Obviously, Radar was a regular during the Summer 2001 RH tour with Heiko, Tony, Eddy, and DJ Logic; it also was on pretty much every set list when Chris toured Europe in Fall 2001 with DJ Big Wiz. But Chris rarely played Radar in solo appearances; I could find only 7, mostly from radio shows.
Following are a few comments about some of these tracks.
90.9 The Bridge Kansas City 1999-10-15 (or was it 2001-10-15?)
Not sure about the date of this one. If it was indeed 1999, then this track has the distinction of being the first known public performance of this song. See First Bootlegs for more. I distinctly recall my excitement when I stumbled across it in one of my Google searches, so maybe I was too rattled and got the year wrong. Given that Chris played The Grand Emporium in KC on October 15, 2001, I’m guessing I goofed. If I did goof, here’s a photo of Chris at The Grand Emporium:
The Mountain Stage 2001-09-30
Coming just a couple weeks after 9/11, this track is (IMO) especially poignant. You can listen to the full radio broadcast here, including Dirt Floor, which Chris dedicates to “all those people lost up there in New York, you know, and all over the world”: https://archive.org/details/cw2001-09-30.flac
A bit about Chris and 9/11 (from Anil Prasad’s Innerviews): “I started War Crime Blues about a year after September 11th. I actually flew into New York City on September 13th that year. I saw a negative grace develop out of the attacks that’s mostly related to fear and ignorance because we had no previous reference point to someone hating us that physically. The record came out of me wanting to respond honestly to the situation, rather than having a big message. It all goes back to Albert Camus and his book The Rebel. There are much deeper issues at work here. War just never fucking ends. Is it something about us Americans? Well, who made America? All of those European motivations.”
KTHX Reno 2001-10-12
One of my favorites (I love both Chris’s guitar and his voice on this one) as noted in my choosing it for Best Bootleg.
Martyr’s 2002-05-25
This is an unusual performance, slower and not at all sweet, with what I can only describe as a more piercing, syncopated guitar and a bit of a snarly voice. I really like it, perhaps because it’s so different. In the stage chatter following the song, Chris says that “I’m just physically a little bit crispy … too much road burn.”
All Things Chris Whitley 