#65 CRANBERRIES - Alabamahalle, Munich 1994 (Flac)

Cranberries
Alabamahalle, Munich
Germany.
26 October 1994

Soundboard recording.
Ripped from "Song Against War" Silver CD bootleg.

01. How [3:07]
02. Sunday [3:19]
03. Linger [5:15]
04. Dreaming My Dreams [4:11]
05. Daffodil Lament [4:46]
06. I Can't Be With You [3:08]
07. Wanted [2:26]
08. I Don't Need [3:47]
09. Ode To My Family [5:00]
10. Ridiculous Thoughts [4:51]
11. Waltzing Back [4:13]
12. Zombie [5:22]
13. Pretty [2:08]
14. Everything I Said [3:43]
15. Not Sorry [4:28]
16. So Cold In Ireland [4:41]
17. Empty [3:30]
18. Dreams [4:06]

(Playing Time: 72:12)

A set that has an unbalanced soundmix, that would sabotage it from ever seeing an official release, but the best tracks here have an intensity and rawness that are compelling and sadly lacking from the studio releases. The bass is extremely impressive here, high up in the mix with the vocals and drums. If you listen on headphones you won't get the full effect, it's one best heard through the air.

Dolores exhorts the crowd during Linger to “C’mon sing” in the most wonderful Irish accent and the audience respond by singing the choruses. As great as the studio recording is, every time I hear the song now, I’m disappointed when her demand to “C’mon” is missing. The follow up Dreaming My Dreams is an even more quiet and reflective song with a subtlety of playing that is just as powerful and an extremely effective vehicle for the dominance and clarity of her vocals. In early interviews she was described as ‘The Voice’ and this bootleg is the audio proof.

The set builds up slowly and is very effectively paced, gaining momentum and increasing to a crescendo through Waltzing Back and Zombie, the final explosive drum beats extremely effective in imparting the song’s message. Pretty and Not Sorry wind the tempo down a notch before the pace kicks up through to So Cold In Ireland sending the Munich audience home satisfied. 

A month prior to hearing this show if I had been asked to name three Cranberries songs it would have been a struggle to name a third after Linger and Zombie and that despite buying the debut release back in 1993. If you have not heard them for some time, then this bootleg cannot fail to impress. There are a few early performances available, some incomplete, those have a more balanced mix and sharper pleasing sound but they take second place to this perfect example of the relationship and interaction between a band and its audience, that makes it compelling for the bootleg listener. A show that is unforgettable.