Reactivated U.K. post-punk greats Wire — who are eying a January release for their as-yet-unnamed 12th studio album — have announced the launch of their “Legal Bootleg Series,” a download-only concert series that kicks off with choice gigs recorded in 1978, 1988 and 2000.
Available in MP3 or higher-quality FLAC format, the live shows can be purchased directly from the band for £8.99 apiece (about $13.50) or £24.99 (about $38) for all three. Wire also is offering a “series subscription” for £66.99 (about $101) that will include nine shows plus an exclusive DVD of “Wire’s second gig of the ’80s,” recorded July 21, 1985, in London.
The first batch of shows include an Oct. 25, 1978, concert from the Chairs Missing tour that features early versions of material off 154; a July 21, 1988, performance from the A Bell Is a Cup… Until It Is Struck/It’s Beginning to and Back Again era; and a Dec. 8, 2000, gig with the first airing of the reformed band’s new material (see full tracklists below).
The band — core members Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey — also just reissued 2003’s Send in an expanded 2CD set, and is now spending the summer working on its next album. That record is expected in January, the band says in a press release, “with the digital version perhaps appearing slightly earlier.”
Wire also will be announcing live dates “later this year and into 2011” with Matt Simms filling in on additional guitar duties in place of Bruce Gilbert.
See Wire’s ‘Legal Bootleg Series’ tracklists after the jump…
Tracklist: Wire, 25 October 1978 Bradford University
1. “Indirect Enquiries”
2. “Men 2nd”
3. “Lowdown”
4. “On Returning”
5. “Being Sucked In”
6. “I Feel Mysterious Today”
7. “The Other Window”
8. “A Mutual Friend”
9. “Former Airline”
10. “Mercy”
11. “Stepping Off Too Quick”
12. “Strange”
13. “Another The Letter”
14. “Sand In My Joints”
15. “French Film Blurred”
16. “I Should Have Known Better”
17. “Practice Makes Perfect”
18. “Reuters”
19. “106 Beats That”
Tracklist: Wire, 21 July 1988 Astoria, London
1. “The Queen Of Ur”
2. “In Vivo”
3. “Kidney Bingos”
4. “The Finest Drops”
5. “Silk Skin Paws”
6. “German Shepherds”
7. “A Public Place”
8. “It’s A Boy”
9. “The Offer”
10. “Eardrum Buzz”
11. “Boiling Boy”
12. “Drill”
13. “Ahead”
14. “Over Theirs”
Tracklist: Wire, 08 Dec 2000 Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
1. “Zoom”
2. “Heartbeat”
3. “Ally In Exile”
4. “Germ Ship”
5. “Boiling Boy”
6. “He Knows”
7. “Advantage In Height”
8. “Lowdown”
9. “Another The Letter”
10. “12XU”
11. “Pink Flag”
12. “Drill”
Great news! I really hope their Feb 29, 1980 Electric Ballroom show gets a re-release- it came out originally as Document and Eyewitness and is, to me, one of Wire’s most compelling recordings. Hopefully they’ve found a better audio source (or have found a way to spiff up the tapes used for Document).
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