(cover photo by Christopher Bruno)

The fierce and earthy acid rock of Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders makes for a killer live show, always sparking with the excitement of unpredictability and an insatiable energy that never seems to run dry. Like all good improv-heavy artists, no two concerts are ever the same, so catching every set you can is mandatory, if you’re a fan. This is why we have to be immensely grateful for the tapers and anyone else who can capture and preserve their performances like lightning in a bottle, and share them with the rest of us (have you thanked a taper lately?). While the Lidder LPs are equally impressive and entertaining, you have to sink your teeth into their live recordings to get a major dose of the pure power and joy that lies at the center of this heady super group. Two recent live documents, Live at Tubby’s and British Lidderin’ – May 2025, are some of their strongest yet, showing off both their tight, near-telepathic group hive-mind improvisation skills and their absolutely spaced-out feral spirit.

Live at Tubby’s

I was so relieved to see Eiderdown Records had released a tape of their August 2024 performance at Tubby’s, in Kingston, NY, as this is a show I particularly did not want to miss.

This set was from a pre-show kick off party at the legendary upstate NY venue for Raven Sings The Blues’ 2024 Deep in The Valley Festival. With Vague Plot and Oneida on the bill, this show was indeed going to be very sick. I unfortunately could not attend, but when I rolled up to DITV the following afternoon, some friends who had attended the previous night’s proceedings informed me that the night was indeed insane, and also insanely loud. Hearing whispers of a guest appearance by the great Wednesday Knudsen on sax plus a face-melting cover of “Almost Cut My Hair” made me deeply regret not being in town a day sooner. Thankfully, Jake Lyons did the lord’s work and recorded the set for NYCTaper, and its molten energy is now contained within this cassette.

This is the Lidders in primal acid rock behemoth mode, trudging across two side-length epics, starting with “Outer (Eel) Time (Shiv) Inner (Dryad) > Space“, which stomps like Gong trapped in a cloud of DMT smoke. The set is blazingly hot with howling guitar solos, cataclysmic drums and the incendiary sax of Knudsen, who, with her free yet intuitive performing instincts, proves to be one of the most perfect Lidders collaborators ever. Based on how well she listens, complements and converses musically with the rest of the group in the moment, she damn well deserves to be a full-time Lidder.

On the flip side, the aforementioned “Almost Cut My Hair” cover is a total beast that outshines the band’s own studio version. Confirming the hearsay that filled me with envy two years ago, this performance ferociously rips with an unhinged wildness that electrifies the air every time it’s played. Even on tape, you can just feel how much the band’s wall of sound was pummeling the small confines of Tubby’s, of which made the ears of my friends who attended this concert ring well into the following day. As the liner notes on Bandcamp state, PLAY LOUD, VERY LOUD INDEED.

British Lidderin’ – May 2025

This self-released 3-CD bootleg-styled set finds the Lidders venturing through their first ever UK tour, with Aaron Dooley (of whom RCU readers should know from Totem Pocket, Osmium House and of course, The International Disassociation of Aaron Dooley) filling in for Jesse Sheppard on bass.

Captured at various stops along the way, like the historic Bishops’ House in Sheffield and a radio session in Soho, this is the Lidders letting loose their more kosmische and elemental side, performing lengthy suites and exploratory jams that snake their way to strange and wooly places. Tracks like “Paradieswarts Lidders Part I & II” take on mystic ritualistic vibes with their haze of fuzzed-up guitars, jangling bells and trilling pipes, sounding very much like a cross between Träd Gräs och Stenar and the original Amon Düül. This Krautrock and Swedish Progg-inspired vibe is even more evident on the set’s first two pieces, “High Lonesome Bishops’ Bender,” and “Starry Powdered Jam > Disquiet House,” of which feature Gayle Brogan, of Pefkin, on violin, adding a rustic drone-like quality to the band’s sound.

This release is a brilliant snapshot of the Lidders’ more experimental and daring side, showing just how far out they can play, and also how well they can draw strength out of adapting to new surroundings and lineup changes. If Les Rallizes Dénudés, Taj Mahal Travelers and Bardo Pond albums exist in your record collection, then this is a set that deserves to be on the same shelf.

-KH

Record Crates United

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