Matching Mole London 1972

London, Queen Elizabeth Hall – 7 September 1972 – Now remastered

Re-assembled from three different sources, but primarily a decent audience recording (except for the beginning and end), this is chronologically the last Matching Mole performance captured for posterity, and it’s also the only one from after the band had recorded Little Red Record. This is the first and only time we get to hear Mole performing “God Song”, “Flora Fidgit” , or “Gloria Gloom” with lyrics. This headlining appearance on London’s South Bank preceded what turned out to be the band’s final European tour, co-headlining with Soft Machine, a partnership that would have looked good on paper but was probably, along with Mole’s perennial financial hardships, another nail in the coffin. Still, if you can listen through the average sound quality, this was a band in great form, with a better balance than before between the vocal and instrumental material, strong new material and much promise for the future. Alas, it only had a few more weeks to live, and a revived Mole in 1973 was stopped dead in its tracks by Robert’s accident.

Download – 113 MB

Robert Wyatt – drums, vocals
Phil Miller – guitar
Bill MacCormick – bass
Dave MacRae – Fender Rhodes