Strangest musical resurrection of the year? Word. A bunch of dudes who all played in one of the most influential underground heavy rock acts of the last couple of decades, mostly at different points in time, all gracing the stage to play songs they’d mostly not recorded together, largely written by another dude who refused to be a part of any of it? Hmm.
And you know, I had my reservations as well. I mean, I get why Josh Homme kind of wanted to leave that door shut. It was what it was, and there’s nothing that can take you back there. Sure. But once the lights went down and Messrs Oliveri, Garcia and Bjork made their way to their instruments, there wasn’t a half-stoned, dreaded slacker in the packed three-tiered theatre whose neck hairs weren’t straight on end. With stand-in guitarist Bruno Fevery (fun fact: he used to play in a Kyuss cover band as a kid), the four launched straight into the Circus-era ten-minute epic Spaceship Landing and it was on.
By this point, Huckleberry Hound could have been playing guitar and nobody would have given two shits. Speaking of which, Thumb was absolutely electric, as was pretty much everything off Blues For The Red Sun. Stands to reason though; Blues was the one album the three elder statesmen were actually together for. And I have to admit, it was a little strange when anything from …And The Circus Leaves Town was thrown in the mix, seeing as the only member present from that era was a decidedly stockier John Garcia.
But did anyone ultimately care? Fuck. Off. No. I went with friends who I have NEVER seen throw their heads around with that kind of fervour. Ever. Hell, it’s even been a while since I threw down properly.
While the obvious noteworthy absence was that of Homme, Belgian axeman Fevery was more than accomplished, and while he pretty much stuck to the recorded versions of most of the repertoire, we were treated to a few branch-out moments like the extended wig-out thrown into the middle of Whitewater, which was absolutely and without question the fuck-yeah song of the night, though the absolute intensity of both Supa Scoopa and 50 Million Year Trip was pretty incredible.
I hear Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and John Garcia are looking at releasing a new album this year, with Fevery along for the ride. I also heard other ex-bassist Scott Reeder would have done these shows for just a case of beer, so, you know: options. I think I’ve gotten excited about chunky riffs and desert grooves all over again.
By Matt Panag
