The Stems - Live Across 33 Years (1986 + 2019)

unknown venue & city  
Australia
Dec. 1986
  
soundboard recording (quality: VG; ripped from vinyl bootleg "Can't Turn the Clock Back"; exact date unknown)

R.I.P. Richard Lane (guitarist & keyboard player)

01 Sad Girl
02 Stomping All Over the World
03 Running Around
04 Man with the Golden Heart
05 She's a Monster
06 Zero Hour
07 Psychotic Reaction
08 She's Fine
09 Does It Turn You On
10 You Can't Turn the Clock Back 
11 All You Want Me For
12 No Heart
13 Can't Resist
14 Make You Mine
15 Tears Me In Two
   
Croxton Bandroom
Melbourne, Australia
Nov. 4, 2019
  
audience recording (sound quality: VG+)

The Stems - Thirty-some Years On

01 She Sees Everything
02 Just Ain't Enough
03 Move Me
04 For Always
05 Jumping to Conclusions
06 Feel a Whole Lot Better 
     (The Byrds cover)
07 Mr. Misery
08 Get to Know Me
09 Undying Love
10 Surround Me
11 At First Sight
12 Make You Mine


Los Conciertos
    de Radio3
(venue & date unknown)
late 2019 (broadcast Dec. 18, 2019)
  
audio rip from video (soundboard recording - quality: Ex-)

01 She Sees Everything 
02 Just Ain't Enough
03 For Always
04 Undying Love
05 Surround Me
06 At First Sight
07 Make you Mine
  
ROB SEZ: The Stems!! If you have a hankering for garage rock with a pop sensibility, there's no finer group today than Australia's The Stems. Dom Mariani and co. got their act together in the 1980s, then broke up after recording only one proper album. Luckily, time healed some wounds, and The Stems reformed for an album and tour 20 years later. When Mariani is not fronting one of several other bands, he will cycle back to The Stems, which he did again in 2019. HUGE THANKS to pete2020 for sharing the 1986 recording, Angelo for the Radio3 set, and crankingamps for recording & sharing the Melbourne set. There's a bonus goodie baked into this one. You'll find it after you open the download folder. Please enjoy.

FLAC

MP3@320

The Stems - 'Last' Show in Australia (2009)

Step Inn

Brisbane, Australia

Oct. 11, 2009

 
(billed as the band's last-ever show in Australia)
 

Dom Mariani and The Stems play a 'farewell' show in Perth, Australia
photo by lunderall via Flickr

audience recording (sound quality VG+; this one earns a high rating for an audie: the house sound coming from the club’s PA, the recording quality, and the just-right rowdiness from the crowd — it's ALL good. Taper used binaural in-ear mics, so he suggests listening with earbuds or headphones for best effect…)

DEEP DEBT O’ GRATITUDE to ex_king_john (Turnitupto10 blog) for recording and sharing this show.

ROB SEZ: Didn't know anything about The Stems (or Dom Mariani or his many Aussie-based bands) until blog friends at Ash pointed me to their music. The Stems were a garage-pop band in the mid-1980s based in Perth, Australia. They didn't last long, but produced some wildly impressive music (think Flamin' Groovies meets Hoodoo Gurus, and you're in the ballpark). They reunited in 2007, but declared there would be no more Stems after a tour of Australia & Europe in 2009 & 2010. (Now, I hear they're still doing live shows — never say "never", Dom!)  REPERCUSSION: After The Stems were no more, Dom Mariani collaborated many times with Mitch Easter, who produced recordings by The Someloves, The Orange Humble Band and DM3.

Dom & The Stems, live in Spain
photos by Ricardo via Flickr

SAMPLE: "Mr. Misery" (Brisbane 2009)  

01 intro + Get to Know Me

02 Mr. Misery

03 Hellbound Train

04 band intros + Man With the 
     Golden Heart

05 Leave You Way Behind

06 The Otherside

07 Move Me

08 You Can't Turn the Clock Back

09 Undying Love

10 Make You Mine

11 For Always

12 She Sees Everything

13 Rosebud

14 Surround Me

15 Sad Girl

16 She Waved Goodbye

17 She Waved Goodbye (outro)

18 Love Is Gone

19 Sorry (Easybeats cover)

20 She's a Monster

21 At First Sight

22 outro

TT: 1 hour, 34 mins.

MP3@320

The Stems:

Dom Mariani - guitar, vocals

Julian Matthews - bass
Dave Shaw - drums
Richard Lane - keyboard, vocals

 

Learn more about the music of 

The Stems at Wikipedia