I loved their early sound up through Running in the Family .. such pure jazz/funk/rock from the earliest years & Mark's warm wooden bass - much nicer sounding than the metal MIDI'd he plays today. Boon...just wow .. SUCH an underrated & uncelebrated talent ... Mike's genius keys, & Phil FOREVER in sync with Mark like 2 halves of one mind! Never heard any other drummer SO in sync with a bass player! Will forever LOVE Level 42!
This was & always will be my preferred Level 42 line up as you can never beat the original format... Especially with the brother's Gould... Together Level 42 were always so experimental & always pushing the envelope... I still dont know to this day how they gigged constantly for years on end & i can understand why Phil & Boon left, though not only for those particular reasons... My late brother being a great lead & rythmn guitarist himself couldn't at first hear what the lead guitarist was doing when i first played him these albums on vinyl many years ago as his attitude was like many lead guitarists in that it should always be bold & up front until i schooled him on Boons approach... I still go to see them Live to this very day & its like that saying in the movie " The Commitments " but changing it to the hardest working band in the Isle Of White as they still tour constantly to this day but obviously with the new line up which has included Marks brother Nathan on Lead Guitar & Nate is no slouch on the bass guitar either... Still a great band Live but there is no underlining passion there anymore & when Mark switched to Status Bass Guitars alot of fans ears switched off also as they're not as good as his JDs... I've stuck with them through their ups & downs & will continue to go & see them Live but this line up & sound hasnt been bettered... You can buy this Concert from most music stores & definitely on the internet & in widescreen also under the heading of Level 42 Live at Rockpalast... You'll get them playing 2 Gigs... One from Zeche Bochum 1983 & one from Grugahalle Essen 1984... I bought mine years ago & its a must have for all Level 42 fans or just fans of good music being played in a Live environment... How often can you say that these days... Yeah theres a few out there but back in the day you couldn't fit enough time in your day to go out to see great bands playing Live as there is next to bands out there anymore expect for ones like Level 42 etc riding the nostalgia wave...
This folks is art from top drawer, original one and never will be matched. Mark is such a driven guy, clocks go forward from here on. (All crew included, Lindup bro's Gould Everybody) JAYDEE basses is awesome.
WOW - I found this relict from my own early twentys by chance. I was really there at Alabamahalle Munich enjoying the concert with Level 42 in 1982!! Only gravel soil in the industrial hall, a lot of dust in the air - but we did not care, and just had fun with the songs, specially "DUNE TUNES". For me Mark is still a legend with his bass guitar he played as a lead solo instrument. Thx for uploading such a music treasure!
