The website for the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino in Highland California proudly proclaims that you will have “AN EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER – Luxurious accommodations. World-class event venue. Premier gaming. Elevated dining. Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel has something for everyone. Step into a new dawn with us, and experience luxury like never before”. As well as gambling away your life savings [not recommended], you can entertain yourself in the spa, pool or see a gig – the “Rock & Brews” concert series has welcomed such bands as Quiet Riot and the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
The Cracker show of 4 November 2023 was the band’s last of the year, and a return to “origins” as the Casino is just a few miles from where band leaders David Lowery and Johnny Hickman began their musical journey; it was billed as a “homecoming for the band, offering an opportunity for those from the old days to come together, mingle, and reminisce about the early house parties and shows. Memories of The Dangers at the Beat, Sitting Duck at the Ritz, and Camper Van Beethoven at The Barn are sure to be shared”.
Cracker’s last studio album was 2014’s Berkeley to Bakersfield and they have released at least six live albums (the last was 2022’s Live in Madrid). This further live release serves as an update with more recent songs in a concert setting. The CD and edited download version of the delightfully named Bingo! Live in the Inland Empire (the expansive Yaamava’ Casino resort complex started its journey as a Bingo parlour) has 16 songs; we count three from each of Gentleman’s Blues (1998) and debut Cracker (1992), two from Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey (2009), Berkeley to Bakersfield (2014) and Kerosene Hat (1993), plus one from The Golden Age (1996). There are also three tracks from Lowery-associated band Camper Van Beethoven: “Ambiguity Song” and “Take The Skinheads Bowling” (Telephone Free Landslide Victory, 1985) and “Pictures of Matchstick Men” (Key Lime Pie, 1989).
As setlist.fm suggests, there were 21 songs played on the night, so (for all you arithmetic fans out there) five tracks are “missing” from the CD version – “El Cerrito” and “Get Off This” were played after “Take The Skinheads Bowling” but do not make it to the disc. It’s widely misunderstood that an anonymous group of Cracker interns succeeded in their demands for the band to stop playing “Eurotrash Girl” and although it was performed on the night after “Hey Brett (You Know What Time It Is)”, it has been expunged from the record [we’re not above stealing jokes]. Also, “Take Me Down to the Infirmary” and “Wedding Day” were played before the encore but have also been eradicated. For completists all these performances are on the full show download from the band’s website, and they all sound pretty good, so space may have been the consideration.
The inclusion of Camper Van Beethoven songs (one a cover) demonstrates the varied set on this release, and generally there’s a warm relaxed feel to this “homecoming” gig. It builds in intensity early on with the raucous “The World is Mine” and a raw version of “100 Flower Power Maximum”. There’s plenty of great moments to appreciate – the Garcia/Hunter cover of “Loser” (originally on Kerosene Hat) has a beautifully winding guitar solo and “Hey Brett (You Know What Time It Is)” features a glorious blast of harmonica to get things going. Other highlights include the songs from Berkeley to Bakersfield – Hickman’s vocal on “California Country Boy” and the location-appropriate singalong of “The San Bernardino Boy”.
Label: Pitch-A-Tent
Release Date: 12 DEC 2023
Poetic Justice 