As far as long-running festivals go, few carry more prestige in the experimental, psychedelic and doomed/stoned world than Roadburn Festival. Hosted annually in Tilburg, Netherlands, the fest is known for its curated lineups, one-off collaborative sets and many live albums recorded at Roadburn. Washington state stoner rock mainstays Mos Generator have added their name to the list of artists who have a Live at Roadburn album, this one from their 2008 performance, which doubles as their European debut.
Decibel connected with Mos Generator to discuss the album as individual tracks with guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed, revisiting the performance 17 years after it originally went down. Live at Roadburn Festival is out now on Savant Guarde Records.
Live at Roadburn Festival by Mos Generator
LUMBO ROCK
“Lumbo Rock” was the first song the band ever arranged and the opening track on our debut album. Although it wasn’t the first song in the live set. That spot belonged to a track called “NandV,” which was cut due to technical issues. “Lumbo Rock” quickly became, and has remained, a regular show opener. It’s an easy song to play, with vocals that sit comfortably in the middle of my range, making it a perfect warm-up piece to start the night.
SILVER OLYMPUS
Here’s another song that opens an album. “Silver Olympus” is the first track on Songs for Future Gods, the album we were promoting on this tour. I used to introduce it by saying, “Here’s a Saxon song we wrote,” because the main riff borrows ideas from two Saxon classics: “Heavy Metal Thunder” and “Taking Your Chances.” After that brief homage, however, the song turns fully into Mos Generator. “Silver Olympus” has also become one of our most frequent openers – in fact, we opened with it the last time we played. It’s always a challenge, but one that sets the tone perfectly.
ON THE EVE
That makes three album openers in a row. “On the Eve” begins our second album, The Late Great Planet Earth, and stands as one of the definitive Mos Generator songs from the early years. The song’s dynamics and power are always highlights for us when performing live. The arrangement can be tricky, but when we lock into it, we can feel the audience joining us in the experience. On the studio version, “On the Eve” serves as the prelude to a concept album depicting the end of the world, both through human action and biblical prophecy. It’s a 45-minute journey into dark, heavy, and deeply progressive rock territory.
SLEEPING YOUR WAY TO THE MIDDLE
This one also comes from the first album and served as an early platform for extended jamming. Time permitting, we’d break into a free-form section in the middle that sometimes stretched past twenty minutes. The song’s title came from a conversation with a friend who had just broken up with his girlfriend. She’d started seeing another musician. He said, “She must be sleeping her way to the middle!” I thought that line was brilliant and decided to use it for a song I was working on that didn’t yet have lyrics.
THIS IS THE GIFT OF NATURE
“This Is the Gift of Nature” is a song about natural disasters and the ease with which the earth could wipe us out if it chose to. Like “On the Eve,” it’s a dynamic piece that shifts between intensity and space. It appeared on the vinyl edition of Songs for Future Gods but not on the CD. The album was recorded twice, and ‘Gift’ came from the first attempt. It later found its way onto our 2012 album, Nomads.
Y’JUANA
“Y’Juana” first appeared on our debut album and captures the boogie-driven energy that inspired us when we formed the band in 2000. Early influences included Mountain, Cactus, and modern bands like Corrosion of Conformity. I’d say this song reflects our take on that early heavy groove; raw, simple, and full of spirit.
WARSONG
“Warsong” is another track salvaged from the first, unsuccessful attempt to record Songs for Future Gods. It also appeared on the vinyl version of the album but was never re-recorded afterward. The story behind it is interesting: a fan from South America once told us he used Mos Generator songs as his “war songs” to get fired up before going out for the night. I loved that idea and used it as inspiration, though I gave it a more poetic twist in the lyrics.
OPIUM SKIES
This song comes from The Late Great Planet Earth and is one of only three tracks from that album we could effectively perform live as a three-piece. The record was so layered with overdubs that reproducing its sound on stage was a challenge. “Opium Skies” belongs to the “nuclear holocaust” theme of the album and deals with the devastating effects of atomic rain and radiation sickness following a nuclear attack.
WHERE’S SCOOTER?
After finishing the last song of the set, we walked offstage to the sound of the crowd calling us back for an encore, but Scooter was nowhere to be found. We had the audience chant his name while our road manager went off to track him down.
DYIN’ BLUES
“Dyin’ Blues” was released on a 10″ picture disc in 2007. It’s full of traditional blues imagery with lines like “Calling on My Rider” and “Hellhound on My Trail”, combined with a heavy, distorted take on dark blues themes. It’s also the only song on this record that features Scooter on backing vocals.
STEP UP
This show marked the first time we ever played ‘Step Up’ live. A 7″ single of a demo version, backed with “Godhand Iommi,” had been released the same month as this performance, though I can’t remember if we had copies on the tour. Lyrically, “Step Up” represents the first time I wrote about personal emotions and the human condition within the band. It remains one of my absolute favorite songs to perform live, still a fixture in our setlist today. It’s also a piece that often expands into long, open-ended jams during the middle section.
The post Track By Track: Mos Generator – “Live at Roadburn Festival (2008)” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.