Lastly, just to wrap things up, I can't fail to mention The Guess Who.
Again, this wasn't on the original agenda for us but after Drivin' and Cryin' we knew they were going to be on, so we headed down to the Huntsville Havoc stage to check them out.
For the past few years, I have pretty much avoided the classic rock acts at the Jam. Not because I don't like them; on the contrary, this was the music I grew up with and I LOVE it. (In fact, put me just about anywhere at the Jam and I'll find something to love; there isn't a style of music that I don't enjoy). But for the last few years, my personal interest has geared more towards the younger, alternative and post-grunge bands. I'm not exactly one of those for living in the past, or for whom simple nostalgia for its own sake holds much appeal.
But on a hunch tonight, I thought, why not? A pleasant evening under the stars and listening to periennial favorite "No Sugar Tonight" seemed like it might be just what the doctor ordered.
However, I won't lie. I really was not expecting much beyond a predicatble "greatest hits" package geared towards the geriatric set. Boy, did I get an awakening!
Yes, the band did perform all of their familiar hits, as well as a few surprises. But from the opening "Bus Rider" to the knockout finale performance of "No Time," the band made these songs as current as anything around today. Perhaps this is in no small way thanks to a very interesting and diverse lineup that includes both original, founding members as well as
a couple of younger players who manage to bring their own stamp and energy to the band.
The mix includes veteran founding members Jim Kale (bass) and Garry Peterson (drums), longtime (since '91) keyboard player Leonard Shaw, and the two "young'un's", guitarist Laurie Mackenzie and guitarist/lead vocalist Derek Sharp, replacing Carl Dixon who was injured in a serious car accident earlier this year.
The lineup strikes a nice balance between the integrity of the original music and the fresh blood and energy that Mackenzie and Sharp bring to the mix.
Surprisingly, though "American Woman" was the song it seemed everyone had come to hear, I would be lying if I said it was the highlight of the set. The best was yet to come as the band launched into a 2-part encore featuring "These Eyes" and "No Time." "No Time" easily turned out to be the most adrenalin-rushing performance we witnessed out of the entire weekend-no mean feat considering that to say this means also including every band we saw that was at least 20-30 years younger than these guys. Okay, so maybe Derek Sharp didn't take any diving leaps into the crowd, but in all honesty, the way he was prancing and working that stage like a true rock showman, it wouldn't have surprised me in the least if he had.
In fact, that closing performance impressed me so much that it is going to be one that stays with me for a long, long time.
In closing, I have to say that if there is anything I carried away from this year's Jam, it's the fact that over and over, I found myself surprised by many of these acts-in some cases, pleasantly so; in a few cases, astoundingly so. I can honestly say that every single act we saw managed to exceed our expectations.I heard new bands who impressed me; rediscovered why I loved several old favorites, and in every case, came away with a renewed respect and interest in all of them.
Or maybe I should say, if the purpose of touring and putting on a live show is for the purpose of "selling" the band, then everyone pretty much succeeded. Out of the entire weekend, there wasn't a single band we heard whose CD's I wouldn't want to buy. In fact, I'm sure I'll be backcombing many of these bands' catalogs for quite some time to come!
Raven Woods
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Drivin' And Cryin'
One of the greatest things about this year's Jam is the number of opportunities I've had to reacquaint myself with many bands. Bands I knew I had loved, but maybe over the course of the years had begun to lose touch with the reasons why.
Of course, I remembered Drivin' and Cryin' from the late 80's/early 90's. Of course, I remembered Straight to Hell and Fly Me Courageous. Those songs were anthems of my generation. But those weren't the things that impressed me most tonight.
Instead, I marveled at the subtle interplay of "The Indian Song," laughed at the funny-yet-oh-so-true lyric about being "Pre-approved and Pre-denied" (yes, a lyric every working class stiff like me can relate to), and enjoyed the many surpises the band snuck in, such as a take-off on Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and a version of "Fly Me Courageous" that somehow morphed into Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." But perhaps the most fun number of all was when Kevin Kinney used a story about an encounter with a young Pentecostal boy in Huntsville back in 1980 as an excuse to launch into "Which Jesus Do You Know?"
Whether the story was actually true, embellished or totally fiction is, of course, anyone's guess.
But the image of Jesus at a Willie Nelson concert is...well, once put in your head, a hard thing to shake. Of course, we were also informed that the Jesus Kevin Kinney knows also attends Allman Brothers concerts and is a huge AC/DC fan as well. Now, mixing Jesus and rock'n'roll can be a tricky matter, and some will accuse you of blasphemy, but the truth of the song is a gentle poking fun at the whole notion of "knowing Jesus" and those who will claim that "their" way is the one and only "true" way.
I didn't know why, but I had tears welling in my eyes before the song was done, and dang it, it's supposed to be a FUNNY song, so what was the deal? I think it just hit me especially hard as I realized there was so much truth in that song, that everyone's spirituality is such a deep and personal thing, and yes, I do like to think that the God I believe in would love The Allman Brothers and AC/DC. And yes, maybe even Willie.
Raven Woods
Of course, I remembered Drivin' and Cryin' from the late 80's/early 90's. Of course, I remembered Straight to Hell and Fly Me Courageous. Those songs were anthems of my generation. But those weren't the things that impressed me most tonight.
Instead, I marveled at the subtle interplay of "The Indian Song," laughed at the funny-yet-oh-so-true lyric about being "Pre-approved and Pre-denied" (yes, a lyric every working class stiff like me can relate to), and enjoyed the many surpises the band snuck in, such as a take-off on Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and a version of "Fly Me Courageous" that somehow morphed into Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." But perhaps the most fun number of all was when Kevin Kinney used a story about an encounter with a young Pentecostal boy in Huntsville back in 1980 as an excuse to launch into "Which Jesus Do You Know?"
Whether the story was actually true, embellished or totally fiction is, of course, anyone's guess.
But the image of Jesus at a Willie Nelson concert is...well, once put in your head, a hard thing to shake. Of course, we were also informed that the Jesus Kevin Kinney knows also attends Allman Brothers concerts and is a huge AC/DC fan as well. Now, mixing Jesus and rock'n'roll can be a tricky matter, and some will accuse you of blasphemy, but the truth of the song is a gentle poking fun at the whole notion of "knowing Jesus" and those who will claim that "their" way is the one and only "true" way.
I didn't know why, but I had tears welling in my eyes before the song was done, and dang it, it's supposed to be a FUNNY song, so what was the deal? I think it just hit me especially hard as I realized there was so much truth in that song, that everyone's spirituality is such a deep and personal thing, and yes, I do like to think that the God I believe in would love The Allman Brothers and AC/DC. And yes, maybe even Willie.
Raven Woods
Sister Hazel
Saturday night I found myself sitting in an RV, watching the Alabama game with four Gator fans. But this was no ordinary RV; this was the Sister Hazel tour bus.
Sister Hazel talked to the Valley Planet about playing at outdoor festivals, their fan base, and their newest record, Before the Amplifiers.
I was able to sit down with bassist Jett Barres and lead guitarist Ryan Newall. Ken Block, lead singer and primary songwriter was also present, but he had laryngitis and wanted to save his voice for the show.
A lot of musicians say their favorite venues to play are festivals.
“We love it. We get to see the bands ourselves. Being a musician, it is nice to be a fan again. And of course the food.”
Among the Sister Hazel fans, it seems most everyone’s favorite song is ‘Change your Mind’. Would you guys agree?
“At this point we have so many songs… the cool thing we hear from our fans, is it’s actually across the board, out of the whole body of music, how it affects people in different ways. ‘Change your Mind’ was a very impactful song. We get stories from them (the fans) saying how it changed their perception on life, it brought me out of this funk. I think that’s why we have a career fifteen years later. We keep putting out songs that inspire people.”
You have this reputation for being very fan driven.
“We realized early on that the key to sticking around and playing music and being able to create music is the fans. For some reason, not all bands get that. Let’s listen to what they have to say. We go out and meet them, and get that response from the shows, and we feed off it on stage. There’s a connection with the five of us with our fans. “
Case in point, your newest record, Before the Amplifiers was produced because your fans asked for a live record?
“We’ve always enjoyed playing our songs acoustically, and we thought it was a good opportunity to set up a show with a live environment, but also in a studio. The record captures not only an acoustic side to this band, but the intimacy of being with our fans. “
I left their RV, and after twenty minutes, Sister Hazel took the stage, opening with Shame, a song off their Absolutely CD.
With a crowd ranging from millennials to baby boomers, everyone appeared to be having a good time right from the start. Right behind me were two fortysomethings (who were able to sing all the lyrics word for word) that had driven from Nashville to hear the band.
Ken Block never let on to the crowd that he was ailing. He sounded a bit hoarse when talking to the crowd, but was all business once on stage.
Helping out with some of the vocals, rhythm guitarist Andrew Copeland, sang a cover of an old Outfield tune, ‘Use Your Love Tonight’. With his incredible vocal range, Copeland nailed all the high notes to the song. Incidentally, Copeland played the entire set barefoot.
During the performance, Block kept giving updates to the Alabama/Georgia game; shouting out the score to the approving roar of the crowd.
The band is a very close-knit group, and one of the few bands around that still maintains their original line-up after touring together fifteen year. During the solos you could even see the band members clowning around with each other.
During their hour-long set, Sister Hazel played songs like ‘Champagne High’, a semi-autobiographical song about attending an ex-girlfriend’s wedding. The inspirational ‘Change your Mind’ was also a crowd favorite.
The biggest response came when the band played their signature song, ‘All for You’, a top ten hit from 1997. At one point during the song, Sister Hazel turned the microphones towards the audience, as the crowd enthusiastically sang out the chorus.
The performance closed with ‘Happy’, which is another uplifting song from the band’s catalog. After hearing them live, I now intend on adding a few more Sister Hazel CDs to my music collection.
You can listen to more Sister Hazel songs, and learn more about the band by going to their MySpace page at: www.myspace.com/sisterhazel
Ed Killingsworth
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Presidents of the United States of America
Although I hadn't intially planned to blog on this band (in fact, was not even aware they were on the lineup until the last minute this evening) I'm glad we made the decision to stick around for their set.
Like most concertgoers at the Jam, we have our "Definite Must-See's" (the bands we KNOW we won't miss) but then most of the rest of the time is spent, well, deciding where and how we will fill the rest of the time. Sometimes this ends up being a little sampling here and there of everyone who's playing. Then again, we may end up so pleasantly surpised at a stage that we end up deciding to stick around for awhile. Such was the case with The Presidents of the United States of America (which, for brevity's sake, will be hereafter referred to as PUSA).
Not that I was totally unaware of this band. I remembered "Lump" and "Peaches" from the mid-90's, and "Peaches" was one of those favorite songs that instantly made me reach for the volume knob on the car radio. It's just one of those happy songs that you can't resist.
But the thing is, I hadn't really given much thought to PUSA in over ten years. To be quite honest, I wasn't even sure they were still around and kicking. And having heard only the two songs, I wasn't sure if their material could sustain interest for me to hold me for an entire set.
But based on the strength of "Peaches," I was willing to give it a shot.
The gamble paid off. Not only was this band an absolute delight from start to finish, but they were easily among the best we've heard all weekend so far.
I would consider PUSA among the same mid-90's wave that brought bands like Green Day, Cake and Blink-182 to the forefront. In contrast to the grunge and heavy-handed post-grunge of the era, these bands featured poppy melodies and a sort of self-deprecating humor, usually managing to do so while clocking in at just under four minutes.
I didn't necessarily know every single song, but as the set progressed, I realized some I had heard many times, on the various alternative radio stations I used to listen to in the days when I was a grad student and traveling frequently between Huntsville and Starkville, Mississippi, a route that usually took me through both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. I enjoyed hearing these tracks again, as well as the new songs. Even though "Peaches" and "Lump" were the two biggies I was waiting to hear, I can honestly say I enjoyed every single number. The band has a joyous contagiousness that just draws you in. If you can resist PUSA, then you must be dead.
So this turned out to be a most interesting evening, as I rediscovered an old favorite band that quickly became my new favorite. I definitely came away with a renewed respect for these guys...and a compulsion to go to Amazon.com and buy all of their CD's.
I may be just slightly behind in jumping this bandwagon, but I'm going to be doing some fast catching up.
Raven Woods
Like most concertgoers at the Jam, we have our "Definite Must-See's" (the bands we KNOW we won't miss) but then most of the rest of the time is spent, well, deciding where and how we will fill the rest of the time. Sometimes this ends up being a little sampling here and there of everyone who's playing. Then again, we may end up so pleasantly surpised at a stage that we end up deciding to stick around for awhile. Such was the case with The Presidents of the United States of America (which, for brevity's sake, will be hereafter referred to as PUSA).
Not that I was totally unaware of this band. I remembered "Lump" and "Peaches" from the mid-90's, and "Peaches" was one of those favorite songs that instantly made me reach for the volume knob on the car radio. It's just one of those happy songs that you can't resist.
But the thing is, I hadn't really given much thought to PUSA in over ten years. To be quite honest, I wasn't even sure they were still around and kicking. And having heard only the two songs, I wasn't sure if their material could sustain interest for me to hold me for an entire set.
But based on the strength of "Peaches," I was willing to give it a shot.
The gamble paid off. Not only was this band an absolute delight from start to finish, but they were easily among the best we've heard all weekend so far.
I would consider PUSA among the same mid-90's wave that brought bands like Green Day, Cake and Blink-182 to the forefront. In contrast to the grunge and heavy-handed post-grunge of the era, these bands featured poppy melodies and a sort of self-deprecating humor, usually managing to do so while clocking in at just under four minutes.
I didn't necessarily know every single song, but as the set progressed, I realized some I had heard many times, on the various alternative radio stations I used to listen to in the days when I was a grad student and traveling frequently between Huntsville and Starkville, Mississippi, a route that usually took me through both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. I enjoyed hearing these tracks again, as well as the new songs. Even though "Peaches" and "Lump" were the two biggies I was waiting to hear, I can honestly say I enjoyed every single number. The band has a joyous contagiousness that just draws you in. If you can resist PUSA, then you must be dead.
So this turned out to be a most interesting evening, as I rediscovered an old favorite band that quickly became my new favorite. I definitely came away with a renewed respect for these guys...and a compulsion to go to Amazon.com and buy all of their CD's.
I may be just slightly behind in jumping this bandwagon, but I'm going to be doing some fast catching up.
Raven Woods
Tantric
I originally came to Tantric as a fan of Days Of The New. When original Days Of The New members Matt Taul, Todd Whitener and Jesse Vest split from Travis Meeks and joined with Merge vocalist Hugo Ferreira, there was still enough of the same brooding, post-grunge Days Of The New vibe to keep me happy. Though I liked the music, I think I can safely say at that point that Tantric had become for me little more than a poor man's (woman's) Days Of The New. Thus, when I heard a new CD was coming out featuring an entirely new lineup minus ALL the last vestiges of Days Of The New, I wasn't initially impressed.
Then something happened. I heard a little track from this album called Down And Out that not only blew me away, but forced me to rethink everything I thought I knew about Tantric. With the purging of all Days Of The New influence, this new lineup seems finally in a good place to carve out a whole new-and unique-identity for this band.
The crowning jewel of this new lineup is undeniably the addition of classical violinist Marcus Ratzenboeck. As the story goes, Tantric had a hard time convincing The Powers That Be at their label that a vilonist could actually be a viable addition to a rock band. But one listen to the hard driving Down And Out is enough to shut up the naysayers. Ratzenboeck's violin riffs lend the track its slightly macabre, decadent edge. You could envision one of Anne Rice's vampire characters from Queen of the Damned playing this. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody somewhere hasn't snatched up the rights to this song for a movie. It's just too perfect.
Of course, violins and rock'n'roll are not exactly a new combination. I think Kansas already has that market cornered as the first rock band to feature classical strings. But what Ratzenboeck brings to Tantric is a totally new take on the concept, in which the violin becomes in essence the band's second guitar. I heard Eddie Van Halen play many times back in the day, and there was a moment during Ratzenboeck's solo that I had a strange sense of deja vu, for I have not heard that kind of total virtuosity on an instrument since then. Until tonight.
But anyway I am jumping slightly ahead of myself here. We arrived at the WZYP stage in time to catch the last few songs of Highland Blues, who are, by the way, a terrific young band from out of Atlanta. The crowd at this point was neither as large nor as rowdy as Friday night's crowd had been, which was actually a pleasant surprise. With more space and a little more room to breathe, and an atmosphere that was more of a laid-back groove than a mosh pit, we were able to thoroughly enjoy every minute of Highland Blues. (Of course, perhaps the No Moshing signs that had been erected since last night had a little something to do with that!).
However, the crowd steadily grew as it came closer to time for Tantric to come out. Having been so pumped by the new music, I was anxious to hear mostly the tracks from the new album, but the first part of the set leaned pretty heavily on what Ferreira called (in half jest, I think) "old school" Tantric. Which seemed a little off considering their first album was released in 2001. But then again, that has been over seven years. Boy, time does fly!
Ferreira, I should add, is an excellent frontman who knows how to keep the crowd engaged. He's also damn good at knowing how to keep an audience on edge and second-guessing his every move. Whether it is unexpectedly throwing a Journey ballad into the mix, or throwing himself gung-ho into the crowd to go surfing, there's never really any way to know what this guy's next trick up his sleeve will be.
The crowd-surfing, by the way, appeared to be a completely spontaneous act. Extra ironic and hilarious considering that he took the diving leap into the crowd right beneath the "No Moshing" sign. The effect was rather like one who stands beneath a "No Smoking" sign and brazenly lights a cigarette.
Not surprisingly, Down And Out was the highlight song of the set for me. In fact, overall, though I enjoyed hearing the classics again like "Breakdown" and "Astounded" it was the new tracks that really carried the show.
The "new" Tantric has certainly made a believer out of me. And has taught me the value of giving every band a second chance. It's true that the dynamics of a band will change when new players are brought into the fold. That's just the way things are. But it doesn't mean the new is necessarily inferior to the old.
In fact, I would say in the case of Tantric that the new blood has created a whole new transfusion.
And this fan is liking it.
Raven Woods
Then something happened. I heard a little track from this album called Down And Out that not only blew me away, but forced me to rethink everything I thought I knew about Tantric. With the purging of all Days Of The New influence, this new lineup seems finally in a good place to carve out a whole new-and unique-identity for this band.
The crowning jewel of this new lineup is undeniably the addition of classical violinist Marcus Ratzenboeck. As the story goes, Tantric had a hard time convincing The Powers That Be at their label that a vilonist could actually be a viable addition to a rock band. But one listen to the hard driving Down And Out is enough to shut up the naysayers. Ratzenboeck's violin riffs lend the track its slightly macabre, decadent edge. You could envision one of Anne Rice's vampire characters from Queen of the Damned playing this. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody somewhere hasn't snatched up the rights to this song for a movie. It's just too perfect.
Of course, violins and rock'n'roll are not exactly a new combination. I think Kansas already has that market cornered as the first rock band to feature classical strings. But what Ratzenboeck brings to Tantric is a totally new take on the concept, in which the violin becomes in essence the band's second guitar. I heard Eddie Van Halen play many times back in the day, and there was a moment during Ratzenboeck's solo that I had a strange sense of deja vu, for I have not heard that kind of total virtuosity on an instrument since then. Until tonight.
But anyway I am jumping slightly ahead of myself here. We arrived at the WZYP stage in time to catch the last few songs of Highland Blues, who are, by the way, a terrific young band from out of Atlanta. The crowd at this point was neither as large nor as rowdy as Friday night's crowd had been, which was actually a pleasant surprise. With more space and a little more room to breathe, and an atmosphere that was more of a laid-back groove than a mosh pit, we were able to thoroughly enjoy every minute of Highland Blues. (Of course, perhaps the No Moshing signs that had been erected since last night had a little something to do with that!).
However, the crowd steadily grew as it came closer to time for Tantric to come out. Having been so pumped by the new music, I was anxious to hear mostly the tracks from the new album, but the first part of the set leaned pretty heavily on what Ferreira called (in half jest, I think) "old school" Tantric. Which seemed a little off considering their first album was released in 2001. But then again, that has been over seven years. Boy, time does fly!
Ferreira, I should add, is an excellent frontman who knows how to keep the crowd engaged. He's also damn good at knowing how to keep an audience on edge and second-guessing his every move. Whether it is unexpectedly throwing a Journey ballad into the mix, or throwing himself gung-ho into the crowd to go surfing, there's never really any way to know what this guy's next trick up his sleeve will be.
The crowd-surfing, by the way, appeared to be a completely spontaneous act. Extra ironic and hilarious considering that he took the diving leap into the crowd right beneath the "No Moshing" sign. The effect was rather like one who stands beneath a "No Smoking" sign and brazenly lights a cigarette.
Not surprisingly, Down And Out was the highlight song of the set for me. In fact, overall, though I enjoyed hearing the classics again like "Breakdown" and "Astounded" it was the new tracks that really carried the show.
The "new" Tantric has certainly made a believer out of me. And has taught me the value of giving every band a second chance. It's true that the dynamics of a band will change when new players are brought into the fold. That's just the way things are. But it doesn't mean the new is necessarily inferior to the old.
In fact, I would say in the case of Tantric that the new blood has created a whole new transfusion.
And this fan is liking it.
Raven Woods
Adult Juice Boxes
Not being a big beer drinker, I was glad to see a selection of two wines at the beer stand--white and pink. They came in little single serve boxes reminiscent of the juice boxes kids have. Only thing missing was the straw. My husband wondered if he could slip those things into his lunch bag for work. Hmmm.
Anyway, editor Jill, thought I should tell all the VP blog readers about the cool adult "juice" boxes. While at the Jam check them out. I recommend the white, nice tannins, with residual citrus on the palette. : ) Oh, yes, and remember, it's "pinkie out" even with wine in a box!
Anyway, editor Jill, thought I should tell all the VP blog readers about the cool adult "juice" boxes. While at the Jam check them out. I recommend the white, nice tannins, with residual citrus on the palette. : ) Oh, yes, and remember, it's "pinkie out" even with wine in a box!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Buckcherry
This band needs an award. Seriously. If there is any organization out there passing out trophies for the band that can consistently have the most Top singles with the raciest, most envelope-pushing lyrics, it has got to be Buckcherry. Hands down. Many thought "Crazy Bitch" was pushing it pretty far, although they did later come out with a more radio-friendly edit. But then, just when you think you've heard it all, here comes the even raunchier "I'm Too Drunk To____" (and no, the word isn't beeped out of the title).
The thing is, Buckcherry has this consistent knack for coming up with some of the catchiest hooks since the days when bands like The Black Crowes and Aerosmith gave us those great, hard-driving, blues-influenced riffs like Jealous Again and Walk This Way. And, like Chris Robinson, Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and many others, Josh Todd comes from that tradition of the Flamboyant, Strutting-In-Your-Face-Like-A-Bantam-Rooster breed of rock'n'roll frontmen.
Which is partly, I think, the appeal this band has for the kids, for whom everything (no matter how regurgitated) is always fresh and new. Since the hair bands all but disappeared in the early 90's and grunge came to the forefront, the whole notion of the Rock Star sort of went with it. Along with much of the fun of rock'n'roll.
But in recent years, blues-driven bands like Buckcherry have been putting the fun back into rock. And their energy is definitely contagious! Todd is a whirling dervish from the time the band hits the stage until the last note, who tends to lose his jacket rather quickly, and spends the rest of the show strutting barechested in skinny leather pants. It's almost a kind of primal energy, and one he plainly makes no bones about. "Buckcherry is all about celebrating life," he tells the crowd. Indeed, the band's entire repertoire pretty much bears this out. The songs aren't deep, for the most part. They are songs that celebrate the simple joys in life. Or, as our parents used to say, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
Yet the band does have its tender side, as evidenced by ballads like "Everything" which as Todd explained, is a homage to all those struggling to find their true meaning in life. The band can obviously deliver a beautiful ballad, but it's the high-energy rockers that are the band's true forte'.
I wouldn't exactly call this band a family-friendly act. In fact, throw in Todd's inevitable procreation banter in the middle of "Crazy Bitch" and it's pretty much an X-rated show. Okay for adults, maybe not so much for little kids. But if you go to a Buckcherry performance fully aware of what you're in for, and are okay with that, then yes, you're going to have one helluva great time.
If you want to see a show that keeps your butt moving non-stop, this is the band to see.
The band also delivered an unexpected surpise. After "Crazy Bitch," mos people assumed the show was over, and everyone started leaving. We made a joke about how ticked off they would probably be if they came back onstage and started playing again, only to see that everyone had left!
Well...guess what! Yes, they did. Fortunately, for those who DID stick around, it sounded like what may be their next single off of Black Butterfly. And since the crowd had dispersed considerably, we were able to finally get closer and get some great pics.
To those that left prematurely: Well, patience is golden, as they say. It was worth hanging around an extra five minutes for!
Raven Woods
The thing is, Buckcherry has this consistent knack for coming up with some of the catchiest hooks since the days when bands like The Black Crowes and Aerosmith gave us those great, hard-driving, blues-influenced riffs like Jealous Again and Walk This Way. And, like Chris Robinson, Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and many others, Josh Todd comes from that tradition of the Flamboyant, Strutting-In-Your-Face-Like-A-Bantam-Rooster breed of rock'n'roll frontmen.
Which is partly, I think, the appeal this band has for the kids, for whom everything (no matter how regurgitated) is always fresh and new. Since the hair bands all but disappeared in the early 90's and grunge came to the forefront, the whole notion of the Rock Star sort of went with it. Along with much of the fun of rock'n'roll.
But in recent years, blues-driven bands like Buckcherry have been putting the fun back into rock. And their energy is definitely contagious! Todd is a whirling dervish from the time the band hits the stage until the last note, who tends to lose his jacket rather quickly, and spends the rest of the show strutting barechested in skinny leather pants. It's almost a kind of primal energy, and one he plainly makes no bones about. "Buckcherry is all about celebrating life," he tells the crowd. Indeed, the band's entire repertoire pretty much bears this out. The songs aren't deep, for the most part. They are songs that celebrate the simple joys in life. Or, as our parents used to say, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
Yet the band does have its tender side, as evidenced by ballads like "Everything" which as Todd explained, is a homage to all those struggling to find their true meaning in life. The band can obviously deliver a beautiful ballad, but it's the high-energy rockers that are the band's true forte'.
I wouldn't exactly call this band a family-friendly act. In fact, throw in Todd's inevitable procreation banter in the middle of "Crazy Bitch" and it's pretty much an X-rated show. Okay for adults, maybe not so much for little kids. But if you go to a Buckcherry performance fully aware of what you're in for, and are okay with that, then yes, you're going to have one helluva great time.
If you want to see a show that keeps your butt moving non-stop, this is the band to see.
The band also delivered an unexpected surpise. After "Crazy Bitch," mos people assumed the show was over, and everyone started leaving. We made a joke about how ticked off they would probably be if they came back onstage and started playing again, only to see that everyone had left!
Well...guess what! Yes, they did. Fortunately, for those who DID stick around, it sounded like what may be their next single off of Black Butterfly. And since the crowd had dispersed considerably, we were able to finally get closer and get some great pics.
To those that left prematurely: Well, patience is golden, as they say. It was worth hanging around an extra five minutes for!
Raven Woods
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