Tag: Concert Review
1 M3 Rock Festival – Saturday Review – Part 2
I knew when I saw the announcement for the lineup at M3 in 2014, it was going to be an awesome show. As Friday night, and the first half of Saturday had already proved at M3, this was the Festival show to be at this year.
One of the acts that I was most anxious to see at M3 was Red Dragon Cartel. This return of Jake E. Lee to the big stage is something that I could not miss, and judging from the capacity crowd at the second stage, Jake E. Lee’s fans were in full force. Red Dragon Cartel did a great selection of tunes including music from Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands and of course Red Dragon Cartel. Darren Lewis did a fine job on vocals, and Jake E. Lee was freakin’ amazing, just as I had expected. As great as Red Dragon Cartel was, the evening was only going to get better from there.
Next up on the main stage was Queensryche. This was Queensryche with Todd La Torre on vocals in case you were wondering which version. I have not seen Todd LaTorre with Queensryche before, but I recall Queensryche’s last appearance at M3. It was obvious there was tension in the band at the time, and it ended up being one of the band’s last shows with their former singer Geoff Tate. With that being said, this was a different Queensryche than the one I saw previously, and I gotta say, I was impressed as hell. Queensryche was on fire at M3. They came out with all guns blazing, and Mr. LaTorre was absolutely incredible. As soon as I heard the opening riffs of “Nightrider” I was hooked. I haven’t heard Queensryche do this song in years. I was also super excited to hear “Queen of the Reich”. Man…oh Man, Queensryche practically stole the show, and I am pretty sure Todd LaTorre made about 10,000 new believers at the M3 Rock Festival. They were fantastic! A couple of days after M3, it was announced that Geoff Tate will and Queensryche have come to an agreement, and that Tate will no longer use the Queensryche name. This is good news, and I look forward to supporting both Queensryche and Geoff Tate in the future.
Our day was super packed, and I am sad to say that I missed Autograph. This was due to a conflicting schedule for an interview that we had lined up with Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy from Night Ranger. (coming to HRH soon).
Next band up was Sebastian Bach and his solo band. As much as I love Sebastian, his performance at M3 this year was not my favorite. He kept going on and on about how his new album was # 1 on iTunes, and while I think that is great, and a hell of a hard accomplishment for any hard rock / musician from the 80’s, it came across kind of douchey. Sebastian seemed upset that folks still want to hear Skid Row songs, and while he did them and sound great, it kind of set the mood for his show. He was good, but he could have been so much better. He was amazing at the 2012 M3.
L.A. Guns was up next on the second stage. Aside from Kix, L.A. Guns has probably played more M3 Rock Festival’s than any other band, and always enjoy their shows. This year the band has a new guitarist, former Endeverafter frontman and guitarist Michael Grant. I have been fortunate enough to see Michael play with his former band, and I already knew that he is one bad ass dude. Grant does a great job as the band’s latest Axe slinger, and of course Phil Lewis and company were great. I can’t understand why they were on the second stage, but I digress.
I am embarrassed to say that the first time I saw Night Ranger live was at the 2012 M3 Rock Festival. Since then, I have made up for lost time and have seen them play live several times. The reason why I have gone, and will continue to go to Night Ranger concerts is that the band puts on an incredible live show. Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra really tear it up on stage, and are a blast to watch play. Jack Blades and Kelly Keagy still deliver some of the best rock vocals on the planet. Night Ranger’s set was far too short, but their condensed set was damn impressive, and I thought they were easily the best band of the day. The joy of music always comes out on the faces of Night Ranger. They always seem to enjoy playing as much as I do hearing and seeing them. Night Ranger also debuted their new song “High Road”, and I gotta say the new song is pretty good. I look forward to hearing the rest of the new album soon.
I didn’t make it over the hill again for Slaughter as the sky had opened up and turned what was an awesome weather day, into a rather soggy evening. I chose to protect my gear from the rain, and hung near the main stage for Tesla.
Tesla has been one of my favorite bands for a long time, and it has been a couple of years since I have seen them play (ironically Night Ranger opened up for them then too!) Night Ranger is always a tough act to follow in my opinion, but Tesla lived up to the challenge. Not only did Tesla debut a new song “MP3” off of their soon to be released album Simplicity, they also played killer set of tunes that covered the majority of their discography. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t hear “Song and Emotion” (one of my personal favorites) or Cumin’ Atcha Live, but it was still a great show. The Merriweather Post Pavilion was jam packed to one of the biggest crowds that I have ever seen for M3, and Tesla kept them all standing. This was a true testament to one great band.
Of all of the M3 Rock Festival’s I have been to, this one was by far my favorite. It was a great time with my good friend Ryo Vie, packed with awesome music and memories that I will never forget. I am already counting the days until M3 Rock Festival # 7 in 2015. I don’t know how they will top this lineup next year, but I have a feeling the next M3 Rock Festival is going to be even better!
0 Uncle Kracker, ZZ Top & Kid Rock – Cincinnati, Ohio Photo Gallery & Review
End of Summer. Just the thought of it makes me sad, and that is what labor day weekend represents for me. Cincinnati’s last big rock summer rock show of 2013 took place last Wednesday night. Kid Rock brought his “Best Night Ever” to the Riverbend Music Center.
I don’t know if it was the best night ever, but it was certainly one of the hottest. This was easily the hottest concert I have ever attended. The crazy heat didn’t keep the rock fans away. Riverbend was sold out with over 18,000 in attendance.
Uncle Kracker, ZZ Top, and Kid Rock all put on outstanding sets. This was my first time to experience all three bands, and I enjoyed all of them.
ZZ Top has been performing for over 40 years, and I am still scratching my head why it took until 2013 for me to see them live. Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard & Dusty Hill are all in their sixties, but they can rock with the best of them.
Kid Rock by far surprised the most. His command of the stage is second to none, and his show was a lot of fun. I would go back to a Kid Rock show in a heartbeat.
If you live in the U.S., you still have a chance to catch Kid Rock live. There are a handful of dates left in the U.S. Visit Kid Rock’s site for details.
Check out our photo gallery below!
0 Charm City Devils & Theory of A Deadman – Cincinnati, Ohio – Review & Photo Gallery
Charm City Devils and Theory of A Deadman closed out the July concert season at Bogart’s in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 29th.
I have loved the band Charm City Devils since I first heard their song “Let’s Rock N Roll” under their old moniker Chosen Son on the Cruefest Compilation CD. The band doesn’t come to Cincinnati often. I believe the 2009 Cruefest was the last time they were here. Needless to say, when they come to town, I make a point to go.
The last couple of times I have seen Charm City Devils perform, I thought they were great, but on this particular night in Cincinnati, Ohio, they were the best I had ever seen them. Singer John Allen did an amazing job controlling the crowd. The band turned in a blistering set of tunes that included their songs “Burn Baby Burn”, “Spite”, “Start It Up”, “Love N’ War”, “Devil Is A Woman”, “Best of the Worst”, “True Love”, “I Got Mine (The Black Keys Cover)”, “Unstoppable”, “Man of Constant Sorrow” and “Let’s Rock N Roll”. If you get a chance to see them live, you should definitely go. You will not be disappointed. You can grab their newly released CD, Sins at Amazon.com.
I have to admit that I have been pretty tough on Theory of a Deadman in the past. Their live shows in the past have been somewhat of a let down to me. This was not the case at their Cincinnati show at all. The band made me eat crow, and I am ok with that. The band brought their “A” game to Cincinnati.
Tyler Connolly was interacting with the packed house at Bogart’s all night. The band was tight and sounded great. They did part of their set acoustically, while sitting on bar stools on the stage. It brought the old MTV Unplugged show to mind. I thought it was a very cool part of their show, and was a nice surprise. Theory of a Deadman performed their songs “Got It Made”, “So Happy”, “All or Nothing”, “Bitch Came Back”, “Gentleman”, “Nothing Could Come Between Us”, “Not Meant To Be”, “Truth Is”, “Out of My Head”, “Easy To Love You”, “Better Off” and “Low Life”. I am glad that I got to see Theory of a Deadman again, and won’t hesitate to do so in the future.
It was a fun night of rock and roll in Cincinnati. I will be looking forward to seeing Charm City Devils and Theory of A Deadman again in the future!
4 Kix at the M3 Rock Festival
What can I say about Kix that hasn’t already been said? They are the only band that has played each and every year at M3, and I can’t imagine this festival without them. They proved once again why they deserve the headlining slot at M3 on Friday night, by turning in another energetic set of kick ass rock and roll. Kix blasted out the tunes “Hot Wire”, “Heartache”, “The Itch”, “Same Jane”, “Cold Shower”, “Girl Money”, “Don’t Close Your Eyes”, “No Ring Around Rosie”, “Lie Like a Rug”, “Midnite Dynamite”, “Cold Blood” “Blow My Fuse” and an encore with the crowd favorite “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”. I am pretty sure 80% of the folks in attendance were singing along. (It sounded that way anyway.)
Overall, I thought the Kix off party was a big success for M3. This show seemed to have a lot more people in attendance than the Kix off party (Friday Night) in 2011. I hope M3 will bring Kix back again in 2013. My only disappointment was, I thought Kix’s set could have been a little longer. I was hoping they would at least play a couple of extra songs on their encore, but they only played one. I missed hearing “Red Light, Green Lite, TNT”, and “Sex”, but their set was still great, and I am extremely glad I got to see Kix again. They were easily one of the best bands of the M3 Rock Festival in 2012.
8 D Generation and Guns N’ Roses – Concert Review & Photo Gallery – U.S. Bank Arena – December 2nd, 2011
New York’s D Generation and Guns N’ Roses came to U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday December 2nd.
I have been more excited about this show than many concerts in the recent past, as I never got to see Guns N’ Roses live back in the day. D Generation took the stage sharply at 9 P.M. and played a high energy set which the large crowd seemed to enjoy. I have to admit that I am not very familiar with D Generation, but I liked the songs that I heard in their set. The last time the band played in Cincinnati, they opened for KISS back in 1996, so hopefully it doesn’t take them another fifteen years to come back to Cincinnati.
I have to admit that I had no idea what to expect with Guns N’ Roses. My expectations were somewhat low for this show. I didn’t know what kind of shape Axl Rose’s voice was in. I have never heard his current band play before. I have loved the original incarnation of Guns N’ Roses for so long, I never gave the new version of Guns N’ Roses a chance. With that being said, Axl Rose & company, BLEW ME AWAY!! Axl Rose is still singing at the top of his game, and his three guitarists DJ Ashba, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and Richard Fortus, all trade off the lead guitar duties. Each one of these guys are tremendous musicians, and they all put on one hell of a show. DJ Ashba might be the guitarist to help take Guns N’ Roses back to the top. He gives Guns N’ Roses a recognizable face that fans automatically associate with. The cool thing is, Ashba, Thal and Fortus play together perfectly. Axl had no problem sharing the spotlight and gave his trio of axe slingers plenty of time to share the limelight. He even let bass guitarist Tommy Stinson handle the vocals on the cover of the Dead Boys tune “Sonic Reducer”.
Guns N’ Roses stage show was one of the biggest ones I have seen in quite some time. Video screens were set up on the far left and right hand side of the stage, as well as a massive video wall behind the stage. The lights and pyro were extremely cool. No matter where you were sitting, you saw a great show. Axl and company took the stage at 10:45 and played for nearly 3 hours with the set list below.
“Chinese Democracy”, “Welcome To The Jungle”, “It’s So Easy”, “Mr. Brownstone”, “Sorry”, “Shackler’s Revenge”, “Estranged”, “Rocket Queen”, “Live and Let Die”, “Riff Raff (AC/DC cover)”, “This I Love”, “Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover)”, “Street Of Dreams”, “You Could Be Mine”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, “November Rain”, “Don’t Cry”, “Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC cover)”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)”, “Nightrain”, “Madagascar”, “Better”, “Patience”, and “Paradise City”.
This concert made me a believer in the current version of Guns N’ Roses. I used to dream about a Guns N’ Roses reunion, but after the show I saw Friday night, I do not long for a reunion anymore. I am anxious to see how far this band can take things in the current lineup. If you have been on the fence about going to see Guns N’ Roses in your area, you should buy a ticket. This was an amazing night of rock and roll, and easily one of the best concerts I have seen in lifetime.
Check out our D Generation Slideshow & Photo Gallery below!
0 Havok, White Wizzard, Revocation & Forbidden Invade the Alrosa Villa in Columbus
Last Saturday night, the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio was packed full of metalheads ready to enjoy the music from not one, not two, but seven heavy metal & metal core bands to delivery their music to the masses. Three local bands opened for the national touring bands Havok, White Wizzard, Revocation & Forbidden. The show was opened up by Domestic Terror, followed by Dismemberment, and Black Rue. Black Rue was my favorite out of the local trio of bands. Black Rue’s singer had a similar to look to Dimebag Darrell, with his long hair and beard. Considering the location of this concert, his look was a little unnerving to this hard rock fan. I enjoyed their tunes though, and thought they might merit a second look. Check them out on Reverbnation.
Denver, Colorado natives Havok was the first band out of the national acts, and easily one of the best. David Sanchez and company delivered a tight set of metal that included songs from the band’s two CD’s Time is Up and Burn. The last time I saw these guys in May of 2010, they a three piece band. Since the last time I saw them play, the band has filled their vacant guitar slot with guitarist Reese Scruggs. Scruggs playing combined with the great vocals and fretwork of David Sanchez has helped to take Havok’s sound to the next level. This up and coming metal band is great live, and no thrash metal fan afford to miss them. Check them out on Facebook at this link.
White Wizzard was next on the bill, and compared to the other heavy bands on this bill, they seemed like an odd fit for this show. Don’t get me wrong, I dig these guys. Their Iron Maiden-esque sound works for me, and the band does it well. I thought it was strange to have a more NWOBHM sounding band sandwhiched between two thrash metal acts, and an extreme metal band, but at least they are out there getting their music heard.
White Wizzard has had a revolving door of musicians over the years, but the lineup has appeared to have stabilized as of late. The band’s current singer, Mike Gremio (formerly of Cellador) does a great job on vocals. If you haven’t heard him sing before, you ought to check him out. Gremio’s vocals could be the key to White Wizzard making it to the next level of their career. Their set was far too short in my opinion.
Revocation was up next, and I knew absolutely nothing about this band, with the exception that they had one of those completely unreadable band logos. I did not know any of the band’s songs. While I thought the music was really good, the vocals didn’t really do anything for me. I have to admit, I am not a big fan of extreme metal so I didn’t enjoy this band as much as the others on the bill. I prefer vocals that I can understand, and don’t care for that cookie monster stuff too much. Revocation was easily the most intense band on the bill, and I can’t fault them for that. When singer/guitarist David Davidson would gaze into the crowd, I didn’t know if I should be frightened or excited. That is s0 Metal!
After a rather lengthy soundcheck, Forbidden stormed the stage, and simply blew me away. Forbidden is one of those thrash metal bands that I never thought I would get a chance to see, so I was looking very forward to seeing them play live. They far exceeded my expectations, and were easily the best band of the night. Singer Russ Anderson probably hasn’t missed too many meals, but this guy can still sing with the best of them. He was flat out getting it done at the Alrosa Villa. The guitar triage of Steve Smyth, Craig Locicero and Matt Camacho might just be the most under rated in thrash metal. They put on one energetic set which included the songs: “Forsaken Gates”, “Overthrow”, “Off the Edge”, “Forbidden Evil”, “Step By Step”, “Adapt or Die”, “Draggin”, “R.I.P.”, “Twisted”, “March”, “Omega Wave”, “Infinite”, a killer cover of Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Sea” which Russ Anderson dedicated to the late Ronnie James Dio, “Through Eyes of Glass” and “Chalice of Blood”. If you are a thrash metal fan, you gotta get out to see these guys play, you won’t be disappointed!
Check out our Photo Galleries below!
Havok
White Wizzard
Revocation
Forbidden
0 Emphatic, Pop Evil and Crossfade Live Review and Photo Gallery – 6/18/11
It was a rockin’ story of three different bands at the Phoenix Hill Tavern on Saturday Night. The three bands on the bill this evening was Emphatic, Pop Evil and Crossfade. All three bands are at different areas in their career, and every band has new music offerings in the very near future.
Emphatic is a new band trying gain a new fan base (and succeeding). Pop Evil is on their way to the top with their recent appearances at Rock at the Range & Rocklahoma. Crossfade had a ton of success with their debut album, and have been fighting to get back to the top of the rock heap ever since then.
Other than seeing their name in some recent press releases for the up and coming Carnival of Madness Tour, I knew absolutely nothing about the band Emphatic. I haven’t heard any of their music prior to this show. They quickly won me over with their energetic live set and catchy tunes. (Check out their song & video “Bounce” here.) Their new CD, Damage is coming out on July 12th. Judging from the tunes I heard in their live set, this is one CD that you will need to get!!
I have seen Pop Evil a few times over the last couple of years and they never disappoint. On this Saturday evening, the band’s performance was quite electric. Leigh Kakaty is a great front man, and knows how to get the crowd revved up. He had the crowd at Phoenix Hill Tavern energized and singing along with all of their songs.
Pop Evil’s set list had the following songs: “Breathe”, “Broken”, “Somebody Like You”, “Monster You Made”, “Daisy Chain”, “Shinedown”, “Save the World”, “Boss’ Daughter”, “100 in a 55”, “Last Man Standing” and “Hero”. I thought the band was going to bring the roof down when they performed “Last Man Standing” the new track off of their up and coming CD, War of Angels (which will be released July 5th)! There is a half sized wall that separates the pit area in front of the stage from the fans who prefer to sit at a table. Leigh Kakaty used this wall as his personal stage and got up close and personal with the fans, while singing “Last Man Standing”. This made for one unforgettable show from Pop Evil.
I may be biased, but I thought Pop Evil stole the show Saturday night. They were great, and the crowd loved them!
Crossfade was the headliner for the evening, and they quickly proved that they too were a force to be reckoned with. Crossfade had a pretty nice light show set up behind them that looked really cool while they played, but it made it pretty tough to get good photos. The band was pretty entertaining to watch nonetheless.
Les Hall had some pretty cool guitars that he changed out often during Crossfade’s set. He was a lot of fun to watch play. Ed Sloan was in fine vocal form all night. Mark Castillo was letting the drumsticks fly all night. Crossfade played a few of their new songs off of their new CD, We All Bleed (due out today, June 21st) including: “Lay Me Down”, “Dead Memories”, “Dear Cocaine”, “Killing Me Inside”, “We All Bleed” and “Make Me a Believer”. The rest of the set included the songs “Starless”, “Colors”, “Already Gone”, “Drown You Out”, “Dear Caine”, “So Far Away”, and “Cold”.
While I thought Crossfade was pretty good live, I thought Pop Evil was the band of the evening, but all three bands help to deliver a great night of rock in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday night!
Emphatic Photo Gallery
Pop Evil Photo Gallery
Crossfade Photo Gallery
5 Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry and Seether Concert Review
Last Sunday night, I attended the Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, and Seether concert at Bogart’s in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Black Stone Cherry was the main draw for me on this night. I have been wanting to catch them live ever since their last album dropped. They had visited my area last October, but I wasn’t able to attend that show. I have been disappointed ever since.
Central Pennsylvania’s Halestorm took the stage first, and I had no expectations with this band. We recently had a press release on this band a couple of weeks ago, and that was my first introduction to Halestorm, as it may have been for some of you.
Much to my surprise, Halestorm kicked ass. Singer Lzzy Hale is a great new talent that is going to be turning a lot heads in the very near future. I am not a big fan of too many female rock vocalists, but her voice blew me away. She has some power and range to her voice that made quite an impression on me. As a whole, Halestorm was very good live. They played a few cuts off their new album that is going to hit in April.
Arejay Hale was pretty fun to watch, with his energetic drum work. In the middle of the set, the entire band did a drum solo. That was something new, and very cool to boot.
After their show, they employed some smart marketing tactics by selling their debut album for a mere $5.00. It had no cover art or jewel case, but did have the tunes that will be released to the public for sale in April. They walked through the sold out crowd selling a ton of CD’s after their show. Halestorm might be onto something. If CD’s were offered at a greatly reduced price (like $5.00), wouldn’t you rather buy it and help out the band, than steal it online?! Regardless, Halestorm will be a band to watch in the future. I will be catching them again in March, when they come back to open for Shinedown.
Black Stone Cherry was the second on the bill, and much like the previous two times I have seen them live, they came out and kicked some serious ass. They played several cuts off of their debut record, as well as their new disc, “Folklore & Superstition”. The set list included the following songs in no certain order:
Lonely Train, Peace is Free, Blind Man, Rain Wizard, Maybe Someday, and Please Come In. It was far too short of a set in my opinion. I will be glad when BSC have enough material to headline some shows. I could definitely handle a two hour set with these guys.
Guitarist Ben Wells never stood still for a second. He is one hell of an energetic guitar player. Jon Fred Young still reminds me of a young Tommy Aldridge on the drums. Singer Chris Robertson was in fine vocal form all night. As a whole, Black Stone Cherry brought it once more. I am guessing that they made a whole lot of new fans after tonight’s show. I hope they come back soon!
Seether took the stage around 10 P.M. and the crowd was completely charged up, with thanks to Halestorm and Black Stone Cherry.
This was my first time seeing Seether live. I was pretty amazed at how big their fan base was. 99% of the people at Bogart’s were there to see Seether. The people were packed in like sardines. There was no place left to move or stand by the time Seether started.
Seether played for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and played the following songs:
No Jesus Christ, Needles, Fine Again, Driven Under, Broken, Nutshell, Gasoline, The Gift, Careless Whisper (Wham Cover), Breakdown, Rise Above This, FMLYHM, Fake It, and Remedy
For me, the highlight of the set, was when singer Shaun Morgan, brought out Lzzy Hale to sing on the tune Broken. This is the song that has the vocal parts sung by Amy Lee of Evanescence. In my opinion, Lzzy Hale added more power to the song with her vocals. If only Seether could re-record this song. Shaun mentioned that he though she was better than that other bitch. =)
The crowd was great, Bogart’s was packed (and hotter than hell). I thought the lighting and sound for Seether kind of sucked, but as a whole it was a very good night of rock and roll in Cincinnati. I enjoyed the show, and I am looking forward to seeing Seether again (which I will be doing this Friday).
The clips below are not the greatest, but at least it will give you an idea of what you missed.
Seether – Gasoline
Seether – Rise Above This
Seether – Fake It
0 Live Raw and Uncut Tour – Poison
On August 16th of 2008, Poison brought their Live, Raw and Uncut Tour to Cincinnati. The band usually brings their tour here each summer, and usually plays to near sell out crowds.
I have gone to their concert for the last couple of years, and while the band was excellent last year, this time around I was a little disappointed. Big John from Rock of Love was the emcee for this show, which for me added nothing to the concert. Personally, I don’t think Bret Michaels should be mixing his Poison and Rock
of Love thing together, but that is just me. The band also seemed to play a shorter set, so Bret could leave and attend an after party at a local club, the Blue Note in Cincinnati.
The set list for the show this year was something like this:
“Look What the Cat Dragged In”, ” I Want Action”, “Ride The Wind”, “I Won’t Forget You”, “What I Like About You”, “Something To Believe In”, “Your Mama Don’t Dance”, “Unskinny Bop”, “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”, “Fallen Angel”, and the set closer “Nothin’ But A Good Time”.
Luckily Poison doesn’t overcharge their fans for their tickets, which is a good thing, but the lack of new material (no surprise there), and Bret Michael’s voice being a little off was somewhat of a disappointment to me. This was my stepdaughter’s first Poison experience, and she enjoyed it. I guess that is all that matters in the long run.
Hopefully Bret Michaels will walk away from his Rock of Love thing, and start writing some new music with Poison.
The clips below are from the show. Enjoy!
Unskinny Bop
Nothin’ But A Good Time
3 White Lion – Louisville, KY Concert Review
White Lion played in Louisville, Kentucky’s Expo Five last Sunday night. This was a free show that neither I, or friend JT from Hard Rock Nights could pass up.
I knew coming into this show that this wasn’t going to be the original White Lion lineup, but that didn’t really matter me. The issues between singer Mike Tramp, and guitarist Vito Bratta are well documented across the internet. It is highly doubtful that the original band will ever reunite. I was hopeful that Tramp’s
current band was at least as good as his old one. I was quite curious to see how current White Lion guitarist Jamie Law would handle those awesome Vito Bratta guitar licks.
MIke Tramp has revamped White Lion, and has had different variations of the band together since 1999. The current lineup of Jamie Law, Henning Wanner, Claus Langeskov, and Troy Patrick Farrell has been together since 2005. Bassist EJ Curse (who looks like he could be a sibling of George Lynch) from Silent Rage was filling in on bass for this show.
The set list in no particular order was “Little Fighter“, “Lady of the Valley“, “Lonely Nights“, “El Salvador“, “Broken Heart“, “Wait“, “Hungry“, “When the Children Cry“, the show closer “Radar Love“, “Living on the Edge“, and two new cuts off of White Lion’s new album “Return of the Pride”, “Set Me Free“, and “Dream“.
It has been 25 years since White Lion started as a band, and Mike Tramp’s voice has maybe lost a step or two. He still sounds really good, and songs sound almost exactly the same as they did in the 80’s. Tramp does have a little bit of help in the singing department. Keyboardist Henning Wanner and guitarist Jamie Law sing a lot of the back up vocals, and do a fine job of it.
I am not sure how Mike Tramp found Australian guitarist Jamie Law, but he has managed to attract another very good guitarist to White Lion. Law is a very good technical guitar player, who seemingly handled Bratta’s guitar licks with ease. As a whole, White Lion sounded great. I would definitely go see them again. Hopefully, the dust can settle between Tramp and Bratta so the band can latch onto some summer tours.
Louisville, Kentucky must have been sleeping on Sunday. There was only about 50 people or so in attendance and this show was FREE. Not only that but, there three or four other bands that opened up for White Lion. The venue that the show was held at was EXPO Five. This has to be one of the best new rock clubs in Kentucky. It has a big stage, an awesome sound system, and room for a lot of people. It is a shame that the turn out for this show was so poor.
After the concert Mike Tramp came out and autographed everything that was put in front of him, shook a lot of hands, and took photos with anyone that wanted one. He was extremely cool to all of his fans, and if anything very grateful. He is definitely a class act.
White Lion is very much still a great band, and worth catching live if you can.
The clips below are from the Sunday night show. Enjoy!!
Hungry
When the Children Cry
Wait
3 Live, Raw and Uncut Tour – Sebastian Bach
Back in August, Sebastian Bach opened up for Dokken and Poison on the Cincinnati, Ohio stop of Poison’s Live, Raw and Uncut Tour.
This was the second time that I have seen “Metal” Mike Chlasciak and Bobby Jarzombek live. The first time I seen them (in Cleveland, Oh) they were part of Halford (Rob Halford’s solo band). I already new after seeing that show how good these guys were. I was expecting a hell of a show out of these guys, and I was not disappointed.
Sebastian Bach came out and he immediately delivered. He quickly proved that he can still sing and 
scream with the best of them. “Metal” Mike is one of the better axe slingers playing today. I thought he sounded awesome.
Sebastian Bach’s set included a few new songs off of Angel Down, as well as some Skid Row classics. The set list included the following songs: “Back In The Saddle”, “Slave To The Grind”, “18 & Life”, “American Metalhead”, “Love Is A Bitch Slap”, “Monkey Business”, “I Remember You” and “Youth Gone Wild”.
I thought it was odd that Sebastian Bach was opening for Dokken. I thought they should have had the option for the better sound and lights, but that is just my opinion. Bach’s set was short, but the band made the best of it, and put on a good show.
On the clips below, Sebastian Bach’s voice sounds odd, but we our seats were not the greatest for this show and I don’t think the audio is a fair representation of how he sounded. The clips were still worth sharing. Check them out!
18 And Life
American Metalhead
Youth Gone Wild
0 Labor Day Weekend – The Return of UGLY to Cincinnati
Every Labor Day weekend, WEBN in Cincinnati puts on one of the biggest fireworks displays in the midwest. This end of the summer celebration has become a tradition in Cincinnati. Usually about 500,000 people are crammed into the banks of the Kentucky and Ohio sides of the Ohio River to watch the huge fireworks display.
Another thing that is always a constant for this massive celebration is live music. There are few stages set up on both sides of the river, where people can check out local and national acts for free!
In 2007, UGLY opened up for the band Operator. That show was somewhat of a fiasco (thanks Operator). You can read more about that here.
In 2008, UGLY was the headlining act for a bunch of local acts inluding Edge of Life, American Hardcore, Screaming Kings, Livid and Rootbound. The band had just returned from their European tour. Cincinnati was the last stop on their tour, before the band heads home to Detroit, and to the studio to record album #2.
UGLY’s set included their songs “Pusher”, “24 Hours”, “Friday Night (In The City)”, “The Cats Ass”, “Sex Drugs and Rock & Roll and Van Halen’s Unchained medley”and a brand new song “Close to You”.
This was a pretty fun show by UGLY. Lead singer Geo Tuebl was very interactive with the audience. He brought a young boy up on stage who he let play the tamborine during their set. Geo also went out into the crowd while signing some of the songs.
Chris Castro has taken over as drummer for UGLY, and he seems to fit in quite well. He does a pretty good job keeping the rhythm going with bassist Frank Green.
This is the third time that I have seen UGLY play live. Each time I see guitarist Kevin McCreery play, I realize how good of a player he is. He is an great unfound talent.
As much as I hate to see the summer concert season end, I was glad to have caught UGLY live again. I was happy that WEBN brought them in for this show. I will be anxiously awaiting their new CD.
If you check out one new artist this year, give UGLY a look. You can buy their CD online at Best Buy, or at FYE.
I have included video clips of “Pusher”, and “24 Hours” below. Enjoy!
4 Cruefest 2008 – Buckcherry
Buckcherry was one of the bands at Cruefest that I was looking forward to almost as much as Motley Crue. I have heard by quite a few folks that Buckcherry puts on a great show, but I never caught them live until Cruefest.
Buckcherry’s set list included the songs, “Lit up”, “Next To you”, “Everything”, “Broken glass”, “Sorry”, “Too 
Drunk” and an over 13 minute version of “Crazy Bitch” to close the show out. “Crazy Bitch” was one of the songs that I was looking forward to. I thought this extended version was a little bit too over the top, and way too long. Buckcherry could have added two more songs to their set by the time they got done with this one. I would have loved to have heard a couple more of their older tunes.
Aside from the “Crazy Bitch” performance, I thought Buckcherry was very good. Josh Todd is a very good front man, and the band is very tight. I never put much thought into Buckcherry’s guitarists, but both Keith Nelson and Stevie D. were very good. Their performance wasn’t quite as athletic as Papa Roach’s, but they were fun to watch nonetheless. They are definitely one of the better bands on the Cruefest bill.
I am hoping to catch Buckcherry again in September at X-Fest in Dayton, Ohio with Avenged Sevenfold. Hopefully, they will do a normal version of Crazy Bitch the next time around.
You can watch the edited Crazy Bitch video here. (I cut out the 3 minute monologue at the beginning of the song).
1 Cruefest 2008 – Papa Roach
Sixx A.M.’s set was over way too fast. The road crew had the stage ready for Papa Roach in record time. I must admit that in the case of Papa Roach, they were one of the bands on the Cruefest bill that I did not care about. I didn’t own any of their music. 
I knew a few of their songs that I heard on the radio, but that was about the extent of it.
From the first second Papa Roach took the stage, I was pretty amazed. Jacoby Shaddix is an extremely energetic front man. He didn’t stand still for a second, and even came out into the crowd while singing a song. (This also made it damn near impossible to get a good picture of him.) The whole Papa Roach set was very high energy, and really got the crowd going. Their live set was so good that my personal opinion of the band went from “don’t care” to “draw“. I would go see these guys again in a heart beat.
Papa Roach’s live set included the songs: “…To Be Loved“, “Forever“, “Time Is Running Out“, “Getting Away With Murder“, “Scars“, “Last Resort” and a brand new song, “I Almost Told You I Loved You“, which will be on the new Papa Roach CD, Metamorphisis, that will be released later this year. You can see the video for this song below.
After seeing Papa Roach live for the first time, I completely understand why they got the nod to open for Motley Crue, in Cruefest 2008. I am glad they where there. They gained a bunch of new fans on the Cincinnati stop of the tour.
2 Cruefest 2008 – Sixx A.M.
One thing that was pretty amazing at Cruefest, was how fast they tore down and set up the stage for the next band. If you were late getting to Cruefest, chances are you missed Trapt, and Sixx A.M. Luckily, I was there right at 5 for Cruefest, and I didn’t miss a minute of the action.
Sixx A.M. took the stage, and myself by surprise. I have listened to the Heroin Diaries several times
since its release, so I am pretty familiar with all of the songs, but I have never seen singer James Michael, or guitarist DJ Ashba live.
Sixx A.M. didn’t have the longest set, but the played all of the popular songs off The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack including, “Tomorrow”, “Accidents Can Happen”, “Pray For Me”, and closed out their set with “Life Is Beautiful”. I knew they would be good, but I didn’t expect to like them as much as I did. Sixx A.M. was excellent live, so good in fact that Nikki Sixx may have to do a second album with this group.
Nikki Sixx is obviously the star in this band. At no point did he try to upstage Michael or Ashba, in fact, I thought for Sixx A.M. being a side project that they appeared to have pretty good chemistry as a band. I would definitely pay to see these guys again! Sixx A.M. was certainly a highlight in Cruefest.
The following clip is Sixx A.M. performing “Life is Beautiful“. Enjoy!
1 American Dog & Rhino Bucket Concert Review
It’s Friday night in the heart of Amish Country. What is a rocker to do? Go to Clark’s Bar in Coshocton, Ohio on June 20th and see American Dog and Rhino Bucket!!
After a 3 hour drive through scenic Amish Country, we arrive at Clark’s Bar. As I walk in, We’re greeted by none other than Michael Hannon of American Dog. We find a seat and order some food, which by the way is great!!
American Dog took the stage around 10PM kicking their set off with Shitkicker and Barely Half Alive. If you haven’t seen them, Steve Theado is on guitar and he is incredible. Keith Pickens is on drums keeps the groove going along with vocalist/bassist Michael Hannon. The band mixed classics with songs from their new CD Hard. Hypnotized and Beaten, Broken, Etc sounded amazing. The band put everything they had into Rock-N-Roll Dog in memory of Michael’s dog Jake. They ended their hour long set with the one two punch of I Don’t Remember (I Drank Too Much) and Sometimes You Eat The Pussy, Sometimes The Pussy Eats You.
After a short intermission, Rhino Bucket hit the stage with Beat To Death Like 
a Dog and I Was Told. And from there it only got better. With Brian Forsythe’s searing leads and Reeve Downes thundering bass following the groove of Anthony “Tiny” Biuso’s drums, every song was loud and clear. Georg Dolivo’s vocal snarl was in fine form as well. They tore through classics like Hey There and One Night Stand along with newer songs Welcome To Hell and She Rides from their latest CD, And Then It Got Ugly (available at www.acetate.com). The surprise of the night was the song Street to Street from their upcoming CD. It fit in well with the closer’s Hammer and Nail, Ride the Rhino and Scratch and Sniff.
After the show, both bands made themselves available to meet and mingle with the fans. Many autographs were given and pictures were taken. It’s great to see bands respect their fans enough to do this. If you get a chance to see these bands, get off your ass and see them. You won’t be disappointed!!!
Reviewed by Brian.
4 Bang Tango, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat Concert Review, Part 2
Bang Tango, L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat came to Louisville’s Expo Five Sunday Night (7/20/08). To read about Bang Tango’s opening set, click here.
L.A. Guns featuring Tracii Guns and new singer, Marty Casey took the stage, along with new rhythm guitarist, Alec Bauer, bassist Jeremy Guns and drummer Chad Stewart. I must admit that I had low expectations for this version of L.A. Guns. I am a fan of Phil Lewis, and his band with the same name, and quite honestly, I didn’t think Tracii’s group would live up to the name. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The band opened up with the tune, Over the Edge, and played a mix set of L.A. Guns tunes, and a few cover songs. The set list in no particular order was:
Over the Edge, Rip and Tear, No Mercy, One More Reason, I Don’t Care (Brides of
Destruction), Shut the Fuck Up (Brides of Destruction), The Ballad of Jayne, Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) and You Can’t Always Get What You Want (The Rolling Stones).
With Marty Casey as the new singer of L.A. Guns, Tracii Guns has secured a very good front man for his band. Marty Casey put on a very energetic show, and did an admirable job on the L.A. Guns classic tunes. There was a song or two where the rest of the band provided a great deal of vocals, but for the most part, Casey handled the tunes with ease, and sounded pretty good. Casey joined L.A. Guns back in June, and he already seems at home with the band.
It has been a long time since I have seen Tracii Guns play live, and I believe that I have under estimated the amazing talent that he is. His guitar playing was way over the top Sunday night. Check out the solos in the eight minute Rip and Tear video, and you will see what I mean. Total awesome playing! I was very impressed with his guitar work all night.
Jeremy Guns, the bass player for L.A. Guns, took over the vocals for the Brides of Destruction tune, Shut the Fuck Up. He did a pretty good job. I was glad to hear some Brides tunes.
As a whole, Tracii’s L.A. Guns were better than ever. They put on a better show than the Phil Lewis led L.A. Guns did, the last couple of times that I saw them.
I still prefer Phil’s vocals to Marty’s, but I believe Tracii’s L.A. Guns band is a the better of the two now. This show made me a fan of The Tracii Guns faction, and I will certainly give them the support they deserve. I am now looking forward to their new album that is due later this year. I highly recommend checking them out if they come to your town.
Stop back tomorrow, for our part 3 of our review on Faster Pussycat. Until then, I hope you enjoy the videos below.
5 Bang Tango, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat Concert Review, Part 1
Bang Tango, L.A. Guns (featuring Tracii Guns) and Faster Pussycat, played live, at Lousiville, KY’s Expo Five.
This is the first time that I have attended a show at this venue, and I must say, it is kind of cool. The building itself must have been used for a hangar or some other type of use, before it was converted into a concert hall/ bar. I don’t know if it had to do with the curved shape of the building, but this is the first concert in a long time, that I have not experienced the two day ear ringing after the show. It has nothing to do with the three bands that played. All of them were quite loud, and very rocking.
Bang Tango took the stage first at about 8:30 or so. The band started off with a cool cover of the T.Rex tune, 20th Century Boy. The rest of the set, in no certain order, had the following songs:
Attack of Life, Dancing on Coals, Someone Like You, Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover), Wrap My WIngs, and a few others that
I don’t recall.
It has been over fifteen years since I last saw Bang Tango. Joe Leste’ may be the only remaining original Bang Tango member, but the band still sounds damn good in 2008. Joe’s voice still sounds the same after all of these years. His trademark screechy vocals were damn near perfect last night.
His band is rounded out by Michael Thomas (Beautiful Creatures) and Ryan Seelbach on guitar, Lance Eric on Bass, and Timmy Russell (Beautiful Creatures) on drums. Michael Thomas proved to be a pretty solid axeman. Little did I realize that when Bang Tango was done, we would see him play again. More on that later. As a whole, Bang Tango was a lot better than I remembered them to be. I enjoyed their set, but the best music of the night was yet to come.
Check out the videos from the Bang Tango portion of the show below.
Stop back tomorrow for Part 2 of this concert review, featuring L.A. Guns.
1 Disturbed Cincinnati Concert Review
Disturbed brought their Indestructible tour to Cincinnati, Ohio’s Bogart’s, Wednesday night.
With three platinum and two number one albums under their belt, Disturbed proves to have quite a large fanbase in the Queen City, as this show was sold out.
Disturbed has brought along two supporting acts on this bill, Art of Dying and Five Finger Death Punch.
Canada’s Art of Dying took the stage at 7:30 P.M. Their set list included the songs, Get Through This, You Don’t Know Me, Completely, and a cool cover of Alice in Chains’, Them Bones. Singer Jonny Hetherington has a pretty good rock voice, and as a whole, the entire band was pretty solid. The large crowd at Bogart’s seemed to like the band pretty well, even though most people were hearing their music for the very first time. Disturbed’s Dan Donegan is a fan of AOD, and asked the band to join this tour. They aren’t as hard as Disturbed, or Five Finger Death Punch, but they did a pretty good job warming up the crowd. Those of you who didn’t get to pick up their CD at this show, can find it at SeeofSound.com.
Five Finger Death Punch took the stage next, and proceeded to turn up the intensity in this elbow to elbow crowd. Five Finger Death Punch has a sound that wavers in and out of thrash metal and hardcore. It is aggressive, high speed, chest thumping music with a killer groove. At first I wondered how Five Finger Death Punch got on this bill. After seeing them live, I realized that they were the perfect band to open up for Disturbed. I was extremely impressed with the musicianship in this band. Zoltan Bathory and Darrell Roberts are one of the better guitar tandems in heavy metal today. They really got the crown going with their short set. No only did singer Ivan Moody electrify the crowd with his performance, but he instigated the first mosh pit of the night. His abrasive vocals take some getting used to, but it seems to work with Five Finger Death Punches’s style of metal.
Some of the tunes played by FFDP were White Knuckles, Death Before Dishonor, The Bleeding, and a cool but heavy cover of the song, Bad Company.
After Five Finger Death Punch’s powerful set, the crowd was supercharged while waiting for Disturbed to take the stage.
Disturbed took the stage about 9:30 P.M. This is the first time that I have seen Disturbed live, so I was not sure what to expect. They immediately took advantage of the electrified crowd, and continued to push us even further. David Draiman proves to be a very charismatic frontman, and is better live than on Disturbed’s studio material. Dan Donegan surprised me with his guitar wizardry. He is one hell of a player. By the time Disturbed broke into their second song, the crowd was in complete mayhem. More crowd surfing, and a second mosh pit broke out, as Disturbed blasted through their groove laden metal.
The Disturbed set included their songs (not in order), Down With the Sickness, Stupify, Stricken, Land of Confusion, Voices, The Game, Deify, as well as their latest hit, a new song off of their new album, Indestructible, called Inside the Fire.
I have been to countless live shows, but I don’t recall any over the last few years where so many people were fired up and enjoying the music, as much as this concert. During Disturbed’s set it was virtually impossible to take any pictures, as there was a massive amount of crowd surfing, fist pumping, and whole bunch of jumping taking place. Disturbed was excellent live, and will be a band I will be seeing again in the future.
Be sure to pick up a copy of their new CD, Indestructible on June 3rd.
The following are the videos taken at the show. Enjoy!
Disturbed – Land of Confusion
Disturbed – Inside the Fire (New single on Indestructible)
3 Saving Abel, Airbourne, Theory of a Deadman Concert Review
HRH favorite Airbourne, Saving Abel and Theory of A Deadman rolled into Cincinnati at Bogart’s on Thursday Night. After seeing Airbourne’s excellent live show in Lexington, KY for the first time, I wasn’t about to miss them when they came back to my area.
Like the meat in a good sandwich, Airbourne took the stage between Saving Abel and Theory of a
Deadman Thursday Night. Much to my surprise, Saving Abel was already done performing and had their packed off the stage before we arrived at 8:00 P.M. We didn’t even realize that they had played, until Theory of a Deadman thanked Saving Abel and Airbourne during the final songs of their set.
I was somewhat disappointed that I didn’t get to see Saving Abel, but I came to see Airbourne, and once they took the stage, any disappointment I may have had for the evening was easily dissipated.
Airbourne took the stage at approximately 8:30. They performed several songs off of their album Running Wild including: Stand Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll, Hellfire, Fat City, Diamond in the Rough, What’s Eating You, Cheap Wine Cheaper Women, Girls in Black, and Running Wild. Airbourne’s set was not quite as energetic as their Headlining show in Lexington, KY had a few short weeks ago. Part of the problem on this night was the audience that came to see the show. Most of the twenty something crowd was there to see Theory of a Deadman, 
and, in my opinion, could care less to see Airbourne. Whatever promoter put these two bands together must have a real sense of humor, as both bands have a completely different style, that are not very complimentary of each other.
In Lexington, KY, Airbourne fed off of the crowd, and the crowd fed off the band. In Cincinnati, the T.O.A.D. crowd was certainly energetic. Their was crowd surfing during Airbourne’s set, but the vibe was no where near the same. This didn’t seem to matter to Airbourne front man Joel O’Keeffe, as he turned in an another amazing live performance. Airbourne started winning the crowd over towards the end of their set, and did receive plenty of applause before they gave up the stage to Theory of A Deadman.
With T.O.A.D., I found myself in a strange position, as I was one of the few in the crowd that did not know the majority of the songs that they performed. Usually, I know a band’s music fairly well before I go to see them, but with Theory of a Deadman, they only came onto my radar with their new CD, Scars & Souvenirs. I like the new CD, fairly well, but I am not familiar with their earlier material. The majority of their set, was their older stuff.
Theory of a Deadman’s singer, Tyler Connolly commands the stage, and has a pretty good voice, that is somewhat like Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger. I don’t think I have seen a hair do like his, since the last time I watched old reruns of Happy Days. The music is by far the most important thing, and their set was pretty tight. They played the tunes Nothing Could Come Between Us, Hate My Life, Santa Monica, Hating Hollywood, Got It Made, Bad Girlfriend, So Happy and two or three other songs, whose names escape me. Even though the sounded great, they were no where near as entertaining as Airbourne, and didn’t have half of the energy. Airbourne is a hard act to follow, and although Theory of a Deadman was good, I thought Airbourne was the better of the two.
I am glad I caught this show, even though it is not the best one that I have seen in 2008.
Enjoy the live clips of Airbourne and Theory of a Deadman below!
Airbourne – Hellfire
Airbourne – Fat City
Airbourne – Runnin’ Wild
Theory of A Deadman – Bad Girlfriend
Theory of A Deadman – So Happy
6 Cinder Road and Tesla – Cincinnati, Ohio Concert Review
Tesla and Cinder Road returned to Cincinnati, Ohio’s Bogarts on Sunday Night.
Cinder Road took the stage shortly after 8 P.M. and put on one great high energy set. The first Cinder Road tune I’m So Sorry(in the video below) was complete
Guitarmageddon! This was a hell of a tune to open the show with, and got the crowd completely pumped up. The band did several of their songs off of their
album Superhuman, as well as a blistering good cover of Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell and Queen’s We Will Rock You. This is the first time I have ever seen Cinder Road live, and I was pretty impressed with their performance.
Tesla took the stage at roughly 9:15 P.M. The sold out
crowd swelled to a point where everyone was shoulder to shoulder. Tesla blazed through Cummin’ Atcha Live, and the crowd was completely fired up. This set the mood for the whole rest of the show. Jeff Keith has been sick for a few weeks now (including tonight), but you would have never known it from the sound of his voice. The band performed several cuts off all of their albums with Mechanical Resonance, and the Real to Reel albums, probably having the most tunes in their set. The band also introduced a brand new, and very cool song, Private Ledbetter (in the video below).
All night long the band was on fire. Frank Hannon and Dave Rude were trading off lead guitar licks and never sounded better. Troy Luccketta and Brian Wheat were excellent and still prove to be one of the better rhythm sections in rock today.
Once again, Tesla has never disappointed me with their live performance. They were great Sunday night! The new song has me excited about the new album they are working on. I am glad to see my favorite band still able to sell out shows in 2008. I can’t wait for Tesla to play live in Cincinnati again. I may have to get my next fix at Rocklahoma 2008!
Cummin’ Atcha Live
Hang Tough
Private Ledbetter (BRAND NEW SONG!!!)
4 L.A. Guns at the Blue Note, Cincinnati, Ohio 1/24/08
L.A. Guns brought their 20th Anniversary Tour to The Blue Note in Cincinnati, Ohio last Thursday Night. A couple of bands Session 9, and A Nervous Wreck opened the show, and got the crowd revved for Phil Lewis and company. This night started to look as if it was going to be the third live music debacle of 2008. The band Z02 were supposed to open for L.A. Guns, but
cancelled the day before the show. I was looking forward to seeing this band play live for weeks, so their cancellation came as a disappointment. This was the only thing disppapointing on Thursday Night.
L.A. Guns, featuring Phil Lewis on vocals, Stacey Blades on guitar, Scott Griffin on bass, and Steve Riley on drums, hit the stage at around 11 P.M. and played for a little over an hour. The set contained most of the band’s hits including: Sex Action, Over the Edge, One More Reason, Never Enough, Kiss My Love Goodbye, The Ballad of Jayne, Rip and Tear, Hellraiser’s Ball, and Gypsy Soul.
It was an extremely tight set, and the band seemed to be in top form all night. This is the second time I have seen L.A. Guns over the last few months (you can read about the first show here), but it was definitely the best out of the two shows I have seen.
Phil Lewis still sounds as good as he did 20 years ago. Stacey Blades is an outstanding guitar player. As a whole, L.A Guns still rocks and does it well! The Phil Lewis led L.A. Guns continues to prove that their is only one band that deserves to use the L.A. Guns name. The best one played in Cincinnati Thursday night. The 150 – 200 people that were there for the show, saw a very good night of rock. The turn out for this show was exceptional for a bitter cold Thursday night.
Special thanks to J.T. from Class X Radio for the ticket for this show, and to Paul at TransFusion Productions for bringing L.A. Guns back to the Queen City.
The following videos were below were taken at the show! Enjoy!
48 Trans Siberian Orchestra Concert Review
Last Friday night, my wife and I attended the Trans Siberian Orchestra Show at U.S. Bank arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
This is the first TSO show that I have gone to, and I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. I was well aware of TSO’s ties to the metal band, Savatage before I went to this show, but was not expecting this to be a hard rock show by any means.
In essence, this was like a hard rock show in disguise. It was definitely a Christmas themed show, but it was much, much more than that. This wasn’t an orchestra rehashing the same old Christmas songs that have you listened to 1000 times over the years.
The first half of the show, had a Narrator telling a Christmas story, in between songs. This kind of bored, my wife and I, and I could have done without this portion of the show. Aside from this distraction, the show was pretty amazing. The songs and arrangement played throughout this show, were a unique blend of classical and metal music. It was Christmas songs, redone in a fashion, that only Trans Siberian Orchestra could perform.
The show itself had it all. One of the best light shows I have ever seen live. Tons of pyro, lasers and more.
The stage was lit up in a way that I have not seen before.
Although TSO has many members, a few musicians stole the show. Guitarist (Savatage) Chris Caffery and (ex-Testament) Alex Skolnick were on fire all night. Mark Wood and his flying V, violin was a pleasure to watch as well.
This show had plenty of surprises in store for the concert goers, including a keyboard duel, a second stage in the audience and more.
If you get the chance to experience TSO live, do so. You won’t be disappointed. It is a unique live show that you can’t experience anywhere else. This show was a nice way to close out the great year of live music that 2007 brought to my area.
I was able to take one video at the show (before my camera self destructed), which was the first song of the night, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing. Check it out below!
10 The Antidivision, Jetboy, Stephen Pearcy Concert Review
The XXXmas tour featuring The Antidivision, Jetboy and Stephen Pearcy rolled into Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday Night. This concert was held at Whiskey Dick’s bar, which is a small club, but an intimate setting to catch bands live.
When I first found about this show, I was in disbelief that Jetboy was playing in Ohio. Their appearances here have been rare, so this show was one that I could not miss. Stephen Pearcy was a bonus, especially since I have seen him with RATT twice in 2007.
The Antidivision took the stage shortly after 9 PM. At the time the band started, their was only about 50 people in the club, and the small crowd had a very lackluster response to the bands’ tunes. I must admit that the band didn’t have much stage presence, and I wasn’t seeing a lot of energy in their performance. It probably didn’t help that no one in the audience new their songs. The band pulled a cover off of Suffergette City that was actually pretty good, but by then it was too late. People were ready for Pearcy to play. I can imagine that their 13 hour drive from Denver had them quite exhausted, and probably effected their show somewhat. Stephen Pearcy recently signed the band to his Top Fuel Records label, so this could have just been an off night for this young band. Their tunes on their myspace page show promise( check out the tune Let Yourself Go). This will be a band that I will be keeping my eye on in the future.
Jetboy took the stage around 10 P.M. and played a jaw dropping set, that included
several tunes off of their releases Feel the Shake, and Damned Nation as well as a very cool cover of the Johnny Cash tune Folsom Prison Blues. I expected Jetboy to be good, but this high energy performance was well beyond my expectations. The crowd swelled (if you can call it that) to 100 people, and most of them flew to the stage like moths to a flame.
Lead guitarist Fernie Rod was completely off the hook. The small crowd didn’t deter his performance one bit. He played as if there were 1000 people in the club. The mighty mohawked, Mickey Finn proved to be one dynamic front man. I was equally impressed with Billy Rowe’s rhythm and slide guitar playing. The newest members of Jetboy Michael Butler (bass) and Jeff Moscone(drums) are solid additions to the band. Both musicians add their own spark to Jetboy electric live show.
How these guys are still virtually unknown is mind-boggling to me! This show made is clear to me, that Jetboy is back, and they are going to rock everyone along the way. The band is currently working on new tunes for a 2008 release. Don’t miss out on this show if they come to your town! Be sure to check out the live Jetboy videos below!
The surprise of the night, was RATT front man, Stephen Pearcy. I have seen RATT twice in 2007, and both times I felt that Pearcy’s voice wasn’t what it used to be. Amazingly, on this Tuesday evening, Pearcy sounded better than he has in a long time. His five piece band, were pulling off RATT tunes with ease, and sounded great. Something else that also surprise me, was the fact that The Antidivision’s frontman Erik Ferentinos was playing lead guitar for Pearcy’s backup band, and was pulling off those amazing DiMartini guitar licks like a pro. Obviously, he is a musician with a lot to prove.
Pearcy’s voice wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was far better on Tuesday night than any other time that I saw him sing in 2007. I was very glad that I stayed for the set that consisted mostly of Ratt tunes, but also included a few covers. (Judas Priest’s You Got Another Thing Coming and, Aerosmith’s Draw The Line to name a couple of them.)
Pearcy also performed a new tune that will be on his new solo disc due in 2008, called You’re A Lot Like Me which is captured in one of the videos below.
I am sure that the weather report with the expected 2 – 4 inches of snowfall kept a lot of Columbus rock fans away from this gig. They missed one hell of a show.
A special shout goes out to Kenny Ozz from Drugstore Valentine, who is a huge supporter of glam metal in the Ohio Tri-State Area. I didn’t expect to run into anyone I knew in Columbus, and was quite surprised to find some familiar faces in the crowd.
Don’t miss the XXXmas tour if it hits your town…there are a few dates left in December.
Dec 6 2007 7:00P Emerald Theater Mt. Clemens, Michigan
Dec 7 2007 8:00P Fast Eddys Evansville, Indiana
Dec 8 2007 7:00P The Venue Boone, Iowa
Dec 9 2007 9:00P Atlantis Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 11 2007 7:00P Stratford Bar & Grill Fenton, Missouri
Dec 12 2007 7:00P The Ice House Bentonville, Arkansas
5 Supagroup, YLD, Valient Thorr Concert Review
Supagroup, Year Long Disaster, and Valient Thorr took the stage at the Mad Hatter Club in Covington, KY on Thursday Night (11/15/07).
Going into this show, the only band’s music that I knew was by Supagroup. I recently picked up their Rules CD from 2005. I liked that CD so much, that I once I saw they were on the bill for this show, I could not miss this event. There were a couple of other local bands that opened the show, but I missed their sets. I did catch the last couple of songs by local metal band, Angels of Meth. I was fairly impressed by their guitarist. They will be a band that I may have to catch live again in the future.
Supagroup took the stage next, and proceeded to put on one excellent show. The band played several cuts off of their disc, Rules, and also off of the new CD, Fire For Hire. Benji Lee is a far better guitar player than I could have imagined. I was impressed by his guitar work all night. His brother, Chris Lee is a great front man, and knows how to get a crowd going. Supagroup is a very entertaining band to catch live. My only disappointment is that I haven’t seen them live before now. I won’t miss them play live again!
On a side note, it was bass player, Leif Swift’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Wishes go out to Leif!
After the show, the band took the time out to autograph my copy of the new CD, Fire For Hire and pose for a picture. You couldn’t ask for a better band to catch live. These guys appreciate their fans. It is a crime that they aren’t playing for larger crowds than what was at the Mad Hatter Thursday night.
I took a few videos of Supagroup playing live. The video below for Roll in Smokin is one of my favorite videos that I have ever shot!
Invincible Me
Hog Wild
Promised Land
Born In Exile
Roll In Smokin’
Year Long Disaster was next up on the stage. I must admit that I didn’t know any of the
band’s music, but I did like their sound. Year Long Disaster has a 70’s stoner rock feel about them, that is similar to, but not the same as Black Sabbath. This band is only a three piece unit, so they have a big sound for a band with so few members. My batteries were running low in my Camera, and wanted to save a little bit for Valient Thorr, so I didn’t get any video of YLD. They are certainly worth checking out, so I am including their video below for their song, The Mad Shrew.
Valient Thorr was the final act of the night, and once again, I found myself in completely unfamiliar territory. The band has a seemingly cult following every where they go, so I was definitely not going to miss them. They refer to their fans as Thorriors, and if you go to a show, you are bound to see a few sleeveless jean jackets with a big Valient Thorr patch on the back.
The only way I can describe Valient Thorr is that they are like AC/DC mixed with Motorhead. If you could bottle the energy that this band has while playing live, you could power a small city. Lead singer, Valient looks like the bastard child of Billy Gibbons, and has a style that is all his own. This guy is completely insane live. I got a video of the band performing their song, Heatseeker, off of their new CD, Legend of the World.
Heetseeker
It was another great night of rock and roll in the Kentucky. It is a shame that only 50 people came out for this show.
11 Airbourne Invasion of Baltimore
Joel O’keefe, Ryan O’keefe, David Roads and Justin Street of the Australian band Airbourne gave us THE rock event of the year on Friday November 2nd when the club Sonar and 98ROCK in Baltimore, Maryland hosted a Rock concert that we will certainly never forget!
From the very first chord of “Stand Up” Airbourne let us know that they were going to Rock all 250 of us like we’ve never been Rocked before. And that total Rock assault was such that we were all exhausted from pumping our fists and screaming at the top of our lungs…..when it was over. We fed off Airbourne’s energy as they obviously fed off of ours.
Airbourne lives for and loves to perform. That much is so completely obvious by their constant interaction with the crowd and each other. Rock is Airbourne’s chosen life, and we, the Rock fans of the world, are the beneficiaries!
Their show is non-stop motion! We took a ton of pictures, but they just wouldn’t stand still, so please don’t be too critical…..we did the best that we could.
Doesn’t matter though, because we were there…..we witnessed the greatest new rock show in the world….up close and in personal!
Their set list consisted of “Stand Up”, “Hell Fire”, “Fat City”, “What’s Eating You”, “Girls In Black”, “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast”, “Heartbreaker”, “Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women”, “Runnin’ Wild” and “Black Jack”. Make no mistake here Rock fans…..every song that Airbourne plays is a great song! There are no duds or fillers here! That is not part of Airboune’s nature, they want every song to be perfect and they are!
And, when the set was over, and the crowd started chanting “Airbourne! Airbourne! Airbourne!”….they came back out and played “Ready to Rock” for a fitting encore.
For those of you who already own the non-USA release of Runnin’ Wild, you probably don’t recognize “Hell Fire” or “Ready To Rock”
“Hell Fire” is a new recording that will be put on the USA release coming out in January of 2008. It is replacing “Let’s Ride”.
And “Ready To Rock” if from the 2 year old Australia-only released cd by the same name. Only 1000 of those bad boys were ever pressed, and according to their manager, Gregg Donovan, it will NEVER be re-released! So if you own a copy of “Ready to Rock” hang on to it for dear life, and if you find a copy of “Ready to Rock” on Ebay….Good Luck Trying To Buy It! Talk about rare!
Airbourne is a “Must See” show for all rock fans. And if you are reading this and you are not a Rock fan….go to their show and you will instantly be an Airbourne fan, guaranteed!
This is Gregg…..he is one of the nicest and most dedicated folks that you will ever meet! He too loves what he does and it shows in his constant, infectious smile and enthusiasm while talking to everyone who wants to learn about Airbourne….(He is second from left)
Sadly, this is Airbourne’s last performance in the USA for this year. They are traveling back to Australia almost immediately.
But wait, this is also good news in that the reason they are going home is to pack! That’s right…..we said pack! They are moving to New Jersey in January! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!
And to all you folks in New Jersey……if you feel the ground start to shake some evening….not to worry….it is just the boys practicing for their next show…..Airbourne may just be coming to a town near YOU!
After the show, and after we got to talk to the band and get a few pictures, we met Ron Burman of Roadrunner Records. He is the man who signed Airbourne and will be responsible for their USA release. We got to listen as he and Gregg talked marketing tactics and strategies. And when they started talking about merchandise, Ron said that there should be an Airbourne tube-top produced for the women. After hearing that we’re guessing that Airbourne is going to be solely responsible for the elusive tube-top coming back into vogue! Every female on the planet is gonna want one!
(Sidebar – Ron is also responsible for signing Nickelback….How’s that for credentials?)
We’d like to thank Stash of 98Rock for coming to the show and introducing the band.
We did not get to meet or talk to Stash, but we did have the pleasure of tuning in to his afternoon show (once we got in broadcast range) and listened to the last part of his live interview with Joel and Ryan. The part that we listened to did not cover much of the music aspects of the band, but did touch on sports. Such as the sports of Australia and the USA and their differences. Football was the primary subject and their comments were hilarious. Aussie humor ROCKS!
Stash also were asked why they were moving to the USA, and that answer was one for the ages…..It turns out that 21 of the 25 most poisonous snakes in the world live in Australia. What better reason would they need to move? LOL
This was a great show and we were lucky enough to put ourselves in position to take some fair photos. This link will take you to the whole sequence from the show…
Airbourne Baltimore Show – Photo Gallery
If you would like to learn more about Airbourne you can go to these links…
https://www.myspace.com/airbourne
https://www.airbournerock.com/
https://www.roadrun.com/artists/Airbourne/
Lastly, we’d like to give a big Shout Out to Shawn and Kim, fellow Pennsylvanians who made the trek to Baltimore and Rocked out side by side with us all night. Hope you two made it home safely!
Fellow Rockers….go see an Airbourne show! Airbourne will ROCK your world!!!!!
And be sure to buy their cd from Roadrunner Records when it is released in January! It’s the next best thing to being there!
Special Thanks to Bic & Que for this superb Airbourne recap!
Hard Rock Hideout 
