3 LIVE REVIEW: Kyuss Lives at the Showbox

I suppose it’s inevitable that certain cult bands will eventually reunite and tour if the members are still living and there is a big demand, but still in my wildest dreams I never thought I'd ever see the day that the almighty Kyuss returns from the dead to melt faces once again. Last night, right before my very eyes and ears Kyuss Lives ravaged Seattle at the Showbox at the Market, and it was one of the best shows I’ve seen all year.

For those out of the loop Kyuss Lives is a recent incarnation of legendary stoner rock band Kyuss that features original members John Garcia, Nick Oliveri, and Brant Bjork behind the kit, but unfortunately does not include Queens of the Stoneage frontman Josh Homme. The Homme-less Kyuss Lives instead employs the extreme talent of Belgian guitarist Bruno Fevery.

I obviously have no basis of comparison having never seen the original Kyuss is action, but I’m honestly not sure that adding Josh Homme to the mix would have made last night’s show any better musically speaking. Bruno Fevery was amazing and brought the riffs of classic tunes: “Gardenia”, “Thumb”, “El Rodeo”, “One Inch Man”, and above all “Demon Cleaner” to life with fury, meshing perfectly with Oliveri and Bjork’s massive backend.

The biggest thrill of seeing Kyuss Lives personally is finally catching up with John Garcia. Garcia has been one of my favorite vocalists for the longest time and unfortunately the opportunity to see him live has never presented itself until last night. His most recent pre-Kyuss Lives project Hermano has never played Seattle to my knowledge. I celebrate pretty much everything John Garcia has ever done from Unida to Slo-Burn to Hermano to that Crystal Method tune he lent vocals on some years ago.

Everything.

John Garcia is the man, and last night his voice was every bit as strong as it was on ‘Welcome to Sky Valley”, my favorite Kyuss record. That dude is just a cool cat all around.

It’s always important to note that it’s not often you see a Seattle crowd loose it’s mind at a show, but last night’s capacity crowd did and then some. I’m so anti-big rock show these days but between the energy of the stoked crowd and Kyuss Lives giving it back, the room seemed much smaller than normal and the big rock show annoyances never crossed my mind.

Kyuss Lives was just the cherry on top of this night though. Opening was San Fran’s burly two-piece Black Cobra. If you dig punishing heavy guitar and drums that walks the line between sludge and thrash metal, this Southern Lord Records act will make you very happy. Eugene Oregon’s YOB played three crushing tunes off their newest release “Atma” in their 30 minute set. I still say “The Great Cessation” destroys the new record in every way, but YOB is easily one of the mightiest live bands around and forces every band that follows them step it up a notch. Austin’s The Sword had the dubious honor of being sandwiched between YOB and Kyuss Lives, to which they actually held their own. It was easily the best performance I’ve seen from them since the first time, and had me rethinking my dismissal a bit. You see I have a love hate relationship with this band mainly due to their meteoric rise in popularity despite releasing increasingly polished and accessible records. In 2006, they opened for Early Man at the old Crocodile Café and I flipped my lid. The opening instrumental ‘Celestial Crown” into “Barael’s Blade”, and then closing the set with the brilliant “Iron Swan” had me so stoked to discover a new band that was doing something classic metal-tinged but with a new intensity. They were exciting at first…but after releasing (in my opinion) two lesser quality records all the while becoming one of the biggest names in modern metal, I have to question the sincerity. What seemed so fresh and vital now seems phoned in to me. Sorry The Sword, I still love “Age of Winters” but you had lost me up until last night’s performance…I’ll have to revisit “Gods of the Earth” I suppose.

Kyuss Lives plus The Sword, YOB, and Black Cobra was a treat to say the least. It was Happy Birthday, Merry Fucking Christmas, and a happy ending all rolled into one. Don’t miss this tour if you can help it, but if you do, Kyuss Lives is working on a record (they played two new songs) of new material, and will most likely be on the road again come next year. The rest of the bands tour constantly so no worries there.

Posted by Nik Christofferson