Search - Tubes :: Tubes World Tour 2001

"What Do You Want From Live" X 10!

T. May | Encino, CA United States | 11/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a young Jr High School student from the Central Valley of California, I had the chance to see The Tubes the first time in 1975. At that time of the Tubes show "barometer", the tickets said "18 years or older". I guess I just looked older than 13 at that time.At that time the stage presence of all band members and the sound quality of the live theatre style show was amazing. I returned every year to see them when they came to town. From those series of show I acquired their first live album. Everytime I played that album, I would be able to recollect every nuance of the stage performance I had witnessed with the most recent show. I wore that album, and two subsequent factory cassettes out. I really felt this was the best live recording of a Rock and Roll Show ever... until recently that is.While not as segued and interweaved as the first live album, The "Tubes World Tour 2001" is equally, if not more so impressive as the first live release. All the old live standards like "Tubes World Tour", "WPOD", "Mondo Bondage", and "Don't Touch Me There" have a fresh and modern flavor while still retaining the old feel. Gone are Re, Spooner, Cotten and of course Vince. But there are new faces and voices that make every song sound as if they were the original players. Prairie that head knocker has sold rhytum reinforcement found in Trey Sabetelli. Dave Medd is awesome as a Mike Cotten replacement, Spooner should be proud of what David Cambera does for the Oct-tet (plus David appears to not break legs while skiing either). Roger Steen is still crisp and flavorful when applying his licks (us Pipestone boys know how to lay it down!). Rick Anderson has grown even more articulate in his bass playing ways. Thanks to him I wanted to play bass on stage. His un-assuming presence IS the backbone for all their "thump"! Leslie Paton is the perfect modern Re Styles. Great voice, sexy tone, and fantastic to look at. In fact I dare say the entire solid harmony of all the vocalists is better than the Tubes of olde.And then there's Fee. What can you say about a man that can make 5 stage costume changes as fluid as cream without missing a beat, note, cue, or key. Fee still has the personna to keep this big space jet full of rock mutants flying... and the sexual energy to keep all the audience women as wild Wongo-nians at the same time.The two new tracks on the album, "Digi-Doll" and "Loveline" are hip, sweet, and so full of Top 40 Hook that I'm suprised that even the Radio Disney Network hasn't picked up on them, especially "Digi-Doll" with it video game and computer cyber space references.This is by far the best release of a Tubes product since 1979's Remote Control in my opinion. The tracking and sweetening of the production is totally and absolutely freaking first class!Well done kids!"

Good....

S. R. | 08/31/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Tubes being a dinosaur band today play venues roughly the same size as they were playing back in their early days when they were edgy, new, and most decidedly non-commercial. Today they sound mainstream compared to newer bands today, this shouldn't surprise anyone. The band still is an incredible live act with plenty of power and insaneness to go around. There are some nice songs to be had here to go along with the ususal Tubes setlist, "TV is King" is a nice addition as is "Tip of My Toungue" others are a bit redundant for longtime Tubes fans "Mondo Bondage, White Punks..., and She's a Beauty" have been by fans a billion times. The new songs are most welcome because they are actually good with the old Fee Waybill sense of humour coming through and the rest of the band delivering not so standard arrangements. What is sorely missing is the presense of Sputnik Spooner and the underrated Michael Cotton, two which were largely responsible for the Tubes sound, both live and in the studio. But it's all we have and that's not too band at all."

DOWN THE TUBES?

Alan W. Petrucelli | THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI) | 01/24/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Great Grand Daddy of techno punk rock have done it again. What seemed wild and progressive and outrageous 20 years ago comes across like pretty traditional rock now, but for old fans---and new ones---this is a great retrospective. Fee Waybill's lead vocals seem clearer and cleaner than previous recordings, which, for such a lyric-driven group, is a major plus. Roger Steen's driving lead guitar and Prairie Prince's pounding rock percussion have not been dimmed by the decades. Old favorites "Mondo Bondage" and "White Punks on Dope" remind us that techno need not be muddy or unintelligible; two new songs, "Loveline" and "Digi-Doll," prove that The Tubes still have energy, wit, a level of creativity and a social consciousness not usually associated with such music. Tubes groove"