LIVE
THE THIRD MIND + RAIN PARADE
Mississippi Studios, Portland, Oregon, January 11
Dave Alvin’s psych-blues supergroup blast off into the unknown
W
HEN
speaking about The Third Mind, Dave Alvin keeps returning to asingle phrase like amantra: “We don’t know what’s gonna happen!” According to the former Blasters guitarist, he and his all-star band of musical explorers –including Camper Van Beethoven bassist Victor Krummenacher, Counting Crows’ David Immerglück and singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes –don’t rehearse when they get together. They pick asong and the key to play it in, and then let it fly.
It’s apractice that’s served them remarkably well on the two albums they’ve released to date, 2020’s The Third Mind and last year’s The Third Mind 2. Both feature loose, spacious takes on an impressively wide range of material, from Alice Coltrane to the 13th Floor Elevators, as well as some original numbers –all of which get taken to grander, cosmic heights via the tangled interplay of Alvin and Immerglück’s guitars.