I was fortunate to attend the show in Las Vegas. I sat in the 3rd row center and got to meet the band!
For Motley Crue's Final tour and very last show, what can I say? This band is a huge influence for me. I learned to play drums due to Tommy Lee. Over the years I've seen them 15 times. I consider it an honor to have attended their last show at the Staples Center in LA. The show was amazing! It was also New Years Eve and I couldn't think of a better way to bring in 2016.
Vince Neil got a little choked up a few songs into the set. He gave a heartfelt thank you to the road crew, the band and mostly the fans. Not everything went off with out a hitch. Tommy Lee's Crucifly roller coaster had a malfunction during his solo. They ended up crawling up to the rig to get him out. Tommy, of course made it a show while talking to the crowd, laughing at himself and stating this was the only time on the entire tour the Crucifly had any type of issue.
The band will definitely live on with later releases as they see fit, merchandising and a back catalog of great material spanning over a 34 year career. The last show was recorded for a theatrical and Blu-Ray DVD release sometime in 2016.
God Bless Motley Crue and thank you to Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee for rocking our world. I'm thrilled I attended that last show got to be a part of rock n' roll history.
My footage from the Final show in LA.
My footage from the Las Vegas show. Shot from 3rd row center!
Let's face it. Classic Rock kicks ass! As our Rock N' Roll heroes are getting older and retiring, it's the tribute bands that continue to carry the torch as mentioned in a previous post. This entry focuses on Black Sabbath Trio. A three piece out of Las Vegas, Nevada that truly knows how to deliver the power of Black Sabbath. The band currently features Max Rico on guitar and vocals, Mike Geren on bass and Yasuaki Taniguchi on drums.
Check out the power of Black Sabbath Trio here as they perform the tune Snowblind at the Divebar. You can also visit them on Facebook.
Long time Vegas party band 'Nuff Said returned to the stage at the Brooklyn Bowl after a year and a half break. It was nice to see the band play again as they seemed re-energized after such a long time. The band had a great gig at Jack's Irish Pub in the Palace Station for years. After that, they had a short, successful stint at the Plaza entertaining the floor. It was normal for the bar to run out of Patron or Jack Daniels during their shows as the crowd sang along to all the great rock tunes from Van Halen, Cream, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Rolling Stones.
The band consists of Rik Stoddard on drums, Sean Maxwell on bass, Max Rico on lead guitar and Michael Anthony on lead vocals and guitar. Keep an eye out for them Las Vegas, they are well worth seeing! I'll let the videos speak for themselves.
For info on 'Nuff Said, check out www.facebook.com/nuffsaidvegas
So I headed out to Phoenix to see Van Halen at the Ak-Chin Pavilion. Great venue. It was definitely a warm Monday night with a beautiful moon rising to top off a good show. As far as a review, I'll let the video speak for itself.
Then on that following Friday I went to So-Cal to see them again at the Hollywood Bowl. I think there must be something magical when a band plays their hometown. The sound at the venue was incredible and the band was definitely fired up. Dave was on cue with his Rothisms and the band played with some serious energy. They topped the previous Phoenix show out at the Hollywood Bowl that night. Great vibe at a great venue from my favorite all time band.
They took Kenny Wayne Shepard out on tour with them. He was a great opener. I had almost forgot that he had Stevie Ray Vaughan's Chris Layton on drums. They definitely planted the fans in their seats. I missed him at the Hollywood Bowl because I took the Park and Ride from West LA to the venue and got there at the end of their set. For anyone traveling to an LA show, I highly recommend this as the traffic out there is beyond awful. Below is a video from the Phoenix show. Enjoy!
Rock Fantasy, a tribute show dedicated to bringing back the yesteryear of rock n' roll's biggest talents. This was the first show of it's type at the Silverton Hotel and Casino. The show consisted of impersonators Kenny Metcaf as Elton John, Paul Gizzo as Jon Bon Jovi and Brian Geller as David Lee Roth.
Elton John opened the show with a wonderful sound and an even greater impression. The band sounded tight as impersonator Kenny Metcaf was great as the Madman Across the Water. He did everything from Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting, Levon, Candle in the Wind, Crocodile Rock and the beloved Rocket Man.
The next set was Paul Gizzo as Jon Bon Jovi. Paul is almost a dead ringer for Bon Jovi in his current years and definitely entertains. Wanted Dead or Alive started off a little slow, but Paul pulled the drummer up to speed during the intro and they covered the rest of the song beautifully. They also featured It's My Life, Bad Medicine, Living on a Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name and Runaway.
Last but not least was my personal favorite...David Lee Roth played by Brian Geller. Brian covers Dave full time in the Van Halen tribute band The Atomic Punks. I was thrilled that his set list consisted of nothing but the classic Van Halen tunes Beautiful Girls, Jamie's Cryin', Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love, Panama, Hot For Teacher and Jump. The band was good enough to play these tunes (as I'm very picky when VH gets covered) but also had a two guitar attack that in my opinion was unnecessary. Eddie Van Halen hardly ever doubles his tracks and it certainly isn't needed live.
It seems the Silverton plans on continuing this tribute show and with the popularity of Raiding the Rock Vault at the Tropicana and Rock of Ages at the Venetian, I don't blame them for tapping into rock nostalgia. I'm wondering if the band rehearsed without the vocal talents as I believe all the lead singers are from out of town. If so, it showed slightly, especially during the Bon Jovi set but the band was definitely talented enough to get through it well. The show's host stated they would feature other rock impersonators. I'd like to see more of this in the near future as it could grow into something that may be really fun. Overall I had a ball. The audience certainly liked it as there were those who ran up front (mainly women) to cheer and dance the night away. So, until next time...cheers!
For those of you who were not aware Conatiner Park is a fantastic little venue made up of stacked shipping containers that were created as store fronts. There is everything from small boutiques, art galleries and restaurants that make up a small shopping center with a large stage in the back. The stage has a turf area with 2 large bins full of big lego type blocks for kids as well as foam toys. The area is lined with seats, benches and couches for the general public to relax in.
The front entrance has a huge metal sculpture of a mantis that shoots fire and is active on Friday and Saturday evenings.
A Slight Return, a local Vegas band dedicated to blues rock happened to be playing there on Sept. 11th and filled the park with the righteous sounds of blues and rock n' roll. It's not often that you get to see such an incredible amount of unknown talent in such a comfortable setting. The park closes off to kids under eighteen at 9pm which is the perfect time to enjoy this type of band. You have access to alcohol from the bars, food and desserts from the vendors as well as the hip artsy stores within the park. Container Park is at 707 Fremont St. For more info you can check out the website here at http://downtowncontainerpark.com/
If you're into Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan or the likes of Robin Trower or blues based rock in general, I highly recommend you go see A Slight Return live. They can be checked out at http://www.aslightreturn.com/
For those of you who don't know, New Jersey drummer Brian Tichy in my book is probably the baddest drummer for hire out there. He's played with Zakk Wylde/Pride and Glory, Billy Idol, Whitesnake and Foreigner just to name a few. He also organizes and plays tributes to John Bonham/Bonzo Bash, Keith Moon/The Ox & The Loon and a tribute to Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhodes. This guy is so good that he even plays a speed bag while drumming!
I was lucky enough to meet with him a few years ago when he played a local venue under the name The Moby Dicks.
Brian absolutely burned the venue down that night. I've never seen anyone play Bonham with that much power before. Brian teaches drums through Skype lessons, is on tour with The Dead Daisies and currently lives in Santa Clarita, Ca. He's an amazing drummer, a really cool guy and an absolute influence on my drumming.
