HÜSKER DÜ
-FESTIVAL NOTES-
"OK guys, shape up! Here comes that 'Bucketfull' reporter"
Greg Norton, Grant Hart & Bob Mould PHOTO: Fiona McPherson.
1987 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, DAY ONE, APPROACHING 3PM.
Husker Du were due onstage any minute (wow!), my pulse quickened with the excitement of it all; having been a fan from way back, I thought (until now) that the nearest thing to live performance I'd ever see by this dynamic trio was a bootleg and video of the U.S. gig that I watched back home in Melbourne a few years ago. "Give 'em half an hour after the performance, then you've got your interview - cabin 3" said the publicity officer. I rocked on backstage to witness the boys from Minneapolis slay the huge crowd out front.
FESTIVAL TALK
Husker Du were subject to the usual mindless barrage of stage-bound missiles during their set; Grant Hart is the man with a keen eye: "Three bottles, four cans, several flattened cans, we really didn't know what they were 'til they landed" while Bob Mould observes "It's not something I'd do if I didn't like a band. If we were that objectionable there seemed to be plenty of open space for people to walk to another stage. It's really wonderful that you can have a festival like this in Europe because they just don't exist in America anymore, because people have a hard time with responsibility". Do Husker Du subscribe to the CND cause? "Honest" Bob Mould, again: "We are here for a two fold purpose, one we believe in the cause and two, it's a good way for a lot of people to see the band. To say that we're just here for the cause would be a lie, we enjoy playing to a lot of people".
Drugs? Grant Hart: "People are walking around going 'Black Hash, Black Hash', it's funny that the people doing that are disguising themselves with sunglasses and balaclavas". Yeah, but did you buy any Grant? "That's a personal question, did you?"
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
As well as playing to one hell of a lot of people, Husker Du have also released, over the past seven years, a healthy body of recorded material (including seven LPs, two of which are double albums). What's kept them at it? Grant Hart: "Momentum, ah, possibly not taking so many breaks as bands do. Maybe something as small as not talking between songs onstage (eh?). It's just continued going on. We have ways of dealing with each other after all these years, we're friends, we're pretty like minded individuals." (Bob Mould) "The music itself should say enough. There's a lot of bands that seem to feel the need to cloud the message or try to clarify the message by explaining, in very literal terms, what all the songs mean. It's better to let people make what they want of it. We're not ones for pinning ourselves down to exact meanings, I think it takes away all the fun from the listener." With the last couple of albums being notably more melodic, do the Du consider themselves a touch more accessible these days? (Grant Hart) "The easiest thing for us to do would have been to stay the same and not have been confronted by people
asking us that question, and not to have been confronted by the music itself. We used to make a lot of noise, a great and joyous noise as it was, but it's progression that's natural among people that are learning their craft, defining their style, who are venturing into infinity". Bob Mould offers the more down-to-earth observation that the band, as a whole, have gained more confidence with their vocals and feel more comfortable now using their voices in harmony. Do the Du have particular ambitions for the future? Grant Hart: "We're doing it". Truly spoken.
BOB GOES SHOPPING
Later in the day I bumped into Bob Mould who was astounded to find, during a hike of the site, loads of Husker Du bootleg tapes - not only of previous gigs but also of their performance that very day - shocked, he actually paid for a couple (but returned later to grab some freebies for friends back home). Does bootlegging bother him? "No they're a compliment; if anything they help to boost sales" (Record companies please take note!) Bob then enquired as to the whereabouts and scheduling of Robyn Hitchcock's set, confiding that he'd admired his work since the days of the Soft Boys. Nice to know the guy's still a fan. A quietly spoken, articulate young man, it seemed hard to imagine this character was one and the same Bob Mould I had seen earlier in the day hurling himself wildly across the stage and leaping into the air.... alas not quite with the same grace as Nijinsky! Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to see him, along with Grant Hart and Greg Norton, enjoy themselves every bit as much as the vast majority of the audience did.
A PERSONAL VIEW
For me the band's performance was the highlight of the three day Glastonbury event. Husker Du are definitely one of the most powerful and impressive live bands in the world today; both onstage and on the records their music speaks volumes. Listen.
RELATED FACTS
PRE-WEA DISCOGRAPHY:
Statues/Amusement (7") Reflex Records 38285(80)
"Land Speed Record" (Live LP) New Alliance NAR.007 (82)
In A Free Land/What Do I Want. MIC (7") New Alliance(82)
"Everything Falls Apart" (LP) Reflex Records (83)
"Metal Circus" (7 track 12" 45) SST 020 (83)
Eight Miles High/Masochism World (7") SST 025 (84)
"Zen Arcade" (Double LP) SST 027 (84)
"New Day Rising" (LP) SST 031 (84)
Makes No Sense At All/Love Is All Around (7") SST 051 (85)
"Flip Your Wig" (LP) SST 055 (85)
SELECTED WEA RELEASES:
"Candy Apple Grey" (LP) WEA (86)
Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely/All
Work And No Play/Helter Skelter(Live)(12") WEA 7599-20446(86)
"Warehouse: Songs And Stories" (Double LP) WEA.92544 (87)
also: "Ticket To Ride" appears on a freebie NME 7" EP (GIV.3 1986). A 60 minute live video "Makes No Sense..." (Hendring HEN. 2.029.D, 1986). The rare Reflex and New Alliance 7"ers have been bootleged as a 7" EP on Happy Moose Records HMS.8687. "Won't Change" appears on "A Diamond Hidden In The Mouth Of A Corpse" LP (Giorno Poetry Systems GPS.035, 1985).
Article: Fiona McPhoo.
(Remix: Jon Storey).