The Roof Is on Fire

Mitch Ryder is a hero without honor in his homeland. One of Americas most powerful rock & soul vocalists in the 1960s, Ryders bookings in the United States had tapered off by the 80s, and hes been mostly confined to the nostalgia circuit, where folks are happy to hear him sing "Devil with a Blue Dress On" for the umpteenth time and dont know or care if hes still writing and recording new material. For some reason, Ryder has developed a strong and loyal following in Germany, where hes still considered a contemporary artist, and the sizable majority of his studio work from the 80s onward was cut for German labels and barely released in America (if at all). 2024s The Roof Is on Fire allows us to hear what a German Mitch Ryder show is like in the 21st century. Culled from three shows recorded in 2019 and 2020 as Ryder was touring to celebrate his 75th birthday, this finds him backed by a crack band well-schooled in hard rock, blues, and soul. The sheer wallop generated by guitarists Gisbert "Pitti" Piatkowski and Heiner Witte, keyboard and harmonica man Wolfram "Boddi" Bodag, multi-instrumentalist Rene Decker, bassist Manne Pokrandt, and drummer Tobias Ridder sets this apart from the average oldies show, as does the set list. Ryders familiar hits dont make the cut; instead, he digs into edgier, more personal numbers from his own pen (like "Tough Kid," "Bang Bang," "Freezin in Hell," and "Aint Nobody White") along with a few covers that he and his band rework to their own specifications. The band plays with admirable force and commitment, and theyre clearly happy to give their all for their frontman. As for Ryder, his voice isnt as smooth or precise as it once was, but he doesnt seem too worried about it. He still sings with total commitment and the force of a hurricane, and the grain in his voice and the raspy moments take little away from the emotional impact he can generate in front of a microphone. Mitch Ryder might not have a great voice in the 2020s, but hes truly a great singer, willing and able to communicate his work to his audience, and The Roof Is on Fire documents him bloody but unbowed, an artist of lasting significance even if the folks at home dont seem to get it. ~ Mark Deming