janis joplin

...janis and her band are late going on tonight and the MC has to abate the crowd with some explaination about having had their gear stolen earlier in the day and a new bunch of equipment had to be found and that is why the show is late starting...anyone totally believing this must have the gear with them because a load of hippies stealing equipment lock stock and barrel is somewhat hard to swallow, their general ineptitude makes for the deal to go wrong before it's started...more likely janis was too strung out to get with the time to get on stage and get some rocking going...when they do get on stage they get down with some funk soul rock screech and janis gives off some down home urban shouting and the audience settle in for a late evening with the 'wicked woman', the rock goddess who will set them free from the constraints of a straight jacket society...unfortunately for janis she could not set herself free from society or the life that was mapped out for her by unscrupulous bread heads at the record company or management (the wonderfully exploitative al grossman) so she sank into the booze and smack which bought on entirely new problems so the vicious circle of society / alcohol / heroin kept on turning, least till early october 1970 when some kind of sweet relief was offered and taken...the gig represented by an audience recording on this early boot is from august 12 and was to be her last public engagement and she's kind of getting really wired, giving off some extreme vibrations like she's reaching for something / someone unobtainable yet she continually strives but never comes to the end of the quest...the set list is familiar and the raps between songs have all been heard before, interestingly the audience seem not to get any prurient enjoyment from the joplin expose raps so that must be down to the 'sophisticated boston' hick town mentality more than anything else closer to home...the band are getting some of janis frenetic energy which they translate into some heavy soul blasting, letting rip trying to carry janis further, to the place she so wants to be, to the now unachievable nirvana...

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