Fuzz Club Magazine Issue #1

Fuzz Club is an interesting UK record label that has released music from 24 different ones from 10 different countries. To celebrate 10 years of releasing records, they decided to put out a magazine. It is in a small A4 (bent in half) format with lots of full colour pictures (too many) and some interviews with bands from their label. These include: RF Shannon, Nickolas Wood, Routine Death, and The Oscillation. There is a special scene report on Sweden, a gear article, Class of 88- Prologue to the Shoegaze years, art update, article on the Fuzz Club sessions releases, reviews of recent Fuzz Club releases and a nice article on their Fuzz Club event that just took place in Eindhoven with all bands from their label. A cool zine but I had hoped for more content and less pictures.  I enjoyed reading it for sure as I like quite a few of the bands they have released.

http://www.fuzzclub.com

Kris Gietkowski- Symmetric Communication (Strange fish 14)

Kris is a Polish multi-instrumentalist living in the UK who really likes the band EGG. Last year made his own renditions of the debut album from 1970. Not going to far away from the yolk, he has created 3 new tracks, two of his own (FX 4 and Divided by Zero) as well as another Egg song from their 2^nd record. FX 4 starts things off and is a 19min track. Starts with some nice piano playing and then the bass and drums kick in. Now Kris switches to the organ as the lead instrument but at first it is still complimented by piano now and then. There is some great playing but it is clear Kris is primarily a keyboard player and not a drummer. The drums could be much more interesting but as he has to play them first (I guess) and then play the bass and keyboards next, it is not that easy. Anyway, this track goes through many transitions where each keyboard compliments each other. There is a section with a mini-moog like solo and piano and the organ as well. Very nice and tasteful playing.

The next two tracks are shorter (8 and 11 mins) and also primarily organ driven tracks. I could have used with a different organ/keyboard sound more to change the vibe a bit. Some of this stuff reminds me of a less organic version of some tracks but Westerbur and Rowe. I admire what Kris is doing but he should put together a real band and then I think this stuff could really have a new life or energy. Check him out.

http://fruitsdemerrecords.com
http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/symmetric.html
https://www.youtube.com/user/gietek

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80- Theatro Circo, Braga, Portugal Aug 24th, 2018

It has been way too long since I had have seen some live afrobeat and also to see Seun perform. We travelled about 3hrs to Braga and spent 1.5 days checking out the town and going to this show, which happen to be on my birthday. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and we had the front row center) tickets were 8€!) in this beautiful and intimate theatre of about 600 people. Amazing place, acoustics, etc..

There was no opening act and the band hit the stage right at 22 and played until nearly midnight with no breaks.  We had met the bass player, Justice, earlier and he was a really cool guy and wanted my Fela t-shirt!  Sadly, my friend Aaron was in an accident and could not make the show, so I had his 4 tickets to try to sell. Managed to sell 2 of the 4 tickets. He also had front row! We met the percussion player as well outside the venue. He had to finish his joint before the show!!

If you have been to a Fela or Seun show, the band starts off the show with a song before the main man hits the stage. In this case, the track was lead by the lead trumpet player. Good opening track. People in the back and on the balcony were up and dancing. The band only has 4 from the Egypt 80 band now; the two guitar players, the wood block and shaker guys. The rest are pretty young guys.

Seun came out for a Fela track called Pansa Pansa from one of Fela’s later records (1992) called Underground System. He has over the years played quite a few of his dad’s songs as a tribute and start of the show. Never heard him do this one. The rest of the concert was all tracks from the new record, which was a surprise for me. I had really hoped to hear Slave Masters, my favourite Seun Kuti song. Anyway, I have the new record and it is great so it was cool to hear longer versions these songs. They only performed 9 tracks in about 2hrs. Seun did some talking to express his political views and explain the lyrics to some of the new songs. He was funny at times and also serious. Carlos Santana plays a long solo on the song Struggle Sounds, but they just skipped the guitar solo completely. It was a really good show. I would have danced as well but we were in the front row and it would have forced all behind us to dance or be a bit annoyed.

A great and fun night. I hope I can meet Seun one day.

Set List: Kuku Kee Me, Pansa Pansa, Last Revolutionary, C.P.C.D., Black Man’s Lighter, African Dreams, Struggle Sounds, Black Times, Theory of Goat and Yam

Sonic Blast Festival- Moledo, Portugal Aug 9-11th, 2018

We decided to arrive on the Thursday for the warm up down at the beach this year. We left the house in plenty of time to arrive to see the first band, Heavy Cross of Flowers at 17 but due to an accident, it took us an hour to cross Porto and we were late and missed them. We were told they were very Kyuss inspired, perhaps a bit too much. The bar, Paradão 47 was a small place and the bands played upstairs on the outdoor patio. I guess 100 people could smash in there. I managed to hear one song of Sombra (Spain). They were an instrumental trio, where the guitar player also played saxophone. I thought some of it was pretty good but it was hard to hear down on the street as they did not play very loud and there was no space upstairs. Weather was great but windy.

Somba (Spain)

We hung out with some of Paulo and Ana’s friends and had a couple of beers before we decided to go eat at a local pizza place (Hamilton’s). It was very good and interesting pizzas.

Audience outside listening to Somba

After dinner we went back to the next bar (Ruivo’s) and had a Porto beer called Noberta. I had tried a few of their beers but not this one. I needed to stand up and get some air so we went outside in the courtyard. Acid Mess (Spain) were soundchecking and this sounded like it was going to be really good. 

Acid Mess Soundcheck and audience

They had a keyboard player as well as guitar, bass and drums. Pledge, we hear a bit of the soundcheck. It was about 23:15 now and Pledge had still not started. There must have been 3-400 people waiting though. I was not feeling well and got a bit sick and so we went back to the house we were staying at and sadly we did not get to see any of the bands.

Day 2

We are to meet up with Martin and Kate around 12:30. First band, Solar Corona are on the pool stage at 13:30.  A bit more wind and cooler than last year.  

Solar Corona

We arrived about 13 and got our wristbands and found a nice place to set the blanket. It was not so hot today and anice breeze but not too strong. Solar Corona was the first band on the pool stage and they were fantastic. They remoind me a bit of Pyramidal from Spain. Really nice dynamics, great driving bass lines and some nice guitar. They also had a saxophone player who used a lot of effects. Some cool music. They have not recorded much yet.

Set List: Fire, Rebound, Gold Ray, Speed, B

Next up was a 4 piece instrumental band called Desert Smoke. They had a really good mix of heavy guitar and great solos with cool use of effects and more dreamy stuff. A really good energy and flow. People seem to like it a lot.

Desert Smoke

At 15 I had an interview with Astrodome, a very good band from Porto. The band was 10mins late for the interview and then had to run off to get ready to play next. A Spanish band, Ativisomo took too long to set up so now the festival was 15mins behind schedule. I missed all but the very end of their concert. They started with a sort of flamenco rock thing. The end was more percussive. Crowd seem to like them.

Ativismo

Astrodome was next and played an excellent set of new and old material. Below you can hear my interview with the band. Anyway, this was for sure the best band for the day on the pool stage. They are also instrumental inspired by the stoner rock scene but do their own thing. The guitar player Kevin, also played synthesizer a little bit.  Our friends Martin and Kate also really liked them. Here is a short interview with the band. Enjoy.

Astrodome Interview

Set List:  Mirage, Into the Deepest Space (modified version with a new jam in the middle ending with the last part of Dawn Gardens), Sunrite, Coronation

Astrodome

The last band on the pool stage was Electric Octopus, a very improvised band from Ireland. The tall guitar player with a mountain of dreads on his head was very funky. The drummer looked like Mitch Mitchell in the old days but was not as dynamic. They stayed pretty funky for most of the concert and I did not feel like they responded well to the energy of the crowd, which was getting smaller and smaller. They wanted something more rocking.

Electric Octopus

Conan was the first band on the main stage but we really needed some food. We had been sitting in the pool area for 5 hrs and needed to get up and move around.  We heard Conan was intense. What do you expect??

We did make it back after some nice tapas down at the beach to see most of Ufomammut. I have seen the band many times. The sound was so incredible this year on the main stage. Wow..  The band had their usual films but due to the sun shinning directly on the band as it set, you could not really appreciate these until the very end of the show. I thought they were great. The crowd was really into it as well.

Set List: Babel, Warsheep, Zodiac, Fatum, Prismaze, Core

Wombdemonium, Psyrcle, Hellcore, solo guitar riffs, God

Nebula, was a band that came to Denmark every tour since their first trip so I had seen and hung out with them quite a few times. I even saw Fu Manchu back in 1994 on their first US tour opening for Monster Magnet when Eddie was still in the band.  Eddie was tall, thinner and had dyed blonde hair now but he could still rip it up. Voice was a bit weaker but still sounded good. The set was a mix of songs from all eras of the band and they even played two new songs, one called Man’s best friend, that this was the live debut. They will have new material out in December he said.  Great show. Here is a short interview I did with the band. Enjoy..

Inteview Nebula

Set List (from the drummer’s memory):

Giant/Clearlight, To the Center, Perfect Rapture, Down the Highway, Out of your Head, Wytching Hour (new song), Smokin’ Woman, Aphrodite, Man’s Best Friend (world debut), Let it Burn, Strange Human

Causa Sui, friends of mine, who I only had a brief chance to talk to do were so excited to be back playing here again. They had such amazing sound. Wow.. and the movies were incredible to watch. Great lights. The band was in great form and played the best show of the festival so far. They played a wide mix of songs including two from the latest record and one from the 1^st record which sounded so different with Rasmus playing organ. This was the first time I had ever seen Causa Sui where Rasmus was mixed equal to Jonas (guitar) and it sounded great they way they complimented each other. Killer concert.

Causa Sui

Set List: Homage, The Source, Mireille, Seven Hills, Red Valley, El Paraiso, Dawn Passage, El Fuego, Soledad

Samsara Blues Experiment was the last band we saw on this long day of music. I had run into Christian two times as I have known him since 2002 when he played in Terraplane. Great guy. Anyway, they started off with a sort of cool jam like track and then into their normal set from these days. They did play one brand new song. They came across more heavy and with fewer long guitar solos this time around compared to the last time we saw them here in Portugal.  The crowd really was into it and they also had great sound.

Samsara Blues Experiment

Set List: Vipassana, For the lost souls. Into the black, New song, Hangin' on the wire. Center of the sun, One with the universe

Mantar closed the set and our friend Paulo said it was very loud and he was too tired to get into it. Others said it was so amazing and intense and one of the best shows of the day. 

Day 3

We stayed in bed til 11 so we were pretty rested and had a great breakfast. We arrived just in time to find a place near the pool with our friends Martin and Kate. The Spanish band, Wizards hit the stage right on time and played a straight up NWOBHM style rock and roll set. Great tattooed front man. Both guitar players had Gibson SG guitar and the left one was the main lead guitar player. They rocked but the songs were not that memorable. Crowd was really into it up in the front of the stage.

Wizards

Talea Jacta, a new band from Porto, that supported Øresund Space Collective when we played in Portugal in June, were next. They took 40mins to set up though so there set was cut down to just 3 songs and 20mins so we could stay on schedule. Pity, as it was one of the most unique bands playing at the festival. Just drums, guitar loops and spaced out guitar on the top. Crowd liked it for sure but it was too short.  I did an interview with the band so you can learn more about them. Check it out.

Talea Jacta Inteview

Greengo was a crazy bass and drum duo with a very angry vocalist. They had a lot of force, drive and energy and people were going a bit crazy at times. There was even a sort of mosh pit in the pool! Never seen that before.  Musically, it was not very interesting at all but they had energy and were fun to see and hear.

Greengo

Ruff Majick from South Africa was a rock and roll trio. I did not think they were that good to start but the songs and energy of the end of the concert was great. There was one point where the bass player gave his bass to a friend and then jumped into the pool and came back and played again.  Audience liked it.

Purple Hill Witch from Norway closed the pool session for the day. I had last seen them 3-4 years ago at Heavy Days in Doom Town in Copenhagen.  Their set was in the vein of the occult doon music with some of it reminding me of Witchfinder General.

Purple Hill Witch

The main stage opened pretty soon after and the Greek band, Naxatras played. I had actually never heard of these guys and it was amazing. What a really cool band and probably the biggest surprise of the whole festival for me. I will for sure need to look for some of their records.  I was very impressed.

Naxatras

We were starving and went for some food so we missed the Atomic Bitchwax.  I have seen the band many times and last time was at  Roadburn and they killed it.. Great show. I spoke to Jonas from Causa Sui and he said they were great. Super intense from start to finish!  Their last records have been very intense.. Great players.

1000 Mods, I had seen at the Athens Desertfest but today, they had such an amazing sound and energy from the audience. Wow.. It was a killer show. This is the real deal when it comes to classic stoner rock. I love the way the two guitar players use a variety of effects to make their riffs and solo sounds very unique and cool. It was a great concert. We all loved it.

Kadavar, were supposed to play last year but cancelled, I think due to one of the members partners having a child. Anyway, they came on with a very fast and heavy track that I had never heard them play before. They are super professional, rehearsed, tight, a bit too perfect. No improvisations, jamming, long guitar solos, everything is totally by the book and like the record. They have a lot of great songs and a cool vibe and deliver a powerful doom heavy 70s rock show. Audience loved it. It was one of the best times I had seen them but I always miss something with them. 

Kadavar

Set List: Creature of the Demon, Pale Blue Eyes, Skeleton Blues, Doomsday Machine, All Our Thoughts, Into the Wormhole, Die Baby Die, Forgotten Past, Living in Your Head, Thousand Miles Away From Home, Come Back Life

Earthless.. what can I say. They came out and just fucking ripped for like 15mins with Uluru Rock. Insane intense drumming and lead guitar. They had something to prove.. Wow.. They played two songs with vocals (Black Heaven, Electric Flame) from the new record and they were great but this show was all about being intense on all instruments and just driving out into to lead guitar heaven. Incredible. We were all blown away. The main set was like 65mins and then they came out and did Cherry Red (Groundhogs) and Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin). Both were played fast but CM was like a punk rock version Super fast and you might not even recognize it as the Issaih struggles to sing the vocal so fast. Far out.  Earlier in the evening I did an interview with the super cool drummer, Mario. Check it out below.

Earthless

Earthless Interview

Set List: Uluru Rock, Black Heaven, Electric Flame, Gifted by the Wind, Violence of the Red Sea, Volt Rush, Cherry Red, Communication Breakdown

Black Wizards from Portugal closed the show. We only hear a few songs as we left as we were so tired by this time and Earthless just knocked us out!  BW are a 4 piece band with a charismatic female singer and lead guitar player. I think she was inspired but Issiah and really felt like she had to go for it. I have never heard any women play lead guitar like this. I was impressed and they really had some good rocking songs. Wish we had heard the whole show.

Fantastic festival and nice to see a lot more people from Denmark, Germany, France visiting the festival as well. Congrats to the organizer Ricardo and his wife Thelma. See you next year. 

My favourite bands:

Causa Sui, Earthless, Astrodome, 1000 Mods, Naxatras