TEMPLE FANG - Live at Freak Valley (CD) (2023)
TEMPLE FANG - Live at Slachthuis (Tape) (2023)
It wouldn't really make much sense to separate these reviews from each other. One album has been released on vinyl and CD (I chose the latter this time) by Stickman Records, the other one in limited quantity on cassette by the band's own label Right On Mountain. And both are of course available in digital form. Their content however is very closely related.
Every write-up about the Dutch quartet Temple Fang comes with the risk of sounding like a broken record, but it is what it is. And that is that Doctor Strange seems to have put a mighty spell on the whole world, so we all forgot about what could have been one of the 1970's greatest groups alongside Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, if they had just put out some studio albums, instead of only concentrating on playing their asses off in epic live shows, which consisted almost exclusively of enormous longtracks beyond the twenty-minutes mark.
Only in recent years with the advancement of restauration techniques live recordings of that time have started to be released. Luckily I already had the privilige to see these guys in action in the Netherlands four times since 2019, and they also proved that they are not allergic to recording inside a studio with their "Jerusalem / The Bridge" EP, so I can easily debunk my own theory.
But seriously: Temple Fang sound familiar from the get-go, since they are consciously wading in all kinds of knee-deep in Hard Rock / Psychedelic Rock traditions, but you're not once wondering wheather you're listening to some cheap copycats. They are just too freaking good for that to happen. There is an almost spiritual conviction and artistic confidence in their performance, and of course just the sheer class of their instrumental work, but also fantastic emotional and harmonic vocals, which in my humble opinion puts them in the circle of the best ROCK live bands around today.
So what's the deal with these two new albums? What sets them apart from "Live at Merleyn" (2020) and "Fang Temple" (2021) Well, most obviously Temple Fang are deviating from their established formula of one song per side of the record, raising (or reducing?) it to only one fourty-five minute song per show / album.
At Freak Valley Festival that hadn't even been the plan. But since the band felt that there was something in the air on this hottest weekend of the year in the middle of June (I remember the heat too, since I was in Berlin to see Björk, Kikagaku Moyo and a Classical chamber quartet at the time), they spontanously ditched their original setlist only minutes before they went on stage and instead played the new unreleased mammoth piece "Grace", which they had just developed on tour. One of the shows where they had played it just a week before the festival was the one in Haarlem, which they released a little bit after "Live at Freak Valley" on "Live at Slachthuis".
It's impossible to safely say which of the two is the better live album. "Freak Valley" has the higher production values, while "Slachthuis" sweats with an extra amount of that more intimate club adrenaline. What I can confirm via my first-hand experience of the song at Right On Mountain Festival later in October is that "Grace" might be Temple Fang's crowning achievement so far. And even if it's not and only continues on the same level as previous releases - who cares? This is just majestic, elevating, transcendent Rock'n'Roll bliss!
And if you're that guy who somehow doesn't like live albums and rather waits for the studio release instead... hmm... this band probably isn't for you then.
However there is a slim chance that one day the band might actually grant your wish this time, because unlike their previous albums a studio recording of "Grace" actually exists somewhere out there. Temple Fang just liked the live version(s) more. And honestly, since these guys are so damn good on stage, I doubt that with these two renditions already at hand a third one without the energy from the crowd can really add something significant.
Two live albums = two hundred percent excellence.
Every write-up about the Dutch quartet Temple Fang comes with the risk of sounding like a broken record, but it is what it is. And that is that Doctor Strange seems to have put a mighty spell on the whole world, so we all forgot about what could have been one of the 1970's greatest groups alongside Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, if they had just put out some studio albums, instead of only concentrating on playing their asses off in epic live shows, which consisted almost exclusively of enormous longtracks beyond the twenty-minutes mark.
Only in recent years with the advancement of restauration techniques live recordings of that time have started to be released. Luckily I already had the privilige to see these guys in action in the Netherlands four times since 2019, and they also proved that they are not allergic to recording inside a studio with their "Jerusalem / The Bridge" EP, so I can easily debunk my own theory.
 |
| Temple Fang live at Right On Mountain Festival |
So what's the deal with these two new albums? What sets them apart from "Live at Merleyn" (2020) and "Fang Temple" (2021) Well, most obviously Temple Fang are deviating from their established formula of one song per side of the record, raising (or reducing?) it to only one fourty-five minute song per show / album.
At Freak Valley Festival that hadn't even been the plan. But since the band felt that there was something in the air on this hottest weekend of the year in the middle of June (I remember the heat too, since I was in Berlin to see Björk, Kikagaku Moyo and a Classical chamber quartet at the time), they spontanously ditched their original setlist only minutes before they went on stage and instead played the new unreleased mammoth piece "Grace", which they had just developed on tour. One of the shows where they had played it just a week before the festival was the one in Haarlem, which they released a little bit after "Live at Freak Valley" on "Live at Slachthuis".
And if you're that guy who somehow doesn't like live albums and rather waits for the studio release instead... hmm... this band probably isn't for you then.
However there is a slim chance that one day the band might actually grant your wish this time, because unlike their previous albums a studio recording of "Grace" actually exists somewhere out there. Temple Fang just liked the live version(s) more. And honestly, since these guys are so damn good on stage, I doubt that with these two renditions already at hand a third one without the energy from the crowd can really add something significant.
Two live albums = two hundred percent excellence.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen