Short Reviews [Guru Guru - 2020 - "Live In China"]

Guru Guru are one of the most well-known bands of the Krautrock movement, and drummer/vocalist Mani Neumeier has been at the helm since their formation in 1968. In 2019 they were invited to play their first ever gig in China, and more than 1000 people turned up to listen. Mani also provides Kaossilator, and the current line-up includes Roland Schaeffer (guitar, saxophone, nadaswaram, vocals), Peter Kuhmstedt (bass, vocals) and Jan Lindqvist (guitar, lap steel guitar, vocals). At the time of recording Mani was 79 years old, but one would never imagine that from his playing as he is still powerful behind the kit – I cannot think of another rock drummer still performing at this level at his age. I wondered if Ian Paice might be in the same league, but he is quite bit younger, as is Carmine Appice. Having Schaefer in the band providing sax etc allows them to come at music from quite a few different angles, and the overall feeling from this is that here is a band who are incredibly loose and relaxed. They mix krautrock with ambient and RIO, all with a certain flair which only comes from having played so many shows. That being said, I must admit this isn’t really for me, but that is down purely to personal taste as opposed to anything inherently wrong with what they are doing. The recording may not be top quality but that fits in with the overall sound, and the reaction from the crowd shows that even though they were in strange territory there were lots of friends around. They played music from throughout their career and in some ways, this can be seen as a historic document. Fans will be pleased to know that not only has this been made available, but that it is actually a DVD + CD set. The band had planned to play more than 200 shows year prior to the pandemic so there is no sign of retirement any time soon.