[Live MP3s] Th’ Faith Healers in Somerville, MA 2006
Posted on April 3, 2006 at 6:52 am | 6 Comments
Th’ Faith Healers. Roxanne Stephen, Tom Cullinan, Ben Hopkin, and Joe Dilworth. Their story was seemingly short but sweet: The first band singed to London’s ace Too Pure record label in 1990, two fantastic albums, some singles and a couple of EPs, one tour of the states, over and out. The first time I heard their debut disc, ‘Lido‘, I had one immediate thought: “Wow, I really need to see them play these songs live.” There are certain bands that instantly trigger that, and Th’ Faith Healers were one of ’em. But when they disbanded in 1994, I assumed I’d never get a chance…
Flash forward 12 years, and we get a perfect little surprise epilogue. First Ba Da Bing Records does us all the favor of compiling and releasing Th’ Faith Healers Peel Sessions late last year. Very cool, but just a sign of what was to come: Six stateside shows in March. When the dates were announced, I couldn’t believe that the Boston area would get one of ’em, but we did, and at the fairly cozy PA’s Lounge in Somerville.
And what a show it was. Dilworth’s steadily intense drumming, sweat pouring off him. Stephen’s alternatingly subdued and fierce voice, long hair often hiding her face. Hopkins repetitive, rolling bass lines, and a barefooted Cullinan supplying enough frenetic guitar noise for two. It just sounded so big, barely fitting inside PA’s. They played almost everything they’d rehearsed, 14 songs worth. Nearly the entirety of ‘Lido’, a few from ‘Imaginary Friend’, and a couple that can only be found on the Peel Sessions disc. To have finally seen Hopkins do his sliding bass bit during the breakdown bridge on ‘Don’t Jones Me‘ was a personal treat, or Cullinan’s heavily effected intro to ‘Reptile Smile‘, or, well, everything else. It was a wish finally fulfilled.
Much thanks to Ben from Ba Da Bing and Stacie from The Critique of Pure Reason for not only helping to make this night happen, but for being cool with my recording it…
Live at PA’s Lounge
Somerville, MA
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
[download the entire set as a 107MB .zip file]
01. This Time
02. Curly Lips
03. Moona Inna Joona
04. Bulkhead
05. Get The Fuck Outta My Face
06. Don’t Jones Me
07. Hippy Hole
08. It’s Easy Being You
09. Heart Fog
10. Spin 1/2
11. Love Song
12. Ooh La La
13. Reptile Smile
14. Mother Sky
Some extra added action…
I always thought the re-recorded version of ‘Don’t Jones Me‘ from the out-of-print EP was a bit better than the album version, so here it is…
Strange Fruit released a (long out-of-print) disc of Too Pure Peel Sessions in 1992 that included tracks from PJ Harvey, Stereolab, and three from Th’ Faith Healers. For some reason, these three songs weren’t included on the Ba Da Bing compilation, so here they are for ya…
Coffee Commercial Couples (Peel Session)
Bobby Kopper (Peel Session)
Jesus Freak (Peel Session)
And thanks to WFMU DJ Brian Turner, you can listen to Th’ Healer’s live broadcast on his show from last week, including the song ‘New No. 2‘, which they didn’t play at PA’s.
The fine print: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). Songs recorded with a Sony minidisc, converted from .wav to 192kbps mp3s.
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6 Responses to “[Live MP3s] Th’ Faith Healers in Somerville, MA 2006”
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May 28th, 2011 @ 5:02 pm
THANK YOU SO FUCKING MUCH.
November 28th, 2011 @ 6:57 pm
Man, don’t know how I missed these goodies before. Thanks a ton for the three peel tracks — never could easily find those.
January 13th, 2022 @ 2:49 pm
Hi! Somehow Th’Faith Healers’ music has passed me by all these years, even though I knew the name, and now I’m in love. Any chance this PA’s recording is still available somewhere? Hate hearing about great bands I missed seeing in an area where I lived…
January 13th, 2022 @ 2:51 pm
Oh! Nevermind..i see the individual track links still work..just not the full zip file link. Thanks for all this!
January 13th, 2022 @ 9:37 pm
You’re very welcome! And thanks for letting me know the zip file link is broken – just fixed it, as well as some of the old dusty formatting.
🙂
June 29th, 2024 @ 8:41 pm
Here I am 18 years finding this for the first time. Thank you SO MUCH for recording this set and sharing it. I listened to “Lido” obsessively when it was released and the cheapest LP version on Discogs is $150+. This isn’t an LP either obviously, but I am more than grateful to have it. Peace.