Amann & The Wayward Sons / The Riff Truckers – Santana 27 (Bilbao) – Route 66
Sometimes it is better not to have high expectations and let yourself be carried away a little by surprises. This is as valid for life, in general, as for concerts or when playing a record that you don’t have full control of. That way things are more enjoyable. That was what happened to us in the pleasant evening lived this Saturday. And the thing is that it had been quite a few years since he had lost sight of The Riff Truckers (now TRT?) from Gernika live. And I had it like a dwarf! I had them more linked to the southern rock of Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd with which I discovered them years ago. And it is not that they have left it aside entirely. In fact, he is still very present there with those duels on the double guitars. But he blended it nicely live with assorted other sounds, just like on his brand new gatefold vinyl with colossal booklet inside packed with spectacular artwork, “Mustang”.
This combination was greatly helped by the great stage presence and the madness of its singer, Osman, with his look and his way of acting and questioning very old-school rap. Well, he, in his madness, talked more of old school shit. When he took off his hip-hop “jacket” he discovered his TRT T-shirt with that runaway horse, but his acronym must have been more like TNT because he was a walking danger. We say this because after starting with that hit that is ‘Walk’, and which also opens his new vinyl, and talking to us about our lost freedom in ‘Lost Freedom’; he fell on his back (of course with ‘Involution’, another standout from “Mustang”) and knocked over and damaged more than half of the drum kit, which, coincidentally, belonged to the Wayward Sons. After a fairly quick recomposition of the place, he followed his ball giving everything with a lot of known and dedicated parish.
they fused those Allman Brothers sounds with passionate moments close to Rage Against The Machine, the first and best Red Hot Chili Peppers and even the most organic Public Enemy. But this explosive combination lacked the icing on the cake. That is none other than some riffs and outbursts, on several occasions very rhythm and blues in the purest Dr. Feelgood style. Incredible mix, right? Well, listen to his “Mustang” or go have some fear of his incredible new performances. They continued with all the songs from the new album like ‘Kay’, ‘Born In The Sand’ or the spectacular and criminal ‘Criminal’ that came almost towards the end.
They also reminisced about lost friends and songs from their beginnings such as the always celebrated ‘Johnny Whiskey’ in which they shared their Four Roses with each other and with the audience with Osman handing out drinks throughout the room. Even more dangerous because in the continuous descents and ascents of him he left the cable of his microphone on the verge of breaking on several occasions. It seems that they also like all things with wheels because their usual trucks, and that brand new Mustang from the new album and the artwork (along with the wild horse), played their song for skaters, also present in the last album, ” Ride Or Die’, which came right after his already more classic ‘Riding’. Good and enthusiastic encores and total satisfaction in public and band.
The revamped Amann & The Wayward Sons have a hard time and that took its toll on them in a somewhat disjointed beginning that was also affected by some sound problems with earpieces and monitors. But to remove those trifles and exhausted in his (good) music and start to flow the sound and the songs with a performance that was in continuous crescendo and winning over the public both in his most relaxed songs and in his most powerful and close ones as well. to rock sure not. We were going to say intense, but that adjective is also valid for some of his ballads closer to soul or even gospel, like that joy on his latest and outstanding album “Hymns Of Hope And Rage”, which is ‘Once I’m Gone’. There was also good and current electric blues like the one that Gary Clark Jr. does that they like so much and that they covered with great success, by the way. Israel’s contribution to keyboards was sensational with organ and piano at many times and his good fights with Pablo’s great and very varied guitars led to many excellent moments.
As their performance of more than 15 songs progressed, more songs from their new album dropped, which they played almost completely, and the performance continued its upward pulse. So, after their ‘Rocking Chair’ I think they played in one go that explosive song that marks their path and is called ‘I Just Wanna Go My Way’, that downpour of purifying guitars that is ‘Under Pouring Rain’, that first single full of of rage that is ‘Feel It in My Bones’ and that sidereal trip titled ‘Train To Mars’. In the middle they gave us that liberating “Free Soul” that they titled their previous album. No more needed… but no less either. Thus came his brilliant version of ‘Running Down A Dream’ by the great Tom Pertty that delighted many of those present and especially my son, a great fan of him and particularly of this song that he has always loved. There was still time for a great encore with ‘Remember The Taker’ and the truth is that we would have liked to listen to some more song because they made us feel more and more comfortable and they also felt that way. With nonsense, both groups gave a great kick-off to a great Saturday night… I’m already paid…!
Text: Txema Maneru
Photos: Angel Jesus Garcia