in talking with the butcher before the show, i was showing pat the Spooky cd and they were freaking "ah, weve never seen the cd of this" and he asked me if i wanted to hear them do anything off of it well i am thinking to myself "he just saying that", but i request Girl-Go and they played it.

Nov. 18, 1989 [at]-remove- Madison, WI:

My favorite (and first) show: This was a free concert at the University of Wisconsin student union's bar/cafeteria known as "The Rathskellar" which, appropriately enough for the JBC, was modelled after a German beer hall. The walls of the room were decorated with illustrations of monks and medieval revellers, and the stage was under a wide, low archway.

While the tail end of the dinner crowd was finishing their meals, a guy in a suit wandered onto the stage ("Hey! I think that's the Butcher!") and treated the largely indifferent spectators to partial soundcheck versions of Angels, Lot 49, and New Invention. A pseudo-country/punk trio named Shane--shades of "The Devil is My Friend"--then opened the show.

By the time the JBC took the stage, a large, very young and very enthusiastic throng filled the hall. The JBC ripped through a fast-paced, rocking set while something strongly resembling a mosh pit developed in front of the stage. I'm not sure if I'm just imagining that there was some body-passing going on, but I am certain that some members of the audience were batting the chandeliers around like tether balls. Laurence declared "You're all loonies, the lot of you!" Sick of being pushed over onto the low stage by the seething mass, my friend and I retreated up onto the stage, where we found a crate to sit on for the rest of the show.

Pat later said, "It was a bit (incredible). I mean God knows if any of them had a clue what the name of the band was or anything." (from the interview the next night).

set list: new invention, chickentown, bicycle kid, burglar of love, hysteria, bad dream lover, the best way, looking for lot 49, southern mark smith, jazz butcher vs. prime minister, big saturday, girl-go, caroline wheeler, zombie love, partytime, moscow drug club, the devil is my friend, the king of joy. Angels was in there somewhere, too.

bootleg: David W., walkman/audience. Includes soundcheck.