KYUSS LIVES! (mostly)

http://www.kyusslives.com/

While glancing through the paper at concert listings the other day, I see that "KYUSS LIVES!" is playing a venue here in Austin in the fall with The Sword as the opening act. (The Sword might only be on the Austin gig, they're based here)

Quite clever band name variation, plus it looks like a horror movie title on a marquee.

They could have also called it "3/4 Kyuss". Because that's what it is, 3/4 of the Blues For The Red Sun lineup...minus Josh Homme (which is not surprising in the slightest to me, he swims in larger ponds now). Disheartening? A little. Fatal. Not at all actually.

Garcia/Bjork/Oliveri. 3 incredibly talented dudes (Nick is a tad bats, but he's a badass) and an unknown guitarist "playing" Josh Homme.

Now, normally my "skeptical hat" comes out when I see these types of "semi-reunions", but Kyuss was mostly an improvisational band in the first place, these guys just grooved, made stuff up as they went along and rolled tape. As long as the new guitarist (Bruno Fevery) has the flexibility to improv (and I'm sure he can, you can't play behind John Garcia and expect to stick to a strict arrangement, that's his magic), it will be some killer live shows, killer.

Seeing Bjork play drums is worth the price of admission alone.

Do I wish Homme was involved? Of course, he's one of my idols and I've hung out with him some, he's a cool cat. Would I go see the gig anyway? In a MILLISECOND.

Here are the US tour dates from the site:

Tue September 20 USA WORCESTER THE PALLADIUM
Wed September 21 USA PHILADELPHIA TROCADERO
Fri September 23 USA NEW YORK TERMINAL 5
Sat September 24 USA WASHINGTON 9:30 CLUB
Sun September 25 USA ASHEVILLE ORANGE PEEL
Mon September 26 USA ATLANTA MASQUERADE
Wed September 28 USA NEW ORLEANS HOUSE OF BLUES
Thu September 29 USA HOUSTON WAREHOUSE LIVE
Sat October 1 USA AUSTIN STUBB'S
Sun October 2 USA DALLAS SOUTHSIDE MUSIC HALL
Tue October 4 USA DENVER THE SUMMIT MUSIC HALL
Wed October 5 USA SANTA FE SANTA FE BREWING COMPANY
Thu October 6 USA TEMPE MARQUEE THEATRE
Fri October 7 USA LAS VEGAS HOUSE OF BLUES
Sat October 8 USA POMONA THE FOX THEATER


With this tour and the Opeth tour happening at the same time, I gotta get some cash comin' in, GOT SOME SHOWS TO ATTEND!

As a HUGE Kyuss fan (to this day, Sky Valley is my favorite album of all time) I have mixed feelings about it. With out Josh it's just not Kyuss, they should have toured under a different name entirely- Green Machine or Gardenia would have been better choices. Homme gets on my nerves with his QOTSA crap, none of it holds a candle to Kyuss. Because Homme decided not to get involved it just doesn't feel right.

Josh isn't a "backwards glancing" type of a guy, some people can comfortably slip into an older pair of shoes, reverse the clock and play.

Other artists do a style, get satiated, move onto something else, explore a little, feel content they've squeezed whatever artistic juices they can from the moment...then leave for the next moment before the old one gets stale.

Josh fits into that latter category, he's a wanderer and an explorer and I don't expect him to take too many U-turns in the future.

That's cool with me, I'm all for artists going with their gut and not really giving a crap what their "fan base" expects from them and just do whatever they want.

Sure, they may leave one fan-base behind, then pick up another, and another. But if they're the kind of creative person that's never satisfied standing in one spot for too long, I'd rather they do what's natural and not wait for anyone's approval.

So that's why I can live with his decision to abstain and the other 3 guys desire to play together again not letting Josh not coming along stand in their way either.

I wish all 4 of them well (5 of them, good luck to Bruno, he's got some big ass boots to stand in).

I think Queens of the Stone Age blow Kyuss away. I always thought Kyuss was extremely overrated, a band with roughly a single album's worth of good tunes.

I respectfully agree to disagree, but that's all good. I love both bands.

There isn't a single moment on Welcome To Sky Valley that I don't love. In my top 10 albums of that entire decade.

Blues For The Red Sun is damn close, though the last few songs are a tad flat by comparison to the rest.

Wretch & ...And The Circus Leaves Town are both spotty, but both have some great tunes. "Spaceship Landing" from Circus was a great way to end their career, it's an epic of Iommi inspired brilliance.

Kyuss was really just a heavy "jam band", but since I prefer improvisational music most of the time, that's the aspect that makes them special to me.

I saw them live, opening for White Zombie back in the 90s, and they blew me away. For whatever reason, that never translated to tape for me. Maybe now, after not listening to them in easily a decade, I'd feel differently. My tastes have changed since then, broadened by a great degree. But I don't know.

Eyesore wrote:

I think Queens of the Stone Age blow Kyuss away. I always thought Kyuss was extremely overrated, a band with roughly a single album's worth of good tunes.

I now know to never take your opinions on music seriously.

troublemagnet wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

I think Queens of the Stone Age blow Kyuss away. I always thought Kyuss was extremely overrated, a band with roughly a single album's worth of good tunes.

I now know to never take your opinions on music seriously.

Eyesore wrote:

I think Queens of the Stone Age blow Kyuss away. I always thought Kyuss was extremely overrated, a band with roughly a single album's worth of good tunes.

Hmm, I don't know about all that. I like both bands pretty equally, great music. Kyuss was great because they mainly worked on improv and just jammed, which is what made them so great IMO. Those guys were very in tune with each other.

I'm thinking about attending the Asheville,NC show. Since there won't be a total reformation I'll have to take what I can get.

Yep, "3/4 KYUSS" is preferable to "NO KYUSS".

I'l lbe in DFW like a buzzard on a fresh armadillo!!!

Hamer12 wrote:

I'l lbe in DFW like a buzzard on a fresh armadillo!!!

Great Texas-size response there!

Bassist Nick Oliveri arrested...

Quote :

Nick Oliveri has been arrested at his house in Hollywood.
Apparently, neighbours called the police, reporting a serious disturbance at the former Queens Of The Stone Age bassist’s house, between him and his girlfriend.
A S.W.A.T. team turned up, but incredibly there then was a two-hour stand-off, before Oliveri agreed to let his girlfriend leave.
Subsequently, the front door was bashed down by the team, who found a loaded high-powered rifle, and Oliveri was placed in custody.
Oliveri, who now plays with Kyuss Lives!, faces a felony domestic violence charge, but has been released after posting $100,000 bail himself

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Bassist Nick Oliveri arrested...

Quote :

Nick Oliveri has been arrested at his house in Hollywood.
Apparently, neighbours called the police, reporting a serious disturbance at the former Queens Of The Stone Age bassist’s house, between him and his girlfriend.
A S.W.A.T. team turned up, but incredibly there then was a two-hour stand-off, before Oliveri agreed to let his girlfriend leave.
Subsequently, the front door was bashed down by the team, who found a loaded high-powered rifle, and Oliveri was placed in custody.
Oliveri, who now plays with Kyuss Lives!, faces a felony domestic violence charge, but has been released after posting $100,000 bail himself

He got kicked out of QOTSA for beating up his girlfriend. Glad to see he learns from his mistakes.

She's obviously not learning from hers.

He was fired from KYUSS for similar problem, then fired from QOTSA and now this. Dude is a major f*ck up.

REALLY good chance this is why Josh didn't participate in this reunion, since he was the one that fired Nick on both previous occasions.

I wish Scott Reeder was involved with this instead of Nick.

Update on bassist Nick Oliveri's legal problems...

Quote :

According to TMZ.com, former QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE/KYUSS and current KYUSS LIVES! bassist Nick Oliveri plead not guilty yesterday (Thursday, March to all five charges stemming from his arrest last July in Hollywood after a five-hour standoff with police.

A pre-trial date has been set for April 13. If convicted, Nick faces up to 15 years behind bars.

Nick Oliveri was booked on July 12, 2011 on felony domestic violence. The police was called to the scene by Oliveri's neighbor who reported a "disturbance" between the now-40-year-old rocker and his girlfriend. A standoff between a SWAT team and Nick ensued before Oliveri finally agreed to let his girlfriend exit the duplex.

Oliveri was taken into custody about 10:30 p.m. after Los Angeles police officers knocked down his front door.

Nick's girlfriend reportedly told police Oliveri hit her during an argument the day before and she had returned to collect her stuff so she could move out.

During a search of Nick's home on Hobart Boulevard, cops reportedly found a fully loaded high-powered rifle, cocaine and methamphetamines.

Oliveri was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with a firearm, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and one misdemeanor count of resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer.

Oliveri was forced to miss several KYUSS LIVES! shows in Europe last August due to his legal troubles. His temporary replacement was Scott Reeder (GOATSNAKE, THE OBSESSED, KYUSS).

Too bad he's such a f*ckup.

He should have listened to Whitney. "Crack is whack"!! Anyway, I did go see them & DFW & it was one of the top 5 shows I've ever seen. All 4 bands slayed!! The Sword put on an awesome show & it seems a large part of the crowd was there to see them & barely knew who Kyuss was.

S.D. wrote:

Too bad he's such a f*ckup.

He's always been this way.

They should hire Scott Reeder full time. He's better than Nick anyway...

Hamer12 wrote:

He should have listened to Whitney. "Crack is whack"!! Anyway, I did go see them & DFW & it was one of the top 5 shows I've ever seen. All 4 bands slayed!! The Sword put on an awesome show & it seems a large part of the crowd was there to see them & barely knew who Kyuss was.

The Sword is an Austin band, so it doesn't surprise me that a show in DFW would lean heavily toward them.

I would love to have seen the tour, but they didn't play close enough to downtown L.A. at the time they came through.

I've seen The Sword a couple times anyway, so no biggie.