Cactus - Live, Loud & Proud [DVD9] (2010)

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Cactus - Live, Loud & Proud [DVD9] (2010)

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Cactus – Live, Loud & Proud, a DVD released on 8-24-2010 by MVD Visual, is basically a compilation of new songs that the band played in various cities on their 2006-07 tour, with the reuniting of Jim McCarty, Carmine Appice, and Tim Bogert from the original late 60s-70s band but now with former Savoy Brown frontman Jimmy Kunes doing vocals and newcomer Randy Pratt on harmonica. The band had just released a new album, Cactus 5, and the sound and visual on this DVD are excellent (smaller squares and rectangles superimposed over the original footage to show us details at various points). As Jimmy Kunes sings out, “We’re gonna have some fun tonight!” and in the traditional sense of hard rock, their energy level is still unbelievable (having already been noted for this in their earlier years).
Cactus never got a gold or platinum record but influenced many bands of their era and were so high-energy that other bands refused them as their frontmen. Cactus was also known as “the American Led Zeppelin.” In this DVD one song follows another, with little said in-between songs, although Kunes does love to wave his microphone at the audience in performance. Fans will appreciate the bass solo on Oleo and the drum solo on Evil, along with Let Me Swim, Long Tall Sally, The Groover, Parchman Farm and the rest of the 13-song Set List. Who could keep up such high energy for such extended periods of time? Not many! Fans will also love the interaction between band members, which is tight musically and very attune to the entire performance. The audience claps along and adds to the energy of the last song, Parchman Farm, “Sitting here on the Parchman Farm/Be down here for the rest of my life.”
The Bonus Features offer us Oleo, a Jam at Namm with greats Warren Haynes, Pat Travers and Joe Bonamassa; The Groover, a music video replete with three girls in red bikinis and Jimmy Kunes in a suit drinking a martini; Interviews with the band; and short Testimonials from many of the band members of Anvil, Vinnie Moore of UFO, Shawn Drover of Megadeth, Ty Tabor of Kings-X,
Uli Jon Roth of the Scorpions and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Interviews offer us many insights into the band’s early years. Carmine Appice (drums & vocals) tells us that the band was first started 40 years ago (and that this DVD is part of that celebration in 2007), during a time when there weren’t any music videos! Cactus wanted Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck but these two guys didn’t get along, so their “raw, bluesy and high energy music” was vocalized by Rusty Dave from the Detroit Wheels and backed by Carmen Appice and Tim Bogert (who also did vocals) and Jim McCarty. Tim Bogert tells us a “belligerence” story about when Alvin Lee was not happy with them “wearing out the audience” before his band came up and so tried to get the police to move them offstage before they could do an encore! Announcers called Cactus “the best bar band in the world” and Jimmie Hendrix thought they were great, while The Who were upset with them just because of their energy.
Jim McCarty was with his blues band Mr. Train when Randy Pratt asked him to come to his basement studio to try jamming for the new Cactus, and he found the transition very natural. Jimmy Kunes came in and did “scratch vocals” over their efforts of a year’s worth of songs, and later joined the new band. Kunes had an older brother who had a fantastic record collection who first got him involved with rock,
and he says “When you step onstage it’s like a blank canvas where you try to create magic…..I get to share my love of music with people who love music.” Younger band member Randy Pratt, who now plays harmonica for Cactus, says, “I never felt so much love coming up on the stage in my life” and calls Cactus “the ultimate biker band, Motorhead with a little bit of Led Zeppelin, muscle car music.”
All in all, Cactus – Live, Loud & Proud is quite a DVD of a remarkable band, especially to those who have never heard them before. I highly recommend it!

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Cactus - Live, Loud & Proud [DVD9] (2010)

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