Rockamania

2007 will be the year that will be remembered in Rock & Roll as the year of the comebacks at least on my part.

Legends of Rock & Roll have toured and are planning to tour once again giving their fans especially the young ones a chance to see them perform live. Concerts have been sold out and tickets for forthcoming concerts were gone the minute it was opened for sale.

I have been lucky to watch some of them perform live while I passed on some for a variety of reasons. I admit I am/was envious of the few lucky people who were able to get tickets for some of the limited gigs that I wanted to watch. I guess you can’t have them all in life and in rock & roll. Ha-ha. Nevertheless, I am happy that Rock & Roll is alive and kicking!

June was fine with me when America and Chicago made a back-to-back concert at the DTE Music Energy Theater (That’s Pine Knob for you, “oldies but goodies“ Michiganders. He-he) in Clarkston, MI. The long drive was worth it. Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell can still do magic on the stage with their very cool and familiar harmony. Chicago on the other hand, even without original front man Peter Cetera in the fold can still do their own interpretation of rock & roll and thus, were able to trumpet their horns with gusto.

I almost missed The Police when they rocked the Palace of Auburn Hills in July but lady-luck was on my side when a few days before the concert I was able to find somebody who would work my shift in the ER for me. And so I was able to watch Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland do their thing once more and every little thing they did was really Magic!

REO Speedwagon and Kansas at the Taylor Summerfest were awesome. Kevin Cronin can still hit those notes on Can’t Fight This Feeling and Take It On the Run. The only downside was I wasn’t able to record Kansas when they played Dust In The Wind. But for 10 bucks per ticket who can ask for more?

With due apologies to Jimi Hendrix, I was way deep in Purple Haze when the legendary British Rock Super Group Deep Purple blew into town with Highway Star and Smoke on the Water. Ian Gillian, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, three original members of the group were still a sight to behold. If only Richie Blackmore can patch his differences with the other members, that will be the day. But Steve Morse is a very able guitarist in his own right that can do justice to the Purple Classics. But Still you could only wish that Richie was there too.

The German band Scorpions can sting you with their pure and raw energy on stage. It was a wild, wild night as Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine and the rest of the gang made their concert a slam- bang affair. To say that they can still Rock You Like A Hurricane is an understatement. It was one of the best rock concerts that I have ever been to.

Add Ratt, LA Guns, Jani Lane, Dokken, George Thorogood, Great White and Poison to the ear- splitting list and you know why I am still having a bad case of Tinnitus to this very day.

These are just some of the legends whose concerts I was able to attend this year.

I passed on Aerosmith for a reason but I know they will be back here next year since Detroit is one of their favorite places to play. Detroit will always be Rock City to Steven Tyler and company. The one I really rued missing was the Ringo Starr and his friends gig but I was really tied up on that day.

I did not watch Genesis' Turn It On Again Tour since their line- up to me was far from complete. Without Peter Gabriel, I don’t think they can be called that even if Phil Collins was there. The purists will surely agree with me on this. Maybe next time folks.

There will be Anarchy in the UK when Punk Legend the Sex Pistols reformed for a one night gig at London’s Brixton Academy on November 8 to mark the anniversary of their seminal album, Never Mind the Bollocks. Punk's not dead, huh guys? I’m sure Sid Vicious will be watching them from Punk Rock Heaven. R.I.P.- Sid. Peace Man!

But the one that I am dying to watch is the reunion of Led Zeppelin, one of the original and most influential rock bands in history. Unfortunately, theirs is a one night engagement only and tickets are sold out already not to mention that it will be in the UK‘s O2 Arena in London which can only hold 20,000 fans. According to reports, a record 20 million fans tried to get tickets for the said one night concert.

Some fans are really lucky but I’m just happy for the group’s British fans for the chance to see them once again playing live and in the flesh. I’m sure many of them will climb their own Stairway to Heaven during the show. After all you rarely see Robert Plant and Jimmy Page sharing the same stage in years.

Rock On People!