Sylvester|Live At The Opera House (The Complete Recordings / Live At The War Memorial Opera House / 1979)

Live At The Opera House (The Complete Recordings / Live At The War Memorial Opera House / 1979) Sylvester

Released on 9/6/24 by Craft Recordings
Main artists: Sylvester
Genre: Dance

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On Sunday, March 11, 1979, the San Francisco disco star Sylvester performed live at the city's prestigious War Memorial Opera House, a show he'd long dreamed of doing. A heavily edited recording of the show became the backbone of an album called Living Proof that was released later in the year.

Now, Craft Recordings' Live at the Opera House expands on that release with a director's cut philosophy, adding over an hour of the show, which features 26 members of the San Francisco Symphony, producer Patrick Cowley on synthesizers, and his backup singers Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes, who were then called Two Tons O'Fun and later became The Weather Girls.

Beyond his greatest hits, like "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," "Dance (Disco Heat)" and "You Are My Friend," the ensemble offers superb covers, including a rendition of "Blackbird" by the Beatles that puts Beyoncé's newer version on notice. There's also a simmering take on the Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" that closes the concert.

Sylvester, who passed away nine years after the concert, is immortalized on the Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco's Castro District, providing evidence of his ascension to LGBTQ icon in the city. And one of the most endearing moments of the album isn't musical. Harry Britt, the late San Francisco supervisor who took over for Harvey Milk after his assassination in November 1978 and later pioneered domestic partnership legislation, presented Sylvester with a key to the city. The proclamation was written by Dianne Feinstein, who then served as mayor and later a United States senator until her death in 2023. Britt read it as if he was Feinstein, which prompted Sylvester to respond, "Thank you, Diane!"

Live at the Opera House is accompanied by page-turning liner notes from Joshua Gamson, author of The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The Music, The Seventies in San Francisco, that reveal Sylvester's chemistry on the night in question: LSD to get high and Quaaludes to come down.

Even if Living Proof is a well-worn part of a Sylvester fan's collection, Live at the Opera House offers new insight and dancing moments. © Tamara Palmer/Qobuz

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Live At The Opera House (The Complete Recordings / Live At The War Memorial Opera House / 1979)

Sylvester

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Overture: Grateful / You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) / Dance (Disco Heat) (Live At The War Memorial Opera House / 1979)