THE BIG WU
June 4, 1996
The Terminal Bar
Minneapolis, MN

AL OIKARI'S FIRST SHOW!!!
http://www.TheBigWu.com

DISC ONE  [56.42]
SET 1:
01  Deep Elem Blues  8.39
02  Al & Leif introduced...  1.14
03  Don't Ease Me In  5.31
04  Loser  7.27
05  Loose Lucy  5.27
06  Jessica  8.38
07  "Grateful For The Cedar" benefit annc...  1.11
08  Next Time You See Me  2.48
09  Candyman  8.05
10  Good Lovin'  7.39

DISC TWO  [44.40]
SET 1 cont'd:
01  St. Stephen >  6.02
02  jam >  3.12
03  Dancin' In The Streets  18.33
04  "We love Wu too..." > Al noodling  1.16
=====
SET 2:
05  "shameless self-promotion..."  2.21
06  Easy Wind *  6.57
07  technical problems...  1.33
08  I Got The Right Street (But The Wrong Direction)  4.33

DISC THREE  [59.04]
SET 2 cont'd:
01  Jack Straw >  8.05
02  Man Smart, Woman Smarter >  9.44
03  Scarlet Begonias >  13.28
04  Fire On The Mountain  12.34
05  guest & band intros...  1.14
06  Dire Wolf  3.44
07  Another Brick In The Wall/Pinkdown Street  10.11

NOTES
w/Al Oikari (ex-Cats Under The Stars & ex-Hot Pork Sandwich): keyboards (all night)
w/Leif Rasmussen (Jones Gang): percussion (all night)
* Andy Miller's vocal debut

SOURCE RECORDING by Paul Hagen:
Sennheiser MKH-40 mics > Denon DTR-80P DAT (48kHz)

REMASTERED by Pastor Tim (Jan 28, 2005):
Master DAT > Tascam DA-20mkII > Audiophile 2496/HD > Sound Forge 6.0 (edits, fades, norm'd to -16dB, resampled to 44.1kHz) > CD Wave Editor (track splits) > flac frontend

THE STORY (by Paul Hagen)
     I knew that, worst case, this would be a spectacular one-night stand. But in my heart, I believed that this would be the beginning of a dream team that could ultimately go on to... well... "take the world by storm." I think there's a lesson in here somewhere about trusting your heart, but I digress.
     Here's how this historic confluence of talents came to be. When the Wu scored their first weekly gig in January '96 ("Wuesday Tuesdays" at the teensy Terminal Bar in Minneapolis), original keyboardist Nathan Eklund had to bow out. His role as a high school teacher kept him too busy to commit to closing a bar every week on a school night. It was just Chris, Jason, Andy and Terry jamming the heck outta mostly Dead covers until Chris rolled out Silcanturnitova in March '96, followed shortly by Bloodhound, Red Sky, then...
     One night (still in March '96, I think), Andy told me, "We're looking for a keyboard player." After a little pondering, it dawned on me: "Hey, Al Oikari!" I had been introduced to Al's prodigious chops a couple years earlier when friends dragged me out to hear a
band called Hot Pork Sandwich, and I knew that they had recently disbanded. Better yet, a decade or so before Hot Pork, Al had played keys for a legendary local Dead band called Cats Under the Stars, so he already knew most of the songs the Wu were playing.
Hmmmmmmmm...
     "Hey, Andy! There's this incredible keyboard player who doesn't have a gig right now. I think he could be just what you're looking for. Would you guys be open to having him sit in some night to check him out?"  Andy said they'd be open to it.
     "Hey, Al! There's this incredible band that's looking for a keyboard player. Mostly Dead, but they're starting to write some great songs. I think it could be a great gig for you. Would you be open to sitting in some night to check them out?" Al said he'd be open to it.
     The above conversations were repeated a number of times over the next couple months, and it was finally resolved that June 4th would be The Night. "I'll set up my rig," said Al, "but I'll mostly just listen and maybe sit in for a couple songs." As they say up on
the Iron Range where Al hails from, "Yeah, sure!"

THE PITCH
If you REALLY love this band please support them by purchasing their CD releases.  Don't they deserve that?
* Tracking Buffalo Through The Bathtub (1997)
* 3-13-98 @ Cedar Cultural Center (2000)
* 4-21-00 @ Fitzgerald Theater (2000)
* Folktales (2000)
* Spring Reverb (2002)
* Tool For Evening (2004)
http://www.TheBigWu.com

THE QUOTABLE WU:
"I'm trying to say this without giggling... Terry's got a problem with his stool. [laughter...] Hey, Terry, how's your stool???"
                          -- Chris, after (ironically) 'Easy Wind'

ENJOY!!!
+ Pastor Tim [BigWuArchivist@yahoo.com]
