Review: Muddy What? – Live At Victoria Teatern
Muddy What? – Live At Victoria Teatern
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: Howlin’ Who Records
Release: 2025
Text: Any Trachsel
The trio Muddy What? from Munich Germany is an exciting band and very multi-talented. They play with so much pleasure it makes you smile. Ode an die Freude! And all three are virtuoso on their instruments. Well they have now a new album recorded live in Sweden. Fabian Spang on guitar and vocals, his sister Ina Spang on guitar and mandolin and Michi Lang on drums and bass.
The opening song Gone From Mississippi starts with mysterious guitars and brother and sister interplay. Then Fabian sings the Delta blues and you can imagine the landscape of Mississippi. The guitarlicks are played by Ina. Lord have mercy! Wah wah rules!
My heart beats faster when I see the next song is Honky Tonk Women from the Rolling Stones. Country Honk of the ‘Let it Bleed’ album must be their inspiration. Their version includes acoustic guitar, mandolin and the walking bass at the end of the song. Gimme Gimme some more Muddy What!
Loan Me A Dime is a blues with suspense soloing of Ina. Listen to the chilling guitarsolo of Ina. Again a climax with a wah wah guitarsolo. Uncontainable contains a bass lick, acoustic guitar and mandolin. Waving together into a swinging pattern. And listen to that bass solo par excellence.
Shoelace Fuss is dominated by sensitive echo-feedback guitarsolos and fill-ins. As guitarplayer I am quite impressed and forgot to listen to the lyrics. The Muddy What trio closes the first set with the traditional blues Rolling And Tumbling. Ina’s mandolin in overdrive mode, Michi walking the bass and Fabian strumming the guitar.
The first song of set two was a mystery to me. The song is called Bassman. Who is playing the bass? Must be Michi Lang, their drummer. And indeed when the song has ended they tell the public, it’s Michi. He is playing like his life is depending on it. So are Fabian on guitar and Ina on mandolin working to a fantastic climax!
Lonesome Road Blues gives us a moment of rest. Just acoustic guitar, mandolin and bass. I like that Americana feel of Ry Cooder. Their funky wah wah version of Purple Haze could be a soundtrack for a seventies movie like Shaft. Very unexpected there’s halfway a rhythm change and a drumsolo begins and after that the funk goes on.
Spider Legs is a slow blues with a nice mandolin intro and fill-ins. In fact it’s a heartbreaking story with some beautiful mandolin playing. The audience is quiet and only listening.
The band transforms another song of the Rolling Stones Shine A Light from the original gospel version to a Muddy What blues. Listen to the fantastic guitar fill-ins of Ina. The trio really shine a light on you with help of some wah wah guitar.
Moving On is a soulful ballad with angelic mandolin playing. Almost time to moving on for the band. Just wait guys, we follow you to see your next concert! Hail hail rock and roll for these guys from Munich!
Website: https://www.muddywhat.de/
