Livestream Review: Crowbar (20th February, 2021)

What could lift our spirits more in this Covid world that we live in? Boris Johnson’s head on a silver platter? A delivery of free beer to the house? Or ideally attending a real gig with other human beings?

With none of these available for the foreseeable future, what more can we ask for on a Saturday night than the third in a series of livestreams from the kings of sludge, Crowbar.

Crowbar are a band that are just as happy in a sweaty bar as playing to 100,000 people at a festival, so it’s in line with this laissez faire attitude that riffmeister general Kirk Windstein shuffles on stage, says a quick introduction, then kicks off proceedings with the punchy “Self Inflicted” from their 1993 self titled album.

It’s pretty obvious that practice makes perfect as the band are incredibly tight from the first chord out of Kirk Windstein’s amp, and this continues throughout the one hour performance.

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Three quarters of the band have been the same for a few years now, founder Kirk Windstein (vocals & guitar), Matt Brunson (lead guitar), and Tommy Buckley (Drums). They are joined as always by live show bassist Shane Wesley who has filled in for a while since founding member Todd Strange rejoined, and then left the band again.

Trying to select then squeeze songs from a band’s eleven albums into a one hour show was a difficult task and it would have been oh so easy to just play the old favourites, but luckily Windstein chose to treat us to a couple of tracks that hadn’t been played live for over two decades in “Waiting in Silence” and “New Man Born”.

Other track such as “New Man Born” give us the answer to the question, “What happens when Sludge and Doom collide” and the recent classic “Walk with Knowledge Wisely” gave us the wall of noise that is the Crowbar groove and puts to bed any suggestion that the band’s star is on the wain.

Lead guitar player Matt Brunson’s seven string prowess oozes coolness throughout the show’s delivery without, it would seem, breaking sweat, and Buckley and Wesley work tirelessly in unison as if they were meant to be together.

The show reaches a climax with fan favourites “Planets Collide” and “All I Had (I Gave)” before the band shuffle off as quietly as the appeared on stage.

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I’m not really a big fan of the whole live stream thing, but as it’s all there is at the moment I’ll take it. It’s a bit like being an addict and not getting the drug you want and making do with whatever you can find as you muddle through.

Out of all the live streams that I’ve seen in lockdown, this was one of the best, and I really enjoyed it – other bands take note!

Crowbar: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube

Setlist:

  1. Self Inflicted
  2. New Dawn
  3. Conquering
  4. Waiting in Silence
  5. I Feel The Burning Sun
  6. The Lasting Dose
  7. New Man Born
  8. To Carry The Load
  9. Walk With Knowledge Wisely
  10. The Cemetery Angels
  11. Thru The Ashes (I’ve Watched You Burn)
  12. Planets Collide
  13. All I Had (I Gave)
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