Rock, Rock, Never Stop
Yesterday began and ended as a day of rock for the A-train. First thing in the morning, I headed off to the storage unit for band practice. The band has finally hit a solid chemical groove. We have readied our initial set and have five other songs in the works. Additionally, I have been blessed with a group of guys who are willing to allow my creativity to run as free as I desirre (the same respect is offered to the other guys as well). To that end, I have changed up the basslines of the pre-Aaron material (only slightly) and have added a progressive element to the playing of the new stuff. Additionally, they have not only accepted, but embrace my desire to lay some keyboards on some of the songs. So far, they love the concepts I have been integrating with this instrument, and it is now a matter of solidifying those parts.
Yesterday at practice, I expressed my gratitude to them for indulging me. They resopnded something to the effect of insisting that since we have a keyboard and a couple people who know how to use it, that it should be a part of the band. Their favorite bands (Dio, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Cinderella, etc) all used the keyboard element often. Indeed, my two favorite bands (Rush and Dream Theater) use the keyboards all the time, and their sound is largely defined by the use of this instrument. So there you have it. My musical life took a drastic turn for the better three weeks ago when I first plugged the keyboard into the PA system. Based on the direction the music is heading in, this may be the project I have long sought, but was never able to find. There is one element missing in my mind, but I lost that battle a couple months ago. All other parties involved disagree with me, and I will leave it at that.
Later in the day, my family met with my uncle Paul, aunt Kristi, and her friend Sandy (or is it Sandi???) at the Cheesecake factory for our pre-concert dinner. The dinner ran a little long, so we ended up missing the first act of the night, Cheap Trick. On one hand, I really wanted to see them, but on the other, I was not very disappointed not to have been able to do so. I am not very sure why that is. Perhaps it is because they are 60 and unlikely to perform the way they once did. I was more curious about whether Robin Zander could still hit the high notes he once did (ala "The Flame"). I guess I won't know that. No biggie.
We ended up arriving just before 8 PM (Which means Cheap Trick had a 30 or so minute set anyway). We were just in time for Poison. Truth be told, I wasn't sure what to think about going to see that particular group. I will admit that they have some songs I like such as "Fallen Angel" and "Nothing But a Good Time" and a few others. Really the only one I don't like is "Unskinny Bop" because it is totally gay. It wasn't gay for them to write since I am sure they were aware of the tail a song like that would get them, but it is gay for a dude to listen to it voluntarily. At any rate, Poison put on a first-rate performance. Even though Brett Michaels has become a bit of a circus act with his "Rock of Love" series, when he is onstage, he becomes the rockstar he was born to be. He is almost as good a frontman as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden). He was entertaining, ingenuous, and it was hard not to get into it with him. Add to that the flamboyance of C.C. DeVille (who, by the way, is an amazing guitar player) and the stick twirling between every snare hit by Rikki Rocket (who I have always believed to be one of the better drummers of his era), and you knew for sure you were at an 80's metal concert. There was easily more energy there than what one gets from the cutter bands. It was real, raw energy. There was nothing about Poison's performance that I didn't like. I dare say, I would see them again voluntarily if they were headlining or just playing on their own. I was actually surprised that they didn't play "Talk Dirty to Me" and "I Want Action".
The only member of poison who wasn't there was bassist Bobby Dall. He was "sick" that night. In his stead was Eric Brittingham of Cinderella. If this wasn't pointed out, no one would have known the difference. With the exception of Brittingham's sleeve tattoo, he looks similar to Dall fromo a distance (even the mere 70 feet away from the stage where I was). Usually, when a band has a replacement who already knows the parts he is responsible for, that means the person he is subbing in for is flat-out replaced. On the other hand, this guy may be a pinch hitter for Poison, though the chance is remote. I think only Metallica did that when James Hetfield's arm got burnt, and even then, they had to cancel some shows. Poison had to do no such thing. So we shall see.
Def Leppard put on the performance I had hoped they would. They played every single "hit" you would expect. Of course, they didn't play too much from the very early albums because Joe Elliot simply cannot hit those notes. By the time they got to "Photograph", the fatigue of the evening had already set in. I can only imagine what it would sound like if they played songs like "Wasted". Hysteria monopolized much of the set. Six of the songs came from that album. I'll let you guess which ones.
I can't say anything bad about either performance. The musicianship and showmanship left nothing to be desired. It was a blast from the past. A past that only the music of the era brought me any solace. The '80s were a terrible decade for me. My mother was dying for a couple years, then died, an I subsequently dealt with issues I will not discuss here as a result of said death. The only thing I had to hold onto was the music of the era. The music was relatively positive as well. I mean, Just last night, one band had several songs about having fun, and the other sang at least three about the music itself.
Anyway, Def Leppard said it best:
LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL
Yesterday at practice, I expressed my gratitude to them for indulging me. They resopnded something to the effect of insisting that since we have a keyboard and a couple people who know how to use it, that it should be a part of the band. Their favorite bands (Dio, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Cinderella, etc) all used the keyboard element often. Indeed, my two favorite bands (Rush and Dream Theater) use the keyboards all the time, and their sound is largely defined by the use of this instrument. So there you have it. My musical life took a drastic turn for the better three weeks ago when I first plugged the keyboard into the PA system. Based on the direction the music is heading in, this may be the project I have long sought, but was never able to find. There is one element missing in my mind, but I lost that battle a couple months ago. All other parties involved disagree with me, and I will leave it at that.
Later in the day, my family met with my uncle Paul, aunt Kristi, and her friend Sandy (or is it Sandi???) at the Cheesecake factory for our pre-concert dinner. The dinner ran a little long, so we ended up missing the first act of the night, Cheap Trick. On one hand, I really wanted to see them, but on the other, I was not very disappointed not to have been able to do so. I am not very sure why that is. Perhaps it is because they are 60 and unlikely to perform the way they once did. I was more curious about whether Robin Zander could still hit the high notes he once did (ala "The Flame"). I guess I won't know that. No biggie.
We ended up arriving just before 8 PM (Which means Cheap Trick had a 30 or so minute set anyway). We were just in time for Poison. Truth be told, I wasn't sure what to think about going to see that particular group. I will admit that they have some songs I like such as "Fallen Angel" and "Nothing But a Good Time" and a few others. Really the only one I don't like is "Unskinny Bop" because it is totally gay. It wasn't gay for them to write since I am sure they were aware of the tail a song like that would get them, but it is gay for a dude to listen to it voluntarily. At any rate, Poison put on a first-rate performance. Even though Brett Michaels has become a bit of a circus act with his "Rock of Love" series, when he is onstage, he becomes the rockstar he was born to be. He is almost as good a frontman as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden). He was entertaining, ingenuous, and it was hard not to get into it with him. Add to that the flamboyance of C.C. DeVille (who, by the way, is an amazing guitar player) and the stick twirling between every snare hit by Rikki Rocket (who I have always believed to be one of the better drummers of his era), and you knew for sure you were at an 80's metal concert. There was easily more energy there than what one gets from the cutter bands. It was real, raw energy. There was nothing about Poison's performance that I didn't like. I dare say, I would see them again voluntarily if they were headlining or just playing on their own. I was actually surprised that they didn't play "Talk Dirty to Me" and "I Want Action".
The only member of poison who wasn't there was bassist Bobby Dall. He was "sick" that night. In his stead was Eric Brittingham of Cinderella. If this wasn't pointed out, no one would have known the difference. With the exception of Brittingham's sleeve tattoo, he looks similar to Dall fromo a distance (even the mere 70 feet away from the stage where I was). Usually, when a band has a replacement who already knows the parts he is responsible for, that means the person he is subbing in for is flat-out replaced. On the other hand, this guy may be a pinch hitter for Poison, though the chance is remote. I think only Metallica did that when James Hetfield's arm got burnt, and even then, they had to cancel some shows. Poison had to do no such thing. So we shall see.
Def Leppard put on the performance I had hoped they would. They played every single "hit" you would expect. Of course, they didn't play too much from the very early albums because Joe Elliot simply cannot hit those notes. By the time they got to "Photograph", the fatigue of the evening had already set in. I can only imagine what it would sound like if they played songs like "Wasted". Hysteria monopolized much of the set. Six of the songs came from that album. I'll let you guess which ones.
I can't say anything bad about either performance. The musicianship and showmanship left nothing to be desired. It was a blast from the past. A past that only the music of the era brought me any solace. The '80s were a terrible decade for me. My mother was dying for a couple years, then died, an I subsequently dealt with issues I will not discuss here as a result of said death. The only thing I had to hold onto was the music of the era. The music was relatively positive as well. I mean, Just last night, one band had several songs about having fun, and the other sang at least three about the music itself.
Anyway, Def Leppard said it best:
LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL
posted by Aaron \m/ at 11:23 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home