All too often a live album ends up polished in the studio to such an extent that you’re essentially left with a studio performance and some crowd noise. Whilst such an exercise can present a sort of fantasy live version of the band, you lose the raw, rough ‘n’ tumble nature of a live gig and that is precisely what Krissy Matthews and his band (featuring Sam Weston – bass, vocals & Max Maxwell – drums, vocals) wanted to capture. Recorded 100% live in Siegan, Germany at the Freak Valley Festival with three additional tracks from Gerd’s Juke Joint) ‘Live at Freak Valley’ is a blistering eleven track representation of what it’s truly like to be present at a Krissy Matthews gig, warts ‘n’ all.
Kicking off with a Krissy Matthews standard, ‘Feeling for the blues’ is a pointed rejoinder to those who think that the blues cannot be a young man’s game. Kicking off with the rat-a-tat of Max’s taut snare, the track is an explosive workout of Hendrixian proportions, with Krissy’s rampant soloing set against Sam’s tough-as-nails bass. It’s a hell of a start to the show and the band waste no time segueing perfectly into the grungy riff of ‘I’ve been searching’. Lyrically a love song, ‘I’ve been searching’ is built around an ecstatic, hot-wired riff and Max’s powerhouse drumming, and it’s easy to imagine the overwhelming volume sweeping over the audience as Krissy and his merry band of misfits unleash this monster of a track. The band slow the pace just a touch on the slinky blues of ‘All night long’, a shuffling track designed to move the feet before the band unveil a Blind Willie McTell number, ‘searching the Desert for the blues’ which first appeared on Krissy’s ‘scenes from a moving window’ album. “Are you ready to rock?” Krissy screams at the outset of ‘Language by injection’, a song that juxtaposes a quiet, melodic verse with screaming solos. Although tethered to the blues, it’s rooted in the heavy rock of Zeppelin and the Black Crowes, Krissy and his band clearly favouring the guttural roar of a guitar turned up to 11 over quiet introspection and it makes for a truly thrilling live set. The first half of the set concludes with the near-eight-minute workout ‘the soul will never die’, a beautiful tribute to Krissy’s meeting with B.B. King. The story, that Krissy wrote a huge font letter to B.B. and placed it on the stage where B.B. could see it leading to a 20 minute chat about music, is the stuff of legend and a testament both to B.B’s generosity as an artist and Krissy’s tenacity and it provides the perfect subject matter for the slow blues of the song.
The second half of the set kicks off with the visceral hard rock-infused blues of ‘Bad boy’ which, whilst built around a performance from Max that looks set to cause an earthquake, also has a surfer vibe in Krissy’s elastic, echo-laden vocal. Another cover surfaces next in the form of Hendrix’s ‘Freedom (albeit Steve Lukather’s version of it) which Krissy first picked up on 2009. It’s a blazing performance, worthy of Hendrix himself, and goddam Krissy and his band really cook on this number, Krissy’s guitar screaming and wailing as he tears at the strings. It concludes the material from Freak Valley and is a satisfyingly explosive workout that you can imagine setting the festival truly ablaze. However, the album is not quite done for we get three numbers from Gerd’s Juke Joint, recorded, also in Germany, a month before. First up, ‘Hit the rock’ blazes a trail. The title of Krissy’s 2011 album, named after an accident on a mountain that could very easily have proved fatal, ‘hit the tock’ is a slick blues number with a Walter Trout feel. A varied track that explores the many faces of the blues over three short minutes, it sets a powerful precedent before the band plunge into the rolling thunder of ‘roadsick blues’. According to Krissy, being out on the road is the drug he takes to get high and, from the rampaging spirit that runs through the strangely countrified track, it’s hard to disagree. The album concludes with ‘bubbles and the seven phones’, a tribute to Krissy’s friend Steve who passed away in 2011. It’s a touching piece of music and, after so vital a performance, it turns the heat down and leaves the audience with a track that has a Gary Moore vibe, all liquid soling and emotion poured into the mould of a song. It’s the perfect way to end the show, and although the final three tracks are drawn from a different concert, you’d never know it from the recording, rather it’s easy to imagine the lights burning low as Krissy and his band bring the day to an end with this lovely piece of music.
A gunslinger in the vein of Dan Patlansky and, yes, Jimi Hendrix, Krissy Matthews is, quite simply, a remarkable exponent upon the guitar. His performance is electrifying and it’s easy to imagine Krissy on stage, his fingers flashing across the fretboard, such is the vivid nature of these eleven stunning tracks. With the exception of ‘Bubbles…’, which adopts a more contemplative tone, these are tracks that shimmer with life and pulse with excitement and it is an outstanding record of Krissy Matthews’ live work to date. Almost impossibly good, any serious music fan should consider purchasing a copy of this blistering live document. 10
The Bullingdon, Oxford
Wednesday 29th March 2017
Tickets: £10 advance £12 door
Book Online: wegottickets.com
Box Office: 01865 244 516
Venue Email: info@havenclub.co.uk
162 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE
www.havenclub.co.uk
The Chambers, Folkestone
Thursday 30th March 2017
Tickets: Free Entry
Venue Tel: 01303 223 333
Venue Email: thechambers@gmx.com
Cheriton Place, Folkestone, CT20 2BB
http://thechambers.wixsite.com/the-chambers
The Fiddler’s Elbow, London
Wednesday 19th April 2017
Tickets: £5 advance £8 door
Book Online: eventbrite.com
Box Office: 0207 4853 269, 07877 798 233
Venue Email: elbowgigs@hotmail.co.uk
1 Malden Road, Camden, NW5 3HS
www.thefiddlerselbow.co.uk
Tring Blues Bar, Tring
Thursday 20th April 2017
Tickets: £6 entry on door
Venue Tel: 07713 450992
Venue Email: info@bluesbartring.co.uk
Tring Park Cricket Club, London Road, Tring, Herts, HP23 6HA
www.bluesbartring.co.uk
The Bear Club, Luton
Friday 21st April 2017
Tickets: £9 advance £10 door
Book Online: www.the-bear.club/reservation
Venue Email: www.the-bear.club/contact
Mill Yard, 24A Guildford St, Luton LU1 2NR
www.the-bear.club
The Fleur De Lys, Didcot
Saturday 22nd April 2017
Tickets: £10 on door or call venue in advance
Box Office: 01235 813 247
Venue Email: www.thefleurdelyspub.co.uk
30 Main Road, East Hagbourne, Didcot, OX11 9LN
Black Market, Mansfield
Sunday 23rd April 2017
Tickets: £5 on door
Box Office: 01623 842 105
Venue Email: info@blackmarketvenue.co.uk
43 High St, Warsop, Mansfield, NG20 0AB
www.blackmarketvenue.co.uk
Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff
Monday 24th April 2017
Tickets: £5 advance £6 door
Book Online: www.fatsoma.com/fuel
Venue Box Office: 02920644176
Venue Email: mail@givemefuel.co.uk
5 Womanby Street, Cardiff, CF10
www.fuelrockclub.com
The Arches, Coventry
Thursday 27th April 2017
Tickets: £7 advance £9 door
Book Online: theticketsellers.co.uk
Box Office: 024 7671 1010
Venue Email: archesvenue@gmail.com
22-23 Arches Industrial Estate, Coventry CV1 3JQ
www.archesvenue.co.uk
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