Before was formed in September 1980 by singer and figurehead Fritz ”Fatal” Bonfils and a 17-year-old Martin Hall on guitar. Together with drummer Michael Rasmussen (later The Sandmen) and bassist Flemming Andersen (Art in Disorder) the group played its first concert in Rockmaskinen on Christiania in November the same year. After this concert Lars Bo “Tolle” Tolstoy Jacobsen undertook the task of playing bass.

Before’s support act for New Order represents a landmark in Danish post-punk history. One ting is the band’s line-up at the time (Hall having already established his own group Ballet Mécanique), but obviously far more relevant is the outstanding musical performance on the night itself. What you hear on 30 Minutes is the sound of a far more brutal band than the one you experience on the later debut album, A Wish of Life, released during the summer of 1982.

Before was, without the shadow of a doubt, one of the best live acts on the Danish post-punk scene. At the New Order support gig you’ll witness a sonic savagery never really captured on any of the group’s following studio recordings.

All live-tracks are recorded directly via the sound mixer at the event which means that the recordings are as good as the possibilities of the period allowed. As an interesting side note, New Order’s Peter Hook assisted the band with the live mix on the evening.

Apart from the concert 30 Minutes also contains four likewise never before released studio demos recorded a month before the event.