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Taken from USA TODAY (September 17, 2014)
On the Road Again: At 30, Living Colour is still vivid
by Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY
Living Colour, from left: bassist Doug Wimbish, drummer Will Calhoun,
vocalist Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid.
(Photo: Karsten Staiger) |
New 'Shade' of Colour: When Living Colour kicks off its Synesthesia 2014 tour Thursday night in Toronto (the first U.S. date is Friday in Ferndale, Mich.), the group will have 30 years of material to pull from, including hits such as Cult of Personality and Love Rears Its Ugly Head. The group also will have new songs: Living Colour's sixth studio album, Shade, is expected in early 2015. "We're going to do as much of the new record as we possibly can and get that up and running," says singer Corey Glover.
Acting up: Guitarist Vernon Reid formed Living Colour in 1984, working with a fluid lineup until Glover joined in 1986. "At the time, I was still a working actor, and I approached it like I was an actor and these were characters I had to play," says Glover. He had appeared in Platoon before joining the group, which also included drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Muzz Skillings, who was replaced by Doug Wimbish in 1992.
Taking the gig: Wimbish's biggest challenge in joining the band was making himself available. The same week in 1992 that Calhoun called to see if Wimbish could play with Living Colour at a festival in Brazil, the bassist also got calls from Seal and Bruce Springsteen. He took the Living Colour gig because the offer came first. "I honored that vibe ... (and) calmly, casually told everybody else I couldn't do that." The fest led to a long-term gig because the new lineup blended like "peanut butter and jelly, fish and hot sauce — it just worked," Wimbish says.
New live album: To coincide with the tour, Living Colour is releasing Vivid "25" — Live at the Paradise, a concert recorded at Boston's Paradise Rock Club in April 2013. Glover hears an innocence in the group's Grammy-winning debut recording that no longer exists in the songs when they're performed these days. "There's a lot more gravitas to the music now," he says. "As much as these things are 25 years ago, a lot of it still stands true, which I think is amazing. When you hear Cult of Personality, it's very current and always has been."
Taking care of the voice: Most singers warm up their voices before a show. Glover also has a routine to cool his down afterward. "It's an exercise; it's muscle memory," he says. "Like runners: A runner has to warm up before he starts to run and cool down after he runs."
Colour them cold: When Living Colour took the stage for an outdoor New Year's Eve 2013 show in Niagara Falls, N.Y., temperatures were well below freezing. "They had two burners onstage to keep us warm; they might as well have been matches," Wimbish says. "I was playing with gloves on. I didn't realize I could play, if I had to, with gloves on. But you know what? Great gig — we did what we had to do."
The Colour of the blues: In March 2012, Living Colour participated in an all-star tribute to the music of the late bluesman Robert Johnson at the Apollo Theater, performing Johnson's song Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped the Devil). "It made us think about the rich history of the blues," Glover says. "Inasmuch as we are an American rock band, we needed to delve deeper into what the blues was. We took the Robert Johnson tune and really made it a Living Colour tune." Another live version of Preachin' Blues appears on Vivid "25" and premieres at USA TODAY.
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