THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO…THE DEAD DAISIES – Live Plus Five (The Dead Daisies Pty Ltd)

Although they’ve made some damn fine studio albums The Dead Daisies are a band for the live arena. Onstage, their songs mutate from simply great to turbocharged, as ‘Live Plus Five’ ably demonstrates, and with John Corabi back front and centre the band have never sounded better. A lively companion to their 2017 ‘Live & Louder’ outing and originally released digitally as ‘Live At Stonedead’ last year, ‘Live Plus Five’ is a furious beast, sharp of tooth and claw – let this album into a chicken coop and all you’ll have left is blood and feathers. Recorded at UK’s Stonedead Festival on 23 August 2025, where the band’s headline slot wrapped up a European tour, the set bounces beautifully from the raging up-tempo ‘Rise Up’ to their take on ‘Going Down’ from their more self-indulgent blues covers album ‘Lookin’ For Trouble’. ‘I Wanna Be Your Bitch’ is glorious, ‘Mexico’ (with its animated introduction) is a gem, and of course their longstanding takes on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’ and SAHB’s ‘Midnight Moses’ add that final je ne sais quoi to the party atmosphere. In addition to the full set from last year’s digital release the added attraction here on these new vinyl or CD versions is five tracks – ‘I’m Ready’, ‘Black Betty’, ‘Unspoken’, ‘Last Time I Saw The Sun’ and ‘Get A Haircut’ – recorded at other venues elsewhere over the past couple of years. Compared to the rest of the album they’re a bit ragged and, to be fair, they’re not exactly essential, but it’s The Dead Daisies, it’s live and dangerous, so they’re good to have all the same.

Video clip: ‘Going Down’ (Live From Graspop) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgHSb2x8fE

John Tucker May 2026