author: Guy
BRANT BJORK AND THE BROS (US) and NICK OLIVERI (US) in Sojo's
INTERVIEW NICK OLIVERI
CONCERT REVIEW
Anyway, after Homme recently ousted
Nick Oliveri from the Queens of the Stone Age, Bjork picked him up to do a series of gigs throughout
the US and finally also Europe. Even though he’s quite illustrious because of his ‘unconventional’ stage
antics and intense attitude, Oliveri’s short set would prove him to be more than capable of doing dissimilar
stuff as well. The crowd already cheered when he’d barely stepped on stage (bare-chested, wearing sneakers,
cigarette dangling from mouth), but in the next 40 minutes or so, he proved that there’s essentially not
that much of a difference between the guy with the acoustic guitar and the screaming maniac standing in
front of a stack of amplifiers. Nick Oliveri isn’t the world’s most optimistic guy, as most of his lyrics
are obsessed with death and other cheery stuff, but he succeeded in creating a easy-going intimacy
(he has that in common with his friend Mark Lanegan), despite the fact he occasionally came off as a
possessed folkie trying to ward off his demons. Among the songs he played: “So High, So Low” and “I Want
You to Die”, after which he launched into a superb version of the Queens’ dark “Gonna Leave You.” Other
Mondo-songs he did were “The Day I Die” and “Detroit,” a tribute to his grandfather. With only an acoustic
guitar “Another Love Song” sounded different than the garage-styled version on Songs for the Deaf, but it
was fine nevertheless. However, the best was kept until the end, when Nick delivered an intense and threatening
version of Roky Erickson’s sinister “Bloody Hammer,” after which he closed his set with “Auto Pilot,”
joined by Brant Bjork on bass and Mike Peffer (of the Bros) on drums. Even though it’s kinda weird to see
the guy doing stuff like that, he gave a good performance, showing there is life after the Queens, and
it needn’t be less rewarding.
Those who were present during the previous Sojo-gig by Brant Bjork & the Bros (October 25th 2003)
already told me I’d missed a great show and was gonna be in for something special, but boy, I wouldn’t have
dared to think I was gonna get something THIS GOOD.
Brant Bjork had already announced that the mob was gonna be in for something special, the gig being the last leg
of the European tour (though they’ll be back this summer), but I bet few people expected a 140-minute groove-fest
that caused a collective weight loss of at least 750 pounds. From the extended intro “Lazy Bones” onwards, it
became clear that the audience was in for a sweaty night, as the band seemed capable of turning each groove into
a ludicrously sexy charmer. After the opening, the band kicked off with the huge riff of “Automatic Fantastic,”
which really turned the crowd wild (and that’s five minutes into the set).
It immediately became obvious that Bjork
had assembled one hell of a band, a unit that communicated in a hypnotic musical language that only the best ones
out there are capable of. I already knew he was an accomplished guitar player (he didn’t touch the drums), but
his colleagues were equally fascinating to watch:
bass player Dylan Roche looked like a member of the Bad Brains
Mk. 1 with the coolness of 5 pounds of deep-frozen shrimps and delivered the best foundation Bjork could hope for;
drummer Mike Peffer can handle anything in between jazzy accents, funky swing and thunderous drum assaults; while
brand new member and guitar player ‘Cortez’ proved to be the perfect match for Bjork. It’s not that easy to
describe the band’s sound, but maybe you should try to imagine something like a cocktail of Hendrix (great guitar
licks and sound), Sly Stone (unstoppable grooves), Thin Lizzy (simple, yet effective riffs and great interplay),
Kyuss, and a psych jamming band. Also, as became clear during the trippy “Cobra Jab,” Bjork’s live sound is much
more massive on stage than on record. Kudos should also go to the sound guy, who gave the band one of the best
sounds that I ever heard, anywhere.
Anyway, the band delivered one riff monster after the other, switching from one trance-like groove to the next,
until they almost became one with the fluid mass the audience had become. “Low Desert Punk,” another highlight of
Jalamanta was turned into a relentless sonic blast, while “Too Many Chiefs… Not Enough Indians” with its
smooth vocals was the perfect introduction to the irresistible funk-blues of “I Miss My Chick,” which boasts the
best repeated groove since, yeah since when? It went on like that: fiery solos, booming drum parts, riffs
that made people dance, sing along, drink, sweat, bang their heads and party hard. The hilarious “Monkey Boy” was
turned into a fucked-up 20-minute jam when Nick suddenly jumped on stage to sing and bop with the band. It was
followed by “Johnny Called,” also from Keep You Cool, which received the ‘classic moment’-tag when Bjork
dedicated it to John Garcia, a member in the audience yelled “WHO THE FUCK IS JOHN GARCIA?” and Bjork replied in a
deadpan way with “One of the best rock singers of your generation!” The groove machine then tore through
“My Ghettoblaster,” and “Rock-n-Rol’e,” reaching another thrilling highlight when “Hydraulicks” from the Che-album
transformed into Kyuss’ “Gardenia” with Nick returning to roar those familiar lines “Smell my shit eating grin on
the skin of my world, SIX HUNDRED SIXTY SIX MILES PER HOUR!”
It was at this moment, when the band completely
transcended itself and awesome interplay became a natural thing that I once again realized that there’s basically
nothing (oh well, maybe one of two things, you know ‘em) that beats live music when all the circumstances are right.
The smoke of cigarettes, pot and beer, sticky backs and pearls of sweat on foreheads, a crowd that like one entity
responds to what’s delivered on stage. It can be a blast, and it was last Thursday. It had already been
awesome, but of course there came an encore (well, two): first “Cheap Wine,” probably the most accessible, pop-styled
song Bjork has ever recorded, and next an extended jam (“Sounds of Liberation”) with long spoken word-parts by Bjork,
who dedicated it to Dave Weindorf and Monster Magnet’s inspiring Spine of God, telling about Kyuss’ genesis
and what it meant to him. The second encore was another 15-minute workout (“Sun Brother”?) that got about everybody
in a trance they only came out of well after the concert had finished. I had a short chat with Bjork before the show
and he seemed so cool and carefree that I wondered whether he was gonna be able of pulling off a truly mind-blowing set,
but he did, that broad smile of him never leaving his face. Backed by a terrific band, occasionally helped out by a
soul brother, and propelled by an audience that must’ve had goose bumps despite the heat, Brant Bjork was the ultimate
example of the powers of rock ‘n’ roll. ‘FANTASTIC’ is the only word that matters.
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INTERVIEW BRANT BJORK
Even though Brant Bjork and his band had already played at one of the Sojo’s “stoner sessions”,
this night was gonna be even more exceptional. The question whether Kyuss invented stoner or not
is something people still obsess over, but it’s a fact that they were without question one of the best
and important bands the genre ever spawned (who’s gonna deny that?)… and when you get two of the
original members giving their all in good ole drowsy Belgium, at a venue where stoner and related genres
have always been important, you know it’s a kind of special occasion.
Bjork’s probably more identified with his
tenure in Kyuss (whom he left at age 19, as already one of the most influential drummers of the ‘90’s) and
Fu Manchu than anything else, but he’s carved out his own niche as well in the meantime, participating in
diverse projects/bands (Mondo Generator, Desert Sessions, power trio Che with Alfredo Hernandez and
Unida’s Dave Dinsmore) and making his own albums. He’s released three solo albums so far (Jalamanta in 1999,
Brant Bjork & the Operators in 2002, and Keep Your Cool last year), and fortunately he does not
try to reconstruct the ‘formula’ of his previous bands. Granted, there’s still the laidback pothead desert vibe
(but that’s where he grew up), but instead of the bludgeoning, throbbing blasts of Kyuss, you get a funky blend
of soul, rock, psych, with the vibe of reggae, jazzy accents and straightforward hard rock riffs added for good
measure. By themselves, these influences are rather unsurprising (who has come up with something entirely new
the past decades?), but the guy has already created a unique blend of those ingredients that is as compelling,
hypnotic and groovy as any of his previous bands. It works excellent on record, it works brilliantly on stage.