Reverb Central .:. Review .:.

After only fifteen years of gigging in Austin, 3 Balls Of Fire came in for a Pitstop on July 20, 2002 at the end of the Firepower Express Tour. This is record of that event. The band's lineup on this set is Mike Vernon - guitar, Homer Henderson - guitar, Pierre Pelegrin - bass, and Nico Leofante - drums. Their performance was angular and rich, with inspired playing from all.

Picks: Firepower, Blue Tango, Sea Of Tranquility, Bali Hi Skool, Return From The Oort Cloud (Slight Return), The Men With The Burning Guitars, Beneath Mexican Stars, Rumble In The Combo, Island Girl, Atom Smasher, El Malpais, Please Please Me, Jornada del Muerto, You Showed Me, Good Clone, Bad Clone, Chicks On Choppers, Risin' Surf, The Crying Game, Firepower

Angular Surf (Instrumental)

Angular and jazz twinged, "Firepower" sports rockin' drums and tweaky pick slides. Adventurous and rhythmic. A dark opening and tribal drums yields to a warm squishy chord progression between tribal verses. Not exactly melodic, but very visual.

Angular Surf (Instrumental)

"Blue Tango" sports pulsing tango rhythms and pumpin' drums and bass, grumbly glissandoes, and infectious energy. High spirits and pumped drums, plus some double picked guitar madness.

Angular Surf (Instrumental)

The harmonics and island chords of "Sea Of Tranquility" ooze soft whammy and inviting sounds. There's warmth and tropical breezes, and very pretty guitar lines too. The disturbed whammy that shows its head from time to time adds an off-balance edge. An amazingly endearing piece of music.

Angular Surf (Instrumental)

This is a stunningly cool interpretation of "Bali HaÕi" from South Pacific. The dueling guitars lay down the classic melody with complete freshness. Gone are all vestiges of "cute," replaced by rock coolness. Tuff and more than a little intriguing.

Angular Surf (Instrumental)

Ringing exotic strangitude, with glorious tone and rich visions. Rhythmic in a sub-funk way, like a liquid groove, "Return From The Oort Cloud" is a one of a kind creation. Very cool!

Jazz (Instrumental)

This is a jazzy and moody piece. It has a softique kinda ambiance, a fluid lead guitar, and a Kenny Burrell sorta melody line. Very pretty, and easy to listen to.

Surf (Instrumental)

Skimming the horizon like Mexicana Air® on its way to Mazatlan, "Beneath Mexican Stars" wafts softly in the tropical night with sweet scents of vanilla and cane. This is infinitely cooler live.

Surf (Instrumental)

Entirely too fun, "Rumble In The Congo" is like what Luis Prima might have done if he were part of the rock 'n' roll era instead of big band jazz. Tribal and highly rhythmic, this amazing track is nothing short of infectious. Intense and multi textured, this is a masterpiece. You can't sit still.

Surf (Instrumental)

Slow pristine and scenic jazzy melody lines deliver sultry palms and breezy sarongs. Very pleasing, quite pretty, and it gets into your soul.

Blues Jam (Instrumental)

What a cool slithery sort of number. Blues, a bit of a sixties jam feel, and a soulful beat. This is very user friendly, and has a surfy overlay to it.

Angular Surf (Instrumental)

This is cool! Right from the ringing entry chords, this carries an open country road feel and sound, and warmly uses whammy to convey a loose laid back warm breeze kinda day. "El Malpais" is a bouncy kinda tune with an angular jazz inversion about it. Suave and cool for cats, it brings visions of the badlands to mind.

Lounge Surf (Instrumental)

A whammified intro right from Ron Woods guitar intro to "Around The Plynth" precurses an edgy deliverance of the Beatles' early hit. It lumbers towards the sundown adventures of Lonesome Cowboy Bill. Feedback and drama throb and weave a tale of dark optimism.

Surf (Instrumental)

This chunky cool number hints strongly of "Heartbeat" by the Avengers VI, but more edgy, and very cool. I like this track a lot. It has no need for much of a melody, but rather relies on an intensity and drama, and Spanish double picking. Mighty nice track.

Surf (Instrumental)

It's amazing how this sultry MOR classic can become so suave in the right guitar instro format. Completely cool, without the cheesiness of the original, and with all the liquid romance it can hold. Excellent!

Surf (Instrumental)

Like a lost Johnny Smith or Wes Montgomery ditty, "Good Clone, Bad Clone" pours its jazz suavit'e' all over. Some rich moments, and some surfy tome. It straddles the median strip between the surf and the surf film jazz soundtrack. Very nice.

Blues (Instrumental)

This is a bluesy instro with shimmering guitar chords, a rolling rhythm, bunches of energy, and a biker sensibility. Quite cool.

Surf (Instrumental)

Richie Podolor's incredibly beautiful "Rising Surf," played so well it hurts. Silkier, and more soulful Spanish bluesy. The extremely nice arrangement brings tears to my eyes.

Surf (Instrumental)

Brenda Lee's "The Crying Game" is lushly arranged, and sports soft vibrato and whammy, and a slow delicate pace. Very pretty.