published: 20 /
11 /
2005
Label:
Suburban Records
Format: CD
Fantastic live album from hard rockers Hermano, who are fronted by ex-Kyuss frontman John Garcia
Review
Creating a live album as an official release is a tricky business. It needs to stand head and shoulders above the bootleggers efforts and still capture the atmosphere and magic of a live performance.
With the release of 'Live At W2' fans have the chance to experience the performance of an amazing band who tour infrequently.
Described by some as a rock super-group side project, Hermano emerged partially from the ashes of Kyuss with John Garcia taking vocal duties. He has been joined in the studio by Steve Earle (Afghan Whigs), Mike Callahan (Disengage/Earshot), David Angstrom (Black Cat Bone/Supafuzz) and Steve Brown (Dock Ellis/Orquesta del Desierto) and together they have recorded two fantastic studio albums, 'Only a suggestion' (2002) and 'Dare I Say'.
This third recording is taken from the ‘Dare I Say…’ tour and captures the very essence of the incredible Hermano live show. Whilst John Garcia has retained a relative cult status, in comparison to his ex-Kyuss band members and Queens Of The Stone Age compatriots, the Hermano show as a result retains that intimate quality. Complete with stage banter and crowd noise the first thing that really stands out is the excellent quality of this recording, testament to a great live sound engineer which makes me eager to witness the show first hand.
A cover of AC/DC’s 'TNT' compliments tracks taken from their first two albums' to complete the set list for this show. Great songs such as The Bottle' and 'Senor Moreno’s Plan' come across as some of the strongest rock contenders of the last half century and sitting in your living room with the volume on 10 and your neighbour banging on the wall it becomes easy to visualise a packed venue with many a head moving away to the tunes being punched out.
There is no doubt in my mind that Hermano have produced some of the heaviest riffs since Zeppelin and this live album is a welcome addition to my collection and as with the other Hermano titles will grace my decks on a regular basis.
Track Listing:-
1
Cowboys Suck
2
5 To 5
3
Life
4
Alone Jeffe
5
Roll Over
6
Landetta
7
My Boy
8
Quite Fucked
9
TNT
10
The Bottle
11
Senor Moreno's Plan
12
Manager's Special