Karma to Burn + Desert Storm + Bad Earth

Thursday 28th August 2014

The Live Rooms, Chester

Another gig at the Live Rooms in Chester – and tonight it’s a night of stoner rock!

The first band on are Bad Earth.  Unfortunately (and as per usual, looking back at my previous gig reviews!) I missed the start of the set.  I saw most of their performance, however – and Bad Earth deliver a great selection of thunderous tunes in a Kyuss vein.  Awesome quality for an opening band, we are definitely not in the Kansas dust bowl of amateurs tonight.  These guys are professional and they rock.  I’ll ensure I catch the full set next time.

Up next are Oxford based Desert Storm.  Any punter would be expecting more of the same, but this band roar off in another direction.  Their sound is more riff based and reminds me of Clutch.  I love Clutch.  Their singer looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, and when he opens his mouth I first detected what I thought was a Death Metal bellow.  This instantly warped into a honey and bourbon drenched growl that was more Howlin’ Wolf than Napalm Death.  Astonishing.

I thoroughly enjoyed Desert Storm, and happily recommend them to anyone who loves chunky, funky guitar riffs with a bluesy, earthy voice whirling around it.  Wish I’d bought the CD. 

The unusual aspect tonight is that I have never listened to any of the bands before, not even the headliners.  I had heard of Karma to Burn, but not actually listened to them.  Now what the smart 21st century kids do is check out a few tunes first on YouTube or Spotify, to see if the band in question appeals.  But that’s not very stoner rock, is it?  We’re talking about bands forged in the fires of Master of Reality and Volume 4, not the digital age.  Also, it’s more of an adventure to take a chance!

Karma to Burn are from West Virginia, USA.  They play a set that is instrumental.  That’s without vocals, kids!  Not an easy task to pull off – without vocals the listener doesn’t have as many clues to song structure.  However there are less distractions from the mighty attack of guitar/bass/drums and the atmosphere that Karma to Burn are able to create.

With barely a breather between tracks, the riffs are constantly washing over the audience relentlessly.  The band create a psychedelic assault, as if in a Grand Canyon watched over by an Olympian Billy Gibbons.  It is indeed incredible, and unlike anything I’ve witnessed before.

The moral of this story is, take a chance on live music, you never know what you’re going to find.  Whilst it’s always a buzz to see a band you’re already a fan of, sometimes a little adventure is what we need.

Good night, and God bless.

The Live Rooms web page is here.

Karma to Burn’s website is here.

Desert Storm and Bad Earth both appear to have Facebook pages, check ’em out.