Bach Redeems Himself in The Meister's Eyes (And Ears)

I won't lie to you good folks.  The Sebastian Bach show announced for December 21, 2014 in Toronto did not hold a ton of interest for me after what I had witnessed during his performance at the M3 Festival in Baltimore back in April of 2014.  During that M3 performance I found him to be ridiculously, even insultingly arrogant, yelling at and berating the audience and just generally a horrible show (M3-Saturday April 26, 2014).  I happily coughed up my $40 ticket price to see the direct support band, Toronto's own Diemonds, who if I'm not mistaken were hand picked by Bach himself to set the stage for him.  Fresh off performances on the KISS Kruise IV where they rocked the high seas, Diemonds simply kick ass, embodying the spirit of the 80's and their band logo even appear in my tattoo.

Meeting friends at the venue I learned that the Bach Meet & Greet that they had arrived for at 4PM had been postponed until after the show.  They didn't receive this information until after they had been kept waiting out in the cold for about two hours and once they were finally allowed into the venue the merchandise booth was selling M&G tickets for $120 ($30 less than what they advance paid!).  Where should the finger be pointed on this one, who knows?  At Bach for not being bothered to come to the venue and meet these people who paid decent money to do so, probably.  At the M&G organizers, for the lack of communication, organisation and continuity in pricing, probably.  Hearing about this certainly wasn't doing much to improve my opinions of Bach formed from the M3 fiasco!  Come to think of it, didn't he cancel his last scheduled show in Toronto under wishy-washy circumstances?

Two Toronto area bands, Revelation 17 and Second Pass, warmed up the stage both delivering solid opening sets as they've always done when seeing them in the past.  I was about four or five people back from the barrier when Diemonds blasted out onto the stage with "Meet Your Maker".

Post by The Meister.

"Holy crap!" I missed this band (been a few months since I'd last seen them)!  While the band, consisting of C.C. Diemond and Daniel Dekay on guitars, Tommy Cee on bass and Aiden Tranquada behind the kit, were right on cue, vocalist Priya Panda's mike certainly needed to be cranked up a notch or three, something that the crowd tried shouting out to the band on a few occasions.  It was increased as they went on, but not quite enough and Panda seemed to get drowned out in the mix at times as you can tell from my "Meet Your Maker" video.  Diemonds ripped through a longer than usual set including hits from their 2012 The Bad Pack album such as "Lil' Miss" and "Get The Fuck Outta Here", a video for which appears below, but the majority of their set was comprised of selections from the forthcoming album, titled Never Wanna Die, due on April 20 2015.  Priya also took a moment to pay homage/respect to Diemonds' fallen comrades and former band members whose lives were tragically cut short, Allan Riches and just a few weeks before, Paul "Cuso" Mancuso.  Despite that somber few moments Diemonds led a spirited set that even though I was unfamiliar with the tunes left the crowd screaming for more, me wanting the new record immediately and a definite bar for Bach to follow.

Post by The Meister.

Immediately after Diemonds finished M.C. Drew Masters of M.E.A.T. Magazine (a staple in my days of youth) took the mike as they were clearing the stage and invited up some travelers who had made the trek from Ottawa (about 5 hours away) for the show.  While Drew enticed the young lady to give an "Ottawa style" shout out the gentleman got down on one knee and proposed marriage to the lady's delighted shock.  As they left the stage I jokingly announced to those around me "Well, that's it then, I guess I can go home now!", but I didn't go home of course, just moved a few people back closer to the bar and ready to escape if Bach played his "offend the audience game" again.

In keeping style with the Axl Rose side of Mr. Sebastian Bach he was more than a little late going on stage (approximately an hour), a practice that had organizers scrambling and worrying.  But he finally did hit the stage and hit it like thunder I must say!  "Slave to the Grind" began the assault with an intensely high energy as Bach whipped around the microphone swinging it by the cord overhead.  "Hell Inside My Head" and "Temptation" from his latest album, Give 'Em Hell, continued the barrage bringing us to his address of the audience.  On this run of the tour he told us that they had just performed 13 shows in 13 days and had saved the best for last, Toronto.  Bach growing up in Peterborough, Ontario (about 1.5 hours away) considers Toronto his hometown and throughout the evening peppered us with humorous stories of his youth.  By the time we'd gotten this far I was thinking how impressed with Bach's charisma and the band's abilities I was as they launched into "The Threat" followed by "Big Guns".  "Piece of Me" was dedicated to his Mom who was in the front row for tonight's concert and "18 And Life" saw him sporting a Santa hat.  His interactions with the crowd were certainly a complete turnaround from what I had witnessed at the M3 Festival earlier this year!  Bach had the audience (yes, me as well) with him all the way as they sang along to all these seminal Skid Row classics.  "Tunnelvision" and "American Metalhead", renamed "Canadian Metalhead" for this performance were next up, the latter preceded by a shout out to KiLLeR DWaRfS skin basher Darrell "DWaRf" Millar who was somewhere in the audience.  "In a Darkened Room" was dedicated to Pantera's Dimebag Darrell being his favorite Skid Row song and I was able to capture the song on video.

Post by The Meister.

"Monkey Business" followed quickly behind but was to be short lived.  In an event that has already been flooding YouTube and the internet Bach suddenly screamed "Do you wanna stop the show?" and continued into a profanity laced tirade at a fan who had apparently bumped into his 70 year old mother in the front row.  Now while I'm perhaps protective of my own mother in a similar fashion, at her 70 years of age Mrs. Bach should surely not have been against the barrier, but perhaps watching from side stage especially since the audience was a little rough and pushy/shovy down in front.  Several of my regular concert going friends remarked on the "roughness" down in front at this show, so it must have been more so than usual!  "Take it from the breakdown" he called to his band after the tirade in which he threatened to "leave the stage if there were any more idiots" and they picked it up finishing off "Monkey Business" which included a segment of the classic Christmas carol, "Silent Night" and Rush's "Tom Sawyer".  Here's a fan filmed video of the incident, anyone else find it humorous that the tirade happened as he sang the line "all is calm" from the classic Christmas carol "Silent Night"?

But before they officially ended the song, the guy had been removed from the audience by two rather burly security fellows and Bach continued, joking about magazines saying he suffers from LSD (Lead Singers Disease) and how cowbell cures it (enter cowbell).  Bach didn't lose a step and lapsed right back into his previously upbeat demeanor recounting some more humorous stories before treating us to a rarely played track from what he called an "underrated album" with "Breaking Down" from Skid Row's Subhuman Race.  "I Remember You" was not surprisingly a huge hit with the audience and I was able to grab this on video as well.  As you can see in the video Bach is quite interactive with the crowd and while his vocals are, as he says "not bad for an old guy" they certainly aren't what they were as to be expected with age and he was often assisted throughout the show by some sort of backing vocal track as you can hear at points in the video as well.  One friend remarked to me that "he sings more from his head these days - very nasally & thin, compared to the ball-busting vocals he's known for (where he was obviously using his diaphragm)."

Post by The Meister.

More Bach stories and reminiscing of his youth preceded "All My Friends Are Dead" and "Youth Gone Wild" came complete with band intros and a little more Christmas caroling with "Hark the Herald Angels Sing".  I assumed that would be the end of the show with that song, but we were treated to something else with a cover of Aerosmith's "Movin' Out" before it was all said and done.

Well to me Bach redeemed himself in spades.  Yes his voice may not be what it once was and say what you like about his "LSD" and antics, when the man is on, he's on and December 21, 2014 in Toronto he was just that!  I went into the show expecting to be agitated and leave early to coming out of the show wondering when the next Bach show would be and how far I would have to travel to see it!  Unfortunately for the meet & greeters the night was to drag on for hours to come as they were told to remain behind while everyone else was ushered out of the venue.  They were then taken onto the bus in groups of five, yes that's extremely cool, but two hours later as you're still waiting for your turn it kind of loses it's lustre.

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

...And the Winner is: Red Dragon Cartel! (Award: The Band That Meister Has Seen Live the Most In 2014)

Anyone who knows me knows what a fan of not just hard rock and heavy metal music, but the live concert scene I am.  That being said it's unavoidable that I would catch a few bands for more than

Jake E. Lee - photo by Wally Norton

one performance as I hit up concerts in Toronto and festivals around the world as much as work allows throughout the year.  Jake E. Lee's Red Dragon Cartel is a band that I've seen a whopping six times throughout 2014 and frankly, it's still not enough!  After all the hoopla surrounding the band's premiere show front man Darren James Smith has more than proven his vocal prowess around the world, something that I, like Jake E. Lee, knew he would.  A former member of Harem Scarem, Warmachine, Heavens Fire and other Toronto area bands, the Southern Ontario resident has delivered countless top notch performances as the band saw heavy worldwide touring throughout 2014.

Darren not only has to sing the songs from Red Dragon Cartel's self titled album issued earlier this year that he provided vocals for, but has to also sing songs that originally showcased the voices of the likes of Robin Zander and Paul Di'Anno. On top of that he has to pull off the late Ray Gillen's Badlands tracks and one of the most well known voices in rock, Ozzy Osbourne. Not an easy feat!

Jake E. Lee is a guitarist that everyone definitely has to see before they die and now with his Badlands brother Greg Chaisson stepping in for Ronnie Mancuso who returned to his producing, Red Dragon Cartel is still setting the world on fire!  The band seemed to be playing everywhere in 2014 with appearances at Sweden Rock Festival, Monsters of Rock Cruise and M3 Festival and has more gigs planned for 2015.  But on Wednesday December 10, 2014 they rolled into Toronto for the second time this year!

Post by The Meister.

After the stage and crowd at The Garrison was warmed by opening bands Warmachine, a local area band that formerly featured Darren James Smith with a pummeling fast paced set and young guitar wizard Ethan Brosh and his band with their shredding instrumental set, the crowd tightened up for Red Dragon Cartel.  Coming out of the gates ripping, they delivered Ozzy's "Ultimate Sin", of course co-written by Jake E. Lee.  The band sounded great with Jonas Fairley's pounding drums, Greg Chaisson's thundering bass and Darren James Smith's soaring vocals, but it was of course the master Jake E. Lee who stole the show.  "Wasted" from the Red Dragon Cartel self titled CD, which Paul Di'Anno provided the vocals for on the album was the next selection.  The crowd was clearly loving every minute of the show, but they weren't the only ones as a broad smile could often be seen to flash across Lee's face as he seemingly effortlessly wielded his guitar.  Throughout the evening we also were served songs like "Shout It Out", "War Machine", "Deceived" and "Feeder" (a Robin Zander sung track on the album).  Intermixed with those awesome Red Dragon Cartel songs were some classic Badlands compositions in the form of "High Wire", "Healer" and "Rumblin' Train" among others.  One of the absolute highlights for me and one of the earliest rock/metal tracks I ever heard was the encore presentation and show closer of Ozzy's "Bark At the Moon".

Post by The Meister.

Once again, this is the sixth time that I've seen Red Dragon Cartel live this year and it's still not enough!  If you have the chance, don't miss these guys!

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

PHOTO CREDIT: WALLYGATOR NORTON 2014

(Red Dragon Cartel Website) (Red Dragon Cartel Facebook)

Brighton Rock Takeover - Ep163

This week's episode marks the third time that the "Hoser Heavy Metal Twins" have taken the reigns of the Decibel Geek Podcast. Once again Wally "Wallygator" Norton and Rich "The Meister" Dillon are back with a new batch of Canadian homegrown hard rock and heavy metal. Joining the Decibel Geek website writers turned hosts are two very special guests guitarist Greg Fraser and bassist Stevie Skreebs from Canadian bands Brighton Rock and Fraze Gang.

"Roadtrip!" was called, as the Decibel Geek podcast headed out to Niagara Falls Canada to the home of bassist Stevie Skreebs. Equipped with some Iron Maiden Trooper beer, we set up shop in the very basement where Brighton Rock often rehearse and where Fraze Gang came to life.

For the next hour the guys enjoyed some laughs, some beers and most importantly some great Canadian music. Also touched on throughout the show, the formation of Brighton Rock, playing a historic show with Triumph, how they came to be part of Mitch Lafon's KISS tribute album, their interpretation of "Creatures of the Night" and more. They also chime in on Gene Simmon's "rock is dead" quote and of course they discussed the progress on the upcoming and eagerly anticipated new Brighton Rock record that is in the works.  The Decibel Geeks can tell you.....it's gonna be fantastic!

Wally's Story...

Greg rocking the Hammer 1989

I have written about growing up a Canadian metal fan in the 80's many times now. We didn't get MTV north of the border, instead we got the Canadian version called Much Music. Much played all the big rock videos of the day. Crue, Def Leppard and Whitesnake were there, of course, but right along with them were plenty of great Canadian rock, Coney Hatch, the KiLLeR DWaRfS and Brighton Rock among the best. They were every bit the "rock gods" that Sixx, Elliot and Coverdale were. Of course they were, they were all over our televisions and radio airwaves. It almost seems strange to me that these great Canadian bands were not necessarily getting the same exposure south of the border.

Brighton Rock in the 80's burned quite a trail, released three incredible albums produced by Michael Wagener, Jack Richardson and Toby Wright respectively. They earned Gold records, won Juno awards and toured the country relentlessly. Over the years I was privileged enough to catch Brighton Rock live probably a dozen or more times. From various clubs in Hamilton (Dallas, Bannisters, etc.), my college pub on frosh week, opening for Honeymoon Suite at COPPS Coliseum and opening for Triumph at Canada's Wonderland.

Stevie's Peavey!

If you had told the 18 year old me that I would be invited to sit around and chat with Greg and Stevie, at Stevie's house no less, I might have actually peed myself. Fortunately as a mature adult now (shut up Rich!), I was able to contain my bladder and enjoy the experience. After the recording, the conversation continued on and as hinted on the show we got a sneak peak at one of the new songs slated for the new Brighton Rock record. A thick heavy riff sets off a great new tune that I can't wait to add to my music collection, hurry up fellas! Stevie even let me tinker with his bass as I suddenly went fanboy and almost did a Wayne's World "We're not worthy!" You can see how miserable I am in the photo.

Being able to share some Brighton Rock and Fraze Gang music has been a blast! I want to thank Stevie and Greg for being a part of the show, sharing some of your musical picks and for sharing some of the great memories with the Decibel Geek listeners.

Rich "The Meister"'s Story:
Thanksgiving is upon us once again and it's time for Chris and Aaron's yearly week off.  These two faithfully deliver an inciteful, humorous, and entertaining podcast each and every week, never having missed one for a total of 162 episodes!  In what has become a yearly tradition in itself, The Hoser Heavy Metal Twins, Canadians Wally "Wallygator" Norton and Rich "The Meister" Dillon are back for a third year of stepping in to bring you this week's episode.

I wanted to do something different for our third year attempting to remotely fill the big shoes of the regular Decibel Geek hosts and basically give the faithful listeners something better than just the two of us "Hosers".  I didn't know quite what, but almost immediately after I expressed this sentiment to Wally he returned with the suggestion that soon became a reality.  Joining the Decibel Geek website writers turned hosts for this

The Meister mauled by Brighton Rock!

episode are two very special guests, guitarist Greg Fraser and bassist Stevie Skreebs from the Canadian bands Brighton Rock and Fraze Gang.

Personally, I almost feel deprived at times, especially when reading Wally's story above, in that although I was a long time listener my first concert experience with Brighton Rock was the October 2012 show at The Rockpile in Toronto.  Wally and I got the opportunity to sit down with frontman Gerry McGhee before the event for an in depth interview.  The boys had set the gig as a warm up for their planned appearance at that year's Firefest Festival in Nottingham UK and what a show it was.  It was thrilling to finally get to see these guys live and I don't know what they were like then, but I think I can safely say they're stronger than ever.  Over the next couple of years I would often speak to Greg via the internet and even run into him at various shows held at The Rockpile venues, to the point where a friendship has formed.  Even with this it was still exciting to sit down and talk with the boys in this revered space.  As Wally eluded to the fact that 18 year old him may have wet himself, 41 year old me was near that (well I did drink a fair amount of Skreebs' beer!).

With the traditional "Keep it Canadian" theme, the four play some great Canadian music, some Brighton Rock/Fraze Gang, chat about bands, music, concert memories and of course drink some beer.  Hopefully you find it as interesting to listen to as we did fun in recording it.

Cheers,
The Meister  (The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

Buy Music!
(click artist name to purchase!)

Brighton Rock -Young, Wild & Free
Brighton Rock - Take a Deep Breath
Brighton Rock - Love Machine
Brighton Rock - A Room For Five: Live
Fraze Gang - Fraze Gang
Fraze Gang - 2
Rush - Moving Pictures
Triumph - Thunder Seven
Step Echo - Songs For the Broken
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To Hell And Back: Hellion in Toronto (with a photo gallery by Brian Ronald)

Photo Gallery by Brian Ronald

"Queen of Scream", Ann Boleyn brought her 2014 version of Sunset strip icons Hellion into Toronto on October 17, 2014.  The Rockpile West was the scene of the crime so to speak and
Hellion blew the roof off the place despite the weaker attendance.  Hellion dates back to Los Angeles, California in 1982 when they formed with the original line up of vocalist Ann Boleyn, guitarist Ray Schenck, drummer Sean Kelley and bassist Peyton Tuthill.  After years of struggles with line up changes, record companies basically ignoring Hellion, Ronnie James Dio taking them under his wing, internal disputes and Ann Boleyn receiving threats from stalkers, among other woes, Boleyn has reformed Hellion once again.  This 2014 version consists of a veritable roster of "A list musicians" with drummer Simon Wright (AC/DC, Dio, UFO), keyboardist Scott Warren (Dio/Dio Disciples), Bjorn Englen (Dio Disciples) and guitarist Maxxxwell Carlisle.  A new EP was recorded, titled Karma's A Bitch and released on October 7, 2014.

The tour, which saw Hellion stopping in many cities in the US and also her first ever appearance in

Hellion and Fireball - photo by Brian Ronald

Canada with the October 17 performance in Toronto, featured Greg Smith (Ted Nugent/Ted Poley/Alice Cooper) stepping in for Bjorn Englen and the addition of rhythm guitarist Georg Dolivo (Rhino Bucket).  Fireball whiskey was on hand issuing samples in conjunction with their backing of the Hellion tour, but I was disappointed with the support that Toronto was giving Hellion as I looked around at the weaker attendance and saw only one person sporting a Hellion shirt (me).  There were, however, several other shows going on in the area as well on this same night, the curse of a growing metal community and Hellion is not as well known as some.

Hellion (Georg Dolivo/Ann Boleyn/Maxxxwell Carlisle) Toronto - photo by Brian Ronald

Hellion took to The Rockpile stage beginning with the "Resurrection" intro and straight through into "Will Not Go Quietly".  They sounded extremely tight as should be with the quality behind Boleyn and she herself had a voice that obviously had not aged one iota. "Hell Has No Fury" off the new Karma's a Bitch EP was next followed by "Betrayer" and "Karma's A Bitch" both off the same EP.  During Simon Wright's drum solo I realized that Boleyn was standing on a circle carpet

Ann Boleyn - photo by Brian Ronald

that had been placed on the Rockpile stage and adorned with white duct tape to look like a pentagram.  Throughout the set, dry ice billowed from side stage adding to the eerie setting created along with the cobwebs draped over the drums, keys and amps, not to mention the pentagram mat.  The Black Book release was represented next with a double shot consisting of "Storm Rider" and "Living In Hell".  Preceding Maxxxwell Carlisle's guitar solo was "Run For Your Life" and although the band was awesome and talented, I personally am not a fan of solos (unless incorporated into a song).  Not being a musician myself I just find them to be basically noise that I don't understand, especially in a set that only has twelve songs listed.  "Bad Attitude" (probably my favorite Hellion song) was followed by "Watch the City Burn" and "Rockin' 'Til the End" to completely cover everything from Karma's A Bitch.  After a brief respite the band returned for the encore.  Sadly they chose to skip "Break the Spell", which I could see on the setlist and only play a cover of "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)", which went off extremely well.

Ann Boleyn & The Meister

The entire band hung out after the set, signing autographs, taking photos and having beverages.  I had a couple of brief moments to get them all to sign the setlist that I had pilfered from the stage and even a photo with Ann Boleyn.  It was great to finally see Hellion live, especially after Ann's cameo on MORC singing "East Meets West" with Doro.  I do hope that this is not the end of Hellion in Toronto.

Look for videos from the show coming soon to Decibel Geek's YouTube Channel

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

PHOTO CREDIT: BRIAN RONALD 2014

(Hellion Website) (Hellion Facebook)

An Evening With Doro Pesch (including photography from Brian Ronald)

The undisputed Metal Queen, Dusseldorf Germany’s Doro Pesch rolled into Toronto with her 30th Anniversary tour on October 16, 2014.  It had been about a year and a half since her last visit, which was my first time seeing the live Doro experience.  I have long, long been a Doro/Warlock fan, getting into the band with the True As Steel album that we pilfered from my buddy’s older brother’s collection in our hunger to discover new hard rock/metal music that we had recently become exposed to.  From there we moved both backwards and forwards simultaneously as we saved our allowances and paper route gains to collect the previous Hellbound and Burning the Witches albums as well as the recently (at the time) issued Triumph & Agony.  We were fifteen or sixteen and in Canadian High School when we both enrolled in a German class teaching the basics of the language and culture.  One assignment was to bring something German into the next class that we would discuss.  We teamed up and produced the Triumph & Agony cassette when our name was called.  I’m not sure that the rest of the class or the teacher enjoyed that session as we listened to and discussed the album and the band during the class.  Fast forward to 2013 and the first time I had the chance to see her live in a truly incredible performance in Toronto despite the horrible snowstorm outside of the club.  We raged inside while Mother Nature raged outside.  Around that same time, at the age of 40, I had finally decided to take the leap into body art and get my first tattoo.  My love of music was the clear choice of subject.  With the assistance of comic artist Rob Armstrong and tattoo artist Guy Abergel at Art Studio Tattoos, Toronto the tattoo became a full sleeve piece depicting a guitar case “stickered” with the logos of about 30 bands that helped shape or affect my life in some way.  While there are still many great bands missing (not enough arm space), Doro Pesch is the only band to appear twice with both the Doro and Warlock logos!  That shows you where the Metal Queen sits in my hierarchy of life.  Again in 2013 I had been seriously getting closer to making the dream of attending a European festival a reality when I saw the lineup announced for Sweden Rock 2013.  With Doro in the roster, my choice was cemented and tickets were booked and purchased, Sweden here I come! (A Canadian Decibel Geek in Sweden).

MORC Meet & Greet with Doro-photo by Danny Verret

2014 brought another chance to experience the live performance as Doro was slated to appear on that year’s Monsters of Rock Cruise.  Two wonderful shows by the entire band took place there on the high seas.  I spent the entire cruise looking for Doro as the one person that I wanted to meet aboard ship, but alas to no avail.  I was, however, able to meet wicked bass player Nick Douglas and skin basher Johnny Dee (who I’d also met briefly in Toronto 2013), but Doro eluded me.  Forced to attend the meet & greet aboard ship as my only chance to meet her, I had a few precious seconds to display the artwork of my arm and smile for a shot with the entire band before being herded along to the next photo session.  It was still a complete dream come true getting a few seconds with the lady who helped shape my rock tastes and days of teen angst.

…And now we get to the present and specifically October 16, 2014.  Presented by Inertia Entertainment and performing at The Hard Luck Bar would again be Doro and her incredible band.  That announcement months earlier brought an immediate ticket link clicking and sheer elation that the price tag was a mere $22.50 CDN….that’s almost free!  Perhaps this low price was due to the fact that The Hard Luck is a terribly small and totally shitty venue with the tiniest stage and possibly worst sound in Toronto.  All that aside this would definitely be the most intimate show opportunity to see Doro!  Coupled with all of this, the little and perhaps not obvious drop-down menu displayed a higher price option that included a meet & greet VIP and early entry option.  This ain’t no Motley Crue “rip-off meet & greet”….it was only another $18-20 to add this to the ticket!  Hell Yeah!  Thanks Inertia Entertainment and Doro for this amazing and more than affordable opportunity. 

Doro Toronto Oct 16, 2014-Brian Ronald

The evening finally arrived and I set out, meeting up with some friends for dinner prior to the show.  We had gotten word that the meet & greet had been pushed back to after the show as the band had only recently arrived in Toronto.  My good fortune stayed with me and good things come to those who wait as one of these dinner friends, Amy, was actually friends with a member of the band!  How cool is that?  In what almost seems like a dream to me now, before I knew it, on our way to the club we were pit stopping to pick up a carafe of coffee for the band, which shortly saw us on the tour bus!  What, on the tour bus?  Yes, yes we were!  Doro and most of the band were present and I stood a few feet away from where the “Metal Queen” was sitting on the couch.  Perhaps the blonde bombshell has discovered the fountain of youth as she definitely looks every bit as good and hot as she did in her youth!  All the buzz was immediately evident as true in that she (and actually every single member of the group) really appreciate their fans as she chatted lightly with us.  Somehow (thanks to Amy I believe) it was pointed out that I was adorned with a Doro tattoo and before I knew it I was shrugging out of my jacket to display Guy Abergel’s work.  No sooner did I have the jacket off and guitarist Luca Princiotta remarked that he remembered the tattoo from the cruise meet & greet (very cool on that score alone!) as Nick Douglas (bassist) and Doro herself moved in to get a closer look.  All of a sudden I was posing for photos with my German Metal Queen heroine, a few with her pointing to the tattoo.  As we readied ourselves to depart Doro asked our

Doro & Meister Toronto Oct 16, 2014-by Brian Ronald

group if there was anything that we wanted to hear tonight.  They all turned towards me, I gave a few moments thought wading/flipping through the tons of choices that instantly popped into my head.  I wanted to choose something I’d not heard live before, but something that stood a chance of getting played.  I settled on “We Are The Metalheads (Wacken Hymne)” to which she responded “OK”.  Elated beyond belief and totally on cloud nine we all gushed an outpouring of thanks as we departed to give them what little time there was to get rested and ready to perform.  I almost didn’t need the show now, that was so cool thanks Amy Mech, you rock!

Doro @ Hard Luck Toronto Oct 16, 2014 - Brian Ronald

I reported to position at the front of the stage on the side of guitarist Bas Maas.  What followed could only be described as pure magic as we got a heavy dose of Warlock to get the show going.  The crowd was pumped up and were all surging forward, fists in the air and screaming with the opening bars of the Warlock rager “I Rule The Ruins”.  “Earthshaker Rock”, “Burning the Witches” and “Fight For Rock” all followed.  Time for a double shot of Doro solo material next with “Night of the Warlock” and “Raise Your Fist” from the current, awesome album of the same name before a deeper and rarely played cut off 1984’s Burning The Witches release in “Without You”.  Prior to the tour there had been a Doro fan poll in which the question was asked “What would you like to hear on this tour”.  There were a lot of deeper cuts on the list and “Without You" is only one example, with other choices being things such as "Beyond the Trees" and "Unholy Love".  The band listened to their fans and worked some of those fan favorite songs into

Doro Band Toronto Oct 16, 2014

the set, changing it up a little each night.  The next track was a true treat for a fan like me with “Evil”, a song I’d never heard before and was actually completely unaware of it’s existence.  Doro called out that the song was originally from 1985 and had not been released in Canada or US, so it would probably be new to us.  What a total rager it was and I must add this track to my collection as soon as possible.  “Metal Tango”, "True as Steel” and the ballad “Fur Immer" (Forever) kept the roster heavy in the Warlock vein as Doro offered her apologies on the sound quality (I gather there was some reverb/feedback in their monitors).  So far there had been a few deviations from the setlist that was taped to the stage at the pint sized beauty’s feet and “East Meets West” was another of these.  On the cruise Doro had been joined on stage by Ann Boleyn ("The Queen of Scream" from Hellion) for a duet on this one and since Hellion was indeed in town tomorrow I wondered if we might see a little cross performing, but it was not to be the case.  During one of the choruses of "East Meets West" Doro moved to my side of the stage, worming between monitors and cords and coming to stop directly in front of me!  Staring right at me, we each sang several lines of the chorus to each other as I felt a pat on my back from my friend Amy.  Words cannot describe the feeling.  “Out of Control” another rarely seen gem popped up next with a lengthy skin bashing solo including crowd participation from Johnny Dee.  Doro returned to stage and announced that Johnny Dee (Britny Fox) had been with her for 21 years to date, offering her thanks to him for going above the call on

Johnny Dee @ Hard Luck Toronto Oct 16, 2014-Brian Ronald

this tour and driving the bus as well!  Wow, I know that he was previously the tour manager, so if he’s still performing those duties he’s a busy and dedicated guy!   Doro continued to talk to the rabid crowd explaining about the poll for setlist and the fan chosen favorites.  Then she said: “We met some friends earlier this evening and one of them requested a song.  This gentleman right here, (pointing at me with an outstretched arm) wanted to hear something.  What was it?" She asked.  ""We are the Metalheads",” I nervously replied in a fairly loud voice, a bit shocked at Doro calling me out.  Again I felt the pat on the back from my friend Amy as she knew just what something like that and all these other exchanges really mean to metal fan such as myself.  “Love Me In Black” was next as I still reeled from the previous, my throat nearly raw and harsh.  “All We Are” of course closed up the regular set with a little crowd participation included and we just knew that there would still be more to come.  After a short reprieve the band re-crowded the tiny

Nick Douglas Toronto Oct 16, 2014

stage for the encores as the audience cheered them on with everything they had.  "Hero", composed as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio, lead the way followed closely behind by “Breaking The Law”, a Judas Priest cover that Doro has made her own.  “Burn it Up” was the final song for the evening and as the band exited the stage we all remarked about the total awesomeness of what we had just witnessed and experienced.  We milled around as concert goers filed out or to the bar for much needed refreshments.  After a short while security hoisted out all the non Meet & Greeters and we were explained the rules.  Simple: line-up, two things only signed by the band, walk by them all and quick chat as they sign, no photos, line up again and then photos will start.  It all went remarkably smoothly and not anywhere near as drawn out as I would have thought.  I of course had much more than two things to sign and the promoter had just handed out event posters to us all as well.  I passed a couple of CD covers to friends ahead and behind me as they only had one thing each and we were off.  Luca Princiotta was first and there were of course pleasantries about the show as I approached the table, shaking his hand.  I asked him why they were not selling his solo CD this time around.  I had considered purchasing it last time as he is an awesome and talented guitarist, but passed eventually.  Preferring to buy direct from an artist if possible I waited for this show as my next opportunity to acquire the CD.  He seemed shocked that I was interested and apologized that it was in the truck due to the late arrival, saying he might have one in the dressing room and would check for me after the

Luca Princiotta Toronto Oct 16, 2014

ordeal was over.  Doro personalized my 25 Years In Rock...And Still Going Strong 25th Anniversary DVD/CD set and the event poster and I had a few brief minutes to chat with each member, thankful to them for coming to Toronto.  We rounded around and formed up once again for photos.  The whole band was “into” each fan’s photo taken with their own camera by one of the event staff.  They even took two for everyone to be sure a good shot was captured.  A large number of my group looked at the piss-poor lighting in the Hard Luck Bar, especially in the area we were using for photos and were dubious about the quality that their phones would produce.  Meister to the rescue as I had my trusty little point and shoot camera already in hand.  I ended up using my camera for a total of six peoples Meet & Greet photos!  By the time I arrived home at 3:30am I was totally exhausted but made sure to get everyone’s pics posted and tagged for them on Facebook.  Thank-you Doro Pesch, Johnny Dee, Bas Maas, Luca Princiotta, Nick Douglas and Harrison Young for a truly unforgettable experience and an awesome show!

Doro @ Hard Luck Bar October 16, 2014 Setlist:
"I Rule the Ruins"
"Earthshaker Rock"

Bas Maas Toronto Oct 16, 2014-Brian Ronald

"Burning the Witches"
"Fight for Rock"
"Night of the Warlock"
"Raise Your Fist in the Air"
"Without You"
"Evil"
"Metal Tango"
"True as Steel"
"Fur Immer"
"East Meets West"
"Out of Control"
"Wacken Hymne (We are the Metalheads)"
"Love Me in Black"
"All We Are"
Encore:
"Hero"
"Breaking the Law"
"Burn It Up"

Look for videos from the show coming soon to Decibel Geek's YouTube Channel

Cheers,
The Meister

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PHOTO CREDIT: BRIAN RONALD 2014

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Meister Spends Some Time on Skid Row

Skid Row promo poster

"Sebastian who?" was a text I received from a friend during the Skid Row concert in Toronto on Wednesday August 20, 2014.  He was situated across the Virgin Mobile Mod Club in a different vantage point than I was for the show and this text came by the end of the second song of the setlist.  I had caught the live Skid Row experience previously while at Sweden Rock Festival 2013 and learned the advantages of vocalist Johnny Solinger over Sebastian Bach but this was my friend's first experience.  Solinger has been a full fledged member of Skid Row for over fourteen years now, longer than his predecessor, the arrogant Sebastian Bach and handles the material of both eras well, an excellent and crowd appreciative frontman.  Many say things like "No Bach, no Skid Row", but I personally can do

Johnny Solinger-by Meister

without the arrogant, insulting and offensive attitude that we all know Bach to possess, something I witnessed during Bach's performance at 2014's M3 Festival.  In any case Solinger and the rest of the band, originals Dave "Snake" Sabo (guitar), Scotti Hill (guitar), Rachel Bolan (bass) and relatively new drummer Rob Hammersmith delivered a high energy, raucous rock n' roll experience in Toronto that night.  The boys whipped the "decent sized for a Wednesday night" crowd into a frenzy with a setlist encompassing almost everything you'd want from the 

Scotti Hill-photo by Meister

early days of Skid Row and a selection of more recent compositions scattered throughout.  They began with "Let's Go" from 2013's EP United World Rebellion: Chapter One and from there it was over to 1989's self titled debut album for a wicked four pack of "Makin' a Mess", "Big Guns", "Piece of Me" and "18 and Life".  By now the floor was a little tighter packed as everyone surged closer to the stage, fists high in the air, caught up in the frenzy of an awesome rock n' roll show.  We also rocked out to classics such as "Riot Act", "In a Darkened Room", "I Remember You" and "Monkey Business" as well as newer tracks like "Thick Is the Skin", "Kings of Demolition" and "Ghost".

Rachel Bolan-by Meister

 Also in the mix was a Rachel Bolan sung version of The Ramones' "Psycho Therapy" and the three punch to the balls encore set of "We Are the Damned" (from Rise of the Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two), "Slave to the Grind" and "Youth Gone Wild" to raise the house lights.  Grab your copy of Rise of the Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two through this link: Buy: The new Skid Row EP and don't miss Skid Row on tour!  Keep an eye on the Decibel Geek YouTube channel for a couple of videos from the Toronto show being uploaded soon Decibel Geek YouTube Channel

Cheers,
The Meister

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PHOTOS: Concert photos by The Meister 2014

Tom Keifer (The Way Life Goes)

 40 Tom Keifer Photos by Rebekka Brennan

Anyone having read many of my previous concert reviews will know that a good portion of the awesome concerts that I have been able to catch are thanks to a club in Toronto called the Rockpile.  Actually there's now two of them, one at each end of the east/west subway line and I've received comments from all around the world saying how they wish they had a Rockpile in their hometown.  Dom and Steve (Owner and promoter respectively) have done an incredible job of luring some high quality rock groups from Canada and around the world into one or both of their Rockpile Clubs.  Just to name drop a few of the acts hitting the stages in these two awesome venues over the last little while ....UFO, Michael Schenker, Autograph, Helix, Brighton Rock, KiLLeR DWaRfS, Slaughter, Red Dragon Cartel, Y&T, Stryper, Jack Russell's Great White, and coming soon London Quireboys, Vixen and Hellion.

Tom Keifer's The Way Life Goes Album

On Saturday July 26, 2014 they added another name to the long list in that of Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer.  Tom Keifer issued his first solo album, The Way Life Goes, in April of 2013 and while the album received favorable reviews from friends and on line sources it did not particularly appeal to me.  The album showed the bluesy acoustic side of Tom Keifer's musical journey and while a few of the songs were catchy I feel they could have benefited from a full on metal band.  Bearing this in mind I headed out to his show at Rockpile East that night expecting to hear the odd Cinderella tune, but thinking it would mainly be comprised from The Way Life Goes.  Holy Crap was I wrong!  Keifer and his band put on what I'm going on record right now as saying was the best concert so far this year and I've seen a lot of shows!

Tom Keifer-photo by Rebekka Brennan

After three opening acts warmed up the crowd Keifer's band hit the stage with Keifer trailing them out to take the mic.  The setlist was sort of split up into three sections, the first containing five songs leading off with Cinderella's "Night Songs".  I forgot just how great that song really is, especially live with a band like this that was spot on.  Keifer displayed no loss of vocal prowess in any way and before long had me wondering if he'd discovered some fountain of youth.  Two songs from The Way Life Goes solo album followed with "It's Not Enough" and "A Different Light".  I was certainly getting a different light on these songs as while I didn't take to them particularly on the album, they were absolutely incredible and of course way

Tom Keifer-photo by Rebekka Brennan

 heavier live.  Tom was even sporting a thin leather jacket saying "It's Not Enough" constructed with duct tape across the back of the jacket.  One thing was strikingly evident already (aside from this band was about to level The Rockpile East before this night was over!) and that was that Tom Keifer seemed like a rejuvenated and different man on this stage.  I have never seen him so engaging with the audience, so energetic, so interactive with his audience as he was this night.  Two more debut album Cinderella tunes, "Somebody Save Me" and "Shake Me" brought this first "section" to a close with me singing away at the top of my lungs, fist in the air.  Not bad for a guy who didn't even feel like coming out tonight!  I was not the only one caught up in the engaging performance, but in particular I noticed the woman stage right who had been putting on a truly embarrassing display, hurling herself on her back on stage, pulling and grabbing at Tom's pant legs and so forth, but I suspect she was more enamored with Keifer himself than the music.

Savannah and Tom Keifer-photo by Rebekka Brennan

As Tom and the band all took seats on some wooden bar stools they treated us to the first verse of "Heartbreak Station", Tom encouraging us all to sing along, before continuing into "The Flower Song".  Tom introduced his wife Savannah to us as she took up a stool next to him, singing duet for "Ask Me Yesterday" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)", the latter of which awesomely finished full electric.  "Nobody's Fool" was the end of this sort of section and for those keeping score that's a fair amount of Cinderella compositions so far.

Tom Keifer gave us a short little guitar solo before "Solid Ground" which saw Savannah and another young lady taking up mics to the rear of the stage and providing background vocals.  The harmonica

Tom Keifer-photo by Rebekka Brennan

came out for "Cold Day In Hell" before it was back to Cinderella with "Coming Home" and "Shelter Me".  Tom was all over the stage, escalating the intensity and emotion in his performance, singing in crowd member's faces as the show came to an end and the band left the stage.  The Rockpile would have none of that nonsense and I personally felt my voice "go" as I screamed, applauded and cheered along with everyone else for the encore.

An encore indeed we did get that was absolutely mind blowing.  They ripped through a truly awesome version of The Beatles track also made famous by Joe Cocker, "With a Little Help From My Friends".  Tom enticed us (which wasn't hard at all) to sing along with "Gypsy Road", which sadly would be the final song for the night.  Tom Keifer took the time to slap and shake hands with as many of the crowd near the stage as he could reach and you could see the intensity of his performance tired had him out as he took the mic to deliver a truly heartfelt thanks to us all for helping keep these songs alive. 

That my friends was a wrap on what is quite possibly the best show I've seen so far this year (no disrespect intended to any bands I've previously seen this year) and many around me were echoing the same sentiment.  As we milled around, finishing beers, chatting and meandering towards the door I noticed two awesome vocalists had also been in attendance as I saw Priya Panda (Diemonds) and Nick Walsh (Slik Toxik/Famous Underground) in the club.  Nick Walsh even posted a comment under a Facebook photo from the evening commenting something to the effect of "best show I've seen at Rockpile East!".  If you get the chance make sure you get to Tom Keifer's next show in your town, trust me you won't regret it!

Decibel Geek Photographer Brian Ronald was in London, Ontario the night before where Tom Keifer and others performed at Rock The Park 2014.  Here's a link to his photos from that event including Tom Keifer's set: Rock The Park July 25, 2014

Cheers,
The Meister

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PHOTOS: Courtesy of REBEKKA BRENNAN 2014