Whenever you get to hear a band like the Belgian collective The Bluesbones, even though you are not a blues or a blues/rock fan, you cannot avoid to fall in love with their music recipe. Following their self-released 2015 studio album Saved By The Blues, the Belgian quintet returns with their second live album, simply called Double Live, recorded in front of an audience in Mechelen, Belgium at the Hyperstudio.
For any artists, performing on a stage is certainly the most congenial element to express their art and The Bluesbones, on their new release, manage successfully to crack a fabulous live set, full of musical fireworks.
What amazes the most, about The Bluesbones and their style, is the capacity of incorporating many different music genres in only one track and still making that track to sound like you are listening to a blues song but with one or many twists. The way they dazzle effortlessly in this live album, adding to their blues roots the sound of the Mississippi Delta (Moonshine), the 50's Rockabilly (Riding Out), Funk (Broken Down Car, No Good For Me) or Jazz-Rock (Devil's Bride) is truly remarkable.
The quality of each individual musician within the quintet is top class. Nico De Cock on vocals is able to sound as velvety (I'm Still Your Man) and thunderous (Wrong) at the same time. Stef Paglia's guitar may sound at times either like a blade, able to cut deeply (Runaway) or to sound soft and gentle like a caress in the darkest night (Voodoo Guitar). The Rhythm Section of The Bluesbones is, as well, as good as a Rhythm Section can possibly be in any band. Geert Boeckx on bass maintains the tempos on any of the songs rolling brilliantly, especially in those having a more funk structure, while Dominique Christens on drums is as polished and precise as humanly possible in any moment of the live set, especially in the song Cruisin', where the drummer showcases a style that resembles fine memories of great artists of the instrument like The Police's Stewart Copeland.
There is, though, something special that completes the sound of this band and add a wonderful, spicy and dissonant 70's rock flavour to The Bluesbones winning formula and that something comes from the splendid job on keyboards made by Edwin Risbourg. His strong and majestic musical incursions on tunes like Riding Out, No Good For Me or the closing Whiskey Drinking Woman work like a dream on the song structures of The Bluesbones and turn up definitely a notch the sound of an already powerful and cohesive band like the Belgian quintet.
Double Live is the sound of a band that keeps improving the quality of their sound with each passing record. It's the album that defines The Bluesbones as one of the finest music realities around.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Double Live is out now and is available on the band's Official Website
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