Recorded live in the mountains of Northern Spain in March 2018, this seventeen track double album captures all the “ragged, sweaty” glory of the six-piece band’s full-blooded performance.
A nine minute rendition of Let The Water Wash Over You (Don’t You Know) opens proceeding and starts as they mean to go on. The meaty, blues’n’soul orientated Rock’n’Roll is unashamedly old school but played with a passion and commitment to illustrate why this genre remains so attractive and involving.
Abstract experimentation is assuredly not for this band led by Danny George Wilson who, after forming in London in 2007, have been firing on all cylinders ever since.
At times here the extended jam numbers sound like a cross between The Allman Brothers Band and a rootsier version of Guns’n’Roses (check out Coley Point featuring a blazing guitar solo from Paul Lush). The influence of Springsteen is also well in evidence on a numerous tracks; for example on Brothers In The Night.
It is the second time a concert of theirs has been committed to disc. This Spanish show therefore forms a companion piece to the 2014 ‘Live Champs’ set recorded at London’s Jazz Café which was also released as a double album. They have correctly realized that the raw emotions of their sound come over best in this form rather than via a polished studio production.
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“Gracias for being here” enthuses Danny in his best Cockney Spanish. This is an album that reminds you of the spontaneity and enthusiasm of live performances at a time when audiences have been cruelly deprived on these feel good experiences.
We can safely anticipate that Danny and his band will announce live dates when the pandemic restrictions are eased so that their music can be enjoyed as it should be. Until then, albums like this serve as a valuable reminder of what we’re missing.
Danny & the Champs website
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