Rovo and System 7

A collaborative project between Steve Hillage (Gong) and Rovo (featuring Seiichi Yamamoto of the Boredoms), a merging of techno and a jam-band sounds intriguing on paper. In practice however, the music was a vague directionless mess, with loud beats and a variety of instruments (electric violin, guitars, synths, beats, bass, keyboards etc.) sounding like a nightmarish, muddled melding of yes, a prog jam-band and techno. Two live drummers and some guitar solos created the illusion of musicianship, but this was soulless, gutless, aimless music. Other audience members did seem to get their groove on, but any appealing melodies, rhythms or solos totally passed this reviewer by.

Concorde 2, 9 March 2014

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