Lance Lopez

Killer “Live” disc from bad-ass Dallas blues/rock stratmaster Lance Lopez featuring 8 tracks (65 minutes) of brain-damaging, over-the-top, raw, gut-wrenching, Hendrix- inspired, blues/rock heavy guitar power trio fury captured “live without a net”. Recorded “Live in Holland” on his Euro-2000 tour, L.L. goes straight for the jugular and takes no prisoners as he unleashes a torrential downpour of killer riffage and mind-blowing licks from his beat-up Strat. The “LIVE” disc is further proof and a testament to the fact that Lance Lopez reigns supreme in the world of serious bluesy heavy guitar rock.

Coming straight out of the gate with a killer, heavy version of "Spanish Castle Magic" by James Marshall Hendrix, Brother Lance Lopez makes his presence known and pays “homage” to our “Main Man” and does the “Father of Heavy Guitar” proud with his raw, hard-assed, unabashed version. LL is “on fire” as he rips his poor axe apart like a “pitbull on steroids” on this track & thru-out the killer “Live” disc, ending the disc on a good bluesy note with a phenomenal 12 minute “slow blues burner” in the form of the classic, self-penned “Everytime I Turn Around”. Complete with an outstanding 5 minute instrumental slow blues guitar intro jam featuring the Dallas stratmaster diggin’ deep in his back pocket for dynamic, fluid blues licks on par with the late, great SRV, ”Everytime I Turn Around” is what the REAL blues are all about and this stellar track is L.L.’s ultimate “musical tribute” to the blues. As an added bonus and as our way of saying thanks, we have included a mind-bending, awesome, over-the-top, extended Live version of “Hear My Train A Comin’” as a “HIDDEN BONUS TRACK” on the “Live” disc where Lance Lopez takes his guitar rite over the edge and into a new heavy guitar dimension. L.L. plays his guitar on this killer Hendrix jam like a man possessed and as if his damn life depended on it. As if the “Live” disc wasn't kool enough, this killer heavy guitar “bonus” jam alone is worth the price of admission. Somewhere in Heavy Guitar Heaven Brother Jimi is smiling down upon us.

The Lance Lopez: "Live" disc is a killer slab of brain-damaging, blues/rock heavy guitar madness that is HIGHLY recommended to fans of HENDRIX (long live the musical spirit of JIMI), FRANK MARINO, ROBIN TROWER, ERIC GALES, KING'S X, S.R.V., DOYLE BRAMHALL, EDDIE HAZEL, LENNY KRAVITZ (imagine Lenny Kravitz meets Hendrix!!!), STEVIE SALAS, RICHIE KOTZEN, JOE BONAMASSA, (early vintage) ZZ TOP, INDIGENOUS, CRAIG ERICKSON, BUDDAHEADS, SKY HIGH & CLAS YNGSTROM, WES JEANS, KAMCHATKA and just about any other killer get-down rippin' blues/rock axeslingers you have ever heard. Fans of his four previous killer Grooveyard discs: “Wall of Soul”, “Simplify Your Vision”, “Higher Ground” & “First Things First” will heavily dig the awesome “Live” disc. You can run but you can’t hide from the blues/rock heavy guitar fury of the bad-ass Dallas axeripper. L.L. is gonna getcha on the “Live” disc.

CHECK OUT THE AWESOME MP3 SAMPLES FOR: LIVE

After a number of high caliber releases Lance Lopez finally delivers this ‘live’ opus that includes many of his now famous covers. Jumping into the arena is the Hendrix favorite “Spanish Castle Magic.” Lopez tackles the master workup with astounding dexterity, keeping the momentum of the song laidback yet skillfully executed. The Dallas strat master wheels and bends with a thicker sound than the original and, though the vocals get a little muddy in places, the guitar is at full volume. Bassist Todd Campbell and drummer Dave Slaughter pair up as a subsonic support team giving Lopez all the room he needs to spin his web-like grooves. Of the disc’s eight tracks, three come from the first Lopez album, First Things First. “There Is Love,” “The Brick” and “Walk It” demonstrate his skill as a writer with bursting guitar harmonics and a blues structure that reflect his love for funk arrangement and unyielding boogie riffs. The vocals improve by the third track giving way to Lopez’s gruff but powerful delivery, an edgy presence that fills in as the trio’s fourth member.
Recorded in front of a Holland audience with no overdubs and no studio trickery, the disc captures Lopez at his most raw. His passionate rendition of Howlin Wolf’s “Killing Floor” sizzles as he locks down the big man’s one-two punch then adds his own leads that generate a nucleus of magical force. By the time the eight-minute “Mr. Rattlesnake” shows up in the set fingers are flying like streaks of lightening across the midnight sky. The push and pull between softer tones and rapid-fire runs dignifies Lopez as a true interpreter of the possibilities of electric blues. Another stunning cover is the Albert Collins' bump and grinder “I’m Doing Fine”. The track starts with a bass/drum boogie-beat then lays into a razor-sharp solo set that feeds itself as the song progresses into an enormous pile of skull-crushing feedback – a perfect vehicle for Lopez to shock and awe. “Everytime I Turn Around”, showcased on Higher Ground, stretches out into 23-minutes of pure Lopez fury as he works in the mind-blowing “Hear My Train A Comin” like a war-horse gone mad.
Todd K. Smith (Cutting Edge) (11.07)