Gus Gus
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde, Denmark
6/27/97
One of the most memorable shows I attended in the ’90s was Gus Gus at First Avenue in Minneapolis. On tour for their Polydistortion record, they put on a multimedia show which was on par with what you would see today which was unheard of at the time. They played the Roskilde Festival that same year and someone had the foresight to record this set from FM radio. It’s the best live Gus Gus I’ve come across.
Setlist:
1. Polyesterday
2. Gun
3. Barry
4. Unknown Track
5. Remembrance
6. Believe
7. Purple
Sample:
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Download: Gus Gus – Roskilde – 6/27/97 – 309 MB
To this day, I think that Gus Gus’ “Polydistortion” is in the category of the top 20 4AD releases of all time for me, which is no easy feat. And looking back on it, their live performances of the mid ’90s were probably only rivaled by The Orb. This recording found it’s way in my collection thanks to a trade in the late-90′s but with little information except a label that said “London 97-99.” It’s a great recording including this 12+ minute version of Believe.
What really stands out about Gus Gus is that you could tell their live show was as much about the visuals as it was about the music. When they came to the states on the “Polydistortion” tour I saw their show at First Avenue in Minneapolis and it was amazing. They were the first band that I saw that had people mixing video live along with the music. Now it can be done with a $800 iMac, but back then it was an amazing task. This track was recorded in 1997 at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. One thing that I’ve always wanted to find was the original version of this song that couldn’t be released due to Steve Wonder refusing to grant clearance for samples.
