Live at Pentastoma, Roden

In 2011, as the result of research and new interest in Bodine, a couple of recordings surfaced. The first one was a DVD recorded live on 13 January 1984, showing Bodine on their Three Times Running tour. Bodine played Bodine in Pentastoma, Rockcinema versionin youth centre Pentastoma in Roden, Drenthe, The Netherlands. It was recorded 6 days after the Veronica Countdown session that was broadcast on radio. It is unknown who recorded the video, a copy of which was kindly provided to RegularRocker on DVD by both Rockcinema and Philty11.

The recording qualifies in various respects as a bootleg--in terms of distribution, availability and quality of the recording. After watching a song or two though, the quality level becomes acceptable. It was recorded with a camara on a fixture from one angle. According to Philty11, the sound may have been recorded from the PA mixing concsole and then later mixed into the recording, because video cameras were known to have a poor quality microphones in those days. If Philty11's assumption is right then whoever mixed it did a great job. Philty11 claims to know someone who owns a yet better version preserved in Betamax quality--who knows if it resurfaces one day? RegularRocker is keeping his eyes wide open.

'Bodine live in Pentastoma' shows a 74-minute set. The band lives up to the performance quality and impressions shared in the sparse concert reviews that remained about Bodine. Gerard Haitsma does a brief drum solo. Singer Axel is in shape, making jokes with the audience and performing excellently as a singer. Even with the average quality recording, his talent can be heard clearly.

Remarkably, Shout was played twice during the Pentastoma set. On The Lookout was the only song played from the debut album and it has to be noted that Axel has no problem stepping in the shoes of his predecessor Jay.

In 2011, the recording was polished by Paul Evers of Time Is Running productions and a new sleeve design was created. Also, two tracks from the Beukelpop gig were added to the DVD as a bonus. The sound quality was slightly imnprived in comparison to the previous bootleg version.

Bodine Live at Pentastoma, Time Is Running version

The following songs can be found on the Live DVD:

Bodine Live at Pantastoma, 13 January 1984

1. Shout
2. Battlefield
3. Pumpin' Iron
4. Freight Train
5. Black Star Rising
6. Heavy Metal Heart
(guitar solos Iron Anthony & Rheno Xeros)
7. Hard Times
8. Free Kick
9. Wild Fire Queen
10. The Force
11. Rock Machine
--- encore ---
12. On The Lookout
13. Shout

bonus material: Bodine Mk-I at Beukelpop, 29 August 1981

1. Shooting Dice
2. Rock Doctor (early version)

The bonus videos were retrieved by Han Hijzelendoorn and can be viewed on youtube as well--good job, Han!

Live at Countdown Café, 6 January 1984

Another performance of Bodine most known to the fans is the live radio recording at Countdown Cafe at Anna's Hoeve in Hilversum on 6 January 1984. This was broadcast live on radio and on the internet several recordings can be found.

Rough draft of the Live at Countdown Cafe CD (front)It contains the following songs:

1. Shout
2. Battlefield
3. Black Star Rising
4. The Force
5. Rock Machine
6. Heavy Metal Heart
7. Hard Times (preceded by a guitar solo)

Again, the band is in great shape and Axel is standing his ground on the stage. He improvises the lyrics on 'Hard Times', which is a great display of talent. After the gig, Jeronimo was complimented by Gerard and Rheno for his performance--a rare feat for the founding members, who considered excellence as the standard. The quality of this sound recording is good, though one might argue that the mix isn't perfect. You may find this recording in different quality scattered about the internet and circulating in the trading networks.

Live at "Over de Brug", Gouda,  12 June 1982

- Philty11 was in the audience at the Bodine gig that played in "Over De Brug", in Gouda, 12 June 1982. This was probably the second concert with 'Iron Anthony' Lucassen. Philty11 knows for a fact that a video recording was made during that gig. Hopefully this recording will resurface one day. "Over De Brug" does not exist any longer. Any hints or contact persons who are in touch with former employees are encouraged to get in touch with RegularRocker.

Bodine Mk-IV Live (3 gigs)

Erik van der Ven's brother made video recordings of the 1992 live gigs at Korzo, The Hague (18 October 1992), Biebop, Vosselaar (30 October 1992) and Noorderligt, Tilburg (6 December 1992).The quality of the recordings exceeds those of Pentastoma. These were kindly made available to Regularrocker and will be processed to digital format as soon as there is enough time and CPU capacity.