Live Review: The Aristocrats at Heaven in London
The Aristocrats live in London - Photo copyright by Oscar Tornincasa for rebelrebelmusic.com
Date: December 18, 2015
Venue: Heaven, London
Guitarist Guthrie Govan, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Marco Zinnemann, a.k.a. The Aristocrats walked on the stage of the Heaven in London to deliver a 2 hour show branded with their notably complex instrumental/progressive/blues/rock style.
After attending one of their concerts for the first time, it came as no wonder to me that the word “supergroup” is tossed around a lot in instrumental music circles.
Their latest album Tres Caballeros features nine new compositions of greater sonic depth and breadth than ever before, with unique textures and lush layering augmenting the band’s preternatural ability to improvise both individually and as a group at the highest levels possible. No wonder most of the songs made it to the final setlist, giving way to long improvs and a mesmerising 9-minute drum solo.
Whereas their technical skills and musical intricacy represent the essence of what every musician should aspire to, what hit me particularly is their ability to interact with the audience by telling long stories about the inspiration behind that particular song, to a point where they become part of the show itself.
The only unhappy note of the whole evening is that fact that almost no songs were played out of the first album, which was nevertheless compensated by the incredible amount of high level music that permeated the walls of the Heaven for over two hours.
Photo gallery by Oscar Tornincasa:
