Location: Casino Velden / Velden am Woerthersee / Austria
Concert date: 10.07.2007
Attendance: 1000
The friendly little tourist town of Velden am Woerthersee in Austria is known for being swept, tidied and perfumed to within an inch of its life. It’s a world of colorful lights that only come alive once dusk settles on the ground. And that’s where two big blue buses sit parked in front of Casino Velden, on which Living Colour are touring and honoring us with a visit. I tried to draw parallels with John Lawton’s (ex-Uriah Heep) gig at Bled a few days ago (also a touristy little town, also on a lake, also with a casino, etc…) but it just didn’t work. The Austrians surprised everyone with their turnout, and a solid 1000 of them crammed into the hall, while the Bled experience, with its pathetic attendance, remains light years away.
Living Colour were in no hurry. We waited until 9:45 PM, when they kicked off with an interesting reggae version of Type (album “Time’s Up”), during which they started diligently warming up their vocal cords, biceps and fingers. The ambience was thrilling! I felt like I was sitting in a sterilized yogurt cup. What a makeshift setup, and whatever happened to the days when Living Colour played big halls? Luckily there was no barrier and the stage was low, so we had the band practically right there in the palm of our hand. No need to guess that the Austrians reacted to the show just like they always do. Ice cold. Between songs they mostly clapped politely. They showed a bit more hot blood during the band’s biggest hits (Middle Man, Glamour Boys, Love Rears His Ugly Head and of course Cult Of Personality), and yet it even happened that a sizable bunch of curious onlookers left the hall mid-concert.
The guys have grown up in the 14 years since they played Hala Tivoli in Ljubljana, when they were at their peak. Back then Corey Glover wore a blue hockey jersey, climbed all over the monitors and jumped off them, and the other three were red hot to the extreme… The hall was packed, and the crowd of the time, which had grown up on grunge and thrash alongside the hugely popular Living Colour, was boiling over… It was magic…
Velden am Woerthersee, 14 years later, offered a slightly different view. Concert-era Corey, who had pulled on a cap in the style of ex-Yugoslav film star Miodrag Petrović – Ćkalja, has picked up a bit of a double chin and a little belly, and preferred to stroll calmly around the stage, swaying softly to the rhythms of his crew. Vernon spent most of the show planted on his left spot. The dreadlocks are a thing of the past, he’s got a Cuban rebel cap on his head, but still the ripped jeans (just like back at Hala Tivoli) and two identical Hammer guitars with worn-out bodies, the paint and lacquer well chipped off at the edges… Over that time the man has lost his appetite for playing through the craziest guitar effects. These days the most of that kind of madness in Living Colour is kept up by Doug Wimbish, who cashed in his whole array of effects pedals at the end, in an extended jam during Flying, when he launched into a twisted solo on the bass guitar. As far as Living Colour’s look goes, William has kept the most “colorfulness” of the whole foursome in this new era.
No matter that the years have passed and we’ve all grown up a bit, Living Colour devoured the hall! On stage they made it clear it was all about pure enjoyment! Practically every single track was musically upgraded on stage, wittily embellished with Doug’s or Vernon’s tricks and crazy transitions, during which the guys didn’t lose their tight connection for even a second, the connection that lets them read and feel each other so well on stage. Vernon deliberately struck chords raised or lowered by a half step, which with their dispersion actually filled out the overall sound, and he soloed furiously and fast, but with full sensuality at the same time! His approach didn’t hide the influence of Jimi Hendrix. The show raged like a massive avalanche of “groove” across the whole two hours, and the guys showed once again that few can match them in their supernatural fusing of jazz and rock elements, which they nailed with their innate rhythmic perfection to the point of giving the audience a one-of-a-kind merging with the vibration of funk eroticism. On stage they masterfully combined power and precision with their own signature touch of unpredictability and spontaneity. Simple as that! After all these years they know each other perfectly, and the stage chemistry works!
To get people off the ground, Living Colour followed Type with Middle Man (album “Vivid”), then the funky instrumental Funny Vibe (album “Vivid”), which was one of the surprises in the setlist for me personally. The furious Go Away (album “Stain”) was a real treat, and before it Vernon explained what its verses are about, totally smoothly and with a strong personal touch, with no rabble-rousing and no finger-pointing at anyone. It’s about the exploitation of the black continent (Africa) by the countries of the “developed” part of the world. On Bless Those the lead vocal was taken over by the devilish Doug Wimbish, who was bursting with surplus energy throughout the show, and William Calhoun was by no means in his debt. He nearly brought down the drum kit with his hailstorm of demolishing, sonically fast, hurricane-like swings.
After a good 10 minutes of William’s rampage, the guys woke us up to reality with the sweet hit Love Rears His Ugly Head, followed by Flying from the album “Colleidoscope”, which the guys masterfully stretched out in their famous style. Glover announced the start of the jam with a few lines of Heroes (David Bowie), and then came Doug Wimbish’s bass solo, with the sound on the bass pedals tuned practically close to an electric guitar. Vernon, on the other hand, needed a good deal of his skill to deftly chase the spontaneously unhinged guy on the opposite side with his chords. To close the regular set, the guys cranked out a scorching Time’s Up and disappeared backstage. Of course, when they came back out, there was no need to guess what they were about to do! Cult Of Personality. Glover finally took off his sunglasses, and his contact with the crowd gained at least a note of authenticity in the final minutes of the show! At last, a handful of people under the stage even got their shirts off for the devilish evergreen. Well, the guys had obviously had enough playing! The Beatles cover Tomorrow Never Knows was on the setlist, but they skipped it. William didn’t agree with the rest of the band’s decision, though, so after the others had already left us, he just kept on playing his second solo alone. Clearly the man was really into it and still hungry to play. But a solid two hours had gone by. They passed in the blink of an eye. Living Colour – the moment when colorful musical intensity absolutely does not fail to show up. A one-of-a-kind metalized, funkoid, jazzy projectile for all the starving souls who forgot what elementary rhythm and groove are. Good morning! Living Colour remain an unsolvable riddle in presenting this, even today, outside their nineties popularity. Their simplicity feels good. They come and have a good time. No playing princess on the pea. It’s just spontaneity that spontaneously disarms.
Setlist
1. Type
2. Middle Man
3. Funny Vibe
4. Wall
5. Sacred Ground
6. Memories Can’t Wait
7. Glamour Boys
8. Go Away
9. Bless Those
10. Ignorance Is Bliss
11. Drum solo I.
12. Love Rears His Ugly Head
13. Flying (incl Heroes, bass solo)
14. Time’s Up
—encore—
15. Cult Of Personality
16. Drum solo II.
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