Blue Cheer-Rocks Europe

Rainman
2009

If I had to describe Blue Cheer in one word it would likely be "volume". That's the first word that comes to mind when I think about this band because their straight ahead sound always hinged on assaulting one's ears by just being so overwhelmingly loud. Of course a lot has changed over the last forty some years for both this band and heavy music. Whether they intended to or not, this San Francisco trio certainly played a major part in shaping what would become heavy metal. With their simple yet massive riffs, pounding beats and thumping bass lines they transforming heavy music while other bands were still trying to figure which direction to head to. These guys are still rolling on as they released "What doesn't kill you" back in 2007. It wasn't perfect, but they certainly showed enough of the old firepower. This DVD was recorded in Bonn, Germany back in April of 2008. At this point in their career there isn't a lot of moving around or between tracks banter, but instead it's really just the band, their instruments and the fans. That's enough because it doesn't take long to realize that this band still has enough of the magic in their blood to make this exciting. Blue Cheer always had that love for basic blues rock in many of their songs, but it's easy to forget that just do the layers of heaviness that they pile on top. The band gets better with each song and you can hear them becoming more comfortable as the set goes on. This band deserves to be called legendary due to their contributions, but you wouldn't know from their attitude. It's still just three guys playing the kind of music they and letting the fans soak it in. The show comes to a head on the final two songs on "Doctor Please" and even more on "Hunter". They just start peeling and tossing out beats and crazy riffs all over the place all the while making it look easy. The sound quality of the show certainly does the band justice as they managed to capture all the textures and loudness of the band. Now it did seem that they capture too many of the same camera angles and they flashed faster than needed at times. I also wished they had showed more of the fans than just the backs of their heads. The disc also includes commentary and an interview with Dickie Peterson plus a slide show and other special features. Really a fine disc that lets us know that Blue Cheer are not only still kicking, but still capable knocking out a show of massive proportions.