Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Spectaculars - Live at Maloney's (1994)

In celebration of the release of Supercomet's debut release here is a live set from Eric Olson's previous band. The band included Eric on guitar, his brother Mike on drums, their dad Leon on bass and on occasion playing harp was Southside Jimmy. Vocals were traded from song to song between Eric, Leon and Jimmy.

While their repertoire consisted of mostly old blues standards and rock classics their sound was modern and unique. Showing off their influences that ranged from classic blues to SRV to Hendrix to Pink Floyd to big band, they covered allot of ground. Although I had no input or took part in the creation of this music I did shoot the video that the audio was ripped from.

This is the amazing Spectaculars at the peak of their game. Recorded live using a video camera which was then dumped onto a DVD then the audio was ripped from that. Sound quality is surprisingly good but don't expect studio grade sound. The performance is typical of the band at that time which translates to amazing. Unfortunately I was dragged from the venue by my ride home so I was unable to catch the later sets which would normally get better and better.

I have included some studio demos that were done when the band was being courted by Alligator Records and features original material, the standout for me being Power but the other two are great also. Of note is a version of The Stud that predates a version that was recorded by another local blues outfit that Jimmy was also working with between gigs with The Spectaculars.

1. Quarter to Twelve
2. Wait on Time
3. Rock Me Baby
4. Walking to My Baby
5. Bama Lama
6. Scratch My Back
7. Running Shoes
8. Down the Road Apiece
9. Nineteen Years Old

Bonus Tracks Studio Demos

10. The Stud
11. Power
12. I Lost My Marbles

You can listen to Eric's new project at his myspace page, his page at ReverbNation or his page at BandZoogle. He also has a fan page on Facebook.

You can listen to Mike's latest project at the Emanate myspace page.

Both are well worth checking out.

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