Giant Sand

Giant Sand; The Cluny, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne; 22nd April 2024

While Howe Gelb is undoubtedly Giant Sand, the band members behind him revolve and rotate, sometimes dizzyingly so. Tonight’s line up was a basic trio with Giant Sand veteran Tommy Larkins on drums and Brian Lopez on bass guitar (his first outing on such it appears) while Gelb slashed and burned on guitar.

Never a man to resist a whim, Howe Gelb has resurrected the band title he retired a few years back and re-recorded the first album which came out under the Giant Sand name, 1985's ‘Valley of Rain'.

Giant Sand Live In Concert In Spain

Co-headline tours such as this are what dreams are made of with two genre defining and highly influential artists coming together to each showcase their exceptional sounds.

Giant Sand head honcho Howe Gelb can often cut a mercurial figure, when he’s on his game he can be engaging, sharp, witty, irreverent and above all unpredictable.

Three years and three albums later, Black ditched the office and hit the road for good, living her dream.