Shriekback

Shriekback is a rock band formed in the early 1980s by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), Carl Marsh (guitars/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of the Gang of Four (bass). They were joined by Martyn Barker on drums in 1983.

Scheduled
Friday, 21 September 1984, "Grote Box", 23:45 - 00:45

Line up
Barry Andrews - keyboards, vocals; Carl Marsh - guitars, vocals; Dave Allen - bass; Martyn Barker - drums; Pedro Ortiz - percussion

Set list
01 Feelers
02 A kind of fascination
03 Mothloop II
04 White out
05 All lined up

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 05.

Other info


Article from festival booklet

Bronski Beat

Bronski Beat was a popular British synth pop trio of the 1980s. Their music is characterized by Jimmy Somerville's soulful counter-tenor voice and quirky synthesizer accompaniment. In 1985 Somerville quit the band, stating he wanted a career which was "more political". He went on to form The Communards with Richard Coles.

Scheduled
Friday, 21 September 1984, "Grote Box", 22:30 - 23:15

Line up
Jimmy Somerville – vocals; Steve Bronski (Steven Forrest) – keyboards, percussion; Larry Steinbachek (Lawrence Cole) – keyboards, percussion

Set list
01 Small town boy
02 Loving money
03 No more war
04 It ain't necessarily so
05 Why
06 I feel love

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 06. Stop laughing. It's great! It is. Seriously.

Other info


Article from festival booklet

The Sound

The Sound was a British post-punk band fronted by Adrian Borland, which evolved from his previous band, The Outsiders. Their career spanned 1978 to 1987. They were labelmates of fellow literate, intense post-punk groups such as Echo & the Bunnymen and The Chameleons.

Scheduled
Friday, 21 September 1983, "Grote Box", 21:00 - 22:00

Line up
Adrian Borland – vocals, guitar; Colvin "Max" Mayers – keyboards; Graham Bailey – bass guitar; Mike Dudley – drums

Set list
01 Monument
02 Fire

Recording
01 – 02 officially released as bonus tracks on the cd re-release of In the Hothouse (Renascent, 2002). Liner notes: “Bonus tracks are from a great Dutch festival called 'Pandora's Music Box' - September 21 1984.”

I have 01 - 02, taken from In the Hothouse.

Other info
Ian Nelson (who played Pandora's 84 with Fiat Lux) joined the Sound on saxophone for the tour to support their Heads & Hearts album a few months later, from March 1985.

Ook ik ben in een ver verleden nog bij No Nukes geweest. Helaas niet van dichtbij kunnen zien ivm de massaalheid van het geheel. Waren ze ook niet bij Pandora's Box in de Doelen Rotterdam najaar 84? (blunnie, http://www.musicmeter.nl/album/4286/info/180#messages)

Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew was a United States experimental rock and jazz group from 1982 to 1986, comprising core members Fred Frith (guitar) and Tom Cora (cello), with Zeena Parkins (harp) joining later. Best known for their live improvisation performances where they played various instruments simultaneously, they also recorded two studio albums Learn to Talk (1984) and The Country of Blinds (1986).

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 00:45 - 01:45

Line up
Fred Frith – guitar, violin, keyboards, bass drum, hi-hat; Tom Cora – cello, bass guitar, homemade drums, contraptions, vocals

Set list
Unknown, mostly improvised music

Recording
I have a radio recording of 2 2/3 songs (8’32”), no titles. Get them here: http://wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070817-181802.

Other info

Force 10

I have no info whatsoever... This is a bit of a problem Googling info:



And these guys clearly weren't born yet in 1983:




Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 02:15 - 03:00

Line up
Unknown

Setlist
Unknown

Recording
Unknown

Other info
None

Peter Hammill

Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano. He also acts as a record producer for his own recordings, and occasionally for other artists.

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 23:15 - 0015

Line up
Peter Hamill – vocals, guitar; John Ellis – guitar; Guy Evans – drums

Set list
01 Patient (8:03)
02 The future now (3:52)
03 Last frame (7:28)
04 The comet, the course, the tail (7:30)
05 Don't tell me (5:21)
06 Porton down (5:23)
07 Empress's clothes (5:23)
08 The jargon king (3:05)
09 The second hand (7:24)
10 The sphinx in the face (5:56)
11 Stranger still (5:39)

Recording
A complete audience recording exists, released as a bootleg, not sure if this is a commercial (silver) disc or a cdr (http://www.vapp.de/ph/list83.htm). Partially broadcast on radio, as well as an interview.
I have tracks 01 – 03 from a radio broadcast, get them here: http://www.wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070814-185411.




Other info


Article from official festival booklet






Article from Vinyl magazine (1983/11) briefly mentioning Pandora's (http://www.couchnoise.com/press.htm)




Article from Oor magazine (1983/22), briefly mentioning Pandora's (http://www.couchnoise.com/press.htm).

W.A.T.

In 1982 richt Ad van Meurs het redelijk succesvolle W.A.T. op. Met deze waveband, waarin ook zijn partner Ankie Keultjes speelt, maakt hij drie albums. Het trio valt op door een apart verbond van synthesizer en (slide)gitaar. Ad and Ankie would later continue as The Watchman.

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 22:00 - 22:45

Line up
Ad van Meurs – guitar, voice; Ankie Keultjes – synthesizer, voice; Frank van Nieuwenhof – bass

Set list
01 Art lovers (4:52)
02 Defreeze (4:01)

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 02, get them here: http://www.wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070127-112746.

Other info
W.A.T. (from World According To) were a Dutch trio based on sequencers, slide guitar and a thin female voice. They played on Pandora's Music Box, a new wave festival in de Doelen in Rotterdam, 2-3-4 September 1983. A lot of new wave acts played there and a lot is broadcasted on Dutch public radio (and I taped it): Siouxsie & Banshees, W.A.T., Durutti Column, Die Haut (& Nick Cave), Howard Devoto, S.P.K., The Box, Peter Hammill, Skeleton Crew, Jah Wobble, Spear of Destiny, Clock DVA, Armoury Show, Kowalski, Danse Society, Fad Gadget, TC Matic. (http://www.wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070127-112746)

New Model Army

New Model Army are an English rock band. They are widely known for their unwavering commitment to their original vision of music and performance and their ethical code. Therefore they are often labelled as a punk band.

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Dance Box", 21:00 - 22:00

Line up
Justin Sullivan – vocals & guitar, Stuart Murrow – bass, Robert Heaton – drums

Set list
01 Let’s dance
02 Great expectations
03 Vengeance
04 Sex (the black angel)
05 Grandmother’s footsteps

Recording
Tracks 01 - 05 were broadcast on radio. Tracks 03 – 05 were released on the bootleg This is for the Fans, not the Militia, taken from this broadcast.



I have the same three tracks as well as a short interview (mp3 @ 192kbps, total time 12'24") from the State of Mind bootleg CD, which appeared later with similar artwork. Get them here: http://symphonyofghosts.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-model-army-state-of-mind-demos.html




Other info



12 of us travelled over to Rotterdam in a mini bus. It was a two day indoor music festival (Pandora's Musicbox 22/9/84). The building was similar to the NEC in Birmingham; it had loads of different venues in one big building. The whole experience was brilliant. When NMA came on I don't think the foreign audience knew what was going on, they just stood there and watched us dance through the whole gig. (http://freespace.virgin.net/biffer.a/next2.htm)

C Cat Trance

In the mid eighties, after the release of anthem Hungry, So Angry and album The Glitterhouse, Rees Lewis, the distinctive element (voice and sax) of currently obscure but hip funksters Medium Medium, left and with drummer Nigel Stone started C-Cat Trance. (http://www.cherryred.co.uk/cherryred/artists/ccattrance.php)

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Kleine Box", 02:15 - 03:15

Line up
Rees Lewis – vocals, saxophone; Nigel Stone – drums; Rob Hodgkinson - sounds, tapes

Setlist
01 She steals cars
02 Barefoot doctor
03 The old man
04 Puritaines
05 Simple Helen

Recording
I have a lossless (flac) recording of track 01 - 05, taken from a radio broadcast, total time 28'57".

Other info
C Cat Trance produced world/dance/funk sounds ahead of their time, and, with a floating membership varying between two and eight, played infrequent gigs —beginning at Pandora's Musicbox in Rotterdam in September 1984— and more often in Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Holland) than the UK. (www.myspace.com/ccattrance)

Nico and band

Christa Päffgen (October 16, 1938 – July 18, 1988) was a German singer-songwriter, fashion model, actress, keyboard player and Warhol superstar, best known by her pseudonym Nico. She is remembered for both her time in The Velvet Underground and her solo work.

Scheduled
Saturday, 12 October 1985, "Big Hall", 21:00 - 22:00

Line up
Nico – vocals, Indian pump organ; Eric Graham Dowdall – electronic percussion; Eric Random – percussion, synthesizer; Toby Toman (Phillip Tomanov) – drums; James Young (James Edward) – keyboards

Set list
01 All saints night (9:14)
02 Procession (3:48)
03 Secret side (3:33)
04 Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen (6:08)
05 Win a few (8:55)
06 König (4:27)
07 Purple lips (4:32)
08 All tomorrow's parties (3:03)
09 Fearfully in danger (6:49)
10 The end (10:10)
11 My funny Valentine (4:15)
12 Sixty/forty (incomplete version) (2:26)
13 Tananore (4:06)
14 Janitor of lunacy (4:19)
15 My heart is empty (5:15)
16 Femme fatale (3:48)

Recording
The complete show was officially released as double vinyl album Behind the Iron Curtain, Dojo, 1986. Total time 78'08". The CD re-released omits tracks 9 - 12. Tracks 10 and 11 were also released on the Live Heroes CD (Performance, 1986) and the bootleg My Funny Valentine.



I have 01 - 08 and 13 - 16, taken from (the CD re-issue of) Behind the Iron Curtain.

Other info
According to the cover of Behind the Iron Curtain, it was recorded in Warsaw, Budapest and Prague, but it was in fact recorded at Pandora's 85.

Laut Cover Liveaufnahmen aus Warschau, Budapest und Prag, September/Oktober 1985, tatsächlich aber live aus Rotterdam, "Pandora's Music Box '85" De Doelen Concertgebouw, 9.10.85 [Actually 12 October 1985 - P@ndora]. (http://mitglied.lycos.de/rafuchs/musik/nico/nico4.htm)

Note the complete bollocks in this AMG review. They keep hearing the “Eastern Europe feel” in the recording…:

AMG REVIEW: Amid the sheer quantity of "live in the 1980s"-style Nico live albums that commenced raining down in the early '80s, and which have barely abated in the years since her death, few stand out as being more (or less) valuable than any other. Inasmuch as it captures an entire concert, Behind the Iron Curtain is one of the few exceptions, a classy recording of a late-1985 show in Warsaw, Poland, as she toured on the back of Camera Obscura. Backed by the ever-faithful Faction band, the show was played out before an audience of almost unbecoming politeness — keyboard player James Young, recalling the event in his The End memoir, described the onlookers as "serious and subdued...I think the problem was that, for once, Nico was out-doomed." As the album title notes, Poland still lay behind the Iron Curtain at that time, a land where audience participation was seriously discouraged. Young wrote that the "performance was as reserved as the seating," but that is to the album's advantage. With a live set that ranges throughout Nico's career, from old road warriors like Femme Fatale and All Tomorrow's Parties to new additions My Funny Valentine and Das Lied Vom Einsamen Madchen, the playing is precise and Nico is in excellent voice. The End is as chilling as it always should be (but, all too often on live recordings, isn't), and the version of Janitor of Lunacy has an edge that still sends shivers down the spine. And what more could you want from a Nico album? — Dave Thompson (http://www.hogemark.no/rock/details/33370.html)

The Plastic Dolls

Amsterdamse groep die begint als het duo Hans ter Burg (gitaar, zang) en Jacqueline Versluijs (drums). Ondanks het beperkte instrumentarium maken ze op plaat en live veel indruk met hun rauw en rudimentair gespeelde bluesrock. De eerste opstelling doet heel erg denken aan het Amerikaanse duo The White Stripes dat eind jaren negentig succesvol is.

Scheduled
Friday, 11 October 1985, "Mini Box", 00:25 - 01:10

Line up
Hans Ter Burg – guitar, vocals; Jacqueline Versluijs – drums

Setlist
Unknown

Recording
A recording exists

Other info
Ondanks de minimale bezetting klinkt de plaat [Boys Are Worse Than Girls – P@ndora] zwaar en vol. Muziekblad Vinyl hoort invloeden van The Birthday Party, Status Quo en Foetus en noemt de plaat 'behoorlijk eigenzinnig en aanstekelijk'. Ook Oor is enthousiast en schrijft over een 'een verrassend authentiek en direct klinkend geluid'. De positieve aandacht levert veel optredens op waaronder het festival Pandora's Musicbox in Rotterdam. Ze worden terzijde gestaan door geluidsman en derde bandlid Jozef Hey. (http://www.popinstituut.nl/biografie/the_plastic_dolls.13061.html)

The Woodentops

The Woodentops were a British independent label rock band that enjoyed considerable critical acclaim, and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s. Taking their name from a slang expression referring to an acoustic guitar, the band formed in South London, England, in 1983.

Scheduled
Friday, 11 October 1985, "Small Hall", 23:40 - 00:25

Line up
Rolo McGinty – vocals, guitar; Simon Mawby – guitar; Alice Thompson – keyboards; Frank de Freitas – bass; Benny Staples – drums

Set list
01 Get it on
02 Last time
03 Have you seen the lights
04 So good today

Recording
01 – 04 Radio broadcast exists

Other info

KUKL

KUKL was an Icelandic gothic rock group in the 1980s, most notable for being one of Björk's first bands. The name translates to "witchcraft" in Medieval Icelandic.

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Dance Box", 23:30 - 00:15

Line up
Björk Guðmundsdóttir – vocals; Einar Örn Benediktsson – vocals, trumpet; Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson – guitar; Birgir Mogensen – bass; Einar Arnaldur Melax – keyboards; Sigtryggur Baldursson – drums

Set list
Unknown

Recording
A recording exists

Other info
Things brightened up there with Iceland's finest (albeit unopposed) K.U.L.K delivering a spunkish drunkish short set of Bow Wow Wow sounds, the words coming from the plainest boy in history and a girl with the most unsightly pageboy cut since Skafish. The guitar was groovy and the drums were bendy, and I could have listened to them for at least another 12 years if duty had not called. (NME, October 6, 1984 [Not sure if this is about Pandora’s - P@ndora])

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire - it's KUKL! Boy and girl charging around, shouting and screaming, while four others contrive to make one hell of a racket, lapsing into occasional bouts of melody. I'm not sure that it was their intention, but I found them jolly entertaining, and they should be seen if only to witness the extraordinary performance of that manic little girl. (Sounds, October 13, 1984)

The Anti Group

The Anti-Group Company, or T.A.G.C. are a side project of Clock DVA. Formed in the early 80's by Adi Newton (although the idea existed as early as 1978), T.A.G.C. (originally The Anti-Group) was conceived as an open-membership experimental multimedia collective, focused on audio, visual and textual research and production, as well as performance art and installations.

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Grote Box", 01:45 - 02:45
Swapped timeslot with Tom Verlaine

Line up
Adi Newton – vocals, electronics; Paul Browse - saxophone; Bob Baker - ?; ? Heppinstal - ?; ? Heppinstal - ?; Dennis Dean - bass; Nick Saunderson - drums
John [Carruthers - P@ndora] left to join Siouxsie & the Banshees while Dean, Paul, Nick & Adi were joined by Bob Baker and the brothers Heppinstal working as the experimental collective The Anti Group. (http://www.out-2-lunch.co.uk/newbiog.php?rec=1)

Set list
01 The delivery pt. 1 (5:41)
02 The delivery pt. 2 (17:22)

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 and 02, 23'03. Get it here: (http://pretentiousblogtitle.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html)

Other info
The first non theoretical action devised by ATG was the Film "The delivery", a 16mm tryptych projection and soundtrack, and the Anti theatre performance "The Discussion" designed for five tape recorders and multi-video projection systems. These two works were first presented at the "Der Doelen" center in Rotterdam on Sat. Sep 22nd, 1985 [1984 - P@ndora]. "The delivery" has been exhibited at the "2nd Atonal festival" in "The Ballhaus Tiergarten" Berlin, Feb 18th 1985 where the soundtrack was recorded on a mobile 24 track system. This document was released as the recording "The delivery" on Atonal Records. (http://www.clockdva.com/audiophile.html)

Newton, Browse, Dennis and Sanderson played Pandora's 83 as part of Clock DVA.

Dennis and Sanderson played Pandora's 85 with the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet. They are the only artists appearing at all three Pandora's Music Box editions.

John Cale

John Davies Cale (born March 9, 1942) is a Welsh musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his work in rock music, particularly as a founding member of The Velvet Underground, and he has worked in a variety of styles over the years. Cale created the wall of feedback and distortion that Sandy Pearlman would describe as heavy metal in a Crawdaddy! review of the first Velvet Underground LP.

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Grote Box", 21:00 - 22:00

Line up
Unknown

Set list
01 Amsterdam
02 Leaving it up to you
03 Buffalo ballet
04 Riverbank
05 Dead or alive
06 Guts (cut)

Recording
A complete audience recording exists, 60'. A partial radio recording exists: tracks 01 - 06. Listen to the stream here: (http://3voor12.vpro.nl/programmas/afleveringen/3731425).

Other info

Jah Wobble's Insane Fame

Jah Wobble (born John Wardle, in Stepney in 1958) is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two years. Following his departure from PiL, he went on to a successful solo career, continuing to the present.

Scheduled
Friday, 21 September 1984, "Kleine Box", 03:15 - 04:00
(Originally scheduled in the "Mini Box", 02:15 - 03:00)

Line up
Jah Wobble - vocals, bass; rest unknown

Set list
Unknown

Recording
Unknown

Other info
Last minute addition to the program. Wobble was the only artist on Pandora's 84 who also played in 1983.

Insane Fame is most likely a one-off project. (http://www.fodderstompf.com/GIG%20LIST/wobgigz.htm)

Schedule 1985

Acts mentioned/negotiated/listed/contracted that didn’t play: Alan Vega, 10,000 Maniacs, Wall of Voodoo, Swans, Prefab Sprout, Propaganda, Meat Puppets, Replacements, Wire.


Schedule from the official festival booklet.

Schedule 1983

Amazing lineup for this first edition of Pandora’s Music Box. Looking at the schedule I cannot help but drool and think how amazing it would be to have actually been there…

Looking more closely, I notice the timetable. And I notice that I would have had to be institutionalized after a weekend like this! See, I’m one of those guys who go to festivals to see bands play. Sure, boozing with friends is great, atmosphere is important, but to me the most important thing is who’s playing. And I wanna see them. Now take a look at the schedule for 3 September and tell me how I would’ve been able to see the bands that I like in this lineup: Death Cult, Clock DVA, Spear of Destiny, Armoury Show, Fad Gadget, Kowalski, Big Country, Virgin Prunes, Danse Society, Xmal Deutschland & TC Matic? Basically: I’m not so crazy about the Violent Femmes, I would’ve wanted to see the rest, at least partially. Maybe it’s best that I wasn’t there…

Acts mentioned/negotiated/listed/contracted that didn’t play: China Crisis, Marine Girls, Cabaret Voltaire, Cocteau Twins, Eyeless in Gaza, Gun Club (played 1984), Fleshtones (played 1984), Bernard Szajzner, 23 Skidoo, Southern Death Cult (merged into Death Cult who did play), Nico (played 1985), Alarm, Everything but the Girl, New Order, Blancmange, End Games, Bauhaus (disintegrated before the festival).

The Gun Club and Cabaret Voltaire are in the official Pandora’s 1983 booklet but they are not on the schedule. They were both cancelled at the last minute. The Gun Club managed to get their act together in time for Pandora's 84.


Schedule from the official festival booklet.

Schedule 1984

Acts mentioned/negotiated/listed/contracted that didn’t play: Red Guitars, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (played 1985), Working Week, Tones on Tail (ex-Bauhaus, Bauhaus was supposed to play in 1983 but disintegrated before the festival), Rank & File, DVA-tion (Adi Newton project, who appeared with the Anti Group).

Test Dept. is in the official booklet, but not on the schedule. They must have been negotiated but not booked.

Als ik lees over het festival Pandora's Music Box in 1984, dan lopen de rillingen me over de rug. Wat een programma had dat en wat jammer dat ik daar toen te jong voor was. (http://dertigers.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_dertigers_archive.html)


Schedule from the official festival booklet.


Schedule from Oor magazine (1984, #19), published just before the festival.


Flyer handed out during the festival with final schedule (thanks to Surfling). Johnny Thunders appears on both nights, Jah Wobble changed venue and Gene Loves Jezebel are gone from the schedule.

L'Attentat

In de jaren tachtig en negentig actieve Amsterdamse rock & roll-band met een geduchte reputatie in het clubcircuit.

Scheduled
Saturday, 12 October 1985, "Dance Hall", 21:25 - 21:50 (time slot shared with Fatal Flowers)

Line up
Allard Jolles – guitar, vocals; Daan Akkerman – guitar; Gerard Kortooms – bass; Willy Demacker – drums

Set list
01 One track mind (together with Fatal Flowers)

Recording
Unknown

Other info
L'Attentat shared a timeslot with the Fatal Flowers. The Fatal Flowers started off, after half an hour L'Attentat joined them for one song and then finished their set alone.

Jolles played Pandora’s 84 as drummer for Claw Boys Claw.

Claw Boys Claw

Guitar band from Amsterdam fronted by charismatic singer Peter te Bos that is influenced by garage punk of bands like Gun Club and the Stooges. Gradually, the band's musical style develops into the direction of melodic swamp rock. (http://www.hollandrocks.nl/bio/bz344.html)

Scheduled
Friday, 21 September 1984, "Garage Box", 21:15 - 21:45

Line up
Peter te Bos – vocals; John Cameron – guitar; Bobbie Rossini – bass; Allard Jolles – drums

Set list
01 Shake it on the rocks
02 Cosmic blue
03 Venus

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 03

Other info
Jolles played Pandora's 1985 as singer/guitarist for L'Attentat.

Scientists

Scheduled
Friday, 21 September 1984, "Garage Box", 22:15 - 22:45

Line up
Kim Salmon – vocals, guitar; Tony Thewlis – guitar; Boris Sujdovic – bass; Brett Rixon – drums

Set list
00 Backward man

Recording
Unknown

Other info
At the time, it seemed as if none of us did anything for the first year in the UK but stand in queues and pay exorbitant VAT- inflated prices when we got to the end of them. In retrospect, and at the risk of boasting, I can only be amazed at how far we got in that small amount of time. Firstly, we had a local release for Blood Red River on Rough Trade. Next we virtually walked into All Trade Booking Agency and got a whole stack of shows at places like Dingwalls, The Electric Ballroom, The Lyceum and The Clarendon Garage. As well, Tony and I rather cheekily wrote Kid Congo a letter telling him we were going to support the Gun Club on their UK tour. There was no talk of this with the agency - we just did it 'off the bat' and that seemed to clinch it taking care of exposure over the rest of England for us. The next step was for the Dutch fellow previously mentioned [Willem Venema – P@ndora] to walk in to All Trade and see our photo and then book us into Futurama in Belgium and the Pandora's Box festival in Rotterdam. At Pandora's Box we found ourselves in front of a huge jampacked room which moved back a full metre the moment we launched into our set. After that we got our picture taken a lot and I ended up having to do loads of interviews for foreign mags that I would never be able to read unless they were in the three sentences of Deutsche that I know. As Boris pointed out to me, this gig set us up for Holland and Belgium over the next couple of years. It wasn't long after these festivals that we made it to Paris and then Hamburg.
Back in the UK, our audience at this stage was comprised partly from the network of Cramps and Gun Club fans who had been alerted to our existence by the tireless efforts of Scotsman and Next Big Thing writer Lindsay Hutton and partly from a curiosity amongst punters as to what kind of act could draw the particular kind of adjective from the ink of the three British trade papers, NME, Sounds and Melody Maker, that we did. I was quite happy at that stage of my life to be referred to as the "lowest form of uncaring anti-social filth" in what amounted to a music tabloid with a circulation of hundreds of thousands so long as they meant we were great. We got quite a bit of coverage and most of it was positive in that kind of way. At Pandora's Box a Belgian chap called Paul Delnoy asked if he could make a record with us on his label. He did not seem to have enough English to understand 'no' (we were tied up contractually) which is why we ended up in Brussels at the end of the year trying to make up another record from scratch that didn't overlap with the material we were working on for our next proper album. (http://www.citadel-records.com/mailorder/600/discs/scient.html)

Defunkt

Defunkt is a punk-funk-jazz collective that was founded 1978 in New York, United States and is still active. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defunkt)
Led by singing trombonist Joe Bowie (younger brother of famed jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie), the seven-man Defunkt peddled black funk with dry bounce. Originally formed as James Chance's horn section, Defunkt also had ties with the world of avant-garde jazz, putting it in a unique and culturally resonant position. (http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=defunkt)

Scheduled
Friday, 11 October 1985, "Big Hall", 01:40 - 2:50

Line up
Joe Bowie - trombone; Kim Clarke - vocals, bass; Kelvin Bell - guitar; Bill Bickford - guitar; John Mulkerin - trumpet; kenny Martin - drums

Set list
Unknown

Recording
Unknown

Other info
... Beveiliging die probeerde mensen met dansen te laten stoppen toen Defunkt speelde... (Henk den Toom)

Die Haut with Nick Cave

Die Haut were an experimental German post-punk post-rock industrial band, who enjoyed underground success in the 1980s, with such records as the Nick Cave collaboration Burnin' The Ice. The only constant member has been Christoph Dreher.
Formed as an instrumental rock quartet, many of their recordings and live performances featured an array of international guest vocalists.

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Feestzaal", 22:00 - 23:00

Line up
Christoph Dreher – bass; Remo Park – guitar; Martin Peter – guitar; Thomas Wydler – drums; Nick Cave – vocals on*

Set list
01 Der Karibische Western
02 ?
03 ?
04 Tokyo-Express
05 ?
06 Virginia
07 Pleasure is the boss*
08 The victory
09 Stow-a-way*
10 Truck love*

Recording
A complete (?) audience recording exists: 01 - 10, 45'.
The gig was partially broadcast on Dutch radio, I have 08 and 09 taken from this radio broadcast.

Other info
Nick Cave's second live guest appearance with Die Haut. They perform songs from the Burnin' The Ice album recorded in Aachen in December 1982. (http://www.fromthearchives.com/nc/chronology.html)

Nick Cave saw the Virgin Prunes' performance on Saturday night and wrote about it in the book Judas Jesus by Rolf Vasellari (Black Sheep Press (Zurich, Switzerland), 1987). (http://www.bad-seed.org/~cave/general/discog2.html)

A concert in Rotterdam
Nick Cave on Dave-id Busaras/Virgin Prunes:
"... a strange child reluctantly and most awkwardly mount the stage, as if coaxed from the wings by some pageant-crazed mother, stand centre-stage and sing a song, solus, in a voice that held such a weird sadness within each expulsion and took flight with such ghostly brilliance that an entire morning of systematic inebriation spent in the bar was wasted, for this drunken wretch that had stumbled into the hall, now that the child had left the stage, sat stricken sober by his magical appearance and quite weak from listening and though I cursed the little bastard as I made my way back to the bar, I will never forget the simple pain of that opening song and the eerie beauty of its doing." (http://www.iol.ie/~murraycp/dave-id.html)

He may have been sober on Saturday night, but by all accounts, he was a drunken mess on Friday.

... Nick Cave die te dronken was om er een begrijpelijk woord uit te krijgen... (Henk den Toom)

Cave and Wydler both played Pandora's again in 1985 as Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

Virgin Prunes

The Virgin Prunes was an Irish gothic rock band. The band formed in 1977 and disbanded in 1986 after the departure of member Gavin Friday. The rest of the band continued on without him for a while as The Prunes, but they too ended activities by 1990.

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Grote Zaal", 01:15 - 02:15

Line up
Gavin Friday - vocals; Guggi - vocals; Dave-id Busarus - vocals; Dik - guitar; Strongman - bass; Mary D'Nellon - percussion

Set list
01 Dave-Id Performance: The white history book
02 Dave-Id Performance: Uncle Arthur's lonely world
03 Dave-Id Performance: (title unknown)
04 Dave-Id Performance: Uncle Arthur's lonely world
05 Deadly sins
06 Sons find devils
07 Theme for thought
08 Walls of Jericho
09 Caucasian walk

Recording
A complete audience recording exists: 01 - 09, 59'46"

Other info
Nick Cave (who played Pandora's 83 with Die Haut) saw the Virgin Prunes' performance and wrote about it in the book Judas Jesus by Rolf Vasellari (Black Sheep Press (Zurich, Switzerland), 1987). (http://www.bad-seed.org/~cave/general/discog2.html)

A concert in Rotterdam
Nick Cave on Dave-id Busaras/Virgin Prunes:
"... a strange child reluctantly and most awkwardly mount the stage, as if coaxed from the wings by some pageant-crazed mother, stand centre-stage and sing a song, solus, in a voice that held such a weird sadness within each expulsion and took flight with such ghostly brilliance that an entire morning of systematic inebriation spent in the bar was wasted, for this drunken wretch that had stumbled into the hall, now that the child had left the stage, sat stricken sober by his magical appearance and quite weak from listening and though I cursed the little bastard as I made my way back to the bar, I will never forget the simple pain of that opening song and the eerie beauty of its doing." (http://www.iol.ie/~murraycp/dave-id.html)

Mijn kennismaking met de Virgin Prunes was een shock. Ik zag ze -totaal onvoorbereid- tussen Anne clark en TC Matic op Pandora's Music Box. Zó uit de provincie, van travistie had ik nog nooit gehoord... en van The Virgin Prunes al helemaal niet. Niet dat ik sindsdien met jarretelles loop, maar het heeft wel het een en ander teweeg gebracht. (dix, http://www.musicmeter.nl/album/16902)

TC Matic

TC Matic was a Belgian rock band, originating in 1980 from the duo Tjens Couter (Arno Hintjens, vocals and Paul Decoutere, guitar). Decoutere was replaced shortly after the establishment of TC Matic by Jean-Marie Aerts, who cooperated with Hintjens in the majority of the band's compositions.
TC Matic mixed diverse styles: new wave, blues, funk, hard rock, avant-garde and even French chanson, resulting in nervous metropolitan rock with American influences but a distinct European character. TC Matic's sound of the early 1980s can be called unique, and had quite an influence on musical contemporaries, notably in the Benelux.

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Grote Zaal", 03:00 - 04:00

Line up
Arno Hintjens – vocals, Jean-Marie Aerts – guitar, Serge Feys – synthesizer, Ferre Baelen (or Michael Peet) – bass, Rudy Cloet – drums

Setlist
01 L’union fait la force
02 Que pasa
03 Le java
04 With you
05 Viva boema

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 05. Get them here: http://www.wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070921-184709

Other info

Xmal Deutschland

Xmal Deutschland was a musical group from Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1980 as an all-girl band, they became successful outside their native country. Vocalist Anja Huwe was often compared to contemporaries like Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie & the Banshees). Xmal Deutschland's last album was released in 1989.

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Feestzaal", 02:15 - 03:15

Line up
Anja Huwe – vocals; Manuela Rickers – guitar; Fiona Sangster – keyboards, Wolfgang Ellerbrock – bass, Manuela Zwingmann – drums

Set list
01 Boomerang
02 Sehnsucht
03 Orient
04 Incubus succubus
05 Qual
06 Zu jung zu alt
07 Stummes Kind

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 07. Get the stream here: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/programmas/afleveringen/4893031

Other info

Danse Society

The Danse Society were a postpunk group from Sheffield, United Kingdom, active from 1981 to 1987. They achieved moderate fame during their short career.

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 02:00 - 03:00

Line up
Steve Rawlings – vocals; Paul Nash - guitars; Lyndon Scarfe – keyboards; Tim Wright – bass; Paul Gilmartin – drums

Set list
01 The seduction
02 The theme
03 Come inside
04 The night
05 Arabia
06 Hurt
07 Ambition

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 07

Other info

Violent Femmes

The Violent Femmes — formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1980 — are an American alternative rock band. They were founded by Brian Ritchie (bass) and Victor DeLorenzo (percussion) and became a full-fledged band upon the arrival of Gordon Gano (vocals). In its early days, the band frequently played coffee houses and street corners.

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 00:15 - 01:15

Line up
Gordon Gano - vocals, guitar; Brian Ritchie - bass; Victor DeLorenzo - drums

Set list
Unknown

Recording
Unknown

Other info

Jah Wobble & the Invaders of the Heart

Jah Wobble (born John Wardle, in Stepney in 1958) is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two years. Following his departure from PiL, he went on to a successful solo career, continuing to the present.

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Grote Zaal", 02:15 - 03:15

Line up
Jah Wobble – vocals & bass; Dave (Animal) Maltby – guitar; Annie Whitehead – trombone, Ollie Marland – keyboards, Lee Partis – drums, Neville Murray – percussion

Set list
01 Invaders (5:15)
02 Hollywood 2 (5:49)
03 Snake Charmer (4:40)
04 Brasil (4:51)

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 04, get them here: http://wiels.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry061213-180327

Other info
Jah Wobble was the only artist invited to play again at Pandora's Music Box 1984. He was a last minute addition to that year's program.

In the early eighties a lot of new wave bands were recorded live and transmitted by Dutch radio. I recorded some of them on cassette tape. Including two concerts of Jah Wobble. It is not his best period, the music is a kind of improvisation jazz funk.The first concert was in Vera, Groningen, the Netherlands on November 21st 1982, the second on Pandora's Music Box festival in de Doelen, Rotterdam, September 3rd 1983. I removed the worst drop-outs and the clicks generated by the fridge.
(...)
That early incarnation of 'The Invaders' was a fine band; Annie, Ollie, Lee, Nev and Animal. Nev is back on the firm again at the moment. Still a very solid player. I saw Ollie in LA last year... it was nice to see him. That band was ahead of its time as they say... such good players and yet they were so young... (http://wiels.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry061213-180327)

... Jah Wobble die boos werd omdat er niet genoeg mensen aan het dansen waren... (Henk den Toom)

Big Country

Big Country is a rock band from Dunfermline, Scotland, popular in the early to mid-1980s but still releasing material for a cult following. The band was notable for music heavily accented with traditional Scottish folk and martial music styles, as well as for playing and engineering their guitar sound to resemble the bagpipes, fiddles and other traditional folk instruments. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Country)

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Feestzaal", 00:30 - 01:30

Line up
Stuart Adamson – guitar, vocals; Bruce Watson – guitar, e-bow; Tony Butler – bass; Mark Brzezicki – drums

Set list
01 Porrowman
02 The storm
03 In a big country

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 - 03

Other info
Adamson used to be in the Skids, as were Richard Jobson and Russell Webb who played Pandora's 83 with the Armoury Show.

Brzezicki played with the Cult (who played Pandora's 83 as Death Cult) in the summer of 1985 and on their album Love.


Article from festival booklet


Big Country on stage at Pandora's 1983 (Oor, 1983/18)

The Gun Club

The Gun Club was a rock band from Los Angeles in the 1980s led by flamboyant singer/guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. They injected punk rock with doses of blues and country music. Pierce's wailing vocals were an ideal delivery for his songs, which generally had a spooky, haunted quality. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Club)

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Grote Box", 22:30 - 23:30

Line up
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - guitars & vocals, solos on Bad America, Eternally is here, Gila monster, New Mexico and Give up the sun; Kid Congo Powers – guitar & all other solos; Patricia Morrison – bass; a drummer – drums (according to Andy Sztehlo: "Terry Graham. Who left the band midway through the European tour, leaving them well in it. I think it's called sarcasm, Jeffrey's comment that it." (http://www.limbos.org/gunclub/gunclubd.htm)

It was on this tour that Terry Graham disappeared in Paris. The story is that he was tired of Pierce's dictatorial attitude. Also, he wasn't seeing a financial return after having given four years of his life to the band. After playing Manchester, he had found that both a collection of video footage he had been taking of the band and the camera it was being recorded on had been stolen backstage. He had also discovered that the band had en-masse decided to move their base of operations over to London without telling him. It was a lousy position to be put in and was the last straw at the wrong moment. (http://www.furious.com/perfect/gunclub2.html)

Set list
01 The Spurs / Intro
02 Brother and sister
03 Sex beat
04 Bad Indian
05 Eternally is here
06 Bad America
07 Stranger in our town
08 Gila monster, New Mexico/Preachin' blues
09 Fire of love
10 Sleeping in blood city
11 Goodbye Johnny
12 Give up the sun
13 She's like heroin to me
Thanks to Magnix for providing the complete set list.

Recording
Tracks 05 - 08 and 10 - 12 have been officially released on Danse Kalinda Boom – Live in Pandora’s Box (originally in 1985, reissued on Flow Records, 2006). Note that all of the vinyl versions and most of the CD issues list an incorrect date: 3 September 1983. The Gun Club was supposed to play Pandora's 83 but was cancelled at the last moment.



Tracks 04 - 09 and 13, were all released on the vinyl bootleg Moonlight Motel (Superb Productions, 1985), taken from a radio broadcast.



I recently found reference to a bootleg 7" single without picture sleeve or label information which was supposedly released. It features Bad Indian on one side and Fire of Love on the other, both tracks recorded at Pandora's 84. Get an mp3 rip of it here: http://symphonyofghosts.blogspot.com/2009/01/gun-club-live-pandora-7in-bootleg.html

I have 04 - 13, taken from various radio broadcasts and Danse Kalinda Boom, total time 47'30".

Other info
Kid Congo Powers and Morrison went on to form Fur Bible who played Pandora's 85 alongside the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, whom Powers joined afterwards.

For some reason, the double cd re-release of Danse Kalinda Boom (Flow Records, 2006) fails to get the complete show at Pandora’s. Disc 1 is the same as the original release and disc 2 is an Australian show from 1983. Remember: disc 1 is only 35 minutes long…, at least 3 more songs were recorded. Why not restore the complete show? Or even: why not add the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet show from Pandora’s 1985?

The end of the year saw a major European tour during which Kalinda Danse Boom was cut live at Pandora's Music Box festival on September 22nd 1984. It's a good powerful set but at around 35 minutes, it's way too short. I know that a version of Bad Indian I've been told is brilliant has been cut from the start. I wonder what happened to the rest of the gig? (http://www.furious.com/perfect/gunclub2.html)


Article from festival booklet


Powers on stage at Pandora's 84 (Oor 1984/20)




Interview with Pierce and Powers discussing Pandora's. Photo possibly from Pandora's (Vinyl magazine 1984/11)

The Jesus & Mary Chain

The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band that revolved around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. Hailing from East Kilbride in Scotland, they released a constant string of albums, singles and EPs from their formation in 1984 until their breakup in 1999.

Scheduled
Friday, 11 October 1985, "Dance Hall", 02:30 - 03:15

Line up
Jim Reid – vocals; William Reid – guitar; Douglas Hart – bass; Bobby Gillespie – drums

Set list
Unknown

Recording
Unknown

Other info
Trivia: William Reid has a daughter called Pandora.

Mona Mur

Mona Mur is a German vocalist - born Sabine Bredy in Hamburg to Polish parents, 1960, who first graced the music scene in 1982. In her quest for the angry sound of her times she soon hooked up with FM Einheit, Marc Chung and Alex Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten. Together with Einheit, Hacke, organ virtuoso Nikko Weidemann ("Flucht nach Vorn"), bassist Th. Stern ("Crime and the City Solution") and Siewert Johannsen ("Stricher") she started a new incarnation of Mona Mur in 1985, playing many concerts in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Bremen (with "Sonic Youth") and Berlin - foundation stones for her cult image until today.

Scheduled
Saturday, 12 October 1985, "Mini Box", 22:00 - 22:45

Line up
Mona Mur - vocals; Alex Hacke - guitar; Steward Johanssen - guitar; Nicolay Weidemann - keyboards; Thomas Stern - bass; F.M. Einheit - drums

Set list
Unknown

Recording
Unknown

Other info
Both Hacke and Einheit also played Pandora’s 1985 as members of Einsturzende Neubauten.

Konzerte: 1984-1986 Auftritte in Berlin (Metropol "Nackt unter Kannibalen", Loft (mit Caspar Brötzmann Massaker), Hamburg, Bremen (mit SONIC YOUTH), Kopenhagen, Malmö, Amsterdam ("One World Poetry"), Rotterdam ("Pandora's Box"), Live - Mitschnitte bei SFB und NDR 1995 Auftritte mit Christian St.Clair 1996/97 Auftritte mit der Pianistin Evelyn Ulex ("Songs from a Black Room") (http://www.darkdimensions.de/labels/monamur.htm)


Article from festival booklet


Official band photo 1985 (http://www.monamur.net/esource/11.html)


During soundcheck at Pandora's 85 (http://www.monamur.net/esource/09.html)

The Triffids

The Triffids were an Australian rock band who achieved some international success in the 1980s. Formed in Perth in the late 1970s and disbanded in 1989, their best known songs are "Wide Open Road" and "Bury Me Deep In Love". Their vocalist and principal songwriter was David McComb (1962-1999).

Scheduled
Friday, 11 October 1985, 02:30 - 03:30

Line up
David McComb – vocals, guitar; Robert McComb – guitar, violin; Jill Birt – keyboards; Alsy MacDonald – drums; Martyn P. Casey – bass; 'Evil' Graham Lee – pedal steel, guitar

Set list
01 Hell of a summer
02 Lonely Stretch
03 Raining pleasure
04 Red pony
05 Beautiful waste
06 Field of glass (fades to radio announcer)

Recording
A radio recording of tracks 01 – 06 exists, 25".

Other info
After the Triffids imploded, Casey joined Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds who also played Pandora's 85.

Chris Isaak

Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956 in Stockton, California) is an American indie rock, pop and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. Isaak's music can be described as a blend of country, blues, rock and roll, pop and surf rock. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Isaak)

Scheduled
Saturday, 12 October 1985, "Small Hall", 01:40 - 02:40

Line up
Chris Isaak – vocals, guitar; Jimmy Wilsey – lead guitar, vocal; Rolie Sally – bass, vocal; Kenny Dale Johnson – drums

Set list
01 Tears
02 The lonely ones
03 Gone ridin’
04 Talk to me
05 Devil woman
06 Living for your lover
07 Unhappiness
08 Voodoo
09 Dixie fried (Carl Perkins cover)
10 Diddley daddy
11 In the heat of the jungle
12 Vaya con dios
13 Jack the Ripper (Link Wray cover)

Recording
I've got a complete radio recording of tracks 01 - 13, 41'57".

Other info

The Fall

The Fall are an English Post-punk band, formed in Prestwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester in 1976. Since their inception, The Fall have been through fifty-eight line-up changes, with leader Mark E. Smith being the only constant member. Smith's enigmatic lyrics and drawling delivery, coupled with the idiosyncratic and innovative music of the band, has resulted in a subtle influence on several generations of musicians. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_%28band%29)

Scheduled
Saturday, 22 September 1984, "Dance Hall", 03:15 - 04:00

Line up
Mark E. Smith - vocals; Brix Smith - guitar, vocals, keyboards (?); Craig Scanlon - guitar; Steve Hanley - bass; Paul Hanley – drums, keyboards; Karl Burns – drums

Set list
01 Smile (6:22)
02 Lay of the and (4:48)
03 Craigness (3:10)
04 2 x 4 (3:42)
05 Draygo's guilt (5:03)
06 No bulbs (6:12)
07 Kicker conspiracy (4:55)
08 Stephen song (4:09)
09 Copped it (7:46)
10 Pat trip dispenser (4:23)
11 Middle mass (6:13)

Recording
A complete audience recording exists, 56"45', tracks 02, 05, 07 – 10 were broadcast on radio. The recording is longer than the time allocated for the Fall at Pandora's.

Other info
According to the program (many thanks to John), The Fall went on at 3:15 a.m. -- their earliest/ latest start time ever? Incomplete version broadcast on the radio (Lay of the Land / Draygo's Guilt / Kicker Conspiracy / Stephen Song / Copped It / Pat Trip Dispenser). This show also circulates under the name "Hilversum, December 6 1983," so watch out.
- "Could we stop the lights flashing, please? We're all epileptics in this band." (before Kicker Conspiracy)
- "Yes, boy, it's an Ipswich conspiracy" (alternative lyric in Kicker Conspiracy)

Quality
Audience tape. Tracks marked with an (*) are also available in FM Broadcast version. Audience tape is generally OK although Craigs guitar occasionally tends to dominate in places and Smith is a touch indistinct at times. FM is a tad bass heavy in places and with a little hiss but generally very good.

Commentary
It starts with an intense reading of Smile with Mark screaming the title and expressing the words with more than usual verve. Lay of the Land is dominated by some incredibly adept bass playing from Hanley - this is best heard on the FM version - a good tight reading of the song. Again Smith’s intonation is more assertive. The false end catches the audience out about half way through as the band mines another two minutes out of the tune… and then again towards the end as Smith chuckles as they start clapping. Nice to hear Craigness in a live setting and this version is competent, perhaps feeling a little listless after the maddening rush of the first two numbers. Smith mangles the phrasing and his delivery means the lyrics are lost in the overall band sound. 2x4 ups the tempo again and is taken at a fair pace. The vocal performance is almost "scat" like with Smith dancing around the melody - interesting North Manc twang predominates and there is a touch of insouciance. Draygo's seems to be plagued by slightly out of tune guitars on the audience tape but they sound fine on FM. The drums dominate as Smith yelps his way through. There is some serious fret scratching from Brix. An inaudible mumble leads into a raucous No Bulbs - again there seems to a slight guitar tuning problem and Smith varies the lyrical content quite considerably. Kicker starts off sort of low keyish after a request to stop the lights from flashing as the band are "all epileptics"- the guitars don’t lock in - and the bass and drums drive it - the words are mangled considerably- an Ipswich conspiracy is mentioned - for some reason, to my tired old ears at least, the song sounds more like Eat Y’rself Fitter than Kicker. Stephen Song is excellent - full of brooding menace. Copped It fades in on the audience tape but is complete on FM- its a good performance with a slight subliminal swagger to it. I assume keyboards are provided by Paul Hanley. Mark appears to turn into a tellytubby about half way in. Trip Dispenser suffers from Craigs guitar being too loud on the audience tape but is fine on the FM version. The performance feels a little sloppy in places. The gig concludes with a languid Middlemass complete with cackhanded keyboard playing from someone... I assume it’s Brix (?) or Paul but there appear to be two drummers and one guitar so I assume its the former - but I could be completely wrong. There are some awful bits of out of tune instruments as the guitars and the keyboards clash on the melodic bit towards the end but its does not detract from the overall strength of the delivery. Great gig - band on good form - some oddities and some great lyric variation from Mark. (http://falllivehistory.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html)


Article from festival booklet


The Fall on stage at Pandora's 84 (Sounds magazine, October 1984)

Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet

In 1985, Jeffrey Lee Pierce put the Gun Club on hold to record his first solo album Wildweed. To promote the album he toured under the moniker Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet.

Scheduled
Friday, 11 October 1985, "Dance Hall", 21:00 - 22:00

Line up
Jeffrey Lee Pierce – vocals, guitar; Romi Mori – guitar; Dean Dennis – bass; Nick Sanderson - drums

The tour supporting the Wildweed LP was done by a different band than the recording. This saw the first appearances of Nick Sanderson and Pierce's then-current paramour Romi Mori. At this time, Romi was playing guitar, as she had done previously in a Japanese Runaways covers band. They toured under the name The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet, including Dean Dennis of Clock DVA. As they toured the US, the record label was giving Jeffrey a lot of hassle over the disbelievability of a Japanese girl as a musician. The band were also getting a lot of racism from their audiences, presumably taking the rebel flag seriously. (http://www.furious.com/perfect/gunclub3.html)

Set list
00 Midnight promise
00 Hey Juana
00 Wildweed

Recording
Midnight promise was broadcast on radio, along with an interview. Hey Juana and Wildweed were released as bonus tracks on Wildweed (remaster), Flow Records, 2005.



Other info
Dennis and Sanderson were previously in Clock DVA, who played Pandora's 83, and the Anti Group, who played Pandora's 84. They are the only artists appearing at all three Pandora's Music Box editions.

After Clock DVA split in the mid eighties, the remaining members continued to record as experimental collective The Anti Group, a period that also saw Dennis tour as part of the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet - predictably, he describes his time with the former Gun Club singer as ‘punishing and debauched.’ (http://www.cyclicdefrost.com/blog/?p=1059)

In 1985, eager for new adventures, Dean & Nick joined the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet for the Wild Weed tour. This was to be a punishing year of broken down buses, hysterical laughter, sweltering heat and alcohol abuse. (http://www.sonicgarden.com/sonic-web/artist.cfm?artistid=31206)

Pierce was planning to use Murray Mitchell (who played saxophone and guitar on the record) on guitar. Eventually, this didn't happen because Romi Mori joined the band. Mitchell was guitar roadie (and occasional player) for Siouxsie & the Banshees (who played Pandora's 83) and ended up playing guitar in Fur Bible, also on Pandora's 85, along with ex-Gun Club members Kid Congo Powers, Patricia Morrison and Desperate.

When the album is out, Pierce is going on the road again. A European tour is planned, but Sweden is unfortunately not included in the planning.
"I'm going to use the rhythm-section from Clock DVA and Murray Mitchell, who played saxophone on the record, will probably be playing guitar. Or else it will be a Japanese girl I know on guitar. She's better than me and besides, she'd look great on stage, something like an oriental Kid Congo." (From Swedish magazine Schlager 1985/4, http://www.thegunclub.net/interview.html)

Clock DVA

Clock DVA is an electronic music group from Sheffield, England. The group was formed in 1978, with two members, Adi Newton and Steven "Judd" Turner. Along with contemporaries Heaven 17, Clock DVA's name was inspired by the Russian-influenced Nadsat of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange; "dva" is the Russian word for "two". The group was originally known for making a form of experimental electronic music involving treated tape loops and synthesisers.

Scheduled
Saturday, 3 September 1983, "Kleine Zaal", 21:45 - 22:30

Line up
Adi Newton – vocals, electronics; Paul Browse – saxophone; Dean Dennis - bass; John Valentine Carruthers – guitars; Nick Sanderson – drums (Katie Kassoon – vocals?) (http://www.clockdva.com/discography.html)

Set list
01 City of the nights
02 Eternity in Paris
03 The secret life of the big black suit
04 Someday
05 Shake your body
06 Sister
07 Beautiful Losers

Recording
A partial recording exists: 01 - 07, 34'49"
I have a radio recording of tracks 02, 04 and 05, get them at http://www.wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070717-180952.

Other info
The Box (also on Pandora’s 1983) were Paul Widger – guitar, Charlie Collins – saxophone and Roger Quail – drums; all ex-Clock DVA.

Newton, Browse, Dennis and Sanderson went on to form The Anti Group, who played at Pandora's 84.

Carruthers would join Siouxsie & the Banshees (also on Pandora's 83) in 1985, replacing Robert Smith.

Dennis and Sanderson toured as Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet to promote his Wildweed album and as such played Pandora's 85. They are the only artists appearing at all three Pandora's Music Box editions. Sanderson joined the Gun Club in 1987 and stayed until 1992/1993. He also played in World of Twist, who played at Pandora's successor Ein Abend in Wien in 1991. After World of Twist, he joins the Jesus & Mary Chain, who had played Pandora's 85.

Durutti Column

The Durutti Column is the ongoing band project of guitarist (and occasional pianist) Vini Reilly (born in Didsbury, Greater Manchester, August 1953), often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. The band's name is derived from a misspelling of the name Buenaventura Durruti, who led a column of anarchists during the Spanish Civil War (The Durruti Column). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durutti_column)

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Grote Zaal", 00:45 - 01:45

Line up
Vini Reiley – guitar, keyboards, vocals; Bruce Mitchell – drums, percussion

Set list
01 Noise/Tuning/Godver...
02 Sketch for Dawn
03 Sketch for Summer
04 Conduct
05 Pauline
06 Jacqueline
07 Unknown vocal track 1 (sometimes listed as Useless Body)
08 Unknown vocal track 2 (sometimes listed as The Past and the Present, certainly related to Nightime Estoril)
09 Dream of a Child
10 The Beggar
11 Missing Boy
- encore -
12 Self Portrait
13 Friends in Belgium

Recording
A complete audience recording of 01 – 13 exists. A partial radio recording exists, consisting of tracks 02 – 08 and 10. I have a partial radio recording: 5 1/2 tracks, 19'47".

Other info























Article from festival booklet

The Box

Sheffield group 1981-1985, formed out of the ashes of the first Clock DVA. Former DVA members Paul Widger, Charlie Collins and Roger Quail linked up with bassman Terry Todd, and worked with several vocalists including Ken Bingley and Stephen Mallinder (of Cabaret Voltaire) before recruiting Peter Hope. The Box were the first group to sign for Go! Discs for whom they released 2 LPs and several singles. Parting company in 1984 they released further records on the Cabs' Doublevision imprint before splitting in 1985. (http://www.discogs.com/artist/Box,+The+(3))

One of the few bands capable of effectively combining the spontaneity and musicianship of jazz with the urgency and rough-edged sound of rock, the Box were a five-piece spin-off from Sheffield industrial funksters Clock DVA. Comparisons to Captain Beefheart, Gang of Four, the Minutemen and Ornette Coleman are all appropriate; execution is first-rate (especially by ex-Clocks Paul Widger on guitar and saxophonist Charlie Collins), the material frantic. (http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=box)

Scheduled
Friday, 2 September 1983, "Feestzaal", 02:15 - 03:45

Line up
Peter Hope – vocals; Paul Widger – guitar; Charlie Collins – saxophone; Terry Todd – bass; Roger Quail – drums

Set list
01 The hup
02 No time to talk
03 Watergrowth teeth
04 Swing

Recording
I have a radio recording of tracks 01 – 04, 13'02". Get them here: http://www.wiels.nl/blog/index.php?entry=entry070821-181944.

Other info
Widger, Collins and Quail are all ex-Clock DVA, who played Pandora's 83 on Saturday.


Article from festival booklet


Peter Hope at Pandora's 83 (Oor magazine 1983/18)