 Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde came back from the dead in 2002 to show the bands of today how it's done – this didn't result in a stellar studio album (the half-baked Group Therapy), but it did allow for some fucking excellent live shows, finding the band arguably in the best live shape of their career. They blistered on that tour, sometimes tight and on fire, other times a little too drunk and fractured – but no matter when you caught them, it was a revelation compared to younger and hipper bands. I've seen enough of those in the past few years that I'd almost forgotten to expect a live band to be able to fucking burn. Live in Brazil is an excellent document from that tour, with Johnette & Co. playing in front of their curiously enormous and rabid Brazilian fan base – well, at least there is one place in the world willing to accept the simple truth that Concrete Blonde always did rule. The set, edited from four shows, presents the "tight and on fire" side instead of the "drunk and fratcured" side, with only Johnette's rather obsequious adoption of a Spanish accent in her on-stage commentary betraying the mental illness behind the brilliant music. The band is growly and aggressive, blasting through the set with the impact of a Brazilian whore breaking a beer bottle over your head and then pulling you by the shirtfront for a sweet, suffocating kiss, wet, passionate, and tasting of nicotine. The 18 songs mix old and new stuff, with the new stuff about as good as the old stuff, and the old stuff sounding new and inspired. "Roxy" and "Violent" stand right alongside the Concrete classics ("Little Conversations," "God is a Bullet," "Caroline," "Joey," "Scene of the Perfect Crime," "Days and Days"). A few of the hits come off a little too raw and ragged (especially "Someday"), but it's still a welcome alternative to the studio versions, which sometimes have the opposite problem of overpolish. Great stuff, a bit sloppy but not without something to prove. I'd have loved to see "Happy Birthday" on here, but then I'm of the minority opinion in preferring Johnette's power pop stuff to her goth-blues stuff. Also would have been cool to see their cool cover of George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness," which they did when I caught them in Chicago in '02, but that probably would have confused the Brazilians, who surely eat far too much red meat to be much interested in the Quiet One.
Review by La Fée |