Review: ‘Live At The Jovel’ Ivy Gold

Ivy Gold

By Mike O’Cull

Multi-culti 5-piece blues/rock outfit Ivy Gold take it to the stage in a major way on the band’s new album Live At The Jovel. The record comes out June 17th, 2022 on Golden Ivy Records and documents the group playing live at The Jovel, a legendary venue in Münster, Germany that has hosted artists ranging from Simple Minds to Miles Davis. It will be available on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray.

The room has become Ivy Gold’s home stage, as well, and hearing their set captured as it happened is quite an experience. The gig went down in November of 2021, back when live music of any kind was hard to come by due to the Covid pandemic, and shows Ivy Gold to be a tight, musical, and fearless crew willing to risk it all to play these songs for their fans. It was one of those transcendent, emotional nights that deserves to be recorded and filmed and, fortunately for all of us, it was. Oftentimes in a band’s life, the best shows aren’t preserved or chronicled and become free-range memories shared by the performers and the crowd. Thankfully, Ivy Gold knew they were going to throw down and preserved every minute of their set for your rock and roll pleasure.

Ivy Gold are relative newcomers to the international scene, having released their debut record Six Dusty Winds in March of 2021. The set was immediately popular with both fans and critics and quickly got Ivy Gold’s career moving in an upward trajectory. The group’s lineup of female vocalist Manou, guitarist Sebastian Eder (Avalon), drummer Tal Bergman (Joe Bonamassa, Billy Idol), bass player Kevin Moore (Jennifer Rush), and keyboardist Anders Olinder (Glenn Hughes) share a strong chemistry that has already led to much memorable music. Manou is a completely new discovery and owns one of the most expressive voices to appear in a long time. She soars and roars through these songs in a way that’s deeply personal and helps Ivy Gold achieve its original sound.

First up on the set list is the heavy, empowered funk/rock of “This Is My Time.” The band is cracking and fresh from the first bar and it’s clear that all five players are in the same zone. Sebastian Eder’s guitar solo is articulate and melodic, never lapsing over into excess or cliché. Manou owns the vocal mic from the jump and displays the kind of presence that dreams are made of. Her style is bold and confident and she uses it to quickly get the crowd on her side.

“Face Of Deceit” is edgy and dangerous and pushes out a different energy than the previous song. Manou absolutely prowls her way through the lyrics before letting the rest of the band stretch out in the middle. Eder shines once again on lead guitar and the rhythm section shadows his every move. He has a different vocabulary than most rock players and deploys it nicely here. What makes it even mightier is knowing that he and the band were only able to rehearse twice before the night of the show. Every person in this bunch is all pro all the way.

One of the most powerful songs in the show is the title track from Ivy Gold’s first release “Six Dusty Winds.” It has an early-90s grunge flavor to it at first but morphs into a rock-influenced gospel style complete with magnificent vocals. It’s a perfect mix of grit and gold that will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired. Some other notable moments on Live At The Jovel are “Without You,” “Shine On,” and “Retribution.”