ALBUM REVIEW: Clisson, France – Hermano
John Garcia is an immortal figure when it comes to stoner/desert rock. His time as frontman for the fabled KYUSS (and that includes the band’s subsequent offshoots KYUSS LIVES! and VISTA CHINO) is the stuff of legend, with Garcia influencing so many bands and vocalists with his iconic croon. Then there are his other bands, the criminally underrated SLO BURN (who’s sole official release, the Amusing The Amazing EP still sounds phenomenal) and the similarly underrated UNIDA, as well as his brilliant solo albums and you have one of the greatest vocalists in rock history.
With all that history, Garcia has done enough to be held in such high regard but his work with another of his bands, HERMANO, only elevates such legend even more. The return of the band, who feature bassist Dandy Brown, guitarists Mike Callahan and David Angstrom, and drummer Chris Leathers alongside Garcia for the 2024 album When The Moon was High, their first since 2007, was manna from heaven for stoner rock fanatics.
Before that return though, the band were still playing live and blowing away audiences worldwide with their loose but focussed stoner jams, and their set at Hellfest in Clisson, France is immortalised here in the aptly titled Clisson, France. Hellfest has established itself as one of, if not the premier heavy music festivals in Europe, with everything from classic rock and trad metal, to hardcore, and black and death metal represented.
Stoner, doom, sludge and post-metal is well represented too of course and The Valley Stage at the festival has this covered, and the 2016 edition of the festival featured HERMANO playing The Valley alongside the likes of FU MANCHU, GOATSNAKE, TORCHE and DOPELORD, and their set is now available in all its stoner rocking goodness, and demonstrate exactly what a powerful live band HERMANO are.
The band kick off with the energetic grooves of Left Side Bleeding and from the off, it sounds like a massive rocking party, with Garcia’s unmistakable vocals in full flow as the bands riffs and grooves erupt around him. This is the sound of HERMANO live and it sounds amazing. From then on in, it’s a jam packed hazy party of a set with the band on fine form. The festival’s metal reputation is addressed as Garcia announces “Y’all just put down your pentagrams and shit, we just want to fuck this place up together for a little bit” before a mammoth rendition of The Bottle.
As the band tear through songs such as Cowboys Suck, 5 To 5, Love and Is This Ok?, it is with an energetic fervour, and even the more laid back moments still contain that same energy. The warm reception that HERMANO receive is evident throughout and the band sound like they are having the time of their lives up there and this is extremely evident as they reach the conclusion of the set with an epic Kentucky and Manager’s Special.
Following the blistering rendition of Angry American which ends the set, Garcia thanks the audience and declares it such a special moment for the band and you can tell that he means every word as HERMANO exit the stage to rapturous applause, having whipped The Valley into a frenzy.
Ten years on from that night in Clisson, HERMANO are back playing live in Europe including a headline set at London’s Desertfest in May and if this live album is anything to go by, anyone witnessing them live then is in for an utter treat, and if for any chance that you can’t make it, you can bask in the glory of the band live in Clisson here again and again.
Rating: 8/10
Clisson, France is out now via Ripple Music.