The Blasters were formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), along with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman and by the time of their first headline gig in the UK on May 21st 1982 the line-up had been expanded to include Gene Taylor (piano), Steve Berlin (baritone saxophone) and Lee Allen (tenor saxophone). Six of the songs recorded that night were released as an EP, with an additional number added to the cassette version, then when the complete Slash/Warner recordings were compiled on the two-CD set ‘Testament’ in 2002 another three were included. But this time is the first where the whole concert has been made available, adding another 13 songs to the originally released to make it a 23-song set lasting 67 minutes.
Known as a highly energetic act with their mix of rockabilly, rock ‘n’ roll, boogie woogie, punk and country they were as home playing with Black Flag and X as they were Dwight Yoakam and are still going today even though they have never received widespread critical success. For any Brits of a certain age it may be a surprise, it certainly was to me, that included in this set is “Marie Marie” which was one of the first hits for Shakin’ Stevens, but it transpires that is a Blasters original, and is not the only time he covered some of their material as he also later recorded “So Long Baby, Goodbye”. Having played as many gigs as they had by the time they reached the UK it is no surprise that the outfit were incredibly tight, with everyone fully understanding what was expected and I can feel just how and sweaty it was that night just by listening to the storm they were kicking up onstage.
They don’t sound anything like them, but I kept being reminded of the good time vibe we got from Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band on ‘Live With A Bullet’, as the band are cooking, and the fans are having a blast. This is music to dance to, music to move to, music to smile to, and well done to Liberation for finally making the full set available after way too many years.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
http://theblasters.com/
http://www.liberationhall.com/
