June 1980

Stonehenge Free Festival

Wiltshire, UK
AudioVideo noted13 songsfestival
Flyer

Memories and notes

This circulating recording from the 1980 Stonehenge Free Festival is unusual because it is entirely instrumental. A wiring error meant that the vocals were not captured, leaving a rare opportunity to hear the arrangements of the band's early material in isolation.

The set is historically significant for preserving the only known pre-2003 performance of Let Alone my Plastic Doll. It also includes what appear to be the final known pre-2003 performances of several songs from The Obvious Identity era.

The band may have performed under a different name at this festival, although it is unclear whether that happened at the 1980 appearance or at the following year's festival, for which no circulating recording is currently known.

The recording is of reasonably good quality overall. Leaf Scrapings fades in, while A Balloon for Bertie's Party is attempted and abandoned twice. The circulating copy has been remastered, but no details of that process are documented.

Concert details

Country
UK
Date
June 1980
Status
Played

Loading local tracks…

⚠️ Partial
Quality
B/B+
Source
audience
Lineage
??? > FLAC > Remaster [unknown details] > MP3Tag > FLAC

Setlist

  1. Leaf Scrapings
  2. Pip as Uncle Dick but Peter Spoilt It
  3. Visiting Hours
  4. A Cake for Bertie's Party
  5. Pilf
  6. An Ant
  7. Bite 3/a
  8. The Obvious Identity
  9. A Bus for a Bus on the Bus
  10. Scratching Crawling Scrawling
  11. Let Alone my Plastic Doll
  12. Food on the Wall
  13. A Balloon for Bertie's Party

Concert location

Stonehenge Free FestivalWiltshire, UK

Credits & acknowledgements

Sources, preservation and archive provenance.

Concert details and recording information taken from the original information file supplied with the circulating audio. Original audio files downloaded from the Unofficial Cardiacs Drive.

— Special thanks to Gastronomix for sharing the recording on DIME.

Please do not sell this recording. Share it freely and retain the original information file wherever possible.