Billy Bragg & The Red Stars

The Marquee, New York, NY

This was one of the coolest Billy Bragg shows I attended, primarily due to some technical difficulties early on in the set.

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Bragg's guitar wasn't coming through properly, so while the problem was being corrected Bragg began to sing one of my favorite pieces of Bragg obscurata: "I Don't Need This Pressure, Ron," an acapella Reagan-era number (the title satirizes the Spandau Ballet U.K. hit "I Don't Need This Pressure On") which I used to play all the time on my college radio station. Frankly, I was shocked and delighted he pulled that one out--I never expected to hear it live!

I went to the show with my then-girlfriend Christine.

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