This live recording features Leo Nocentelli and Ziggy Modeliste, the less visible half of the original Meters, with the regular occasional band that did sporadic West Coast club gigs during the '90s. It's Nocentelli's group and the self-aggrandizing tone of the liner notes at the expense of his old bandmates is uncomfortable enough, but it's also reflected in the guitar-heroic stance of the arrangements here. The songs lean heavily on the classic Rejuvenation-era Meters (no objections here) but flight-of-the-bumblebee guitar solos abound more than compact slabs of second-line funk. The opening Fire on the Bayou comes dressed up with an extended, almost prog-rock intro and coda, but the actual song is lean, mean, and funky enough with Nocentelli's vocals not a million miles from those of Art Neville. People Say starts off with deadly funky rhythm guitar riffing and remains a truth song 25 years after it was first recorded; try "Destruction is in the air/When is it gonna quit/Somebody end the madness/I'm gettin' sick and tired of this sh*t" for inspirational lyrics. Kevin Walsh's piano lays a solid chordal bed for Nocentelli's solo and the funky track showcases the jam band side of the Meters so well that you don't mind the audience participation routine or sorta ragged backing vocals. But why, pray tell, does Que Sera, Sera give one-time Neville Brothers bassist Nick Daniels a vocal showcase and Nocentelli a blues blitz guitar hero moment?

1		Fire on the Bayou/1984
2		People Say
3		Que Sera, Sera
4		The Hype and the Hoopla
5		Africa
6		Doops Interlude
7		Come Back Jack
8		Hey Pocky Way
9		Cissy Strut

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