Procession

Has this ever been anything less than a disaster live? The rendition from London Polytechnic 1985 comes closest to being listenable, at least compared to those from Taras and Heaven Ultradisco.

hhmmm... bizarre... someone who goes by the Hannett

could be 'Procession' is his best NO production after IALP.

Let's connect to another thread for a moment and remind ourselves that everything to do with NO's recordings and production at this time was to do with the suffocation of expectation. In this sense "Movement" fits the bill admirably. The 1981 Peel session recordings sound of nakedness and fumbling (I prefer them) but by the time "Movement" came out things had to have moved on. I think Hannett's production is an excellent exercise in suspension. Not only do the recordings sound nothing like the live renditions, the recordings are doubling up on themselves and the whole amounts to a good picture of the heaviness that must have characterised these sessions.

I saw 'Procession' at the time as a liberation, a step away from this, more even than 'EGG' which is the one that gets referenced more.

Great live versions I have heard, esp. Newcastle Mayfair March 1982. I like the version from Glastonbury as well, Bernard falling over, it's worth it for the punch of the drum and bass on that soundboard recording.

The 7" in all its various colour sleeves came out in September 1981 on the eve of a concert at the Walhamstow Assembly Hall -

does anyone has a good recording of that concert? I remember it started with a killer version of 'Chosen Time' and I'd like to hear that again.

hi i have a version of this live which is ok i have no idea what gig its from i downloaded ot from limewire.

As much as I like Movement, I think there are some great songs in there covered by a shroud. I've often wondered what 'updated' versions of Chosen Time and Dreams Never End would sound like. Procession is a great song and would be a stand out with a less claustrophobic production. I used to listen to a lot of the 1980-82 tapes and good live versions of it werent too common, usually the problem was the bass sounding 'off'and the mix I guess. Newcastle Mayfair had an early and great version of Leave Me Alone but that was just about the only PCL song whose production did it justice. Ultraviolence was a really powerful song live but got neutered on the album. The Village was a great disappointment too - first played at Paris in April 82 with a beautiful sound, that could have been a real hit. I have a copy of Walthamstow, will dig it out. I keep rattling on about it, but LA Florentine Gardens in 83 had a great Chosen Time (and AOC, Temptation).

veronika wrote:

The 7" in all its various colour sleeves came out in September 1981 on the eve of a concert at the Walhamstow Assembly Hall -

does anyone has a good recording of that concert? I remember it started with a killer version of 'Chosen Time' and I'd like to hear that again.

It's one of the best show recordings from 81, that's for sure.

Can't think of a great version of Procession off the top of my head, it was always a trainwreck waiting to happen live, even at their tightest in May 81.

Steve Lea wrote: Ultraviolence was a really powerful song live but got neutered on the album. The Village was a great disappointment too - first played at Paris in April 82 with a beautiful sound, that could have been a real hit. I have a copy of Walthamstow, will dig it out. I keep rattling on about it, but LA Florentine Gardens in 83 had a great Chosen Time (and AOC, Temptation).

Amen to this - Ultraviolence was totally lost to the world on record, whereas it was a wonderful live song. I'd love to hear them do it again, but they won't, it was too flexible and jam-like for today's NO.

Florentine Gardens was good, but there were better shows on that tour.

Talking of Dreams Never End, there was one US show in 86 or 87 where Hooky carried on playing past the usual end for about 20 or 30 seconds - I had it on tape but just to fill up the Irvine Meadows tape I had so I never knew which show it was. Ring a bell with anyone?

Was it just him slowing the bass riff down gradually for about 20 seconds? He did that a lot if the next song was a sequencer track also featuring 6 string bass! While Gillian loaded the next disk.....

Yes it was! Dont remember too many other instances of that tell you the truth. It was a really good DNE too...

Procession seemed pretty good at the Riverside TV show. The Taras version is ok too, plus I think the only time I actually saw them do it at Hanley it was a pretty good version.