CoronaVinyl Day 123 ('90s Live Album): Live at The Gold Dollar by The Go

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

As we continue our journey through the decades of live albums, today we hit the '90s.  After yesterday's realization that I didn't have an '80s live album from an artist I hadn't already featured, I had the same panic this morning when I was reaching for what I thought was a '90s live album that turned out to be a studio album.  I thought I was going to have to do a '70s live album for the third day in a row.  But I don't want to put you through any heart palpitations.  I found what I was looking for.  It was just in a different spot in my collection.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a member of Third Man Records's Vault record club, which means I get an awesome album (or albums) four times a year from Third Man, usually reissues of Jack White-related material, previously unreleased stuff, or live albums.  Back in 2016, Third Man Vault Package #27 featured three previously unreleased live shows recorded at Detroit's Gold Dollar from bands that Jack White had been in around the same time as the beginning years of The White Stripes.  All were recorded in 1998 or 1999.  There are shows by Two Star Tabernacle, Jack White & The Bricks, and The Go.  All three were pressed on very cool gold vinyl.  For a description of everything in the package, click here.

I'm going with The Go, as I think they were the only band of the three that was signed to a label.  White was the lead guitarist.  This show was recorded on November 25, 1998, before the band signed with Sub Pop Records for their debut record, 1999's Whatcha Doin'.  After that album was recorded, White left the band to focus on The White Stripes, who released their first album in 1999.  The rest is history.

Anyway, the live album gives you a glimpse into Detrot's then-nascent garage rock scene that spawned so many great bands, like The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs, The Von Bondies, and The Detroit Cobras, to name a few.  It's a great album, full of energy, and it makes me wish I was hanging around Detroit in the late '90s.  Well, actually, I spent a decent amount of time in the Detroit area then because my grandma lived there, but I wasn't really going to any live shows.  Anyway, this is apparently the only known live recording with this lineup.  Nearly all of the songs are originals, and many of the songs would end up on Whatcha Doin'.  The album ends with a faithful and excellent cover of '60s garage rock gods The Sonics' "Psycho."

Since the live album is not available on Spotify, I'm just embedding Whatcha Doin' instead.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Meet Me at the Movies"

This is the first song on the album, and what strikes me immediately is White's guitar playing.  His blistering guitar solo intro to this song shows what we now know:  he's one of the best, if not most underrated, guitarists in rock. 

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Turn Your Little Light Bulb On"
This White-penned song is a frenetic garage rock masterpiece that could have easily been included on just about any White Stripes album.  This might be the only known recording of the song.