Had a great time last night at the Left Lane Cruiser gig down in Geneva! These guys delivered an amazing amount of energy, all more considering they had driven down from Paris and arrived pretty much at the time they were programed to play. Having just faced the late rush hour Geneva traffic myself I can really sympathize; and be glad that I’m not that tempted by much of what the local music scene has to offer. Driving to Geneva is long enough (about 2 hours) that no one needs the extra half hour it take just to get downtown (it’s really not that big a city).
They immediately set up their gear, did a quick sound check and even had time to come over and chat with us (I had met up with photographer friends Christophe and Jean-Christophe) before taking a short moment to relax and get ready. This was the first time I saw these fine gents, in fact I’ll admit that I only discovered them this spring probably while searching for videos with folks playing the washboard which Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck does on a couple of songs putting out some powerful beats using his drum sticks. I love his drum playing too BTW. In fact while listening to him and Freddy J IV last night, I was thinking that one thing that makes blues music so special is the beat. I know that sounds redundant, but these guys – for instance – have their roots in punk, metal, rock ‘n’ roll, and the blues of course. These music styles are all potentially great but these days – and please bear what is going to be a really simplified statement – the drums are mostly used in a way that fills up a maximum of space. This is not necessarily the case with the blues which, IMHO, at its best offers a lot more air between beats which metaphorically could be compared to a horror movie that hints at but doesn’t show; creating tension of a different kind.
Anyway…
They played for nearly a straight 2 hours mixing their own excellent songs with those of R L Burnside, Willie Dixon, ZZ Top, Ted Nugent and more. One highlight for me was their rendering of Lead Belly’s Black Betty. It’s always great when those old tradition songs we grew up with take on a new unexpected form!
Left Lane Cruiser 4AD Diksmuide 2012 Black Betty(Left Lane Cruiser 4AD Diksmuide 2012 Black Betty)
PS: I took the heading picture with my dumb phone’s 3.2mp camera and spiced it up a bit for fun.
PSS: Link to Geneva’s Post Tenebras Rock