For many,
Trapeze truly hit their peak in the early '70s, with such releases as
Medusa and
You Are the Music...We're Just the Band, and more specifically, when their lineup consisted of Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley, and Dave Holland. By 1975, Hughes was long gone from the group (having split to join up with
Deep Purple a couple of years earlier), but Galley and Holland soldiered on with Hughes' replacement,
Pete Wright, and another guitarist,
Rob Kendrick (with Galley assuming vocal duties). And it's this era and lineup that are featured on
Live at the Boat Club 1975. For those who assume that the Hughes-less Trapeze was incapable of creating some on-stage excitement, this set will certainly prove you wrong. For starters, Galley has a surprisingly strong voice, and is able to -- for the most part -- match Hughes' soulful delivery on such ditties as "You Are the Music" and "Jury." But the group blows the doors off the venue with a simply explosive/set-closing rendition of "The Raid." While most fans will understandably seek out a Hughes-era live recording if they're on the hunt for a Trapeze concert disc,
Live at the Boat Club 1975 is better than you'd think.
