Live Stream Review: Nebula, Live in the Mojave Desert
A good many have tried, but the special off-the-rails sensibility in Nebula has never properly been duplicated. Often associated with the Californian desert rock scene — something the trio played into with the fisheye-instruments-on-sand cover art for their 1999 debut, To the Center (discussed here, also here), though it was recorded in Seattle — they might in fact be the last great stoner rock band, founded by guitarist Eddie Glass alongside fellow Fu Manchu alums Mark Abshire and Ruben Romano. With Glass‘ classic shred and loose swinging riffs, drawling vocals and flourishes of hard garage and psychedelia throughout, Nebula have nonetheless remained a punk act throughout their tenure, and that combination of elements in the precise measure brought to bear by Glass — now joined in the cause by bassist/backing vocalist Tom Davies and drummer Mike Amster (also Mondo Generator, ex-Blaak Heat, etc.) — has made them a standout for over two decades.
That tenure was interrupted following the release of 2009’s Heavy Psych (review here) and a 2010 split with Quest for Fire on Tee Pee Records, but with a return in 2017 that led to much touring and the release of 2019’s comebacker Holy Shit (review here), Nebula have remained vital, and more importantly, have remained Nebula. As the second installment of producer/director Ryan Jones‘ ‘Live in the Mojave Desert’ stream series, they seem right at home for a band who spent 2020 off the road. Maybe there’s a little shaking off the dust as they get started with the title-track of the aforementioned To the Center, but between the desert wind and the air being pushed by Amster‘s kick and the amps of Davies and Glass, there’s little to worry about in that regard.
The basic idea of presentation was much the same as with the first installment a couple weeks ago that featured Earthless (review here): take a heavy band out to the desert, set them up with pro audio and lights, multiple cameras, drones buzzing around getting wide shots and scenery, and when night falls, let Mad Alchemy‘s Lance Gordon and crew light it up with psychedelic oil projections as it seems only they could. Following an hour of interview and preview/promotional programming — including sample audio from upcoming Spirit Mother and Mountain Tamer streams — Nebula start circa sunset under a gorgeous turquoise sky and tear into a set of new material and old with signature ferocity, the inheritors of whatever oozing degenerate vibe once made The Stooges seem so dangerous, and soon enough are jamming through “Man’s Best Friend,” “Giant” from 2001’s Charged and “Clearlight” again from the debut, drones still showing a bit of daylight left though the band seem by then thoroughly locked into a world of their own.
Spacey samples push the far-far-out feel for “Clearlight,” and after new song “Wall of Confusion” and Holy Shit‘s “Tomorrow Never Comes,” there’s a quick interview break filmed after the set that acts as a buffer before the second half of the show. They talk about favorite concert films — Live at Pompeii, The Song Remains the Same — though Glass is largely unintelligible beneath a gorilla mask. As one might suspect, when they restart, it’s with the Mad Alchemy light show behind them, and “Let’s Get Lost,” which served last week as a preview clip ahead of the full performance airing, earns its place as a focal point here as well.
It is an anti-anthem, a punk track that’s too high to see straight and too talented to fall completely apart, though not for lack of trying. The lyrics “take some drugs,” “drop out” and “society’s a bummer” flash on the screen before the song is deconstructed to synthy sampling and effects noise, Amster‘s holding-it-all-together drums signaling the transition into “Messiah,” another Holy Shit highlight, which Glass solos into oblivion leading to a moment of silence that’s so loud it’s damn near poignant. Wait. Am I supposed to be feeling feelings right now?
No time. “Perfect Rapture” from the Quest for Fire split drawls into the more uptempo “It’s All Over” and “Witching Hour,” a quick nod to Dead Kennedys included, and they finish cold as the video fades out. By then, Nebula have clearly demonstrated their much-missed unfuckwithability as a live act, and the lack of crowd — with a substantial crew, some trailers shown in the early drone shots, porta-johns, trucks tucked off to the side, and so on, they’re not quite void of audience — does nothing to dull their impact. Their dynamic has changed over the years with different players, but the unhinged nature of their approach remains singular and remains their own.
Watching a Nebula stream would probably already be the kind of thing that’s a highlight of whatever afternoon, and they’ve done one or two prior to this. The difference, of course, is the professional, concert-film level at which ‘Live in the Mojave Desert’ is executed. On a sheer production level, it’s unmatched by anything I’ve seen in the streaming era, and in the use of visual effects, Sam Grant‘s skillful, rhythmic editing, the inclusion of Mad Alchemy and the sense of urgency that’s driving the whole project, it is a rare positive marker for this time that has disintegrated the live music experience and perhaps changed it permanently.
I mean that. ‘Live in the Mojave Desert’ rises to meet the moment in which it’s happening. It’s not about a middle finger to COVID, though I guess it’s that too, and it’s not just a reminder that bands are still cool. It’s something more its own; a grand-scale passion project that’s open to public view. Will people talk about Nebula at Skull Rock like Pink Floyd in Pompeii? Shit if I know. Ask me in 50 years. But right now, the comfort and the reassurance ‘Live in the Mojave Desert’ provides isn’t to be understated. For just a little while, letting go mentally and and following those drones as they soar over lit-up boulders, it kind of seems like it’ll just be what it’s gonna be. Life’s hard, everything’s hard, but at least there’s this.
Nebula, “Let’s Get Lost” from Live in the Mojave Desert Vol. 2
Live in the Mojave Desert tickets at Tixr
Stoned and Dusted on Thee Facebooks
Heavy Psych Sounds on Thee Facebooks
Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp
Tags: California, Heavy Psych Sounds, Live in the Mojave Desert, Los Angeles, Nebula, Nebula Live in the Mojave Desert
