V: An Introduction to Live Recordings

Godspeed has had a significant taping community for nearly the entirety of their history. Because of this, there are hundreds of shows to listen to, which can make it hard to parse for someone looking to move past Godspeed’s studio albums. Thus, I’ve decided to list the best and most popular Godspeed bootlegs. While a list like this is inherently somewhat reliant on personal perception, I will attempt to make it as objective as possible. The following shows are those that I believe any list of the consensus best Godspeed bootlegs must include:

1997-10-05: The first live recording of Godspeed, the only recording of them playing “The Piece” (F#A#∞ in its entirety), the only recording of Christophe playing with them live, one of the best sounding shows as a result of it being professionally recorded by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, and incredibly tight and reserved performances. The occasional crackling from the weak PA is the only notable flaw of this show.

1998-10-16: One of the most unique Godspeed shows with an improvised “Dead Metheny” outro and a unique early version of “John Hughes” with a drastically different structure than all other performances. The only flaws of this show are the somewhat inconsistent recording quality and the bad transfer that is evident during much of “Moya.”

1998-11-22: The only known recording of the entirety of “Hung Over As the Queen In Maida Vale.”

1998-12-17: A very dark sounding show where Dave leaves before “John Hughes,” causing the band to improvise an altered final crescendo before segueing into a unique “J.L.H. Outro” jam. Also one of the few complete soundboard recordings of Godspeed.

1999-04-19: An odd and very inconsistent show that includes performances of a unique “Monheim” > “J.L.H. Outro”, another “Dead Metheny” with an improvised outro, and the first performance of “Gathering Storm” in full, although a very different outro was played because “Clatters” had not been developed yet.

1999-05-24: The debut of “Clatters” as a semi-improvised noise intro. This show also has what is generally considered the best early “World Police” performance. Unfortunately, the final song, “BBF3,” was only captured by one of the two people taping the show, so it sounds considerably worse than the rest of the songs in the set.

1999-08-14: One of the longest shows they had ever played at the time, at approximately 140 minutes long. This show is also one of the few recorded shows that features all the main pieces of Lift Your Skinny Fists. This show also features Mark Littlefair on bass, replacing Mauro, and long time Mogwai sound tech Ajay at the board, which leads to unique moments where myriad effects are added from the board, especially on the drums. The sound quality isn’t the best, but it’s well worth sitting through for the excellent performances and setlist.

1999-09-20: The only recorded time Godspeed played “Sleep” in the studio order live, with “3rd Part” following “Monheim.” This show also closes with the “Chart #3” tape after “Sad Mafioso,” with some odd pitch and speed manipulations.

2000-11-01: One of the best early performances of “12-28-99” and “Tazer Floyd.”

2000-11-22: The last of the excellent Kings Cross Scala shows, with the final “3rd Part” performance, featuring an extended intro. This show also has the first “Sad Mafioso” since April 2000. While I singled out this show for simplicity, all of the Kings Cross Scala shows are worth hearing.

2000-12-10: The longest show in Godspeed’s history at the time. The show starts off with Efrim reading a manifesto in English while Roger translates. It’s widely considered one of the best shows

2001-09-28: Arguably the most popular Godspeed show of all time, with some of the best audio quality and performances of 2001. This show has the famous “Shopping is patriotic, world leaders say. 1,2,3,4” “John Hughes” drop.

2002-01-22: Second longest Godspeed show of all time and one of the best videos of a Godspeed show ever. “World Police” has a well known scream from an audience member.

2002-01-25: The longest Godspeed show ever. Consistently incredible performances with one of the best performances of “The Cowboy” ever, and the only one without “Slow Moving Trains” at the start.

2002-03-31: The debut of the full “Motherfucker=Redeemer” outro. The “World Police” was so loud it clipped mics with 130+ dbs of headroom.

2002-04-16/17/18: All shows in this period are long, have incredible performances, and feature some of the oddest setlists of 2002. All also have a performance of “2002 Noise Outro” after one of the encores.

2003-05-14: Debut performance of “Gamelan.” Arguably the most famous Godspeed show ever.

2003-05-15: While this show is very new and may not have the staying power of other shows, it was an instant classic upon release. Some of the strongest performances of 2003.

2010-12-05: Widely considered the best performance of “The Dead Flag Blues” ever. One of the first shows of 2010. This show has the most complete recording of the early 30+ minute “Hope Drone” performances.

2011-04-29: One of the best recordings of 2011, featuring a long and unique setlist for the time.

2011-05-01: The last “John Hughes” performance until 2023. Likewise, a long show with a unique setlist for the time.

2012-11-08: Incredibly strong performances. This show has the longest “Albanian” ever as a result of a slight mistake in the intro that leads to some very cool moments early in the performance.

2013-08-14: Widely considered one of the best “Albanian” performances ever. This show also has a unique improvisation before “Dead Metheny.”

2015-04-07: The first performance of “Anthem For No State” and the second ever performance of “Bosses Hang.”

2016-09-21: By far the best recording of “Bolero” after 1997. Has a rare performance of “Behemoth” immediately after “Hope Drone.” One of the best post-hiatus “Monheim” performances.

2018-04-22: A unique setlist with only pre-hiatus songs except for “2 Nouveau Tower.” Incredible “Sad Mafioso” performance in particular.

2019-11-04: Incredibly strong performances throughout the whole show. Some of the longest “Cliff” and “2 Nouveau Tower” performances of 2019.

2019-11-05: One of only two times “Anthem For No State” was played after “Hope Drone.” Incredibly strong performances with a long “2 Nouveau Tower” much like the previous night. Closes with an incredible “Albanian.”

2022-11-06: Widely considered the first night where “Cliff” becomes fully developed as Efrim starts playing it with greater dynamics. Strong performances throughout including a highly energetic “Glacier.”

2023-03-15: Great recording of one of the most unique setlists ever. One of the few shows in 2022/2023 to not have “Anthem For No State” or “Bosses Hang.”

2024-10-18: Powerful performance of nearly all of No Title along with a riveting “Sad Mafioso.” The crowd chants “Free Palestine” in Greek after “Pale Spectator.”

2024-11-04: Incredibly tight No Title performances; widely considered one of the best performances of the album in 2024.

2024-11-26: The only show to have full No Title and three subsequent songs, including the second “John Hughes” of 2024.

2025-12-07: Short festival set that rips the whole way through. Has an incredibly violent “World Police.”

2025-12-10: The only show of the No Title era to not have “Babys In A Thundercloud.” Features an incredibly strong “Sad Mafioso” and “The Cowboy” encore.