Archive: The Mekons Tapes

Actually there are no tapes available and never will be, but you can download a whole bunch of shows by your fav artists right now, for free.

Thanks to www.archive.org Club Mekon has started to upload great sounding shows and make them available for everybody.

The Work:

How to download: Most of the shows are in shn-format (new shows as flac files), which means that you'll need a little program to convert these files to your well known wav-files. There'll be no mp3s and no show has used mp3 as source files. All shows are soundboard recorded, exceptfor a few (see notes).

For Flac-Files I use Flac Frontend Download

Step 1: Download 'mkw Audio Compression Tool'. You extract this file and have a beautiful converter.
Step 2: Go to the Live Music Archive and look for the shows you long for (Mekons, Jon Langford, Waco Brothers, Rico Bell). Then download them
Step 3: Mark all downloaded shn-files and pull them over to the opened 'mkw Audio Compression Tool'.
Step 4: Now you may proceed as you please: listen to the files, burn cds, but don't sell them on ebay - that might destroy your pc!!

The Pleasure:

Chose your shows! Right now we have online:

MEKONS:
1980-09-xx. Wuppertal, GER
1983-xx-xx, Den Haag NL (?)
1985-09-11, unknown place
1986-06-20, Maxwell's Hoboken
1987-05-01, University of Chicago
1988-11-19, Cabaret Metro Chicago
1989-12-02 Metro Chicago
1991-05-11, Zürich
1992-06-14, Lounge Ax Chicago (later)
1993-11-10, Maxwell's Hoboken
1994-08-08, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
1995-10-15, Mercury Lounge New York City
1996-09-03, Schubas Chicago
1997-09-13, East Orange, NJ, WFMU-FM
1997-09-20, Museum of Contemporary Art, afternoon show with KathyAcker
1997-09-20, Museum of Contemporary Art, evening show
1998-07-13, Great American Music Hall San Francisco
2000-07-13, Mohawk Place, Buffalo

Chicago 25 th anniversary concerts:
2002-09-12, Fireside Bowl, punk part of the anniversary series
2002-09-13, Chicago Cultural Center, reading in the afternoon
2002-09-13, Abbey Pub Chicago, 80s concert (later)
2002-09-14, Fitzgerald's Berwyn IL, 'last decade'

2002-09-19, CBGB's, New York
2002-11-08, Crossing Border Festival, Melkweg, Oude Zaal
2003-07-11, Martyr's Chicago
2004-03-12, Bowery Ballroom NYC
2004-03-16, Atlanta
2004-03-21, McCabe's Record Shop, Los Angeles
2004-03-23, Starry Plough Berkely
2006-08-01 Luminaire London
2006-09-02 Windmill Brixton London

JON LANGFORD:
1996-05-10, with friends, Lounge Ax Chicago, Lounge Ax Benefit
1997-08-07, Newport Kentucky, solo
1999-03-21, Jon Langford & Pine Valley Cosmonauts, La Zona Rosa Austin SXWS, Bob Wills tribuite cd performance
2000-01-01, Chicago (actually it's a mix from some kids shows Jon did)
2003-07-11, Martyrs Chicago
2003-12-05, with Ship and Pilot @ Southpaw, Brooklyn NY
2004-04-23, Starry Plough
2004-10-15, Southpaw (with Ship and Pilot)
2005-02-03, Fitzgerald's
2005-02-25, Joe's Pub
2005-04-15, Magnet Theatre
2005-06-05, Maxwell's

WACO BROTHERS:
1997-03-01, World Cafe (via Bad Livers!)
1999-05-25, Middle Earth Cambridge
2001-02-03, Abbey Pub, Chicago
2001-12-31, Metro Chicago
2003-01-23, Abbey Pub Chicago
2003-03-16, Mother Egan's
2004-07-04, Fitzgerald's
2005-03-16, Hideout

RICO BELL:
San Francisco Cafe du Nord, 31-07-2000

THREE JOHNS: (via Langford)
London, 1987-03-02

SALLY TIMMSs:
2000-07-30, Cafe du Nord, San Francisco
2001-09-15, Abbey Pub Chicago
2003-07-11, Martyrs Chicago
2004-03-19, Chicago
2004-03-23, Starry Plough
2004-11-10, Joe's Pub
2004-11-20, Chicago
2004-12-04 , Starry Plough