When I think back to the origins of Kyuss I’m woeful of what an experience it must of been to see these in an enchanting environment. Just the open desert, the atmosphere, the intimacy, that type of feeling you experience at sold out club shows. But here we are in 2013, they’re not Kyuss anymore, they’re Vista Chino and they’ve got a glorious new album out.
It’s an achievement to see the Roundhouse mostly full, and it’s a great place for the band whose last few years have unfortunately been hounded by lawsuits and past members to be. As the band finally come on the night is loud and musty, the stage smokey and fuelled by red lights and the fans are here for the music, no gimmicks, no lawsuits. Kicking off Vista Chino are a little on the less energetic side but then again you can’t blame them with music that gives off an aroma of stoner rock at its best. As the night goes on and hits flow in the crowd kick it up a notch when classics Asteroid to Supa Scoopa And Mighty Scoop are played – such an astonishing piece of work to break the set up with.
As they plough through the next half hour each hit raises the crowd to ecstatic and we finally see a crowd surfer nearly make it to the barrier. In true form the bass is booming and the guitars distortion sound stunning in this venue, however a little on the less talkative side. As it comes towards the end of the set and drummer Brant takes over vocals as John Garcia takes a moment to hover side of the stage and greet some overwhelming crowd members. They end with Odyssey and once more we witness John wrangle the microphone around like he’s fighting a snake. As he fires up the crowd with flamboyant and feisty facial expressions he leaps in to the crowd to end a magnificent night.
8/10
