It’s been a week now since we all learned that Great Scott would not be re-opening once life begins a post-pandemic return to normalcy, and the tributes keep coming in. Today’s comes from Virginia duo Illiterate Light, who sold out the Allston venue back in January, and have released a live version of “Sometimes Love Takes So Long” from that Thursday night performance.
The release is the latest in the band’s new series In the Moment: Illiterate Light Live, which offers up live renditions of Illiterate Light songs, detailing Jeff Gorman and Jake Cochran’s chronicles on the road and paying tribute to the power of live performances. The first three songs in the series were taken from performances at The Golden Pony in their native Harrisonburg, Virginia.
But this Great Scott capture is something special — and was lined up long before anyone knew the venue would suddenly be shuttered.
“We always end up skating in Boston,” says Gorman. “I’m not sure why. Before the Great Scott show in January we wandered down to Orchard, a legendary skate-shop with an indoor bowl. It was cold as hell outside and we’d been stuck in the van from New York for a few hours. We cued up the soundtrack to Tony Hawk 1 and went bananas. After amateur hour in the bowl (let’s be honest) we made our way back to Great Scott, thankful that no one pulled a hammy. We knew it was gonna be a wild night as the show had been sold out for weeks.”
Gorman adds: “We’ve known for months that we’d be releasing ‘Sometimes Love Takes So Long’ live in Boston at Great Scott. What we didn’t know was that, in the midst of the coronavirus, Great Scott would announce that after 44 years of business, it would not re-open after the pandemic. It was a legendary spot for so many touring artists (including us), and it will be sorely missed. It was the first club to sell out on our most recent tour. We hope this performance, a blip on the screen, captures the spirit of the Bostonians that called Great Scott their musical home. Thanks for singing along, ya’ll.”
Dive in below, with some wild visuals from the gig after the YouTube jump.
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