Six days ago I saw Crowded House deliver an incredible performance at the Masonic Lodge in New York City. The show started me thinking about the stuff I listened to two decades back, when Crowded House first broke. I would listen to the Top 40 radio stations and augment that with the cool shit my older sister Rebecca turned me onto. It was an incredible time for music — alternative was still alternative and smooth pop rock still had some soul.

So this week’s Grousing The Aisles looks back at four legendary shows that happened 20 years ago. This time we’ve provided links to high quality MP3 files for those of you who aren’t into the whole lossless thang.

Peter Gabriel 10/??/1987 SBD (FLAC, MP3):

Petey Gabes was riding a huge wave of success as he finished the So Tour in 1987. Sledgehammer and Big Time were both huge hits, critically and commercially. Gabriel put together an amazing lineup for the extensive world tour: Bass player Tony Levin — the guy who plays with drumsticks — kept the music groovin’, while David Sancious played the keys and David Rhodes handled guitars. Gabriel’s band mixed in material from his five solo albums judiciously. A few of the final shows of the tour were recorded for a radio broadcast, and this week someone uploaded the show to a torrent site: It’s a doozy.

The show opens with a massive version of San Jacinto, which originally was released on Security in 1982. Gabriel played all of his big hits in the set including but not limited to Solsbury Hill, Sledgehammer and Shock The Monkey. My favorite parts of the show are the two beautiful ballads: In Your Eyes and Don’t Give Up. Petey was in fine voice throughout the show, and the band was clearly gellin’ (I’m gellin’ like a felon). If you only have one Peter Gabriel bootleg in your collection, make sure you pick this one.

Read on after the jump for three more incredible shows for download…

The Replacements 07/23/1987 AUD (FLAC, MP3):

The Replacements were one of the first bands to take Punk and add pop to the mix to form a new style of music referred to as “alternative.” Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, and the Stinson brothers helped bring alternative into the mainstream in the late ’80s. Like many other alternative bands, The ‘mats put on epic live performances, including this show from New York City’s Beacon Theater in 1987.

Throughout the late ’80s, The Replacements recorded a bunch of ballads, but you can’t find many piss break songs on this recording. Paul Westerberg’s brash booming voice sounds best on rockers like Fuckin’ Around and Bastards of Young. The energy these guys brought to the stage is undeniable.

The coolest part of this recording is the copious amount of covers. Whipping Post is nearly complete and sounds fabulous with Westerberg pretty much screaming the lyrics. The ‘mats also played some high-profile covers in Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. and the Stones’ Honky Tonk Woman. Westerberg and Co. also hit upon some more obscure covers such as Love Goes (Where My Rosemary Grows) and California Sun. All in all, The Replacements played 11 covers, a staggering number. Do yourself a favor and check this show out.

Steve Winwood 06/18/1987 SBD (FLAC, MP3):

Steve Winwood has two distinct phases to his career: The sicky sicky Spencer Davis Group > Traffic era and the hit-laden smooth rock days of the 1980s. Nineteen eighty-seven found Winwood smack dab in the middle of his smooth rock heyday, and when I saw a soundboard posted from the High Life tour I jumped on it. And I’m really glad I did…because it smokes!

This bootleg from Ohio’s Blossom Music Center features a heady mix of material from throughout Winwood’s career. I’m A Man represents the Spencer Davis Group days, while Glad and Freedom Rider are among the Traffic tunes he played. As usual Low Spark of High Heeled Boys brings the house down, and features some tasty organ work from Winwood. Even the cheesy pop tunes such as Valerie and Higher Love sound great live. The Finer Things were indeed shining through on this night.

Crowded House 03/19/1987 FM (FLAC, MP3):

After I left the Crowded House show last week, I ran home and downloaded every bootleg I could find. The best sounding boot from the early days is this show from the Bottom Line in NYC, which was broadcast live on WNEW. Check out this show for some funny banter and incredible performances of tunes from their two albums.

Crowded House’s performances of Mean To Me, Something So Strong and Don’t Dream It’s Over are full of moxie. You can almost hear the audience singing along. The new-at-the-time Better Be Home Soon works as a fine tearjerker amongst a batch of high-energy tunes. Neil Finn has some technical issues during Tombstone that leads to an improvised medley, which includes a snippet of the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the U.K. The final tune of the evening is a rollicking take on Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away that must have sent the crowd home happy.

What have you been listening to this week? Leaving a comment below…