van Beethoven tapes. He was writing a book on the band and wanted some recordings to help with context. He had a lot of recently recorded tapes of the David Lowery Band that I copied in return. DLB was Cracker before they had the name!
This appears to be the band’s 3rd show ever, if setlist dot fm is to be trusted. There is a show on setlist on March 20 in Diamond Bar, which no tape exists to my knowledge. Then my list shows March 21 at the Casbah in San Diego(have a tape of that one), then this one. They were playing NINETY MINUTE sets right out of the gate, with a bunch of Camper Van Beethoven songs. It’s a pretty fun listen.
Finally, check out that lineup- Walter Salas Humara from the Silos opening (logical) and… Petula Clark opening the show?!? That’s wild. I moved to so. cal. the following year- just missed this.
Recorded by: Can’t remember (let me know if you taped this)
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
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