PERFORMANCE/CD REVIEW
A five-piece ensemble consisting of Fabio Salerno (drums/percussion), Derek Lucier (bass/vocals), Dragan Rusic (keyboards), Scott Lucier (guitar), and Jon Annis (lead vocals/guitar), their music would best be generally described, in my opinion, as jazz-rock fusion, but also contains generous elements of funk and rhythm & blues. This band appears to have a large, dedicated following, as all of the dozen or so tables in the stage area of the room were occupied by very encouraging and enthusiastic audience members, most of whom were greeted personally by the band after their first set ended.
The overall atmosphere of this venue is very cool and sophisticated, but not unfriendly or snobbish. The young woman taking admission at the door graciously waived the cover charge when I explained I was there to review the show (not realizing a last-minute "switch" had taken place!). Jon Annis, who also manages the band, went out of his way to secure a CD, upon my request "just to have a look at it" and ended up donating it to "the cause". Imagine my surprise, then, upon realizing that I was reviewing the "wrong" band!
Their set that evening was quite varied style-wise, including "Mercy, Mercy, Me", "Every Breath You Take", the funk classic, "Brick House", and "Stand By Me", which sufficiently inspired some audience members from getting up on the dance floor (and this was still early in the evening!)
On one song (which also appears on "Dizzy Circles") called "Special Trip", Dragan Rustic executed an absolutely vicious "assault" on his Hammond B3, using his forearms like drumsticks - terrifically passionate! I'd like to see him in a "B3 duel" with Peter Jermyn!
This full-length CD, containing 10 songs, was self-produced by the band and mixed by Michael White (no idea if that's the Michael White of the Led Zeppelin tribute band or not). All but three of the songs were written solely by Liquid Stick, and the remaining three were co-written with Henry Samson and Liquid Stick.
It's quite an unusual collection of songs by a very talented group of players, and anyone who is interested in Rush, the Police (I'm thinking of their "Synchronicity" album), or even Yes (but without Jon Anderson's "choirboy" vocals) would probably enjoy this.
