Customer Reviews

Live From Long Beach

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Recorded live in Long Beach, California, in November 2006, `Live From Long Beach' is a fantastic document of TSOL's recent run of shows since their return to the punk scene with Jack Grisham on vocals a few years ago. I'm a long-time TSOL fan, and I have seen them numerous times over the past few years, with each show being better than the last, so this CD is better than a dozen tour shirts for me. The sound is great for a live album that was clearly made on a shoestring budget, and it is most certainly LIVE, with overdubs kept to a minimum, if at all. The band deliver a dream setlist, with passion, power, and a full understanding of their legacy--which is to say that their playing (and Jack's singing) is in top form, and they maintain the integrity of their classic material. The buzz: 25 songs in roughly 80 minutes, a killer cover of The Damned's `Politics,' and classics galore, including `World War III,' `Dance With Me,' `Beneath The Shadows,' `Sounds Of Laughter,' `Code Blue,' and `Abolish Government/Silent Majority.' TSOL have given us a rare treat here: a live album that is worth listening to again and again.

The November 25, 2006, concert at The Vault in Long Beach, California, was supposed to be the band's penultimate show....but retirement in music is like hanging up the gloves in pro boxing and they were back playing "comeback" gigs in about a year.

There is plenty of passion in the music and Jack Grisham does toss out some funny barbs directed at audience members - and himself - though a few times it appears that he's trying to take a break from the swift pace of the 25 numbers, which unfortunately makes the closer - "Code Blue" - sound like a wrap to make room for last call at the bar. The initial half dozen tracks have incredible sustained energy that is matched by the superfecta of "Politics," "Beneath the Shadows," "In My Head" and "Abolish Government/Silent Majority."

The brief liner notes include "Thanks to No One," which may have made saying goodbye pretty easy and staying away all that harder.