It started in Palm Desert, California around 1988 and their beautiful, dense, innovative, musical genius officially ended in 1997. KYUSS was ahead of their time and they were THE root of a mighty Stoner Rock tree that would bear delicious fruit in the form of many bands that would blossom after their fire had been extinguished. The first time I saw KYUSS was when they opened up for Faith No More on the Angel Dust tour. It was mind blowing. I had never seen or heard anything like it. Their sound was humongous, throbbing, hypnotizing, and down right brilliant. I was hooked. Sadly, it was a short career and they were disregarded during their time. Most people would only take notice after they were gone. I guess that’s what happens with truly great art and artists. All four members would go on to form many other bands after KYUSS was put to rest such as Unida, Fu Manchu, Slo Burn, Hermano, Mondo Generator, and of course most notably – Queens Of The Stone Age.
Fast forward to 2011 and 3/4 of the band have come together and are touring as Kyuss Lives! I was skeptical when I heard that Josh Homme was not participating and a new guitarist was filling his shoes. But after listening to the old records and watching some footage of this formation on the Web, I knew I had to go. To hear those songs again in live glory would just be magical. So last night I went to Warehouse Live and had an absolute blast seeing the mostly re-united KYUSS. I had heard that Scott Reeder was playing bass due to Nick Oliveri’s recent troubles with the law, but Nick was there last night. I prefer Scott to Nick. Nick is a very capable bassist, but Scott plays the 4 string like nobody else. Regardless, they sounded incredible. I always loved the trippy desert/Native American vibes, tones, and passages and all those delicate pieces were executed beautifully last night. Brant Bjork was sporting his 70’s biker hippie head band look while pounding out tight, tribal, and dancey drum patterns. He kept me bouncing and shakin it through the whole set. Bruno Fevery proved to be an extremely apt and talented guitarist. Paying homage to Josh and the songs, while adding his own very subtle touch to the swaths of riffs that cascaded from the stage. John Garcia’s voice is still in fine form and he commandeered the mic and the stage with great swagger and rock elegance. It was absolutely fantastic and I’m so jazzed I went and saw one of my favorite bands of all time.