Filed under: Gig Reviews | Tags: 02 Academy Islington, 2010, Fu Manchu, January, London
By Simon Hadley
Californian desert rock veterans, Fu Manchu kicked off their two month European tour last night at Islington’s 02 Academy.
Since the release of their 1994 debut album, No One Rides For Free, Fu Manchu have gone through a number of different line-up changes including briefly recruiting ex-Kyuss drummer and now solo artist, Brant Bjork, but despite this, their live shows have always been consistent.
Kicking off with the blistering heavy fuzz classic of ‘Hell on Wheels’, beginning with Bob Balch’s throbbing guitar, that slowly morphs into a deadly thunderous roar, shows that Fu Manchu are a band on top of their game.
‘Bionic Astronautics’, the first track from their new album, Signs of Infinite Power, harks back to the bands, hardcore punk roots and a chorus break down that echoes early 70’s era Black Sabbath.
A flurry of tracks from their new album followed as the band threw themselves into: ‘El Busta’, ‘Steel.Beast.Defeated’, ‘Webfoot Witch Hat’ and ‘Gargantuan March’, all of which were received well by the sold out crowd and hinted at a return to the glory days of the genre classics of 1996’s In Search of and 2000’s King Of The Road releases.
‘California Crossing’, the main stay of Fu Manchu’s set lists, starts with Scott Reeder’s thundering military style drumming, before vocalist Scott Hill unloads: “Twenty years or more/We had a plan/To build the finest street ride/In the whole damn land”, sparks a mass three minute sing-a-long.
Despite the mixed reception for the bands previous two releases, Start the Machine and We Must Obey, Fu Manchu’s greatness is still here.
Lynchpin guitarist and front man Scott Hill’s laid back, West Coast Californian croon, Scott Reeder’s and Brad Davis’ driving rhythm section and finally Bob Balch’s thick fuzzy guitar licks make you wonder why Fu Manchu are not as big and as well received as their Californian neighbours, Queens of the Stone Age.
Despite the emphasis being on the bands new tracks, fans were treated to a flurry of classics including: ‘Eatin’ Dust’, ‘Laserblast!’, and ‘Evil Eye’, a brilliant, psychedelic tinged hard rock classic that is arguably one of the strongest tracks the band have ever released.
The 90 minute set list finished up with an eight minute, psychedelic, down tuned, doom rock onslaught of ‘Saturn III’, with vocalist Scott Hill commenting that Islington was: “Not a band way to start the tour.”
By Simon Hadley
Rock’s most talked about supergroup began their seven-date UK tour last night in Plymouth, to the delight of the South West.
Them Crooked Vultures, comprised of Josh Homme (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age and Desert Sessions), Dave Grohl (Nirvana and the Foo Fighters), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) as well as touring guitarist Alain Johannes (Desert Sessions and Eleven) did not disappoint.
The band kicked off their set list with ‘No One Loves Me & Neither Do I’, a raw plodding groove that descended into a Zeppelin-style breakdown wowed the Pavilions and set the tone for the rest of the night.
The dream team rhythm section of Dave Grohl on drums and John Paul Jones on bass have a natural chemistry, which was evident on ‘Scumbag Blues’, a slice of classic 70’s rock that echoed Cream, with Josh Homme adding a bluesy lead riff into the mix.
The hard rock stomp of ‘Elephants’ soon followed, before a rare outing for ‘Highway One’, a track that narrowly missed out on the group’s debut album, but with talk of an EP release next year, may still see the light of day.
‘Gunman’, a hard rock-disco stomp echoed shades of Physical Graffiti era Zeppelin and was a fan favourite amongst the sold out crowd, showing how easy it is to add different textures to the bands already impressive arsenal.
However, it was John Paul Jones who stole the show. Introduced by Homme as : “One of your own”, multi-instrumentalist Jones, showed just why he is one of the greatest living and influential rock musicians of the last 40 years, effortlessly changing between bass guitar and the keytar, during ‘Interlude With Ludes’. Jones rounded off his performance by treating the crowd to a beautiful piano solo, which will hopefully feature on the group’s next album.
‘Mind Eraser, No Chaser’ bought the straight forward rock assault back into the set as did ‘Caligulove’, but set ending ‘Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up’, was the moment of the night.
Warsaw bought together the harder and fuzzier moments from Homme’s first band Kyuss, and psychedelic Desert Sessions elements to create a psychedelic progressive rock wall of sound, with Homme, and touring guitarist Alain Johannes trading solos, putting the crowd into a hypnotic daze.
Clocking in at over 90 minutes the fans got their money’s worth and will be hoping that Them Crooked Vultures return to the South West sooner rather than later.
