HARLIN - "Ain-Soph-Aur" - Roxy 1-16-1988

HARLIN performs their song "Ain-Soph-Aur" live at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA, on January 16, 1988. Whil Harlin on vocals and guitar, Gib Arciniega on lead guitar, Brett Scott on bass, Drake Thompson on drums.
The song was written in the fall of 1987 while the band took a break from performing live for new material development and recording. Of the 3 new songs added to the live setlist around this time, this is my favorite. The title comes from a word in the Kabala, Jewish mysticism, and means something along the lines of "limitless light", and I think it's supposed to be like the "fabric" which God created the universe from. Sort of their "Big Bang". But on the surface, it's just a rock & roll love song with a catchy beat and a neat little arpeggio riff. It sounds like "ain't so far", but at least one band member referred to it jokingly as "ain't sophomore". The band never made a recording of this song in the studio.
In the middle of this song's performance, Drake's pounding on the drums has knocked something loose, probably one of the mic stands, and drum tech Alan Vance rushes onstage and fixes it during the song, and rushes back off stage near the end. For an unsigned, local band, Harlin had a top-notch crew. I handled the left side of the stage, hidden behind equipment, ready to switch Whil's guitar immediately in the case of a problem like a broken string, and I handled any problems that arose with Whil's or Brett's equipment, etc. On the other side of the stage was Kerry Mooney, who served as Gib's roadie. On sound we had the incredible Bill "Billy Vee" Vellutini, who had been soundman at the legendary Golden Bear nightclub in Huntington Beach until it was torn down, then became Harlin's soundman for virtually every gig they had. On lights and or video camera were Brad Upton and/or Joanie Stevenson. We could set up the entire Harlin stage setup, amps and drums (with the help of no band members) in 5 minutes or less, from our trucks in the parking lot. Alternately, we could tear our stage down and have it loaded in the trucks in the parking lot in 5 minutes or less. I know, because I trained them with a stopwatch at the rehearsal studio like a NASCAR pit crew!
Video produced by Weird Old Uncle Kenny for the Harlin Archive from video footage provided by Drake Thompson. For many more Harlin videos, please subscribe to my KZbin channel. For pictures and stories, check out the Harlin page on Facebook. Please feel free to give a thumbs-up!
-Weird Old Uncle Kenny