Most bands record live shows and The Kings are no exception. In fact they were pretty obsessive about it. It became a ritual of sorts that after the gig at the hotel or in the van on the way home or to the next town the tape from that evening would get played and ripped apart and learned from. No-one is spared under that kind of scrutiny and it gets to the point where the mistakes are few and far between.
A variety of recording techniques were used over the years and some worked better than others. Board mixes were tried as well as live room miking. The Kings found that for getting the best feel for the reality of the show just hang a couple of mics near the sound board and press play/record. This gives a better picture of what the front of house sound tech was doing and not doing. For a time The Kings also took out a multi-track recorder and did some direct feeds from the sound board. These have the advantage of separation but obviously have to be re-mixed to be listened to. Because that turned out to be a hassle it was abandoned after a time.
It was when Neale Parker at Griffin Music in Chicago asked Mister Zero if The Kings had any live stuff that the search began for the tapes that had been almost forgotten. After a bit of doing the tapes were found and one particular performance was good enough to fix and mix.
Party Live in ’85 captures the band at its raunchy best and includes all of The Kings ARE HERE and some other songs that are a blast including Borrowing Time and One Day Off which never made it to any Kings record.
As a time capsule this still stands up and you only have to listen to the Go Away/When I Was Young segue to realize that these guys know how to rock.
