Wino Punctuates His Equilibrium on Live at Roadburn 2009
The second 2010 release from Scott “Wino” Weinrich under the banner of his Wino “solo” band is the vibrant Live at Roadburn 2009, which, as the title advertises, documents the power trio’s hour-long set at Roadburn 2009 at the 013 Popcentrum in Tilburg, Netherlands. Like many of the Roadburn live albums that have popped up in the wake of the festival’s standard audio recordings (Wolves in the Throne Room, Church of Misery, Farflung, Neurosis), the sound on Wino’s Live at Roadburn 2009 is crisp and clear but still definitely a live album. Its rough edges are intact, but more than that, the sweetness of the tones in Weinrich’s playing, the warmth in the bass of Jon Blank and the personality of Jean-Paul Gaster’s drumming are all dutifully represented. As someone who was fortunate enough to be there to see it, believe me when I say this is pretty much right on the money as to how it went down.
Live at Roadburn 2009 is dedicated to the memory of Blank, who as it’s noted on the back of the CD digipak, passed away just four days after Wino’s set at the 013. His death was a shock, and it adds a level of poignancy to the live album, Blank (along with Gaster) gracing the back cover in colorized art courtesy of Gnaw Their Tongues’ Mories, and though the bassist wasn’t a match on stage for the presence of either Weinrich or Gaster, who makes his living on Clutch’s perma-tour, recorded here and on the Punctuated Equilibrium studio album, he proved more than able to gracefully fill out the low end without being either showy or boring. He’s right in his element on the 14 songs that comprise the 11 tracks of Live at Roadburn 2009 — several are combined — and, like Gaster, does an excellent job with the included sampling of Weinrich’s other projects as well. The split works out so that Live at Roadburn 2009 is half Punctuated Equilibrium and half “other,” with five classic cuts from The Obsessed, one from Spirit Caravan’s perpetually-underrated 1999 offering Jug Fulla Sun and one from The Hidden Hand’s first full-length, 2003’s Divine Propaganda.
Of course, as it’s Weinrich’s name, guitar, voice and songs, he leads through almost all of the set, stepping aside to let Blank and Gaster take charge of a jam on “Wild Blue Yonder” from Punctuated Equilibrium about halfway through. Longtime Wino fans will be glad to find cuts like “Streetside” and “Streamline” from The Obsessed’s 1994 doom landmark The Church Within, and though it’s Weinrich’s composition throughout, it’s incredible how well the material all flows, given the different personae of the bands involved, from the aggressive ideology of The Hidden Hand to the easygoing stoner groove of Spirit Caravan. I credit that not only to the consistency of Wino’s guitar tone, but also to Blank and Gaster, who take the work of so many other players throughout the years and make it their own with no trouble, effectively reinterpreting classic performances and giving them new life.
Tracks like “On the (Sacrificial) Lam” — a vinyl-only cut from Punctuated Equilibrium, and “Skybone” from The Obsessed’s 1999 collection of demos and other rarities, Incarnate, provide depth to the track/setlist, and offset more well-known songs like “Release Me,” “Lost Sun Dance” from Jug Fulla Sun and closer “Neatz Brigade” from The Church Within. As you’d expect, a fitting balance is achieved, and the Wino trio give an excellent showing and performance that the already-converted won’t want to miss out on hearing. It’s not just the greatest hits, and it’s not just the new songs, but a consistently high-grade combination of both with a few obscurities mixed in and masterfully presented by Weinrich, Gaster and Blank. Loyal Wino fans probably don’t need to be told much more than “it exists” to know they want to hear it.
And in that spirit, I’ll add, “it exists and doesn’t sound like crap.” With Weinrich’s involvement in a range of projects from the reinvigorated Saint Vitus to the supergroup Shrinebuilder — not to mention that Spirit Caravan reunion reportedly in the works — we’re lucky to have this all-the-more special moment captured and presented on plastic. The Wino band would go on to play several tours, but the Roadburn set was a unique moment for them and for the crowd alike. Weinrich closes this show by saying “See you next year,” presumably referring to the scheduled Shrinebuilder set at Roadburn 2010 canceled because of the Icelandic volcano incident (something Shrinebuilder aims to rectify in 2011), but even more than that, it’s emblematic of the ceaseless creative spirit of the man himself. Yeah, we’ll see him next year, because there’s no way Wino’s going to stop doing what he does. And if you’ve ever heard him before, you know he does it better than anyone. Live at Roadburn 2009 is as essential as the rest of Wino’s catalog, and that’s the highest possible compliment that can be paid it.
Tags: Maryland, Roadburn, The Netherlands, Tilburg, Wino
you say standard live lp,s… i have never heard anything standard that was released from the roadburn festival . all the live recordings were the premium capture of the experience everyone has had at the festivals.the sound engineers at roadburn are of the utmost calliber and skill.a live recording should be just that,”a live recording.other than that ….solid review,dig the obelisk,rip blank,.