Sugarbush @ The Spiral, NYC 3/6/97

It took Sugarbush a year after Dave's departure before they were ready for their next live performance. After some inactivity they found bassist Rich Alfieri and got him up to speed. Once again, Jim added some commentary to the recording he sent me. Here's what he wrote...

"Our first show with Rich and a great debut. Listen to that "Soul Kitchen"…BAFFLING!...

Once Julien got a hold of Rich’s talent, the band would turn from its punk funk vibe to a progfunk-jam punk thing. Some folks dug it, some didn’t, but we were pretty unique, although sometimes way too obtuse…

This show doesn’t get too far ‘out there’, neither in setlist, nor in the jams contained within, it was our first show out, after all…it wouldn’t take long before Julien would write an opus like “Earth” which had about 15 different parts in 5+ minutes…My contributions even started to get artsy with “Miles Turned Electric” and “The Mess Slams Into Me”, though my artsy usually was along the lines of Serrano’s ‘Piss Christ’…;))

I always kinda dug the Jesus Lizard like aspect of the band, where the guy in front is a totally violent buffoon while the guys playing are classically trained musicians…I sorta played on that vibe, though it wasn’t contrived in any way, it was just kinda that way, and I didn’t do much to change it… play on yer strengths, ya know?...

Anywho, we all got along really well, and it was a fun period, although I was probably complaining (aren’t I always) that we were jamming too much…we were…but, after many years of not hearing these, I’m a lot less harsh on what we were. Whatever we were…

We broke up when Rich decided to move to San Francisco…lemme tell ya, the air hung thick with irony…";)))

Thanks again Jim.

[DOWNLOAD] Sugarbush @ The Spiral, NYC 3/6/97
01- >intro<
02- Soul Kitchen
03- Cracks in the Sidewalk
04- Take the Hill
05- Angels Are Burning
06- Last Call
07- >chat?<
08- You're the Type of Girl That Needs a Pair of Galoshes
09- Heritage
10- Heading Downtown
11- >outro<

SUGARBUSH
Jim Burns - vocals
Julien Valenstein - guitar
Chris Balsam - drums
Rich Alfieri - bass