Following on from the success of the acclaimed THRUST, DeWolff, the psych-blues outfit from the Netherlands are back with a special live album tracked at a variety of shows during the band’s lengthy 2018-19 tour. A particularly special show (some of which is included here) took place in Utrecht where Gibson Guitars presented the band with a Firebird guitar that they could pass on to a fan as a competition prize. Such moments help to explain the atmosphere captured on this special live recording and there’s no doubt that fans of the band will be blown away by the power of the band’s performance on the elven tracks on offer here, six of which are drawn from DeWolff’s most recent outing.
Opening with the psychedelic, stuttering guitar of Big talk, all tremolo guitar and Hendrix-aping lead work, DeWolff build momentum from the outset, the manner of recording live setting their music even more firmly in the seventies with the album sounding like a long lost relic from an early Deep Purple tour. The band sound tight and enthused, and when they head into the prog-infused sugar moon, all Richard Wright keys and Gary Moore guitar, your environment drifts away and you’re suddenly at the venue, watching Pablo van de Poel deliver the vocals in a soulful fashion that is one part Glenn Hughes to one part Janis Joplin. Similarly soulful is the subtle, soothing medicine, a track that makes good use of Robin Piso’s Hammond Organ, particularly on a solo break that leaves jaws hanging on the floor. After so epic an outing, tombstone child has a tougher riff to it, drawing the audience out of their reverie and bringing the soul over a stabbing riff that sets the heart pounding. Bringing the mighty Gov’t Mule to mind, California burning is short, sweet and built around a chorus that superglues itself to the soul whilst Deceit and woo is an epic jam, spread over ten minutes and a track in which to truly get lost.
Having taken the audience into space, DeWolff ground things again with the taut, Hammond-infused Americana of Share the ride, the greatest track Creedence Clearwater Revival never wrote. However, another epic is waiting in the wings as Robin’s Hammond announces the arrival of tired of loving you, another track that harks back to the early days of Pink Floyd (think saucerful of secrets) as the organ collides with Pablo’s dense, patchouli-scented riffing. The countrified outta step and ill at ease is another track that brings in soulful backing vocals and an aching melody that is hard to shift from the mind, whilst the cracking rock ‘n’ roll of double crossing man is all kinds of fun, the band clearly having fun launching the track with stabbing guitar giving way to a toe-tapping rhythm that is effortlessly groovy. The final track of this awesome, fantasy set is the lengthy love dimension (from Roux-ga-roux), a near-ten-minute finale that sends the audience spinning home on a high.
Although DeWolff sound great on record, there’s an atmosphere in the extended jams found here that feels much truer to the band’s spirit. The mix sounds fantastic – pump it up loud and everything comes through beautifully – and the lengthier tracks offer a great deal of sonic territory in which the listener can happily roam for days on end. Arguably a representation of DeWolff at their very best, live and outta sight II is a must have for fans of the band and of richly textured psychedelic rock in general. Buy it and get yourself to a show the next time the band roll through town – you won’t regret it! 9
