Live And In The Flesh
Kyuss Lives! - September 18, 2011
2011 saw the revival of one of my favourite bands of all time, Kyuss! They had disbanded back in '95, Josh Homme had gone on to form Queens of the Stone Age while the other members of the band were taking care of business on their own. John Garcia with his multiple projects (Unida, Slo Burn, Hermano), and Brant Bjork's numerous solo albums, all of which are amazing themselves by the way. I had little hope that they would ever get back together at all, let alone tour. Especially once you took into consideration the major success that Queens of the Stone Age were having at the time, along with Homme's other projects Them Crooked Vultures and Eagles of Death Metal.
The Kyuss reunion had been announced, and to our surprise a tour was finally in the works! Unfortunatley due to a disagreement between Josh Homme and the other original members of the group around the continued use of the original band's name, they were forced to tour under a new monicker, Kyuss Lives! Seemed suitable at the time, but turned out to be not enough of a distinguishing factor to suit Homme's demands, which would later be settled through the courts. This brought on the birth of Vista Chino, the aftermath of it all. We were glad that we were able to catch them out on the road throughout that brief stint they were referring to themselves as Kyuss Lives! It just felt long overdue. As disappointing as it was to not have Josh Homme back into the fold with the other guys, seeing any type of reincarnation of this band was at the top of my list of must see shows. John Garcia and Brant Bjork were back together again at last, and they had even convinced Nick Oliveri to get back in on the action. Bruno Fevery was brought on to step in for Josh Homme on guitar, some pretty big shoes for him to fill. It would have been a dream come true if Josh was to agree to rejoin the band and put any past disputes to rest, even if it was just a brief tour back out on the road with these guys. Doubtful after all of the legal battles this will ever happen.
Kyuss Lives! had been touring since early 2011, but this would be their first North American appearance since they were back together again. The first three nights of the North American leg were Toronto, Guelph, and Montréal. We ended up going for the Sunday show in Québec as it landed on the weekend, and who doesn't love a weekend away in Montréal? They were even offering VIP tickets to the show, which provided you with the opportunity to meet the band. Unfortunately we were too late to jump on those as they sold out in no time. We were still able to use the fan presale to secure our tickets and a tour poster which was nice. After spending the Saturday night out in the city the night before, we were ready for an incredible show. We were finally going to be able to hear some live Kyuss jams and have our faces melted! Unfortunately we found out that Nick Oliveri had been facing some legal issues and was unable to cross the border into Canada to take care of tearing up the bass all night long for us. What better replacement for Nick though, than Scott Reeder himself, Kyuss' bassist from '92-'95!
The Sword and MonstrO were brought along as supporting acts for the tour, who were both pretty rockin' bands to see live. Kyuss Lives! were getting even closer to hitting the stage and we still couldn't believe what we were about to experience. To this day it continues to seem surreal. Brant Bjork hit the stage and everyone started to cheer as we knew the time had come! Scott Reeder took to his place with his bass and Bruno Fevery was locked and loaded on guitar. Garcia made his way out to Spaceship Landing, the final track off of their 1995 ...And the Circus Leaves Town release. The spaceship had landed and the trip had begun! They bounced back to their first track off of Welcome to Sky Valley, which had us fired right up, Gardenia. Every single one of Kyuss' songs are amazing. It didn't matter what they played, we were loving every second of it! Hurricane swept us away next as it flowed right into One Inch Man, just as it does to start up ...And the Circus Leaves Town. Some Blues for the Red Sun material came next with Thumb and Freedom Run. Every track was incredible to see, so many amazing jams.
About halfway through the set we took another trip back to 1994's Welcome to Sky Valley with Asteroid, and one of my personal favourites, Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop. The entire band looked like they were loving every minute of it up there, finally getting back out on the road playing their classic jams that have been locked away for so many years. The stars had aligned and we had found ourselves in the midst of a moment that the Rock Gods themselves had only dreamed of. Fatso Forgotso, a track off of their 1997 7" split with Queens of the Stone Age surprised us all before they headed back to the valley some more for Conan Troutman, Odyssey, and yet another one of my favourites Whitewater. We had heard well over half of that album already which was unbelievable. They took us back for another trip through the circus with El Rodeo, before busting it all out for the finale to their regular set, 100°.
The crowd was going wild, chanting Kyuss Lives! Kyuss Lives! Kyuss Lives! It was an incredible feeling to be finally hearing all of these songs live. How could they possibly top the night off and make it any better than it already was? The band responded to the crowd's calls for an encore and graced the stage once more for all of us Kyuss hungry fanatics. They played three tracks off of their 1992 Blues for the Red Sun album, Molten Universe, Allen's Wrench, and Green Machine to wrap their seventeen song setlist of interstellar jams. A great mix of songs from their three major releases along with a lesser known gem thrown into the mix. It was a show that we won't ever get to enjoy again, unfortunately, as Scott Reeder eventually parted ways with the band yet again.
As 2012 arrived, I was surprised to receive a package from the band, it was like getting a late Christmas present. It included a Kyuss Lives! sticker, tour shirt and a note from the band signed by Brant Bjork and John Garcia! More than likely just overstock from the tour that they were no longer legally allowed to sell, but still, awesome nonetheless! They must have mailed them out to all of the individuals who had purchased tickets to the tour through their fan presale. Now that is some fan appreciation right there! I'm glad Brant and John are still able to work together and continue to carry this torch along, as this legacy deserves to be told, not stored on the shelves.