This is an all around excellent bootleg from late in the original run of German rock legends CAN. Good recordings of their legendary, highly improvisational performances are highly sought and quality enjoyed. Amongst CAN bootlegs A French Gig is appreciated for a few reasons.

The sound quality is genuinely great. The rhythm section and everything else is very much present. That definitely lowers the barrier for entry and is presumably why there are a few different vinyl and CD releases of this tape. This is a very improvisational late period CAN and there is a lot more rhythmic diversity that will appeal to modern psych/dance fans. The set consists of a good assortment of classics and some other random stuff from their universe all blended together and jammed out. 1975 might’ve marked the end of their consistency in the studio process but the material and the live show was as good as it’s ever been.

The band was again without a live singer by that point but vocals are sparsely present.  The singing is widely attributed to unknown Indonesian singer Thaiga Raj Raja Ratnam on this and several other bottles from 76. Certainly someone very familiar with the material and vibe is delivering satisfying vocals through the last half of this set. The final sequence, an epic 30 minute jam, seemingly winds down before an abrupt edited end of the recording. I can’t say with confidence that this was the whole show.  This is nonetheless a double LP that must’ve been pretty darn close. At an hour and half A French Gig definitely makes for a satisfying listen as is and you can spend a lot of time exploring this recording. They deliver right out the gate with the energy and immediacy you want from the band. Over the course of the show there are peaks and valleys as they gradually loosen and up and shift from more rhythmic interplay based jamming into a heavier, dissonant and guitar driven sound. Their uncrowded precision jams are packed with intricacies but never strain the ear. I have been playing this one for years and I’ll continue to do so because no CAN is enough CAN.