Manfred Mann's Earth Band - 1976 Roaring Silence Tour

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

The Roaring Silence Tour
Live at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
15/10/1976
Soundboard/FM broadcast

01 - 0:00:00 Intro - The Road To Babylon - Spirits In The Night 12:02
02 - 0:12:02 Davey's On The Road Again 8:24
03 - 0:20:26 Time Is Right 7:11
04 - 0:27:37 Father Of Day, Father Of Night - Captain Bobby Stout 16:11
05 - 0:43:48 Blinded By The Light 8:58
06 - 0:52:46 The Mighty Quinn 10:59
07 - 1:03:45 Waiter, There's A Yawn In My Ear - Outro 4:51

America’s bicentennial was a very good year for the Earth Band. Founding guitarist and singer Mick Rogers left after 1975′s Nightingales & Bombers, so Mann replaced him with Dave Flett on lead guitar and Chris Hamlet Thompson on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. The new lineup then recorded The Roaring Silence, a must-have for prog-rock fans, with the lead single becoming the definitive version of Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” (sorry, Bruce lovers, but you know it’s true).

In the winter of ’76-’77, that song was everywhere. It seemed like every radio station in America was required by law to play it at least once every three hours, even if the station’s format was Hispanic spirituals. Besides, it’s the only time a song written by Springsteen has made it all the way to #1 on the Hot 100, so suck it, haters.

On October 15, 1976, the Earth Band was second on the bill, between Boston and Blue Öyster Cult. You get what you expect with this show: Mann’s spacey Moog effects, some killer guitar work, and even a VH1 Storytellers-type intro to “Davy’s on the Road Again,” a song that wouldn’t appear on vinyl for another two years.

Enjoy this slice of Spectrum history.