julietteandthelicks_2006_10

» Juliette & The Licks 2006 10 28

Reviewed by Thomas
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Special guest: Action Plan
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue: Trädgårn
Date: 28 Oct 2006
Juliette & The Licks setlength: 80 min.

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Juliette & The Licks

This night some Hollywood glory was spread through Gothenburg in form of Juliette & The Licks. If anyone should have missed it, Juliette Lewis is the actress that takes some time away from the filmmaking in order to concentrate on some kick ass rock'n'roll instead. A thing she does with the honour and with the same extravagance as she possesses in her acting. When the band hit the stage it is almost with the same heat and intensity as Danko Jones, and musically they do not come as far apart either at times. But truth be told, without her this band would not be as exciting. I don't want to take anything away from the guys in the band because they surely delivered, but Juliette is what gives this band just a little more bite.

Since their last visit in Sweden and Gothenburg things have started to roll for this band. The venue this time was bigger and also the crowd was a lot bigger since the last time even if it wasn't completely sold out this time evening. Juliette lit a fire on stage and it kept burning bright from beginning to end, but the band lost some of its intensity and further more some intimacy when playing on a larger stage compared to the last time. A smaller and more packed place is better for this band, not in any way meaning that this was bad in any sense, because it wasn't - it was great.

With now two albums in the baggage the band played a longer set then last time to my delight, but even if the new songs worked well live, it was inevitable to hear that the older songs came with more passion. Shelter Your Needs, Pray For The Band Latoya and Coming Around are great on album as well as live and the new songs that feel more slick-streamed could not really match up to those two for instance. Although Juliette at times sounded like she had come down with a cold, her voice was good enough and she did a solid singing effort. Without sounding like a male chauvinist pig I must say that Juliette is a beautiful woman and she is damn sexy when she is living it out on stage while throwing and bending herself around.

Normally I would have said that the only thing that ever slowed the band down was a ballad. But with the dedication that Juliette Lewis sang with when she dedicated Long Road Out Of Here to a friend that recently passed away and when she looked as she would burst into tears at any moment, even I was touched. So Amazing, the song that is - well the entire concert was pretty amazing as well - but the most amazing part of this concert was the song So Amazing. That passion, heat and intensity they showed in that song is how I choose to remember this concert.

7 chalices of 10