UFO  / Nagoya 1998 Dat Master / 2CDR

UFO  / Nagoya 1998 Dat Master / 2CDR / Shades
Live at Club Diamond Hall, Nagoya, Japan 22nd April 1998

Play sample :

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Nagoya in 1998, which has become the “last full live” for UFO and Japan. An original recording that vacuum-packed the whole story with super-superb sound is now available.
The final night was “April 22, 1998: Diamond Hall Performance”. It is the transcendental audience recording. For us Japanese, the only real experience of “UFO with Michael Schenker” is the two Japan tours that were realized in the 90’s. In our shop, we have archived the scene with various masterpiece live albums. It is also a good opportunity, so let’s take a bird’s eye view of all performances in 1994/1998.

● 1994
・June 12: Postal Insurance Hall
・June 14 “FORWARD TO RETURN (Yokohama)”
・June 15: Nakano Sun Plaza
・June 16 “FORWARD TO RETURN (Nakano)” “LIGHTS OUT TOKYO 1994”
・June 18 “LIGHTS OUT OSAKA 1994 (Sankei Hall)”
● 1998
・April 21 “OSAKA 1998 (IMP Hall)”
・ April 22: Diamond Hall ← This work
・April 24: Nakano Sunplaza *Suspended after 7 songs
× April 25: Nakano Sun Plaza (cancelled)
× April 26: Nakano Sun Plaza (cancelled)

This is the full performance of “UFO with Schenker” in Japan. In 1998, the “Nakano incident” that ended with hitting the guitar is famous, but the Nagoya performance of this work is one before that. It was the last night when the show was successfully completed.
This work, which vacuum-packed such a memorial site, is truly superb. The day before this work, “OSAKA 1998 (Shades 766)” was also a wonderful clear sound, but this work is different! The core is very thick, the details are super delicate, and there’s no sense of distance. It’s like a super-real immersive feeling as if five UFOs are going up in the brain with shoes and doing a live performance in the head. If you have experienced RAINBOW’s press masterpiece “NAGOYA 1995 DAT MASTER (Black Box 042)”, it may be better to say “UFO version of that masterpiece”.
Especially intense is the flying V that feels natural and right in front of you. The sharpness and nuances of each picking is a mochi theory, the width of the vibration of the vibrato, and the depth of the bending. Even whispering phrases don’t feel empty, and even if you scream loudly, you won’t get scared at all. Firmly captures the vibration level of the strings, and the luscious luster shines. It’s exactly like a guitar album custom-made for Flying V.
The last full show in Japan is depicted with flying sounds right in front of you. Let’s organize a memorable set here.

70’s Classics (12 songs)
・ Phenomenon: Doctor Doctor / Rock Bottom
・Force It: Mother Mary/This Kid’s/Out in the Street
・No Heavy Petting: Natural Thing
・New murderous intent: Electric Phase (★) / Love to Love / Too Hot to Handle / Lights Out
・Space Conquest: One More for the Rodeo (★) / Only You Can Rock Me
● Walk on Water (3 songs)
・A Self-Made Man (★)/Venus (★)/Pushed to the Limit (★)
*Note: “★” marks are songs that I could not listen to when I came to Japan in 1994.

… and it looks like this. Unlike “OSAKA 1998”, there is no last “Shoot Shoot” and it ends with “Rock Bottom”. This is not a recording leak, there was no 2nd encore in Nagoya. This work is recorded until the end of the performance announcement, “I have this, and today’s concert is all over …”, which tells us the truth of the scene.
Even though it’s one less song, it’s a wonderful performance that doesn’t cause any problems. As you can see from the schedule above, the Nakano Incident will occur two days later, but you can’t feel any sign of it from this work. This work closes the curtain with the words “It was a blink of an eye” muttered by the audience around the taper, but the rich full show that those words symbolize is unfolded.
A shockingly thick sound that is rare even by modern standards in 2022. It is a new excavation master that allows you to experience a memorial full show with a miraculous audience sound that you want to call “official grade”. With both Pete Way and Paul Raymond gone, and Phil Mogg showing his intention to retire, we won’t be able to experience “Schenker’s UFO” anymore. “The last performance in Japan” where their true value overflowed. Please experience the best with this work to your heart’s content.

* A superlative audience recording of the show “April 22, 1998 Diamond Hall Performance” before the interrupted “Nakano Incident”. It’s a newly discovered original DAT master, the core is very thick, the details are super delicate, and there’s no sense of distance… It’s like five UFOs in my brain, wearing shoes, and performing live in my head. It is a super realistic immersive sound that makes you feel like you are playing. This is a cultural heritage album where you can experience “Japan’s last full show” on site with super-superb sound.

Shades 1590