Vanja Sky – Access All Areas – Live
Broken Silence – 2025
CD1: 8 tracks; 37 minutes
CD2: 8 tracks; 47 minutes
Croatian Vanja Sky’s first break was on the Ruf Blues Caravan in 2018 where she played with Bernard Allison and Mike Zito. Vanja plays a lot in Europe, particularly Germany, where this double CD was recorded, in Berlin in January 2024. Vanja handles lead vocals (all in English with just a trace of accent) and guitar, lead guitar is in the hands of Guenter Hass, the rhythm section is bassist Artjom Feldster and drummer Johannes Hoffman. The material comes from across her previous albums, Vanja writing most of the songs here, assisted by a number of others, including Guenter and Artjom on two songs. There are also six covers which perhaps reveal something about Vanja’s influences, notably two from Rory Gallagher and one from Alvin Lee.
An opening salvo of “Rock n’Rolla Train” and Rory’s “Bad Penny” (also the title of Vanja’s 2018 debut album) sets out the band’s stock in trade of solid riffs, followed by two songs with similar themes, “Devil Woman” and “Voodoo Mama”, the latter complete with devilish laughter from Vanja. She then takes the pace off and dons her acoustic guitar for “Run Away”, a song taken from her last album Reborn. Initially solo, Guenter adds some ethereal slide before the band joins in at the half way point and the tune develops attractively with Guenter’s bright lead work. The gentler pace continues with “Troublemaker”, Artjom’s languid bass heavily featured here. Going back to her debut album, “Hard Working Woman” returns to the heavy riffing style and chugs along well, Vanja stretching her vocals on this one and the band adding backing vocals. The first CD ends with a cover of The Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”, a song that has been covered extensively over the years, not least by the great Nina Simone; Vanja plays it pretty straight and encourages the crowd to sing along with the familiar tune.
CD2 is equal parts originals and covers, an exhilarating run through Sam and Dave’s “I Take What I Want” punctuating a run of four originals which start with a short “Can You Hear Life Knocking”. “Hit Me With The Blues” is an eight minute slower tune with plenty of guitar and is followed by a moody “Hero”. The centrepiece of the CD is a ten minute “Crossroads Of Life” which opens with the two guitars creating a wall of sound from which the tune emerges, another slower tune with emphatic vocals, more guitar heroics from Guenter either side of a quiet, introspective middle section and a few classic rock quotes too! The album closes with three covers. Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is the source for “I’d Love To Change The World” which ebbs and flows, the second Rory Gallagher tune is a thrilling eight minutes of “Shadow Play” that was this reviewer’s pick of the whole album and the encore is a barnstorming run through one of the great garage rock tunes, “Louie Louie” (Richard Berry).
The album is beautifully packaged in a three part gatefold with the two CDs and a space for the sleeve notes, a detailed list of dates for 2025 and even a mock backstage pass too! Anyone who enjoys female led blues-rock is sure to like this set.
