STONE AXE (Captured Live! Roadburn Festival 2011) LP/CD
Some bands are predestined to be recorded live, because that's the best way to capture their true power. STONE AXE is one of these bands and that's the reason why I'm especially happy about this live album. As the title implies it has been recorded at Roadburn Festival 2011 and marks the final date of the 2011 STONE AXE European Tour. To say it in advance: this show is just so electric that I wish I would have been there. The opening song 'Stonin' is so powerful and energetic that it instantly qualifies as a perfect live album starting point. It gets much better with the next tracks (a total of 15 on CD and 11 on LP) and you can almost feel the sweat and smell the reefer while listening to this.
The setlist contains a lot of STONE AXE classics such as 'Chasing Dragons', 'Black Widow' or 'Ain't Gonna Miss It', just to name a few. By the way, I intentionally chose the word 'classics', because they deliver this quality. It seems to me as if the songs have always been there, just like the other hard rock classics from the 1970's. STONE AXE do sound raw and gritty in this live setting and the entire band delivers an excellent performance, which is full of passion and musical talent.
I think the true mark of a great live record is that the live versions of the songs blow away the studio cuts. And that's exactly what's happening here. It can therefore be considered that 'Captured Live!' should also be attractive for the ones who own the studio albums of STONE AXE. Moreover, it also offers a good introduction to the band for those who have never heard before of them, because this is a fine presentation of the group at their live best. Almost needless to mention is the flawless sound quality, and everybody who ever visited Roadburn knows what I'm talking about. So, 'Captured Live' is timeless, raw, electrifying, and could be used to teach what heavy blues-ridden rock 'n' roll music can still be. A must-have, not only for STONE AXE completists.
(KK)