The BluesBones – Live on Tour
Donor Productions / Naked
13 Tracks – 67 minutes
The BluesBones is a Belgium blues band that has had significant success playing tours across Europe. The band first formed in 2011. This album captures their live performances from several different venues as they toured in the spring and summer of 2024. The band won the 2024 Belgian Blues Award for Best Band. The album presents their live sound exactly as it was heard from the stage on their tour and primarily features live performances of their previous studio album, Unchained, with a few extra favorites and a couple of covers thrown in. Nico de Cock provides the lead vocals, Stef Paglia plays guitar, Edwin Risbourg plays piano & Hammond organ, Geert Boeckx plays bass, and Jens Roelandt plays drums.
The album comes roaring out of the gate with the funky “Changes” as Nico “moves back into the light, picking up the pieces of a broken man”. Stef’s guitar and Edwin’s organ get the space to propel the song. On “Chain Gang”, he asks “How the hell did I get into this mess?” with a driving rhythm expanding the pounding beat of the worker as he establishes that he is counting down the “remaining 780 days” of his sentence. Next, he declares That I have to “Find Me A Woman” and he will “treat her so fine, hug her the best I can”. Stef’s guitar again pumps up the action on the song.
Edwin’s Hammond again sails through the song as Nico says he had nothing to do “but to play my guitar on the side of the highway playing blues from my “Broken Down Car”. A soft piano driven ballad, “I Cry” follows with Stef’s guitar providing the lament expressed by Nico. The first cover on the album is Cedell Davis’ “She’s Got the Devil in Her”, which first appeared on The BluesBones debut album, Voodoo Guitar. Nico acknowledges he knows that “she’s going to do something wrong”.
On ” The Road Ahead”, he says, “I’m driving far away from you” and “my mind is flashing from the passing cars”. I am looking into the future and looking away from the past”. He then says, “Sometimes I just want to settle down and leave this life behind” as he explains the life of a musician on the road as he just keeps “Moving On”. “Believe Me” slows things back down with a soulful guitar lead and Nico establishes “That once there was a sunshine well that lightened up my life, she talked to me in sweet words as she is making my heart alive”. He then acknowledges “Johnny Walker is my best friend and he burns down my memory when I cry”. At almost nine minutes long, the song allows considerable exposition and wavers across the emotions of the song through the solid rhythm section backing the organ and guitars. It closes with Nico giving a resounding wail “Why?”
Stef’s slide guitar propels a funky “Time to Learn” with Nico declaring “you left me, baby. I am crying all alone” as he again provides a soulful cry of “Why?”. “Talking To the Lord” is a solid blues rock number with Edwin’s Hammond jumping out into the fray and Stef’s slide guitar again having a powerful solo and Nico acknowledging that “I’ve lived a life of sin”. Matt Andersen and Mike Stevens’ “Devil’s Bride” is the second cover on the album and offers a bit of boogie with an extended instrumental break. The album concludes with the swinging “No Good for Me” as he encourages everyone to start dancing.
Nico is a powerful and energetic vocalist and delivers intelligent, well thought out lyrics with the right amount of soul and emotion. But every song provides the opportunity for the interplay with Stef’s electric and slide guitar and Edwin’s Hammond and piano. And while those two were mentioned frequently in this review, it is not to neglect the powerful rhythm section of Geert and Jens that drives the songs. Jens’ drum work is certainly a constant force throughout the album and Geert’s bass hums along powerfully as well.
The album would primarily be labeled as blues rock but does offer moments of soul power and quiet ballads. This is definitely a winning album by a solid, well experienced band.
