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5uu's — Live at A.K.W. Würzburg, Germany April 8, 1995
(Cuneiform no#, 1995/2023, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2023-12-11

Live at A.K.W. Würzburg, Germany April 8, 1995 Cover art

The 80s seemed to be difficult times for 5uu’s, with two LPs two years apart with almost completely different lineups, the second, Elements (from ‘88) cut with members of the Motor Totemist Guild, a band that drummer and 5uu’s leader David Kerman had played with on their Shapuno Zoo album the same year. Then more years passed, and a couple U Totem albums, and for anyone who didn’t keep an eye on the band’s activities, their next album, Hunger’s Teeth (1994) came as a complete surprise, featuring an all new grouping of Kerman, keyboardist Sanjay Kumar, and guitarist, bassist, violinist, singer, and engineer Bob Drake, who seemed to bring the band up to a whole new level, production-wise. The appearance of numerous guests (Thomas DiMuzio, James Grigsby (from  MTG), Suzanne Lewis (Thinking Plague), and others) would inform the sound with additional excellence. But touring the new album would present some additional challenges, as Sanjay Kumar was not available to tour for any length of time, and Bob Drake wouldn’t be able to play all of the instruments he contributed to the album in a live setting. The European tour was planned and rehearsed at a farmhouse in the south of France, with Mike Johnson of Thinking Plague stepping in as the touring guitarist, and Scott Brazieal (Cartoon, PFS) joining as the band’s touring keyboardist, leaving Drake to sing and play the bass. What we have at hand is one night of a long and busy tour, sixteen numbers taken mostly from the Hunger’s Teeth album, plus a couple more from the as yet unreleased Crisis in Clay (still a couple years away), and with Johnson on hand they managed to work up a couple Thinking Plague numbers (“Lycanthrope” and “Warheads”); the Würzburg set represents a powerful example of the energy that 5uu’s could muster in a live setting. All I can say is that I wish I had been there! I do have to say that this live recording might have had a lot more impact had it been released closer to the  year that it was recorded, but as they say, better late than never.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases, 1995 recordings

Related artist(s): 5uu's, Scott Brazieal, Dave Kerman, Bob Drake

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-a-k-w-w-rzburg-germany-april-8-1995

 

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