OK, the above performance isn't from Them Crooked Vultures' Roseland show, it was two nights before on Saturday Night Live. But like on SNL, they were big, bad, riffy and had mad swagger (in the parlance of the times). They were a heaving juggernaut of awesome heavy blues-based (but not blues reverent) rock. TCV is on the cover of the new Guitar World, and in the feature, frontman Josh Homme says that he would have had a real problem if he felt like he was filling in for Robert Plant, Jimmy Page or Kurt Cobain. It's actually the perfect attitude to have. It allows the group to be their own group and not a "supergroup." Also in the article, it looked like Dave Grohl kept Josh from making the band too riff-y and not song-y enough... there are some killer riffs and great songs on the album, but I wish they worked on the songs a bit more. That said, they were righteous live, especially on "Scumbag Blues." It was great to see Dave Grohl playing drums (I never saw Nirvana; I've seen Dave play drums a bit with the Foo Fighters and I saw a Mike Watt gig when he played drums for most of the show). This was the first time I ever saw John Paul Jones perform: I have seen both of his surviving Led Zeppelin ex-bandmates, but never John. He was just as cool as you would expect. He's 64 and playing super heavy rock with guys decades younger than him. He looks great, sounds great and his fingers move super fast. I've heard that Them Crooked Vultures are thinking about the next album already. Here's hoping they knock it out quickly, I can't wait to hear where they go from here (with apologies to Dave's bandmates in the Foo Fighters).
Honorable mention to guitarist/keyboardist Alain Johannes, who plays with the band at their live shows. A former member of Eleven (I saw them open for both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden), he also plays with Homme in Queens of the Stone Age and on Josh's Desert Sessions albums, he really added to the band's live sound. They should have him join as a full member, even though he isn't famous.
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2 comments:
Love your review. I'm getting more and more respect for Josh Homme the more I read from people like yourself and the interview in Guitar World. And John Paul Jones IS amazing. Very cool. And Dave Grohl is the mastermind behind it all and the one we all want to be friends with. I found this while doing a search on Dave Grohl, looking for fodder for my website. Nice job!
thanks for reading and commenting Brother Howe. Your I Hate Dave Grohl blog is interesting. I don't know if it is funny or creepy , but I read the whole thing! I kind of go back and forth on Josh Homme: I respect that he is his own man (he's too indie for the metal dudes, too thuggish for the indie dudes, he kind of doesn't fit in anywhere, and I respect that). I like him theory, but sometimes I just don't like his songs.
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