Manhaton 2016
Live
Love reign o’er Scotland: on-stage adventures of blues-rockers on their home turf.
Five years of rise have made this band a notable presence on the U.K. scene; possessed with international allure, it’s only a matter of time before Alan Nimmo and his lads will embrace venues much larger than Glasgow’s O2 ABC. It’s there that their first concert album comes from to somehow tone down the group’s vim in favor of more nuanced performances representing the ensemble’s three studio records. There’s solid logic in pushing recent missives such as “Crazy” or “Rush Hour” towards the middle of the show, as “Lose Control” is an early call to action and a perfect cut to set the ball rolling with a boogie vibe, while “Waking Up” is where the groovy momentum is gained to keep the flow hot until “Let Love In” takes emotions to the limit of grace.
Piano and organ padding perky rumble of “Wait On Time” and “More Than I Can Take” make the pieces irresistible, yet the funky “You Stopped The Rain” has its pop hooks to the fore in front of the audience for a playful face-off between instrumentalists. “All Your Life” or “A Long History Of Love” would indeed seem long if not for the tension Nimmo’s guitar creates by locking in with a rhythm section before soaring higher and higher, and his smoky voice on a tremendous cover of Frankie Miller’s “Jealousy” transcends the audio layer to captivate the listener and plant them right into the crowd. But it’s a 13-minute “Stranger To Love” – desperately soulful and bristling with heavy riffs which magically turn into delicate dewdrops of notes – that’s the epitome of the band’s method, so clear live and surprisingly different from their studio output.
This extra experience is what makes the ensemble so infectiously special. Rise on, lads!
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