Formed in Sydney by Jon Stevens (formerly of Noiseworks, INXS) and David Lowy (formerly from Mink) in 2012, The Dead Daisies started life with a view to being a platform for musicians to traverse at will. While always intended to be a permanent, fully functioning band, it was also set in motion with a firm desire to bring back the fun with playing music. No ties. No restrictions. No expectations.
After releasing their self titled debut album the following year and hitting the road with the first official line-up of The Dead Daisies - Lowy (guitar), Stevens (vocals), drummer Frank Ferrer (Guns N' Roses), guitarist Richard Fortus (Guns N' Roses, Thin Lizzy, Psychedelic Furs), bassist Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake/Thin Lizzy), and pianist Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses) - the first major change came when John Corabi (Motley Crue) replaced Stevens in April 2015 and ever since the open door policy of The Dead Daisies has seen a plethora of established musicians pass through the group, each adding their own unique stamp of authority on the music.
After passing the batton to Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) in 2019 Corabi returned to the family in 2023, with the band releasing Light Em Up in 2024 and Lookin' For Trouble - a collection of covers originally performed by blues legends such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and BB King - the following year. These albums saw The Dead Daisies once more return to the stage, with their 2025 performance as part of Stonedead Festival being recorded and released later that year on digital and streaming platforms only.
The album resonated so well that the decision to release physical copies was made, with the performance repackaged and beefed up with five live cuts from selected other shows to become Live Plus Five, arriving on CD and Vinyl Friday May 1 and May 15 in the USA and Canada. HEAVY sat down with guitarist Doug Aldrich to find out more.
"It's different. It's a totally different thing," he replied when we ask if he gets the same feelings of anticipation before the release of a live album as he does original albums, "because, obviously, you create new music. It is very exciting because you've got something that no one's ever heard and you're going to present it to your fans and to the community. And in this situation, we just had a bunch of... we had new material from two albums - Light Em Up and Lookin for Trouble and so we were performing those songs live last year and the last show of the tour, we just happened to record it and it turned out great. It's just very raw and very real. It's honest. No fixes, no A.I., no nothing. It's just how it was on stage. And I got to say, the audience was incredible. So that was great."
In the full interview, Doug articulated the band's philosophy of preserving raw live energy rather than over‑polishing recordings, while acknowledging occasional selective fixes when necessary and citing past projects to illustrate that approach.
Aldrich described how the five bonus tracks were chosen based on available recording quality and input from the front-of-house engineer and management to ensure cohesion with the main show. The conversation reviewed several cover selections on the release such as The Angels' Take a Long Line, the Beatles' Helter Skelter, and George Thorogood's Get a Haircut and covered how the band arranges covers to fit their sound and set dynamics, plus more.
Pre-Order link for all configurations: thedeaddaisies.lnk.to/LivePlusFive
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