SURPRISE SUPPLIES [AKA: HERE AM I]

This record was recorded on 04/05/1976 in the New Victoria Theatre in London and not as stated by a former reviewer during the 76 US tour. I base my informations on the Calyx Canterbury website which contains IMO in this case more accurate informations then the official Caravan site. It was also for sure not recorded by a fan in the audience as mentioned on the Caravan site. It's a good two channel soundboard recording that was re-mastered for the official CD release on HTD. The recording is slightly unbalanced and the drums are a little to low in the mix, but the overall audio quality is good. The 76/77 band with Mike Wedgwood and Jan Schelhaas , that I saw myself in 1977, was an excellent live band and had a funky driving feeling. The majority of the tracks come from the Blind Dog record presented here with a looser more relaxed and bluesy feeling. The band was joined during this concert by Brother James Hastings on flute, sax and clarinet who delivers some great solos on the aforementioned instruments. The interplay of the band is great and the tracks sound more natural and groovy on this live recording with a special mention for Chiefs and Indians, All The Way and A Very Smelly Grubby Little Oak with extended instrumental passages. The classic Love In Your Eye is the least convincing track of this concert recording. The recording gives a good overview of this particular live band and apart from some BBC studio (live) recordings this is the only existing official live recording of this band and worth buying.