Corabi's Motley Crue 94 Experience...

Well the rumors of my disappearance are now put to rest. It's been quite a while since I have contributed anything to the Decibel Geek Army, today breaks the silence "Don't tell me to turn it down!".

When I first got wind that John Corabi was bringing his "Motley 94 Experience" Tour to Toronto's Rockpile, I vowed that NOTHING would keep me from seeing this show. As soon as they announced the date, I called my Hoser Heavy Metal brother Rich "The Meister" Dillon and told him I was in! I haven't been this excited to see a concert in ages.

Many of you know that Motley Crue was my first concert back in 1984. From that moment I became an unabashed Cruehead being sure to catch every tour that came my way. Over the years, every tour that touched Toronto, I even made pilgrimages to Hamilton and Buffalo when Toronto wasn't enough. The only tour missing from my list was Motley's 94 ill fated tour that never came close enough for me to see. Within months, Vince was back in the fold and the self titled 94 album would be virtually erased from the bands history book. Well NOT MY history book! This was and still is far and away the best album of Motley's career.

Now I am sure I just ruffled a few feathers with that last statement but I stand by it. Musically it was miles ahead of anything they have ever done and vocally? C'mon, Corabi's vocal delivery on this album was pure, raw power that gives me goosebumps 20 years later. I am not slagging on Vince, he's an amazing frontman but looking at pure vocal ability, Corabi is the MAN! He is the Ronnie James Dio to Motley Crue, and there isn't anybody ever going to convince me that Ozzy is a better singer than Dio. Unfortunately many of the Crueheads just weren't ready to let go of the "good time party rock" that Crue had built their career on and the grunge movement rolling in wasn't going to accept an 80's "dinosaur" band like Motley. It's a bloody shame as this album delivers more angst, snarl and attitude than anything Cobain and his ilk ever released.

It was always a thorn in my side that I would probably never get to hear the majority of these songs live but the infinite wisdom of Mr. Corabi was going to change all of that. The Corabi Motley 94 Experience Tour was going to celebrate this excellent album that the Crue refuse to acknowledge. "Who said the music's dead in the streets? Don't know what they talk about".

As I mentioned earlier there wasn't anything going to stop me from seeing this show and I meant it. Lovely negative double digit temperatures, boatloads of snow and a badly sprained right knee all tried to damper this glorious night of rock but to no avail. We got there early, set up shop with a great vantage point to take in all the action and enjoyed a frosty beverachie or twelve as the opening bands got under way.

First up a new band for my ears. "Hollywood Sins". Great name and a solid set of melodic hard rock. Songs like "Dirty Girl", "Snake Eyes" and "Sick and Twisted" got the evening off to a great start. Catchy hooks with great sing along chorus's, these guys have everything I like about hard rock music. Be sure to check them out, I am looking forward to seeing these guys rock again very soon.

On second was the aptly named "Second Pass", a band I had not yet seen before. Meister informed me "wait till you hear this girl sing". Halfway through the first song, vocalist "Vee" (Veronica McNamee) let loose and my jaw hit the floor. Musically this band is pure dark heavy rock with groove, a lot of Sabbath, a little Goth and Vee glues it all together with vocals of a true metal maiden. I would love to see her onstage trading licks with Doro Pesch.

Third on the bill was "Crisis Cntrl Club" a young band from Toronto some might think didn't belong on bill. I couldn't disagree more, these guys played a high energy set of original music that was hook filled and very catchy, reminding me very much of Fall Out Boy. Keep in mind that Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) is a huge fan of Nikki Sixx and Motley Crue. Solid musicianship and radio friendly rock/pop songs will serve this band very well and I will be sure to check them out again. Certainly not cut from the metal genre but great songs are great songs and "Next Time" and "Crime" are both great songs and now sit in my ipod.

Last up before the main event was one of the Rockpile favorites and rightfully so. Three Quarter Stone brought out the big guns with an absolutely outstanding set that got the place jumping. Meister and I have seen these guys probably a dozen or so times over the last couple years. First time we saw them I loved it but they are light years from that show. With three great Cd's of music out now these guys are so tight and so totally comfortable on that stage they could easily headline this venue and I will be up front rocking along with them. For those of you feeling adventurous, go check out some Three Quarter Stone music, you wont regret it and be sure to check out their reworking of the Judas Priest classic "You've Got Another Thing Coming".

Canadians are made of rugged stock so the inclement weather did little to deter the crowd. By the time Corabi and his band made their entrance the Rockpile was pretty full of familiar faces ready to witness a piece of history. A few important friends of the Decibel Geek Podcast were in attendance to take it all in. Red Dragon Cartel's Darren James Smith and Darrell and Johnny from the Killer Dwarfs were enjoying the festivities, horns up and rocking out. Proving once again the Rockpile is Toronto's destination for live rock and metal.

When the intro to "Power to the Music" was kicked in, it was on! Confined to my chair did nothing to slow down the head banging, fist pumping and air guitarring that would continue for the next 80 minutes of so. The setlist was as expected, Motley's 94 album, track by track in order and it was absolutely spot on 100% lethal.

Meister posted to Facebook that he thought he was listening to the CD but he wasn't. Corabi and his band completely reconstructed this album note for note. Guitarists Josh "the Meistro" Dutoit and Jeremy Asbrock, bassist Topher Nolen and John's son Ian Corabi certainly put in some long hours of rehearsal putting together that show. John's vocals are every bit as strong, rich and paint peeling powerful as they were when he recorded these tunes some twenty years previous.

Back in December of 2013 I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing John here at the Rockpile before an acoustic performance. During that interview he told me of his upcoming plans to put this Motley 94 Experience Tour together and that his son was scheduled to fill the drum spot within his band. I remember him telling the story, that his son was going to be put through the test as Tommy Lee played some bad ass drums on that album and that Ian would have his work cut out for him. Boy did Ian step up, every hit was as fierce as the album and he totally nailed it out of the park.

SMOKE THE SKY!!!!!!

Every moment of this show was killer but I will point out three personal highlights that rocked my world. "Uncle Jack" my personal favorite from the album was almost more intense live. Such a dark and tragic song that just kicks total ass. "Poison Apples" was a surprise moment that totally blew the roof of but watching Topher (sporting a very nice Kiss Destroyer shirt btw) dig into the bassline and John's maniac vocal for "Smoke the Sky" took me to another dimension.

Covering all 12 songs from the album, they saved "Babykills" one of the albums bonus tracks for a very tasty encore capping off one of the best concert moments of my life. There is absolutely nothing in the world like the feeling live music gives you and to finally hear these songs that I have loved for years with such passion and precision was truly amazing. Thank you to John for putting this tour together and thanks to your band for absolutely delivering the goods. The goosebumps are still there three days later! "I want my music waking up the dead!"

Thanks to Decibel Geek Photographer extraordinaire Mr. Brian Ronald for capturing the live photos.

Be sure to check out the links and keep supporting live music...

Hollywood Sins
Second Pass
CrisisCtrlClub
Three Quarter Stone
and of course....
John Corabi

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

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

(Skid Row Website) (Skid Row Facebook)

PHOTOS: Concert photos by The Meister 2014

THE "DO NOT MISS" TOUR OF THE SUMMER! KISS/Def Leppard

All Photos by Wally Norton

KISS and Def Leppard, two bands that occupy a sizeable portion of my record collection just rolled through Toronto last night on what is far and away "THE TOUR TO SEE" this summer.

Honestly, if you had told the 16 year old me that I would get to witness these two bands on the same stage and on the same night, I probably would have peed myself. That said, the 44 year old me was a tad skeptical when the tour was announced months ago. In fact I had actually considered skipping the show altogether. Thankfully the crazy, rock n roll addicted adolescent part of brain kicked my ass into gear and my buddy Rich (The Meister) Dillon and I hightailed it down to the Molson Canadian Amphitheater for the second time this week. Motley Crue and Alice Cooper had just assaulted our ear drums in the same building a mere 48 hours before.

Dark, ominous clouds blew in from the lake and a less than hospitable weather forecast threatened to make this a soggy affair, especially annoying as we looked at our general admission lawn tickets. In a desperate attempt to make the most of our evening and to possibly escape some torrential rain, we saddled up to the box office window to inquire if a seat upgrade was even possible. Within moments our wallets were lighter but instead of lawns we now found ourselves clutching 200 level seats. It was time to ROCK!

Getting under way at exactly 6:55pm, Kobra and the Lotus ripped through a lean 30 minute metal feast that elicited a positive response from the arena rock crowd. Possibly a little too heavy for some, they played a very tight set and lead vocalist Kobra Paige engaged the audience very well. Closing out their set with a metal version of Heart's "Barracuda" followed by a killer anthem "I Am I Am", Kobra and the Lotus impressed and I will be sure to add their new album "High Priestess" to my music collection.

I had not seen Def Leppard live since 1988 when they were kings of the world riding the "Hysteria" world tour so I was very excited to once again see the band that introduced me to ROCK music. Although, KISS was part of my world since 1976, it was actually Def Leppard and Pyromania in 1983 that transformed this writer into a drooling stark raving, obsessed heavy metal geek.

As the PA system played the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", Leppard's intro song, I knew we were about to get rocked. True to form, Def Leppard jumped right in and took over the Who's classic. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!" screamed Joe Elliot and it was on like donkey kong! Now Def Leppard has a catalogue of hits that defined 80's hard rock and we were about to get a pile of them so opening the set with High and Dry's "Let it Go", my absolute favorite Leppard tune was a great surprise that could not have been scripted any better. I was riffing my air guitar, and rocking like a teenager with a smile so wide it actually hurt.

The hits came one after the other like a barrage. "Hysteria", "Rocket", "Bringin on the Heartache", "Armageddon It", "Two Steps Behind" and "Love Bites". It was a giant beer drinking, sing-along with 15 000 plus dancing in the aisles and partying like it was once again 1988. The band sounded incredible, Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell play the solo's note for note, crystal clear just like the recordings and Joe Elliot was totally on top of his game this evening. Arena rock doesn't get any better than "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and in the blink of an eye the set was over but not before a double song encore of "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph" from the aforementioned Pyromania album. There was absolutely no filler, no fluff, no solos, not even time for a pee break anywhere. This was hit after hit after hit of high energy power rock and it was glorious! Def Leppard asked "Do You Wanna Get Rocked?", I say mission accomplished in spades.

Not many bands could follow what Def Leppard just unleashed, but then again KISS is not just any band. With military precision the set change was underway as the giant KISS curtain covered the stage. We were only halfway through the night, bring on KISS!

The houselights went out, the crowd jumped into action as the all too familiar intro rang out. "TORONTO, You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best, This Hottest Band In The World.....KISS!!!" With a blast of pyro, the curtain fell to reveal Paul, Gene and Tommy high atop the Spider rig being lowered to the smoke filled stage below. "Psycho Circus" is a great intro song, hell it's a great song period but it really captures what KISS is all about. These guys created the "ROCK SHOW SPECTACLE" and 15 seconds in, everyone was at the circus going crazy.

"Deuce", "Shout It Out Loud", "War Machine" and "Hotter Than Hell" got the party rolling. Still on a high from Def Leppard's set the crowd was going nuts, they were warmed up and ready to rock. Paul mentioned that "you turn on the TV and see bad news, open the paper and read bad news, but tonight let's forget about all that and just have a great time". He nailed it, as I scanned the crowd it was all smiles, high 5's and fists in the air. Rock n Roll is supposed to feel good and KISS delivered us from all of our troubles for the better part of an hour and a half.

Gene blew fire!, spit blood and flew up into the lights. Tommy shot flames from his guitar, Tommy and Paul rode the spider during "Lick It Up" and also paid homage to the Who as they played a little of "Won't Get Fooled Again" from atop the raised platform. "Hide Your Heart" from the Hot In The Shade album was a fresh addition to the set and sounded great. It was everything you expect at a Kiss concert. Much like the annual Thanksgiving dinner, you know there will be turkey, you know there will be the gravy and potatoes and all the fixings, and you would look forward to it all the same. This concert was an absolute feast.

Paul mentioned all of the kids in the audience and the cameras caught many of them on the big screen. Kiss truly is a multi-generational experience with sometimes three generations now sharing the shows together. Paul commented to the kids "We were there for your parents! and we will be there for you too!" hinting that maybe KISS 2.0 could really be a distinct possibility and to be honest, that's not such a bad thing. To be 7 years old and discovering KISS now, why shouldn't they get a chance to enjoy the spectacle that we hold so dear to our hearts. Haters keep hating, I think it's great and would love to one day take my grandchildren to witness a show like this.

"Calling Dr. Love" sounded killer and then it was time for Paul to fly out and join the crowd. This was especially awesome tonight as we were only 15 feet or so from the satellite stage that Paul was headed to. Mr. Stanley's favorite song "Love Gun", led into the show's closer "Black Diamond" as drummer Eric Singer got to stretch his vocal chords on the KISS classic.

Foregoing the usual leaving the stage waiting for the encore antics, Paul just asked the audience if we minded them playing a couple more songs and the crowd went nuts again. "Detroit Rock City" followed by the KISS national anthem "Rock n Roll All Nite" cue the confetti machines, cue the drum riser, it was time to sing and dance one more time. Sometimes I think I am getting tired of that song but when it's played live and the confetti is falling on you, your Kiss Army brothers and sisters around you, it truly becomes a magical experience guaranteed to lift your spirits. Ending the song with more pyro firepower than most bands use on a whole tour, it truly is a site to behold.

With our ear drums ringing and the pyro burned into our eyelids we headed out to the subway totally, perfectly and pleasantly exhausted from two classic bands delivering the goods in 2014.

If you had told me when I was 16 that Kiss would still be burning up the tour trail in 2014? C'mon how lucky are we to still have the chance to see a show like this today? For those holding into the original lineup delusions, you really are missing out on a great lineup, a great show and the best party package of the summer. Thanks to Paul, Gene, Eric and Tommy!

And the rain? Never happened, it seems the heavens above Toronto wanted to Rock n Roll all Nite as well.

Nice Day for a DWaRf Wedding.

 

   July 25, 2014.  I've been looking forward to this day for months. For me, this beats all the other events of the summer. We're heading down to Buffalo for a rockin' concert and the wedding of Darrell Millar (aka Darrell Dwarf) and his long-time girlfriend, Stracey Burtch.
The venue is one of the coolest I've been to.  Braun's Bar and Grill, in the quaint little town of Akron, NY, is a favourite of the DWaRfs. The owner, Ray, has become a good friend of theirs over the years and he is actually the one hosting the free concert and also the wedding.
The line-up is great. John Corabi will play a set, followed by his band, Cheap Thrill, and then there will be a real live rock n roll wedding, on stage, with the ceremony officiated by the Rev. Luc Carl from Sirius XM Hair Nation. Closing the night will be a concert by the KiLLeR DWaRfS. Awesome right?? Right!
We arrived at our hotel around 6:00pm and it was spectacular!!! Salvatore Garden Place is filled with old world Italian grandeur. It's right there, as you get off the highway, and it's breathtaking. We checked in and headed out right away. We cabbed it to the venue (of course) which is between Buffalo and Rochester, about 15 minutes from the hotel.
Walking out to the patio and down to the 'Concert Cove', the first face I saw was John Corabi.

He's such a friendly fellow. I'd met him briefly on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, so a big hug was needed to greet him. (I think I'm known internationally as the Canadian girl who hugs everyone.)
He had already played his solo set before we got there (darned border crossing delays, get us every time!!) but he was just about to go on with Cheap Thrill.
 The 'Concert Cove' was buzzing with energy. Every time I turned around, I saw another familiar face, here to support a great couple, fantastic musicians, and have a good old rock n roll time. Ray Braun has done an outstanding job of bringing a top notch concert venue to the small town of Akron. It's a great place to eat, drink and party with friends. I can't believe I'm just finding out about Braun's!! It's definitely one of my top places to see live shows. I'm hoping there will be many more opportunities to visit Braun's but it's future is somewhat uncertain, due to a few influential people and some extremely dirty politics. (See the link at the end of the article.)

We took our places in front of the stage along with many familiar faces. It was somewhat of a Monsters of Rock Cruise reunion. People had flown in from far and wide for this event - from Minnesota, Missouri, New York City and, of course, a great showing from north of the border.  Cheap Thrill were so much fun. I hadn't seen them play before but we completely enjoyed both the music and the great energy. There was a young boy (about eight years old) sitting on the stage and he was totally rocking out, following Crabby's riffs on a mean air guitar.  It's always great to see rock appealing to youngsters like that. Next up was a real live Rock 'n Roll Wedding. The guys took the stage.

It was no surprise that Darrell's 'best men' were Russell, Gerry and Johnny Dwarf. Also on stage, ready to officiate, was Luc Carl. Stracey arrived in a wicked cool, yellow Lamborghini,

chauffeured by bar owner, Ray Braun. It was a perfect rock n roll entrance.  It was so cute when the guys saw Stracey arrive - they all pointed, excitedly, to the back of the venue, then pulled out their phones and started snapping photos.
The sound of AC/DC's Hell's Bells rang out and the processional began with beautiful Marlow Millar, (Darrell and Stracey's four year old daughter), accompanied by Stracey's two gorgeous bridesmaids setting the stage for the stunning bride, who was proudly escorted by her uncle. Darrell was certainly glowing with pride as his bride stepped up on to the stage and the ceremony officially began.

The Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla (aka Rev. Luc Carl) laid on the perfect set of vows. Short, sweet and very rock n roll. Four year old Marlow, had Mommy's ring, for safe keeping, and was beyond adorable when called upon for the ring. She ran to her Dad , calling out "Daddy, here's the ring!" With a cymbal crash, each said their 'I do's' and, with their choice of wedding song being 'Long Live Rock n Roll', it was on with the party!! The DWaRfs then played a killer set, ending up with a stage full of musicians and friends and even the bride, to close off the concert with a bunch of great cover songs by BTO, AC/DC, Goddo and Led Zeppelin to name a few.

It was an incredible night - one I'll never forget!! The party continued on into the night, catching up with old friends, and making new ones. Then, it was back to the hotel for a few hours sleep before heading back over the border and back to reality once more.
Until the next time, which won't be long, I promise.
Rock on and Keep the Spirit Alive.

Kate Campbell,
(a proud member of Dwarfnation) signing off.

Here's some great footage of the wedding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4cnIQ7Lfu8&sns=em

The kid shredding on the air guitar with Crabby.
http://youtu.be/yymM1W6jW9I


One last thing:
 Some people with some very dirty politics are trying their hardest to shut down Braun's Bar and Concert Cove. Please check out the following link and share it to spread the word and help a local small business stay alive.

http://www.gofundme.com/cavpnc

Photo credits to Joel Naphin, Darrell Millar and Tracy Milne and April Lee (except my awesome selfies and the one of the guys;))
Also, thanks as usual to my good friend Amanda Schumacher, who always double checks my punctuation and grammar before I go to print.

Oh Crabby!!!!! It's a good thing you're a true Pirate brother of Darrell's!!!!!

 

Queen + Adam Lambert LIVE IN TORONTO!

Recently I read a blurb on Facebook that said "I may be old but I got to see all of the coolest bands". I laughed and it got me to thinking about all of the great shows I have seen over the years. I am seriously considering getting that quote on a T shirt.
 
I clearly remember back in my early twenties (around 1992 or so) looking back at my own personal concert list and feeling a little sad because there were 3 shows that I would probably never get to experience. Kiss with the original lineup, Van Halen with David Lee Roth and of course Queen as we had just lost Mr. Freddie Mercury.
 
As the years went by the Kiss reunion actually happened, Diamond Dave eventually graced the stage with Van Halen. Getting to cross these shows off my "bucket list" was incredible but without Freddie, I was unfortunately accepting the fact that I would never see Queen.
 
Freddie Mercury is absolutely irreplaceable. Nobody had a voice like his, nobody commanded a stage like him and in all honesty, nobody ever will.
 
Queen's music lives on and Brian May is born to play guitar so when Queen teamed up with Bad Company's Paul Rogers my eyebrows raised. I briefly became excited that just maybe I would get to see Queen live in concert.
 
Paul Rogers is an exceptional vocalist. Love hearing him belt out the Bad Company catalogue but when I heard him covering the cherished Queen tunes, it sounded to me like Bad Company doing Queen. As much as I wanted to love it, it just didn't sound right to me.
 
Fast forward to American Idol 2009. I will unashamedly admit to watching my fair share of these silly music contest shows (idol, the Voice, etc) as I would rather listen to some music in the background rather than "Bachelorette's" and "Kardashians" fighting on tv.
 
Anyways, watching Adam Lambert pull off Bohemian Rhapsody one night, I told my wife that Brian May should immediately sign him up. Lambert's vocal range was incredible, he sounded enough like Freddie to make it work yet he could make it his own. He had a stage charisma that nobody could deny and let's be honest, from a marketing standpoint he certainly could bring along a slew of young fans that could be introduced to the classic Queen catalogue.
 
When they recently announced a North American Tour for the summer of 2014, I have to admit I got a wee bit excited. It would never quite be Queen without Freddie but I felt if anyone could capture the spirit, Adam Lambert might just be the guy.
 
I pulled out the worn tattered bucket list, smiling as I remembered the amazing Kiss reunion shows and Diamond David Lee Roth reclaiming his rightful place in front of Van Halen. I hesitated to officially cross Queen off the list. What if I was all wrong about Lambert? I decided to wait until after the show to place the checkmark beside Queen.
 

Electricity was in the air as 22000 plus awaited the curtain to fall. Twin video screens flanked the stage emblazoned with QUEEN with Adam Lambert. I scanned the crowd of all ages wondering how many of them had been introduced to Queen via the American Idol. I also wondered how the seasoned Queen faithful would accept Freddie's "pop reality TV music contest winner" replacement this evening.
 
At exactly 8:20pm the house lights went out and the crowd went crazy as Queen launched into "Now I'm Here". The curtain still hiding the stage as the video screens teased us with silhouettes. When the song really kicked in the curtain was actually sucked up into the lights and simply disappeared, it was a cool effect. The focus point of the stage was a huge circular video screen that was put to great use throughout the show.
 
A couple of years ago I penned an article entitled "3 Guitarists You Should See Before You Die". It appears I need to go back and rewrite this to reflect 4! Brian May plays with such precision, feel and groove it is absolutely hypnotizing watching him maneuver the fretboard. I was in hard rock heaven.
 
It took all of about 45 seconds to realize that Adam Lambert was born for this gig. Decked out in a studded black leather suit and aviator shades, he embodied the look of a rock star but his vocals were truly jaw dropping. Say what you will about American Idol but this guy can deliver the goods. Totally capturing the sound of classic Queen and at the same time maintains his own style. I smiled and crossed Queen off my bucket list before the second song even started.
 
For the next two hours or so, it was a roller coaster ride of Queen hit after hit. Ripping into Stone Cold Crazy, Brian May and Roger Taylor played with the intensity of men half their age. Another One Bites The Dust followed by Fat Bottomed Girls and the place was rockin! Best of all the guys looked like they were having an absolute blast on stage.
 
Slowing things down for a moment with "In the Lap Of The Gods"  they came right back swinging with "The Seven Seas of Rye".
 
"Killer Queen", which had Lambert camping it up on a lavish throne fanning himself and sipping Champagne from a bottle. "Somebody to Love" got the crowd singing in a call and answer reminiscent of Mercury and then into "I Want It All". Nine songs in and they were just getting started.
 

Brian May took to the stage with his 12 String acoustic. He asked us if we felt like singing? As he launched into the emotional "Love Of My Life" video images of Freddie rolled on the screens. It was an incredibly magic moment that elicited a fair share of tears and goosebumps from the crowd.
 
Brian took a moment to introduce the band before taking us on space ride for "39", images from the Metropolis movie played as Brian was surrounded by the supporting cast of musicians. Spike Edney on keyboards and piano, Neil Fairclough on bass guitar and Rufus Taylor (Roger's son) on percussion.
 
Up next Roger Taylor stepped out from behind the kit and stretched his vocal chords for "These are the days of your life" with his son holding down the drum duties. Adam Lambert rejoined the party to sing "Under Pressure" as a duet with Roger assuming David Bowie's vocals. After which Brian May asked the crowd "what do you think of the new guy?" motioning to Lambert as they laughed.
 

Freddie Mercury's solo song "Love Kills" was followed by "Who Want's To Live Forever" and then it was Brian May's turn to bend some strings. Personally, I am not a big fan of solos. I would much rather hear a couple more songs than any musician noodle for ten minutes or so. That said, Brian's solo was very melodic and tasteful and the video effects were solidly entertaining and c'mon it's "Brian Freaking! May" and when the solo rolled into "Tie Your Mother Down", I was right back into fist pumping rock n roll heaven.
 
Getting to clap along to "Radio Ga Ga" was a blast and then Lambert introduced "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and suddenly Lambert was doing his best Freddie Mercury does Elvis Presley if that makes sense.
 

Now if there is a better rock song than Bohemian Rhapsody I am unaware of it. From the soft melodic piano to the lush harmonies that build throughout, the tasty guitar solo, the operatic middle section before exploding into a hard rock horns up anthem. It truly is perfection in a song and live? Unbelievable!! With the video screen jumping between live footage and the studio shot video of the song, the song ended with Lambert trading vocal lines with a video version of Freddie. Cue the goosebumps and as the gold confetti fell from the skies, the show came to a close and of course the crowd cheered for more.
 
Before too long the familiar thundering drums of "We Will Rock You" came thundering from the stage and audience was on their feet clapping along. Of course this was followed with "We Are The Champions" with Lambert sporting a gold crown of jewels.
 

Two hours and twenty minutes of pure rock n roll magic. The only negative thing I can say about this show is that it wasn't four hours and forty minutes long. Queen's incredible discography just left too many songs on the table. I could easily fire off 22 more songs, hell probably double that before I got to the obscure stuff.
 
As for Adam Lambert? He's the real deal, he isn't Freddie but he fits the sound and he can sing like a mother trucker! Somewhere upstairs I think Freddie might just be nodding in agreement.
 
Rest in Piece Freddie Mercury and thanks for the music!

Meister Attends Motley Crue's Funeral in Grand Rapids

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By now I'm sure that many of you have seen or heard the reports and the lambasting of the debut or initial performance of Motley Crue's All Bad Things Must Come To An End tour.  I'm not gonna say that they're overly harsh or incorrect for the most part.  I was there, I know.  Here's my story of Wednesday July 2nd, 2014.

A friend and I set out on an approximately six hour road trip, very reminiscent of high school road trips in a beat up old car with tunes cranked and snacks in hand, from Toronto Canada to Grand Rapids Michigan. Upon arrival and check in at our hotel we met some other Crue fans from Ontario for a couple of drinks before the short walk over to Van Andel Arena.  In a parking lot across the road there was a cordoned off area set up with a bar, tables and a stage with presumably a local band belting out some tunes.  I got the feeling it was similar to the tailgate party before an NFL game, but in any case the excitement was high and it's certainly something you wouldn't see in Toronto.  The time on the tickets indicated 7pm, yet the entrance line was already
 around the building at 6pm as we weaved around the protestors toting signs, also something that you wouldn't see in Toronto.  After wandering around a little we discovered another, smaller entrance with a very short line and wasted no time in getting into the arena.  The merchandise booth was terribly over crowded as I strained to see what was available.  Giving up, with a plan to return later, we hurried into the actual auditorium as the opening band took the stage.  In a growing trend of concerts of late that I've noticed on several occasions, the opening band begins substantially before the time printed on the tickets!  This is ridiculous!  In the old days it would be printed Doors: 7pm on the ticket and the show would start at 7:30 or 8pm or Show: 7pm to indicate the starting time.  Having the opening band take stage at 6:40pm (20 mins before the time printed on the ticket) is extremely annoying.  In any case The Raskins played a half hour opening set and they were not overly impressive in my mind.  Our seats, however, were awesome, 24 rows back from the stage on the floor!  The tickets, that surely would have cost well over $600 if you can get past all the pre-sales to get them in Toronto, we got for only $125 three weeks before the event!

Alice Cooper-photo by The Meister

I was looking forward to Alice Cooper, having just seen him perform a two and a half hour show at Sweden Rock Festival.  Unfortunately tonight he was only scheduled for 50 minutes of stage time, but it turns out that he would be a show stealer.  The approaching 70 year old was a consummate professional and ripped through the condensed setlist with almost no dead air between songs and all the stage tricks that you would expect from The Alice Cooper show.  Behind a backdrop sheet of Alice Cooper's eyes "The Underture" emanated as the curtain gave way to "Hello Hooray".  From there it was into "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and Alice Cooper's newest member, guitarist Nita Strauss seemed ecstatic to be there and the most active at this early stage in the game.  Replacing the departed Orianthi, Strauss (Femme Fatale/Iron Maidens/L.A. Kiss) joins drummer Glen Sobel (Sixx A.M.), bassist Chuck Garic (Beasto Blanco) and other guitarists Ryan Roxie (Slash's Snakepit) and Tommy Henriksen (Warlock) to make up Alice Cooper's backing band.  "Under My Wheels" led us through to "I'm Eighteen" which saw Cooper holding court around the stage wielding a crutch high above his head.  This was followed by "Billion Dollar Babies" for which, as he did in Sweden, Alice appeared toting a sword filled with bills.  A quick flick of the rapier sent bills, no doubt featuring Alice Cooper's face, into the first few rows of the crowd.  The late 80's smash hit "Poison" was next up bringing us to

Alice Cooper-photo by The Meister

"Dirty Diamonds" which saw The Coop tossing necklaces into the crowd.  The King of Shock Rock next treated us to "Welcome to My Nightmare" before appearing in a bloodied white lab coat for "Feed My Frankenstein" during which Cooper was strapped down and transformed into a large Frankenstein monster.  "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" saw him in a straight jacket, bursting out and stabbing his nurse for which his head was severed in a huge guillotine.  Alice Cooper's head was then paraded around the stage as an intro to the song "I Love the Dead", a stunt that never gets old!  The closer of "School's Out" featured some huge balloons, the introductions of the band and even a little of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In the Wall" before wrapping up.  An incredible show as I had expected and I think, even better than his show in Sweden.

Motley Crue's All Bad Things Must Come To An End Tour-photo by The Meister

The house lights darkened and a recorded intro began to emanate through the PA system.  Motley Crue blasted into "Motherfucker of the Year" as their first song, one that's less than a favorite of mine and I think a poor choice for an opener.  Things picked up steam with "Wild Side" and the stage was graced by two scantily clad ladies helping out with the background vocals.  In general the

Vince Neil-photo by The Meister

Crue seemed to be sloppier in comparison to Cooper and Vince's vocals were not the best by any means, but what do you expect?  Vince Neil's vocals have been talked about for a long time now and let's face it, with the history of the band members, they're playing is not the tightest, but that's not why you go to see Motley Crue!  If you want that style of performance go and see Rush, if you want a good time and a great party and a spectacle of a show to blow your mind, you go see Motley Crue!  It was by the end of the third song, "Primal Scream" that things would begin to go really awry for the boys.  The song featured lots and lots of super high flame pyro and smoke bombs/machines timed to the music of the chorus and they were actually sounding pretty good until we approached the end of the song.  Drummer Tommy Lee had an issue, apparently a broken kick drum, but hey, these things happen.  Vince Neil even exclaimed "Tommy broke it!" and commented on the issues of the first night of a tour.  Neil then asked the crowd for 3 or 4 minutes to fix the issue and to fill the dead air while they scrambled to repair the drum Mick Mars took center stage to perform one of the most uninspiring guitar solos I've ever seen.  By the end of the solo, which did not completely fill the repair time leaving some dead air and the house lights a notch higher, he was simply playing riffs and chords.  The guitar solo silenced at 9:33pm and it wasn't until the lights dimmed at 9:42pm as Vince returned to the stage toting a guitar were we underway once again.  Technical issues can strike at any time and are completely understandable, but as a professional act I think they could have done a

Motley Crue-photo by The Meister

 better job of covering the issue and keeping the momentum going with having Vince or Tommy addressing the crowd perhaps.  "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)" went through without a hitch and then into "Looks That Kill" featuring the lady dancers in light boxes behind the drum kit.  They successfully pulled off a deeper cut from the Too Fast For Love album, "On With The Show", but the follow up however was a different story.  Guitarist Mick Mars blew the beginning of "Too Fast For Love" prompting a jibe from Tommy Lee to the effect of "It's pretty fuckin' cool when a band forgets it's own song!  It's "Too Fast For Love" and it's only 35 years old!"  On the second attempt "Too Fast For Love" was delivered and a new composition, "All Bad Things Must End", followed, but it didn't last long.  No further than 30 seconds into the song and the guitars went out.  I don't know if Mars forgot the notes again or if it was a technical issue, but the house lights came on again to full brightness this time.  I vacated my seat during this stoppage to use the washroom and before long they were back up and running once again but talk about a momentum killer!  That would seem to be the worst of the issues and the latter half of the show went much better as they ripped into "Smokin' In the Boys Room", "Without You" close on it's heels.  Vince Neil looked confused and maybe annoyed during "Without You" as confetti fluttered from the rafters, but that didn't stop him from serenading a lady from the audience as she was pulled on stage to sit on a lone chair.  The boys exploded into "Saints Of Los Angeles" next featuring lots of flame pyro once again that you could feel the heat from where I was seated 24 rows back!  Nikki Sixx took the mic for what I'm sure was intended to be a touching

Tommy Lee's Drum Coaster-photo by Meister

moment that just came off awkward and annoying.  He called for everyone to sit as we were attending a funeral for Motley Crue, but we hardly parked our butts in the seats before he instructed: "On four scream and we'll break into a Sex Pistols song 'cause that's how the Crue does it!".....uuuhhh Nikki, that doesn't even make sense!  Never-the-less we were served "Anarchy in the U.K." followed by "Too Young to Fall in Love" before the stage went dark again and a recorded intro played.  The recording seemed to go on forever and with all the earlier issues I wondered what was next, but eventually it was apparent that the stalling was designed to get Tommy Lee strapped into his newest drum gimmick.  This time he rode a roller coaster that stretched along the ceiling of the venue out over the crowd to a small satellite stage at the rear of the floor seating area.  No doubt about it this was a cool trick as the kit spun 360 degrees as it slowly traveled over the audience.  What I didn't enjoy however was the mash up mix of recorded music that he played to during this journey, including songs from artists like Bob Marley, Jay Z and Rage Against the Machine.  I understand how it must be difficult to play spinning in the air, but if you're going to use a recording to play to why not perform this solo during a Crue song even if much of it is recorded?  It would certainly be better than what we heard Tommy play along to

"Home Sweet Home"-photo by Meister

 and maybe the whole thing wouldn't have seemed like the colossal waste of time that it really was.  Nikki Sixx was the highlight of "Shout at the Devil" with his flame throwing bass guitar preceding "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)".  Throughout the whole show the two dancing girls were present for just about every song in a different costume and I had the thought that they were the most organized thing about the whole affair!  "Live Wire", "Dr. Feelgood" and "Girls, Girls, Girls" were all a hit with the crowd and the booing from earlier seemed long forgotten as they ate up every minute.  "Kickstart My Heart" closed things down under the huge lighted pentagram suspended above the stage with tons of flame pyro and smoke bombs.  In fact the smoke was so thick by the end of the song and the final bow that it was difficult to see the stage at all!  Motley Crue returned for a one song encore of the ballad "Home Sweet Home" which they performed on the small satellite stage near the rear of the floor area.

One thing cannot be denied and that's the totally over-the-top stage show at a Motley Crue concert and even with all of tonight's issues there's a kind of magic with these four guys on stage.  Bottom line is this: you shouldn't be going to a Crue concert to see the most technical and perfect performance, if you want that go and see a band like Rush!  You go to a Crue show for the spectacle, to have a good time and let loose with some of the music that helped shape your life.  And that's just what I did, it may have been messy at times but over all I had fun and that's what Crue is all about to me!  It will be interesting to see what the show is like in August as they roll into Toronto!

Cheers,
The Meister

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