Here's an easy way to spot the difference between a Mountain Goats fan and someone who listens to the Mountain Goats:
Ask them what their favorite Mountain Goats album is.
If said person merely listens to the Mountain Goats, they will name a studio album. Most likely Tallahassee, All Hail West Texas, or the Sunset Tree. If they're trying to get cocky, they might even namedrop Sweden or Get Lonely.
If said person is a true Mountain Goats fan, he/she will either:
a. Hesitate, then ask you to define what exactly you mean by "studio album," or
b. Name their favorite Mountain Goats live recording.
Every good Mountain Goats fan knows that the albums/tapes/compilations are just the blueprints for live recordings. Even the best recorded Mountain Goats songs become infinitely better onstage, bar-none, without question. (Aside from songs that have never been played live, of course. Which, really, given the incredible amount of songs John has written over the years, are not that great in number.) John will write a song and put it down on tape, but it never really comes alive until he's pouring through it in front of an audience, tearing through every last note, dragging the emotion out of every last syllable, at times even seeming to create new emotions he discovered in the songs after he himself wrote them.
A good example of this is Sweden, which is a really an okay Mountain Goats tape, all things considered. It doesn't stand up to the later, greater stuff, but it definitely beats the hell out of some of his older monstrosities. Yet when those same subdued songs are played live, there is a life breathed into them that is nothing short of magical. They almost sound like covers, two versions of the same song, linked together by words and structure, yet vastly different in every other sense.
This exact phenomenon happens throughout my personal favorite MG show: 1998/02/06 at the Cow Haus in Tallahassee.
There are some shows where the fire burning inside John is so white-hot and pure, it damn-near sears your ears just listening to it. Forget broken strings--from 1995-2000(ish), it wasn't a good show if John's guitar wasn't covered in blood. John tends to look back at these shows unfavorably, openly mocking his past tendency to play songs as fast and loud as possible to gratuitous effect, one that is impossible to revel in, despite the knowledge of its disingenuous. If you don't get chills hearing John belt out lines like "You can arm me to the teeth / You can't make me go to war" at top-volume, you just aren't human.
Aside from the manic energy that pervades all recordings from that time, this show is exemplary for a few other reasons. For starters, the setlist is fantastic. "Tulsa Imperative," "West County Dreams," "Waving At You," "Snow Crush Killing Song," "Family Happiness," "Minnesota"--all of which are incredible choices, some arguably sounding at their absolute best in this recording. Clocking in at an hour and twenty minutes, it's also a fairly long show, burning through 24 songs in the process. Just when you think he's starting to fade, he comes roaring right back with even more energy than before. At one point he tells the crowd that he could keep going for three hours, and it's not hard to imagine him doing it, if he thought they would've stuck with him.
The sound quality is imperfect, but for a 13-year old recording, it's pretty excellent. There are slight rough patches to nitpick at, but if the sound is your biggest worry, then you really shouldn't be listening to shows like this in the first place. The balance is great throughout, if a bit low, so you should definitely jack the volume up using your media player of choice. One of the more common problems with these live recordings is poor audio during John's between-song banterings, and thankfully, every word that leaves his mouth that night rings through loud and clear. And as far as Mountain Goats banter goes, this is pretty good. No classic drunk-John lines, no interplay with Peter or anyone else, but plenty of audience dialogue and some choice song descriptions.
All-in-all, it's a tremendous experience, one that any Mountain Goats fan should partake in without hesitation, and one that would certainly open the eyes of "fans" who think the best Mountain Goats recording is a studio album. (Lol.)
(In case you were wondering, John has no problem with people sharing live shows online. Archive.org even has an email from him, giving his direct blessing.)
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