As many of you know, back in the later half of last year, Chunklet posted the now-legendary Fugazi stage banter recording. After it made the rounds, people would suggest bands that should be done next. Of course, with me having a life it was hard to go forth with every suggestion that was thrown in the ring, but the one that struck a personal chord (with me, at least) was a no-brainer: Shellac. Or more specifically: Bob Weston’s Q&A sessions.

Robert Weston IV tuning (note Mooninite wristbands)

Bob Weston’s Q&A can’t be viewed as anything other than comic relief, and this is well aware to all parties at their performances. And as you’ll hear on this double album set (clocking in at 1h45m, pared down from 3h40m), Bob gets to field questions on any number of subjects and depending on the subject, his band mates join in on answering questions. It’s fun. It’s light. And well…Bob also has to endure his fair share of inebriated attendees. Some might even call them ‘assholes’, but we’ll let you be the judge.

Back in December, when I ran into Bob and mentioned this idea for inclusion on the site, he initially laughed, got quiet for a minute, laughed some more, scratched his chin, paused again and then gave it his blessing. So there y’have it.

Shellac in London

And this brings us to now. A contributor, who shall remain nameless, compiled almost four hours of Bob talking at Shellac shows from 1993 up to this year, over ninety shows from five continents of varying fidelity levels from a slew of different traders around the world. Now, Shellac’s stance on recording their shows is pretty widely known. However, regardless of a band’s wishes for the opposite, live documents will continue to exist. And man, there are some super nerds out there who collect these recordings like baseball cards. It’s absolutely nuts. Don’t believe me? Google it. Editing-wise, repetitive questions have been deleted. All of Bob’s "What?"s or "Huh?"s or "Speak Louder"s have been removed to keep the pace moving steadily.

Hopefully this collection will make you laugh as it did us here. Will this possibly inspire more imaginative questions? Let’s hope. If anything, this stage banter collection can act as a primer for those that come in the future. Additionally, this is only part one. Part two is mostly done, but who knows? Maybe one of you diligent readers out there has something for inclusion? Hey, y’never know, huh?

All pix courtesy Carrie Weston. Thanks, Carrie.

Bob cooling off in LA