Guitar Duos and Difference
Enjoyed especially seeing the latest incarnation of The
Groundhogs [having not before] with original member Ken Pustelnik on drums, and
newbies Chris D’Avoine on vocal and guitar, Sol Latif on guitar and Latch Manghat
on bass.
It’s not complicated: they play Groundhog music from the
band’s heyday, loud and raw and vibrant, encoring on, no surprise here, Cherry Red. There were extended guitar
jams between D’Avoine and Latif – the later more shredding and the former more psychedelic
– and both were gloriously indulgent [I listened to two guys call it ‘guitar
wank’ and wondered why the fuck they went to a Groundhog gig – I’d happily
refer to it as guitar spunk, caring
less for those indulging their umbrage at the puerile, like this guitar duo
could care less for such haughty dismissal]. Pustelnik on drums was such a
pulsing core, and Manghat added his own sustained thunder to the riffs and
rhythms. Far out, as I shouted at one
post-jam moment.
[Listening to Hogwash album as I wrote the above. Wonderful]
I had to leave the gig early but saw Wishbone Ash play their
first number The King Will Come, as
polished as ever [that’s what 50 years of playing will do, even with new
members] and while the guitar playing was a more refined rock – when compared
with The Groundhogs – I wouldn’t knock it [I mean, why would you when it is so
good] but just stress its difference.
