Boy I wish I had been there that night! - I d have had a wonderful time had I been there, but this was originally recorded in 1981 and unfortunately, I hadn t been introduced to Christine Lavin until some time in the 90 s. Nonetheless, it s still a real treat experiencing her live through this nicely re-mastered recording of one of her early performances. Put on the headphones, close your eyes and you can pretend you re there too. Be warned - people who laugh helplessly with headphones on look very silly, and laugh you most certainly will. All of the tracks labeled Untitled should instead be called Funny As Heck becuase that s where she shares her self-effacing and goofy but endearing observations about life in NY, on stage and simply being Christine Lavin.If you re new to this artist and are searching for something representative of her body of work, this is an excellent starter CD. Although she is considered to be a Folksinger, her songs bear no resemblance to the campfire sing-a-long songs or wrenching political statements that label brings to mind. Her clever and listenable tunes are a perfict fit for her humourous and sometimes touching observations on the everyday lives of everybody you ever met. That office romance that never was becomes the epic tale Doris and Edmund: The Movie. A secret yearning for a fling with your friendly neighborhood lothario is revealed in Add Me To The List and the desperation of obsessive love is painfully rendered in The Bitter End. Listening to this CD will be like introducing yourself to the sensitive and wittily observant next-door-neighbor who is soon to become your best and dearest friend. If you re a Lavin Fan you re probably already familiar with most of the songs on this CD, but you shouldn t pass this one by just because you have studio versions somewhere in your collection. Her sweet vocals have a different edge, sometimes punctuated by her own laughter, that give her funny songs an endearing sort of intimate immediacy. True, her tender ballads lose some of their pathos in the live setting but still touch the heart. As for the between song banter, only some of it was familiar to me, most of it was fresh and funny.The production is very good. Re-edited and re-mastered from the original 1981 release, it is crisp, clear and unclutterd. Thankfully, it captures the often delicate nuances of her gentle and character rich soprano without buzzing, snaps or echo. Nicely done. I would rate this CD as an equal with Lavin s Attainable Love for sheer listenability, enjoyability and heart.