Sunrise Theater

I feel like reviews / comments of this era of the ABB are few and far between, but I like standing up on my hind legs and defending the Lawler era – all things being equal, the sound here is pretty dynamic, maybe one of the better-hidden secrets of the legacy of the band are some of the shows from ’79-’81.

I think this is the first show without Jaimoe? I mean, again, call me a blasphemer, but the thunderous percussion here just absolutely rules the day – if that’s Frankie’s contribution then so be it…the FM source here really is what makes sets like this a treasure.

Gregg does sound like the ragged edge of nowhere, but he’s growlingly lucid, Dickey and Dan are on fire, and I got to give credit to Lawler – they wanted him in the band, he joined, and his 80s space-cadet keytar swirl is famously odious to purists, but, and again, call me crazy, but in a vacuum the ***sound*** ultimately is what matters, and when Dickey joins Mike during Whipping Post, it really is something cool.

Happy to share shows from this era – I’m digging it more and more with every recording I manage to get my hands on. Wouldn’t it have been cool if “From the Madness of the West” was developed into a True Gravity-style epic?