Appetite For The Rocket Queens: A Concert Review

Where were you when you first heard "Welcome To The Jungle"? Do you remember? I do. Guns n' Roses' Appetite For Destruction album had a severe impact on the formative days of my youth and was literally a soundtrack to our after school hours. My childhood friend and I had a hold of the record long before most anyone else had even heard of Guns n' Roses, before it became a huge  
smash, before "Sweet Child O' Mine" became played at every high school dance for years to come. I remember listening to Appetite For Destruction in my friend's bedroom when we were 13/14 and discussing how we couldn't play it in front of our parents because of the "f-bombs" (something that kids don't seem to worry about nearly as much in today's world) and how this was going to be the band that we would follow through every step of their career. Then the album gained attention and soon everyone had it. The day the Use Your Illusion I & II albums were released my friends and I skipped school and made the trek from our little town into the big city of Toronto to buy them right away. I find those albums, especially Appetite For Destruction hold up just as strong today as they did when they first came out and no one knew about our little secret.

When my favorite club, The Rockpile in Toronto, announced that on Friday March 27th, 2015 America's #1 All-female G 'n' R tribute band, The Rocket Queens would be making the trek up from NYC it only made sense that I be in attendance. If you've not experienced The Rockpile, you should make a point to do so. The club has showcased many big name acts here in Toronto and there's something going on every weekend there. Many friends across the world have said that they "want to move where The Rockpile is" or "I wish we had The Rockpile here" and they've never even been to the club! From the extremely personable and "possibly nicest guy ever" owner, to the hard working promoter who brings in the acts, to "one of the best sound men in the business", right down to the lovely bartenders and friendly (unless you're acting up) security folk it's always a pleasure attending an event at The Rockpile. It sure helps in making my 2.5 hr public transit adventures to get there seem much more handle-able!



After drinks and chats with The Rockpile owner and friends while the opening two bands warmed up the stage (btw is the friggin' heat even on here tonight?) it was time for the ladies to take the stage. Not being ones to watch a show from the back of the room or seated positions we swarmed the stage. Announcing that they had driven a long way from NYC to be here and that they were going to play an extra long set tonight, things were off and running with "My Michelle". Hell, this might even be better than actual Guns n' Roses, given the attitudes and state of things there! The girls seemed to be having some sound checking issues even though things sounded great out here and guitarist Lily Maase asked us to bear with them momentarily. They were very quickly under way again with "Double Talkin' Jive" directly followed by "Right Next Door To Hell". It appeared that they were not an all-female band, as promoted, with a long-haired and thunderous drummer behind the kit, but no matter, all had their chops up and we were loving hearing these familiar tunes live. "Mr Brownstone" was a definite highlight, which I was able to
capture on video and its follow up of "Sweet Child O' Mine". Unfortunately, the ladies still seemed to be having some sound issues throughout these first songs. A little feedback from singer Magdalena Baldych's mike was minimal and she quickly backed away from the monitors but the real issue was apparently coming from the bass cab which they had borrowed, theirs not crossing the border. Bass player Yuka Tadano could not hear anything in her monitors, so had no idea how it sounded I guess, well, out here it's friggin' awesome no worries! With the regular Rockpile soundman absent tonight (how dare he have a night off?...lol) another bass cab was brought on stage and quickly switched out. All this took no longer than about 3 minutes so there really was no stoppage in what was already an excellent performance. They continued to kick ass with "You Could Be Mine" from Use Your Illusion II and also the movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day but oddly not featured on the soundtrack, trailed by "Rocket Queen" including a blistering guitar solo. The rumor began to circulate that the band's actual drummer had in fact not been admitted into the country, something that we've seen in the
past here in Toronto. Singing along at the top of my lungs (apologies to anyone in actual earshot of my tone deafness) with my friends at these classic G 'n' R tunes delivered flawlessly by The Rocket Queens, I forgot to take notes and missed at least one song in the set. I'm sure I sang along with every word during it however! My all-time favorite (don't even know why really) G 'n' R song "Out 'ta Get Me" slipped it's way into the set keeping me rocking away before the apparently difficult to play and somewhat deeper cut of "Perfect Crime". The awesome Izzy Stradlin written (most of his G 'n' R written compositions are awesome) "Dust n' Bones" took us through to "You're Crazy" which for sure had everyone in the audience singing along! We were then treated to "Civil War" and I have to say that these ladies know how to rock serving up this awesomely executed cut. Where's the top hat though Slash/Lily? "Welcome to the Jungle" came next and always makes me think I should watch Clint Eastwood's The Dead Pool with his "Dirty" Harry Callahan character again (for those that don't get it, the song is featured in part during a scene in the film in which Jim Carrey played the singer). Along with more singing from the
crowd (did we ever actually stop? A definite sign that everyone was loving this) the G 'n' R covered Bob Dylan song "Knocking On Heaven's Door" (which appeared on the Days of Thunder soundtrack) also featured some fantastic, but not overdone guitar noodling supplied by Lily Maase. They took a moment's musical break to introduce each member of the band, Alicyn Yaffee and Lily Maase both guitar, Yuka Tadano bass, Magdalena Baldych playing the role of Axl including his sway dance, but not the attitude and "since our regular drummer couldn't make it tonight Don Berger flew in all the way from Newark to help us out tonight". Well, that explains a little, but no mention of why the regular couldn't make it. "Knocking On Heaven's Door" continued with a little of the "crowd-chanting-repeat-after-me" game, but thankfully once again not overdone, just a little fun and never losing our attention. "Nightrain" took us through to "Paradise City" which marked the end of the event but of course it wasn't the end. The ladies had hardly left the stage when they were seemingly instantly back for "Patience" (a song that I personally could have done without). What an overall smokin' set list encompassing the best of
Guns n' Roses, there's always more that would have been great to hear but an excellent representation. I have to personally send my thanks to The Rocket Queens for ignoring things like "Don't Cry" and "November Rain", although I may be alone in this. The Rocket Queens were out in the crowd to enjoy some celebratory beverages and mingle with Toronto's rock fans after the set and a few moments chat with guitarist and founder Lily Maase revealed a very humble and personable performer who obviously loves being on stage.

Always a flurry of motion, these ladies don't stand still on stage!! Someone once said to me that "chicks just don't rock as hard as guys". Well, they've obviously never seen The Rocket Queens! Catch these ladies if you can for a great night of classic Guns n' Roses, I know I'll definitely be there when they return to open for Adler August 21, 2015.

Setlist:
"My Michelle"
"Double Talkin' Jive"
"Right Next Door To Hell"
"Mr. Brownstone"
"Sweet Child O' Mine"
"You Could Be Mine"
"Rocket Queen"
"??" (This is where I lost track)
"Out Ta Get Me"
"Perfect Crime"
"Dust n' Bones"
"You're Crazy"
"Civil War"
"Welcome To The Jungle"
"Knocking On Heaven's Door"
"Nightrain"
"Paradise City"
Encore:
"Patience"

In some post-show internet searching I discovered that about a year ago Lily Maase was in a (from Facebook page) "life-altering car accident, after which I was robbed by an EMT, scammed by my phone company, abandoned by a large number of colleagues and friends, and shamed and patronized by a number of doctors and insurance staff for being female, single, and self-employed, all while making a living as a musician. It's been a bit of an ordeal, and I am now living with the repercussions of a potentially career-altering injury. I also nearly lost my teaching business and, as a result, the roof over my head. Eleven months later, I'm just now starting to get my quality of life back to a somewhat reasonable level. And, nobody knows what the injury is or how to fix it. So, that's something I'm going to have to contend with for a long time."  Lily has begun to tell her story of the ordeal here in this article which will continue over the next couple of months or so and you can read the first installment here: Guitarist V. Geico Round One. Lily Maase has also been featured in Guitar World, which I can't seem to actually find on the Guitar World site and is the founder of The Rocket Queens.

The Rocket Queens Website / Rocket Queens Facebook

Cheers,
The Meister

CONCERT PHOTOS BY: The Meister

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High Voltage In Sweden - 220 Volt live in Borlänge

220 Volt Live in Borlänge, Sweden. Photo by Mikael Svensson

It´s been 27 years! 27 years since I last attended a 220 Volt concert, then as part of a Swedish ”Monsters of Rock” package featuring the cream of Swedish hard rock and featuring the main contenders for the crown that Europe wore. The package included Treat, Electric Boys and of course 220 Volt, the band from the Northern county of Jämtland and its "capital" Östersund. I was 15 years old and this touring package came to my tiny hometown of Hofors in the summer of 1988. I was completely blown away by both Treat and 220 Volt that hot summer night and left with memories that will never fade, the biggest impression being made by 220 Volt. I was hooked! The sheer energy when they hit the stage to ”Firefall” blended with that unique feeling for writing a big hook! Guitarists Peter Olander and Mats Karlsson traded solos like I had never heard before and on top of that – the great and very personal voice of Joakim Lundholm.

Mats Karlsson (lead guitar)
Anders Engberg (lead vocals)
Photo by Mikael Svensson

Back to 2015, March 27th to be exact. Eagerly I enter my car to drive the 70 kilometers from my home to Borlänge, a mid-sized Swedish town of about 50,000 inhabitants situated in the middle of Sweden. It is here that 220 Volt has decided to start their support of their brilliant new album Walking in Starlight (reviewed here: Electric Messengers Want Us To Walk In Starlight). It´s a different band I will be seeing tonight. Joakim Lundholm is long gone and the vocals are now handled by Anders Engberg (Sorcerer, ex-Lion´s Share) who I have previously seen when Lion´s Share opened up for Saxon on their Unleash The Beast tour in 1997. A great frontman indeed to pick up where Lundholm left off to join Kraftztoff. God knows who will be handling the bass duties tonight, filling in for Mike Larsson who is no longer with the band. My guesses are either of the session musicians on Walking in Starlight, Johan Niemann (Evergrey) or Lars Ericson. I guess Johan would be busy with Evergrey so Lars Ericson then? All my guesses will turn out to be wrong but more on that later. Olander has also been replaced by the returning Thomas Drevin (guitarist on the first two albums). My expectations are high and as they should be when you go and see a band of this quality.

I arrived a little after 10pm. It was announced that the first band would go on stage at 10pm, but that was not the case. It takes a long while before the first band, Thalamus, enter the stage so I spend some time at the merch stand when I see 220 Volt guitarist Mats Karlsson sorting out the T-shirts together with his wife. I stroll over to the merch area to talk to him. He promises a set of 60% old material and 40% new. They have been told three different times for their setlist so he does not know for how long they can play. He promises to try and play 10 songs at least. I only speak briefly to him and he signs my CD´s but I leave quite quickly not to disturb him in his work. Drummer Peter ”Hermie” Hermansson also appears at the merchandise stand but not long enough for me to catch him to sign my records. By then I had found a very comfortable couch to sit on. Too bad I don´t approach him because he is the only one to not show up after the show either. Thalamus entered the stage – a band I never have heard of before. They play a doomy kind of hard rock (think first two Black Sabbath albums). They sound good and have a lead vocalist/guitarist with an impressive voice although the early part of their set is hampered by technical issues. Some of the songs are too slow and bluesy for my taste, but they play a couple of great sounding tunes as well. Thalamus play a pretty short set (40 minutes?) and then it is time for me to leave the comfortable sofa I found in the back of the pub/dancefloor turned concert hall. Hermansson appears behind the drumkit and Karlsson/Engberg set up the mike stands as I enter the ”dancefloor” and move towards the stage. Now it's not far away!

Thomas Drevin (lead guitar)
Photo by Mikael Svensson

220 Volt hits the stage and starts out with ”System Overload” from the new album. The band seems a little uncomfortable at the start but soon find their way in ”The Harder They Come” from their ”big” Max Norman produced Eye to Eye album (1988). ”It´s back to the 80´s” as Engberg says and they plow through ”I´m On Fire” which is another gem from Eye to Eye. Anders Engberg introduces the band and on bass we have newcomer Fredrik Hallberg who also provides backing vocals. The people in the front seem to be as excited as I am by now and knowing every word of the songs from Eye to Eye I find myself singing along to the entire songs. Engberg seems a bit uneasy at times having to glance at the monitor to find the right lyric, but this is also the first gig in a long time. After the start with songs from Eye to Eye and Walking in Starlight the band announces that they are going to take us on a journey from the start (well nearly) to today and the new record. They start off with ”Woman in White”, the album closer from the very first self-titled album released in 1983, which also has Mats Karlsson singing the part of the verses. The song sounded great and very true to the original, but is sort of an odd pick in my book. It is followed by another old gem called ”Lonely Nights” - opener from the very same debut album. It is then time for my favourite performance of the evening. The intro to ”Walking in Starlight” starts with a distinct noise from Drevin's guitar. The band then jumps into the song and it gives me chills through my spine. This rocks like hell! An epic and melodic song of the highest standard possible. When it's finished Engberg talks a bit about the band existing for a long time – long before he joined and introduces the ”biggest song 220 Volt have written”. It´s time for the ballad of the evening and ”Love Is All You Need” which is of course, the big single off Eye to Eye that gained heavy rotation on MTV in the late 1980´s. On this song, I think the band hesitates a little and they seem a bit uneasy including lead vocalist Engberg. Still he invites the crowd to sing along to the chorus line and we all do what we can. The concert then ends with the band back on top and in an ecstatic way when they close with regular concert opener ”Firefall” The band is virtually on fire and it only leaves me wanting some more. I want ”Beat Of A Heart” and ”Power Games” but there is no time left and the Wolf is waiting in the wings.

Engberg is rockin it out at Liljan, Borlänge
Hallberg is providing some bass grooves and backing vocals.
Photo by Mikael Svensson

I move back to my sofa in the back sorting out my thoughts when Anders Engberg grabs a beer and places himself in front of me. Time for a chat with him and some signatures on the CDs! I tell him about my experience with Lion´s Share and he signs my CD with them saying ”This was not yesterday”. Anders seems like a nice guy and he tells me they are not actually doing a tour because they all have got 9-5 jobs now and can only do this on weekends. They will play Uppsala tomorrow with Wolf again and then play the odd weekend gig before the festival seasons starts. Then they will play the Peace and Love festival here in Sweden and will return to my area in September for a gig in Gävle. I tell him I will be there and congratulate him on a great gig. Anders is not satisfied and says it could have been better. I leave him to his beer and now Wolf is on stage. They belt out their traditional heavy metal and they sound good. I find it a bit hard to digest the rough vocals that are not my cup of tea, but they have some loyal fans in the front singing along to their songs. I decide to buy a T-shirt so I go to the merchandise stand again. After watching Wolf for a while Thomas Drevin appears and I need him to sign my CD. We exchange a few words before I start talking to Mats Karlsson more in depth this time.

Mats tells me of the troubles of getting their old classic albums out to the public again on CD. The band has been trying to buy back the rights but to no avail. Nobody is still with Sony/CBS Records Sweden from back when they were released and 220 Volt was on the label. As Mats puts it – they don´t know what they got and the archives are a bit of a mess. According to Mats they are not willing to license the albums to another record company either. That´s a pity because the younger fans will have a harder time (or not at all) to discover the treasure trove that is the back catalog of 220 Volt. When he asked the company what they are going to do with the recordings they told him they will digitize it. The albums are now finally available on I-tunes and other digital media. When I asked Mats about a possible physical release his response was ”It will not happen!”.

The band with "Hermie" Hermansson behind the drumkit
Photo by Mikael Svensson

Mats also revealed that there are unreleased songs that could be used as bonus tracks on possible future re-releases, but the band has some degree of control over it. Sony cannot issue them without the band's approval. Mats also said he was not sure of the quality of the songs, but that opinion could change from person to person. I think you are right Mats! I´ve bought records where one of the bonus tracks was the best song on the entire album. It´s a matter of taste I guess. If you read my review on the new Dalton disc called Pitstop for Decibel Geek (Dalton - Pitstop Review) you have this being the case. Mats also said he was not 100% happy with the gig (just like Anders Engberg) and told me this was the first gig since they reformed two years ago. They need some time and gigs to become tighter. I told him it sounded good from my point of view. Mats told me they would play a longer set tomorrow in Uppsala when only Wolf and them played. I told him I missed ”Beat Of a Heart” and he told me they would play that and ”Power Games” tomorrow. The people going to Katalin, Uppsala Sweden are in for a treat. Maybe it was also a bit surprising that the Mind Over Muscle album was left untouched. 

Just before we went separate ways Mats told me they are back for good and will continue this time. That was great news to me and I went back to watching Wolf again. I especially want to thank Mats Karlsson for a really nice chat (hard to hear everything with Wolf blasting through the speakers). I would love to do a further in-depth interview on the band sometime in the future.

Summary

The concert hall was not even half full during the whole evening and I think Borlänge was unaware of what great bands were playing in their town this night. Wolf is a well respected heavy metal band, 220 Volt has near a legendary status in Sweden and Thalamus turns out to be a decent band as well. Time to wake up Borlänge and realize what you missed out on! I was only briefly familiar with Wolf and had never heard Thalamus before so I will not grade their performances.

I think 220 Volt met my expectation although you could see this was the first gig where the band at certain points hesitated a bit. This will get better with more gigs under their belt. Being a fan of the new album I think the set was well balanced between new and old songs – maybe a couple of old songs got deleted due to short gig time this evening. I´ve already mentioned two of the songs. The biggest let down was the low crowd turnout – this being payday and everything. Maybe too many people being comfortable at home watching TV? I would rate the 220 Volt gig to 8 out of 10 geeks. Curfew is closing in when Wolf announce they have two songs left so I decided to leave with the clock approaching 2 a.m. I left Borlänge with a great feeling, a T-shirt and signatures from everybody performing on the album except ”Hermie” Hermansson and I will be back in September for sure when they play in Gävle.

The Lionsheart. (email: thelionsheart@decibelgeek.com)

220 Volt - Walk in the Starlight Review / Dalton - Pitstop Review

220 Volt Website / 220 Volt on Facebook

BUY Walking in Starlight here!

The Meister's A Dirty White Boy!: Foreigner Concert Review (Featuring Photos By Brian Ronald)

If someone had told the ten-year-old (or thereabouts) me that years later I would be going to see the band live that did that song for a beer commercial I'd have thought you were nuts! Yes, that's right way back in the 80's the Foreigner song "Cold As Ice" appeared in a beer commercial. I don't remember what the beer was, but I'm told that I quite enjoyed the tune when it came on, dancing around the family living room. I guess I was a rocker at an early age.

Some years later Foreigner became the classic rock/dock rock soundtrack of the summer as friends and I hung out at someone's cottage which included sitting on the dock ("Dock Rock") and also some "Cold As Ice" beverages. Foreigner has been with me for a good portion of my life and even though they're not something that I gravitate to for regular listening enjoyment, hearing the tunes in a live setting just makes sense.

Now some may say why would I bother to go to see Foreigner since there's no original members left in the band? Well, that's technically not wholly true as, to my understanding, Mick Jones, founding guitarist is still an official member of Foreigner but is hampered from playing and touring due to illness. That aside what you do get with a Foreigner show are professional musicians playing some of the best classic rock for that nostalgia of my youth. Among those professional musicians are vocalist Kelly Hansen in the position originally held down by Lou Gramm. Hansen has been at the helm of Foreigner since about 2005, but some may know him from the incredible late 80's band Hurricane who issued four stellar records. But even better than that is bassist Jeff Pilson. Name not familiar?
 Well, try this on for size, Jeff Pilson was the longtime bassist and member of 80's sensation Dokken featuring the vocals of Don Dokken and guitar wizardry of George Lynch who sold over 10 million records worldwide. So my question is why wouldn't you go and see Foreigner? And I wasn't the only one as two back to back nights at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario were both sold out, not to mention that two weeks before that the band was in Kitchener, Ontario to another sold out crowd. That's three shows circling the Toronto area, all sold out!

Looking around the casino auditorium this was a little different style of crowd than The Meister's usual concert forays...I felt young again! Things began on time with a recorded into and an announcer requesting the audience to "Please welcome ...Foreigner!" As the band filled out the stage, "Double Vision" from their 1978 Double Vision album led the charge. Whether Pilson was aware of it or not his bass was horribly loud, like in a bad way, at least from our seats way up on the mezzanine at the back of the auditorium anyway. The bass was thundering over the guitars which seemed a little dull in the mix, something that I think they should have sorted by now as this was the second of the two shows. The bass seemed to calm down a little during the second number of "Head Games" as the band had lots of space to roam around on the good sized stage. Hansen took a moment to address the crowd and when I say "address" I mean he heckled some latecomers

and was actually quite funny about it. He said that we were "already a better crowd than last night" whom he couldn't get out of their seats he added hintingly. Yes, that's right, this was the first concert I've attended in forever where the whole audience (aside from a few at stage front) were remaining seated! The beer commercial soundtrack "Cold As Ice" was next on the roster, making me crave another ice cold beverage, unfortunately, such things were banned from this auditorium. With his voice sounding amazing, Hansen vacated the stage, running up the aisle through the audience and climbing onto the mezzanine before regaining the stage to wrap up "Cold As Ice" before taking a moment to catch his breath and more humorous monolog about being out of breath. The bass had seemed to have settled down a little and the band really started sounding great. After announcing that they would be looking for the most romantic couple slow dancing for this next one, he said that there may even be a prize for that couple. A few couples began dancing in the aisles as "Waiting For A Girl Like You" started, but before long the floor aisles and even the mezzanine were packed with dancers. "Dirty White Boy" followed before Hansen informed us that the next song used to be full electric, but Jeff Pilson had concocted a new arrangement as they performed a great acoustic rendition of "Say You Will". Now it was time for the band introductions as Hansen told some jokes about each band member while introducing them to the audience. Quite a humorous bit, but a little too lengthy for my tastes and serving to notch down the energy a little. Kelley then began to virtually beg people to get out of their seats and by the first

chorus of  "Feels Like The First Time" almost everyone in the whole place was on their feet. Finally! You can't see a rock concert sitting down, it's just wrong! Alas, I was obviously outnumbered as at the completion of the song everyone was again seated. The beginning of "Urgent" saw a few return to the standing position, but for me I felt a little awkward as the only one standing in my balcony seating area and blocking those behind me. The following keyboard/drum (timewaster) solo lost any momentum gained as everyone again took their seats. The lengthy version of "Jukebox Hero" got people up again though without too much trouble. The whole band sounded absolutely incredible on this track and Hansen can sure hold a note. After a brief respite of stage silence, the cheering audience quelled down once Foreigner again took the stage with "Long, Long Way From Home". Unfortunately, a good portion of the crowd was once again seated and it appeared that there were even more than a few vacant seats as people had left the event early, something that wasn't lost on Hansen as he again quipped about the seating. He's quite the comedian with a good presence and fabulous crowd interaction, man I wish I'd been able to see Hurricane! The Orillia Vocal Ensemble choir all dressed in black filled the stage around the band for "I Want To Know What Love Is" before a little guitar solo led off "Hot Blooded" which saw Pilson and keyboardist Michael Bluestein switch instruments half way through.

Foreigner did what they could to rock this rather dull (well maybe different people just enjoy live music in different ways) crowd in what was overall a great performance. If I had one complaint, it would be the shortness of the setlist with only 12 songs performed. Yes, the show lasted for almost two hours but I would rather have heard another tune or two such as my favorite "That Was Yesterday" instead of so much talking/crowd banter and the solo portion. That aside, get out and see this band as they roll through your town....who knows maybe Mick Jones will feel up to it that night and be on stage for you!

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY: DECIBEL GEEK STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER BRIAN RONALD (Taken at the February 7, 2015 Foreigner concert in Kitchener, Ontario)

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

(Foreigner Website) (Foreigner Facebook)

Ace Frehley Invades Anaheim: An Ace Frehley Show Review

The last time I saw Ace play was with KISS was in 2000 on the KISS Farewell Tour and, as been well documented, he was not in very good form. His playing was sloppy, even by Ace standards and, by that time, he was simply mailing it in. That performance was reminiscent of the last two times I saw Ace solo, 1993 and '94. Both times he was a mess and both times I left the club feeling sad and disappointed. Sad because of what one of my heroes had become and disappointed because I was always rooting for Ace to be great. How could this be the same guy that played so amazingly on those first six KISS studio records and '78 solo album? He wasn't even the same guy an underage me with a fake ID saw at The Palace in Hollywood on the Trouble Walking tour just a few years before. Ace was great that night. Peter Criss even joined him onstage to play Deuce!

So when I saw Ace was going to tour Space Invader and had announced a show in Anaheim,  CA only a few miles from where I live, I couldn't get my ticket fast enough. The show was scheduled 3 days after my birthday so that gave me all the justification I needed to go all out and pony up for the VIP meet and greet. I had met Ace once before in the early 90's at the NAMM show. Not surprisingly, he arrived well after his scheduled time and was completely out of it. I was lucky he was able to sign his name. I needed a redo.

I'll admit I was more than a little nervous in the days leading up this show. By all accounts, Ace was playing great, but was still having some, shall we say, punctuality issues. I also knew that I was going to be writing this review and just as I was 20 years earlier, I was rooting for Ace to be great.

Even though I had purchased my ticket and meet and greet over a month in advance, beyond a purchase confirmation email, I did not receive any details about the meet and greet. I emailed the provided contact, John Ostrosky, Ace's tour manager, twice prior to the show with no response. I even tried reaching him through Facebook. I get that you're busy, but if you can't respond to questions from an email address you provided, hire someone who can. Finally, less than 24 hours before the show, I received a group email with instructions for the meet and greet. I knew it was a group email because I could see the emails of all the other recipients and, presumably, they could see mine. I'm no IT guy, but it's not hard to mask this info. It was starting to feel a bit like amateur hour. I don't expect perfection, but more than 24-hour notice for an arrival time and not publishing my email to strangers isn't asking for a lot.

The night of the show, I arrived at the venue, as instructed at 7:30 only to find the box office had not yet been given a list of those doing the meet and greet. It would be another 30 minutes before me and the other 50 or so received our tickets and passes. Once inside, we were first ushered downstairs to the merch booth to receive our t-shirts. We were told the rest of the meet and greet items (CD, small poster, 8x10, picks) would be given out later so back upstairs to line up for the meet and greet. It's now about 8:15 and we're told the meet and greet will begin at 9:00. The opening band is already on and all I could think about was people have been waiting in a general admission venue packed like sardines since 7:30 and the meet and greet isn't even starting until 9:00. What time in Ace planning on going on? I hope he got his wake up call.

The meet and great finally got rolling at 9:30. A full two hours since we were told to be at the venue and over an hour since we lined up inside. I could tell the standing room only, near capacity, crowd was getting restless. They too had been on their feet for the better part of two hours. I had read that Ace had been forced to cut songs from previous dates due to curfews. I knew the House of Blues in Anaheim typically does not have a curfew so while it was shaping up to be a late night, at least I felt there was a good chance we'd get a full set. Finally, we were ushered in one at a time to see Ace. He was seated behind a table wearing his familiar sunglasses. He was quiet and did not say anything as I worked my way around the table and said hello. In addition to all the provided goodies, Ace will sign one personal item so long as it's not a guitar or guitar part. Ace perked up a little when he saw what I had brought for him to sign, a Love Gun artist print signed by the artist, Ken Kelly. He asked me about the print and where I'd like him to sign it. He then reached out to shake my hand, thanked me and said "enjoy the show". One of the House of Blues employees assigned to him took a photo with my phone and I was shuffled out of the room. All in all, I'm happy did the meet and greet. I had my do over and got my print signed. If you're thinking about doing the meet and greet just set your expectations accordingly. My experience was it was quick, inefficient, and a bit disorganized. Ace's tour manager, seems to be doing his best, but appeared to be overwhelmed at times. My advice to Ace or any artist charging fans for a meet and greet is if your going take money from your fans for a "meet and greet", be on time, smile, be in a good mood and interact with the fans, even if you're having a bad day and don't want to be there. If you can't do that, then don't do them at all.

Ace and his band finally took the stage at 10:30 and just in the nick of time. The crowd, most of whom had now been waiting upwards of three hours were beginning to scream obscenities and make single finger gestures at the roadies or anyone else who dare walk onto the stage. Occasionally, a cup or other item would fly from the audience onto the stage. I had to squeeze in against the back wall of the room as there was no area roped off or saved for those of us doing the meet and greet. I learned from talking to people who had seen other shows that there were such accommodations. This must be venue specific so if you care about where you view the show from, do your homework before you pony up for the meet and greet. Once Ace came out and played that familiar intro to Rip it Out, all was immediately forgiven. Ace spend the next hour and forty five minutes ripping through a 20 song set. The band around him was tight and included, Scott Coogan on drums, Chris Wyse on bass, and familiar face, Richie Scarlet on guitar. All four took turns on lead vocals. Time and hard living has taken it's toll on Richie. Think Johnny Thunders meets Keith Richards. His playing and singing were not great this night, but he's got that rock and roll attitude and vibe that makes up for it.

I'll list the complete set list below but, as a fan of Ace, and let's face it, the 900 or so other people in that room were not casual KISS fans, I would have liked to see fewer non-Ace KISS songs. While, drummer Scott Coogan does a fine job singing the Paul Stanley vocal, I could have done without the likes of Strutter, Detroit Rock City, King of the Nighttime World and Love Gun. I recognize that Ace was in the band when those were recorded and they contain some classic solos, to me, they just don't belong in an Ace Frehley solo set. Whether I want to or not, I get nearly all those songs when I go see KISS. I would have much rather seen Ace break into, 2000 Man, Dark Light, Into the Night, Hard Times, Talk to Me, or almost anything else off the '78 solo record. Let's hope Ace will consider adding some of those in the set should he add more dates next year.

As I watched Ace, I really felt as
though he was playing with a chip on his shoulder. Like he had something to prove. There was a fire I hadn't see maybe ever. Perhaps he was out to prove to Paul and Gene that he could still play a quality two hour set. Maybe that's what drove some of his set list choices. At a couple points in the set, Ace couldn't help but take a couple verbal digs at Paul Stanley from the stage. For as much trash talk that has gone on between the two camps in the press, it should stay there. Taking shots from the stage comes off cheap and unnecessary. I've never seen or heard of Paul or Gene take a shot at Ace or Peter from the stage during a KISS show.

If Ace was out to prove he could still handle the guitar duties in KISS, then mission accomplished. But as good as he played an sang, his punctuality and inability to put on a happy face for a meet and greet all but ensures that day will never come, and I'm just fine with that because, on this night,
Ace Frehley was great.

Set List

1.       Rip it Out

2.       Gimme a Feelin’

3.       Toys

4.       Parasite

5.       Snowblind

6.       Love Gun – Coogan Vocal

7.       Breakout – Scarlet Vocal

8.       Space Invader

9.       King of the Nighttime World – Coogan Vocal

10.     Strutter – Coogan Vocal

11.     Change

12.     Bass Solo/Strange Ways – Wyse Vocal

13.     Rock Soldiers

14.     New York Groove

15.     Shock Me

16.     Ace Solo/Smoke Guitar

17.     Too Young to Die – Scarlet Vocal

18.     Rocket Ride

Encore

19.     Detroit Rock City – Coogan Vocal

20.     Cold Gin

21.     Deuce

 

"Some Girls Do".....A Lee Aaron Concert Review (Including Photos by Shawn Irwin)

Lee Aaron - @ Barney's in Whitby, Ontario - photo by Shawn Irwin

There was some dividing and conquering of the Canadian Decibel Geek team for this trio of Lee Aaron shows in the southern Ontario area.  Photographer Brian Ronald attended the sold out London, Ontario show on Friday December 5th, 2014 and had rave reports for The Meister and photographer Shawn Irwin, who hit up Whitby's December 6, 2014 show.  Here's my (The Meister's) account of the Whitby event including a photo gallery from Shawn Irwin and a couple of The Meister's videos from the show.

Our initial reaction to this new venue for us was at first less than positive.  There seemed to be bit of a bottleneck just through the entrance doors as patrons collected behind the soundboard.  With a bar on the right side stretching the length of the venue and booth seating on the other it made for a crowd in this area and poor vantage points for ones of challenged stature such as ourselves.  Once we pushed through, however, there was relatively no one on the floor area and this is really where you need to be for a rock/metal concert anyway.  I noticed that the only way on and off the stage was via stairs at the front and center, a poor design.  I can't imagine trying to clear drums and equipment during set changes if this was a packed house with everyone crowding the front of the stage!  Other than that I loved the size of the venue, the balcony which would provide great views of the concert (but I'd rather be down front!) and the sound was awesome.  I do hope that this venue succeeds, I'd definitely make the three hour public transit trek there again to see a great live band.

Cindy Weichmann

It began to look a little like The Rockpile in here as we spotted a couple of our regular concert attending friends and even another random guy sporting a Rockpile t-shirt.  The opening band, Nail (featuring Cindy and Rainer Weichmann, once members of Helix), had a thick and heavy, rather industrial sort of sound and I'll have to check into their music.  As we caught up with our Rockpile friends and met some new friends at the same time, Nail were wrapping up with their final song, a radio friendly track titled "Fuck Off and Die".  It was actually about women getting out of a bad relationship, I believe, and was a great song with Cindy Weichmann's strong powerful vocals leading the charge.  At one point she left the stage into the crowd (few people milling about) and stopped to sing in front of us, pushing me in the chest a couple of times as she sang the chorus.

Heavens Fire was up next and having seen them a couple of times before, I was looking forward to their show.  Actually they're not using the Heavens Fire name at this time due to some internal legal band disputes to my understanding.    Darren James Smith (Harem Scarem/Warmachine/Red

Jesse Jack-Heavens Fire-photo by Shawn Irwin

Dragon Cartel) was the former lead singer but he has moved on to front Jake E. Lee's Red Dragon Cartel and so Jesse Jack has stepped in to fill the void, and does so excellently I might add.  I noticed that the guitarist was different, JT Harris being absent, but this new guitarist did a fantastic job and had a great tone.  Perhaps Harris' absence has something to do with the use of the Heavens Fire name, at least that was the rumor going around.  In any case Heavens Fire ripped through a spirited set comprised mostly of songs from the Judgement Day CD.  The original version of the CD featured Darren James Smith, but the band were passing out the re-recorded version at the show featuring Jesse Jack and titled Judgement Day A.D. (which I assume stands for After Darren?).

Drew Masters, editor of M.E.A.T. Magazine (a staple in my days of youth), bounded on to the stage bringing with him the lady of hour (or should I say "Lady of the Darkest Night"?).  After Drew's introduction and welcome to the stage Lee Aaron and her band, Sean Kelly (Guitar), Dave Reimer (bass), John Cody (drums and Aaron's husband) and Matt Weidinger (keyboards) ripped into "Hands On" from her 1989 release Bodyrock.  I was able to capture this opening track on video.

Post by The Meister.

"Powerline" followed as everyone in the audience sang along with Canada's "Metal Queen".  During "Rock Candy" Aaron was sure to give some special attention to the gentleman in the front row at the
foot of the steps as she came right up and sang directly to him.  Lee Aaron stole the hearts of men all over the world in 1984 and she's still doing it today!  "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi", "Sweet Talk" and "Baby Go Round" all followed bringing us to a real treat for Lee Aaron fans.  Lee Aaron with guitarist Sean Kelly have been working on new music and she let us know that they are hoping to have the new album out by December 2015 at the latest.  They debuted "If You Don't Love Me",

Lee Aaron - photo by Shawn Irwin

one of the new tracks and it went over extremely well from what I saw of the audience, both Decibel Geeks gave it "two thumbs up".  "Some Girls Do" had the crowd rocking and saw Lee Aaron invite a young lady up on stage to join her for a few seconds of chorus singing.  Although I do appreciate many styles of music it's the hard rocking that's true to my heart and so, subsequently, the following selection of "I'd Love To" from Aaron's Jazz era was not a favorite for me.  "Odds of Love" took us to the emotional ballad "Barely Holding On" which Aaron struggled to promote and get played on Canadian radio upon it's release back in 1986 she told us.  I marveled at just how strong and ridiculously powerful her voice was, "Barely Holding On" a complete showcase for these talents.  I readied the video camera once again and caught "Metal Queen", a song that as I understand, Lee Aaron dropped from the setlist for a number of years.  But for me, that song alone was well worth the admission price.

Post by The Meister.

Our friend from the Rockpile found himself being invited on stage for a few moments as Lee plucked his hat from his head to wear herself and quipped that she'd found Walter White in Whitby (prompted by our friends fashionable headgear).  "Watcha Do To My Body" wrapped up the set, but the crowd at Barney's in Whitby would have none of that!  Aaron and band were soon back to deliver a two punch encore set.  Aaron invited two gentlemen concert goers from the crowd up on stage to be her "Go-Go dancers" for "Sex With Love".  The guys looked to be having a lot of fun and "selfie" photos were being snapped all over as they danced, flanking the "Metal Queen" on either side.  "That was awesome!" one exclaimed as he exited the stage afterwards and I recalled that exact feeling when I was called up on stage to sing in the past with other bands.  "Bad Boyfriend" was the final song for the evening and Aaron announced that she would be over at her merchandise table to sign autographs and pose for photos after the set, so please come and say hi she invited.

Shawn Irwin's Photo Gallery (71 Photos)

Another excellent night of homegrown Canadian rock featuring some of the best performers Canada has to offer!

Cheers,
The Meister

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PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN IRWIN 2014

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Running Wild in Brantford...A Helix Concert Review

Well, a night of oddities and anomalies has just dropped itself upon the ole Meister!  Make no mistake however, for the most part that's a good thing.  Allow me to elaborate some.  For anyone that has read my ramblings previously you'll know that a rather long trek (usually via public transit) to a concert gig is not out of the ordinary for me by any means, but that's where I begin my story for today.  While at another awesome live music event and subsequent drinking experience at Decibel Geek photographer Brian Ronald's house in October (Halloween to be precise) he asked me if I would be coming out to Helix.  Totally unaware that there was an impending Helix gig, I enthusiastically responded with a "Hell yeah!".  The Helix gig in question was to take place on Friday, November 28, 2014 in Brantford, a three hour public transit venture for me.  I began to chat about the event around work over the following weeks as I was quite excited to be seeing Helix again, not having seen them since 2013's Monsters of Rock Cruise.

Anomaly #1: Two co-workers began to express an interest in coming with me to the show!  Serious?  Rarely does anyone outside of my circle enjoy my musical tastes, but it turns out they were dead serious.

Since they are also from my home town of Newmarket, Ontario their attendance would also be saving approximately two hours of public transit travel time.  Excellent!  That's where the trouble began.....we set out in plenty of time, planning on having dinner somewhere in Brantford prior to the event.  En route we encountered horrendous traffic like I've never seen before, turning a 1.5 hour drive into nearly 3.5!  The public transit game would actually have been faster!  Finally after pit-stops and the assistance of Google Maps we arrived and my first impression was; "Holy crap, this place looks all wrong!".  We had arrived at a strip mall plaza and a rather desolate looking one at that.  But the illuminated light-box sign reading "Army, Navy and Air Force Club" informed us that we were indeed in the correct spot.  As we entered the shopping plaza store front I was struck by another thought....this place really, really reminds me of a wedding reception hall or a year end sports team banquet at the local Legion!

Anomaly #2: I've seen Helix at festivals, on a cruise ship and at smaller clubs, but now I'm about to see Helix play at a wedding!

This event was actually a toy drive and as we entered the venue, presenting our unwrapped toys we received hand stamps and proceeded into the "wedding reception".  A Santa-dressed gentleman, who I assumed was the promoter or organizer of the event, was on hand at the door to warmly greet us and thank us for coming.  To the right hand side near the bar was an enormous pile of donated toys awaiting their Christmas destinations to those children in need.  Every child should experience the magic of receiving toys at Christmas and I was proud to see one of my favorite Canadian bands supporting such an event.  The three of us occupied chairs next to Brian and a friend of his.  Brian and I immediately lapsed into "rock talk" with preparing our "Top Ten Albums of the Year" lists for Decibel Geek and the latest Helix effort, Bastard of the Blues among the subjects.

Anomaly #3: I have known Brian for about three years and never, ever at a show, even on the cruise, have I seen him void of his camera apparatus as he was on this night.  As happy as I am to see him cut loose with some beers, I want some damn photos for this review slacker!

Unfortunately, we had basically missed the opening act thanks to our traffic nightmare, but we were able to catch the young lady and her guitarist as they wrapped up the final song of their set.  The evening's MC then took over for a series of prize giveaways and on-the-spot auctions, as well as drawing attention to other raffles that would be going on later in the night.  We learned that this was the third annual Helix Toy Drive event and I've already marked my calendar for next year's.

Helix was welcomed to the stage with a keyboard rendition of their most popular song, "Rock You" emanating from the PA sound system.  They blasted into "No Rest For the Wicked" to lead the charge and unfortunately the sound was not the best from our position seated at a long banquet table that was only missing the wedding tablecloths!

Anomaly #4: I have never seen a Helix show where pretty much the entire audience, let alone me, were seated!

"Wild in the Streets" was the next selection and that was it for me!  I'll be damned if I'm gonna let this flaccid crowd dictate how I see Helix!  Brian and I, both with freshly replenished beverages, headed up to the stage on the right side.  The sound was much, much better up here, probably the evils of bouncing off of the ceiling further back.  Brian Vollmer (vocalist) let the crowd know that Helix had just returned from a tour in Scandinavia as Brian and I remarked on the skills of newest Helix member, guitarist Chris Julke.  They went next to their latest release, Bastard of the Blues, for "Even Jesus (Wasn't Loved In His Hometown)", the first single.  With dry ice clouds billowing out from Greg "Fritz" Hinz's drum riser I was able to capture "Dirty Dog" on video.

Post by The Meister.

Anomaly #5: While there were now several patrons standing and approaching the stage, there seemed to be a force field in the shape of a semi-circle at the front of the stage that no-one seemed to want to break.  Certainly not the style of crowd that we are used to at a show!  Actually kinda nice not to be pushing and shoving, trying to defend your position leaning on the front of the stage.

Brian Vollmer-photo by The Meister

The title track from the new album, "Bastard of the Blues", was up next featuring Kaleb Duck and Chris Julke both wailing on their guitars in an awesome display.  "The Kids Are All Shakin'" for some reason had me reflecting on the inaugural Monsters of Rock Cruise in 2012.  I had been dining alone sporting an older Helix tee and seated at a long eight person table in the buffet.  With my head down, shoveling in food in a flurry so as not to miss the next shipboard concert, I simply grunted approval without even looking up when someone commented "Nice shirt, mind if I sit at your table?"  It was a good several minutes later before it registered that it was none other than Brian Vollmer that had chosen to sit with me upon spotting my support for the band!  Kaleb Duck and Brian Vollmer now shielded their eyes and looked to the sky as the sound of an aeroplane passing overhead resonated through the PA system before Kaleb's guitar prowess lead off "When the Hammer Falls".  I've seen Helix quite a few times, but I can't recall a bass

Daryl Gray-blurry photo by The Meister

solo from Daryl Gray in previous events, so this was a new addition for me.  Gray called out "Give me some light!" and the fluorescent overheads illuminated the entire "wedding hall" as he pulled out what I believe was a violin bow to wield across the strings of his bass guitar.  I was also surprised to hear "Danger Zone" next as I don't think it's a usual inclusion in the setlist, either that or my memory's going in my old age.  One of my all time favorite Helix tracks, paling only in comparison to the rarely played "The Storm" and "Get Up!", "Running Wild in the 21st Century" saw me headbanging and singing away (apologies to those within earshot.....I'm tone deaf and tend to monotone hum the words that I don't actually know, but hey, I'm having fun!).  Vollmer made an appeal for us to support Canadian music, especially classic rock bands as Canadian radio is far from a supporter and buy merchandise from, not just Helix, but other bands as well.  This year marks the 40th Anniversary for Helix he informed us next.  He reminisced that when they first started out bar owners wanted dance bands to get the people up off their seats.  That's what the next track, "Make 'Em Dance" is all about.  The Crazy Elephant cover "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" followed before Vollmer told everyone that the band would be at the merchandise table after the set to sign autographs and take photos.  He then dedicated the next selection "To my lovely wife, a song from the Wild in the Streets album, "Dream On"."  "Deep Cuts the Knife" was next and after that I got the camera out again to film "Screaming At the Moon" from Bastard of the Blues.

Post by The Meister.

Getting into the festive season next with "Jingle Bells", I certainly don't remember any guitar work like Kaleb blisteringly delivered in the traditional version!  Asking about the Toronto Maple Leaf fanship in the room served as the intro for "All I Want For Christmas Is the Leafs To Win the Cup" and I sung "Go Habs Go!" in my head, not being a Leaf fan by any means.  "Heavy Metal Love" was on the roster now and as Vollmer jumped off the stage to sing in the semi-circle that still refused to be broken you can clearly see Decibel Geek photographer Brian Ronald in the "Metal On Ice" tee-shirt drunkenly rocking out in my video...way to go Bri!!

Post by The Meister.

A little instrumental break led us to Kaleb's awesome "William Tell Overture", this time with some help from Chris Julke, something that I've usually seen Kaleb play himself, came off really well with both guitarists in the mix.  As would be expected, "Rock You" wrapped things up and one or two crowd members broke the force field semi-circle, edging closer and closer.  The boys left the stage

Helix Toy Drive setlist

for a few minutes to towel off while the crowd did a fair job of making noise to bring them back to deliver "Heavy Metal Cowboys" for an encore.  As I carefully peeled the silver duct tape off of the setlist that I had pilfered from the stage, I saw the other encore choices listed that did not get played.  One was the awesome ballad that always makes me think of Maxwell House coffee, "Good to the Last Drop", and a serious surprise in "Get Up!".  Although I loved this Helix show as I do all their performances, I dearly wish they'd played "Get Up!".  There's so many Helix songs that I love, such as "Jaws of the Tiger", that will probably never see a concert, so the fact that "Get Up!" made the printing of a setlist gives me hope that I may just hear it live someday yet.

Even though I've met the guys many times over I headed to the merchandise table to do so once again and thank them for another awesome show.  I was surprised and proud when I saw my two friends, who had really seemed to enjoy the show even joining me at the front after a time, purchasing shirts and CD's!  I fear that Helix and I may have created a monster as they were very questioning about the Monsters of Rock Cruise during the drive home!  The whole band posed for a photo with them pointing at the Helix logo that appears in my full sleeve tattoo.  What an awesome night with an awesome band who truly do appreciate their fans and deliver their all on stage every single time.

Helix checking out The Meister's tattoo!

Thanks Helix.....when's the next gig?

BUY: Helix - Bastard of the Blues

Cheers,
The Meister

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