LIVE AT THE BAKED POTATO

This is a live document of the 50th anniversary World tour SOFT MACHINE performed starting early in 2019. This show was from February 1st 2019 in LA at The Baked Potato. Love that late 50s early 60's cover art that is actually from Las Vegas.

The band offers a big thankyou to Moonjune Records owner Leonardo Pavkovic suggesting the tour and album would not have happened without his tireless effort and support. I was glad to have spent time with "Hidden Details" recently, that 2018 record, as it does get represented here as being the most recent SOFT MACHINE release.

The highlights for me are not surprising as we get plenty of nods to the past on this one hour recording and I will list those songs but the one track from "Hidden Details" I'm kind of taken with is "Life On Bridges" and it will just make my top five here. The song reminds me of NUCLEUS when they were at their melancholic best.

Number one song though is "The Tale Of Taliesin" from "Softs" and an all time favourite for me from this band. I don't have this as a live track except here so it certainly adds to the value of this recording for me. Etheridge is awesome, come on! The first 3 minutes are stunning. The other three tracks that stand out for me are "Out-Bloody-Rageous", "Hazard Profile Pt.1" and "The Man Who Waved At Trains" all SOFT MACHINE classics.

You know down the road we're going to get some archival releases from this period and later but as of right now this is the last record of John Marshall playing live. We get his short 2 minute drum solo called "Side Burn" but I like his performance on "The Tale Of The Taliesin" the best. I'll say it again Theo Travis deserves a lot of credit for taking the SOFT MACHINE bull by the horns and being the main composer and producer. A solid 4 stars.