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!

Wide Awake at the Palace with Josh Groban

It was a stormy September afternoon in the Philippines when I first heard that now very familiar baritone singing on the radio inside a friend’s car while cruising along the almost flooded streets of Makati years ago.

The voice was soothing as it soared into the cool windy air; his Italian song crystal clear, mellifluous and enchanting and the romantic in me made me an instant fan of this nameless and faceless singer at that time.

Being a music lover and aficionado, I immediately went to the net and look for the song and name of the singer and was surprised that the singer was not Italian at all but a prodigious American who at 17 years old was introduced to David Foster by his vocal coach and has since then have taken the music world by storm.

That singer behind the phenomenal voice was no other than Josh Groban who once attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Northern Michigan when he was younger and once again made his homecoming to Michigan special by way of his 2007 Awake Tour stop at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the fifth stop of the vaunted tour.

I really wanted to watch him perform live and was eager to buy his tickets through the advance purchasing program offered to the company that I was connected at that time but the procrastinator in me got the better of me.

It was only about three days before his concert on February 23 that I decided to finally get tickets for the said show and boy was it hard!

The prime seats were all taken by then and Ticketmaster kept on giving me tickets with obstructed views.

So, I tried and tried and tried until the computer was really, really exhausted by my dogged determination (ha-ha!) and finally gave in and handed me tickets on the lower level about ten seats from the main floor and on the side about 25 rows from the stage. Not a bad deal for a latecomer so I grabbed the said tickets which costs me $120 each, cooled my heels and waited for the big night.

On the day of the event I drove about 90 miles and arrived early at 4 pm for the 8 pm concert. As I ate my Burger King hamburger in the sprawling but almost deserted parking lot of the Palace, I watched with a smile on my face as people began trickling in…

Grobanites in all colors, ages and sizes from near and far came in full force; some complete with face paints, banners and vehicles proclaiming their love for their idol. Ha-ha.

We went to the Palace and the guards proclaimed that no cameras and videos were allowed inside the venue which was a bummer. Many concert-goers heeded the said regulation or so I thought because as soon as curtains was lifted and the spotlight shone on Josh Groban while singing You Are Loved (Don‘t Give Up), almost everybody especially the ladies began clapping and screaming as they instinctively grabbed their digital cameras, camera-phones and what have you from their secret hideaways and began shooting him in wild abandon.

His beautiful voice soared amid the sea of flashes and the plethora of Palace guards tasks to enforce order could do nothing about it and could only shake their heads and grin in disbelief by the blatant show of “disrespect’ for the rules by the concert goers! Ha-ha!

But the night was special as he sang one great song after another and rocked the Palace like never before. He was a Prince, Preacher and Troubadour rolled into one, his soaring, smooth baritone mesmerized the audience all through the night---

He sang not only his English hits but also some of his Spanish and Italian songs, used a vocoder for Lullaby to make his voice sound like a choir, played the piano and banged the drums like a pro, joked with the audience while singing Stephen Sondheim’s Not While I’m Around from the musical Sweeney Todd, donned a Pistons Uniform to the delight of Michiganders, materialized at the far end of the venue and walked his way on the center aisle towards the stage while singing and interacting with fans, showed his new- found calling by playing songs with African music influence (Nelson Mandela named him as AIDS Ambassador to Africa) and a thousand other ways to thrill his fans.

I got my money’s worth to say the least and converted two people in the process, with one eventually one- upped me by becoming a Certified Grobanite and paid the membership fee right after the concert. I guess she became so enamored with Mr. Groban’s operatic but silky voice and buoyed by his wit and good rapport with the audience his messy hair and “aw- shucks“ personality notwithstanding. Ha-ha.!


The much ballyhooed homecoming of Michigan’s favorite adopted son did not disappoint. The Concert was one of the best ones I’ve been into in a long time. There was never a dull moment and it was a night to remember forever and I will definitely watch him again if given another chance.


Here’s the Awake Tour Set List

You Are Loved
Mai
Un Dia Llegara
Un Giorno Per Noi
So She Dances
February Song
Remember When It Rained
Alla Luce Del Sole
Lucia’s Violin Solo (Kashmir*)
Now or Never
Pearls
L’Ultima Notte
Lullaby**
Weeping**
Not While I’m Around
You Raise Me Up
Machine
Smile
Drum Solo Encore
Awake Encore



* Lucia Micarelli is an awesome violinist; playing barefoot on stage and attacked the Led Zeppelin Classic Kashmir with impunity. She was a human dynamo on the strings and a kick-ass performer.


Here's MY video of the concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills--

ENJOY...

A Rose by any other name...

“Do you know where the “xxxx” you are? “, hollered Axl Rose when he finally appeared on stage amid the backdrop of smoke and lights as the opening notes of the GNR’s classic “Welcome to the Jungle” teared into the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan for the start of the November 25, 2006 show by one of the rock world’s most enigmatic and controversial showman.



Of course the crowd of more than 7,500, including this writer, although sparse by GNR’s standards, knew better--

“We’re in the jungle, alright!"

And here we are, still around and hanging out even if it was way past 11:30 in the evening (although quite early by Mr. Rose’s standard) despite the processions of unworthy “acts” hours earlier by some local bands culminating into the opening act by former Skidrow front man Sebastian Bach’s wild performance--



--that only made the crowd crying for some real hardcore, vintage rock and roll and Axl did what he always does best as he wowed us with songs from the Guns ’N Roses’ Appetite for Destruction and Use your Illusion years when he and Slash and company were on top of the world as they ruled the Rock Kingdom in the late 80’s to the early 90s plus some new tracks from the much anticipated epic album, Chinese Democracy which may or may never see the light of day because of several factors that may or maybe attributed to Axl‘s eccentricity, fickle- mindedness or overflowing musical creativity.



For more than two hours, he single- handedly put the audience transfixed and under his spell as he dominated them with his superb and airtight renditions of 19 of the best old and new Guns N’ Roses songs- Night Train, Outa Get Me, Sweet Child of Mine, Mr. Brownstone, It’s so Easy, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Live and Let Die, You Could Be Mine, IRS, Better, The Blues, etc, etc.

He showed his piano- playing prowess with a beautiful rendition of November Rain and hushed them with his whistling and singing in the acoustic Patience.

His signature moves were still there; arms- outstretched, feet shuffling across the stage, dashing at full speed and stopping suddenly while hitting those ear- splitting notes without dropping a beat, it was vintage Axl at his best minus the notorious “crab dance” though.


Axl Rose was once and still is a monster performer, from his powerful vocals to his hardnosed presence on the stage to his wardrobe peculiarities (he had red leather boots at one time) and off- stage antics down to his notoriously harsh and trashy vocabulary, and he is still arguably rock kingdom’s most exciting showman and performer

He was atop the two speakers in front of the stage when he ended the show with “Night Train” and said his “Thank you, goodnight” to the game and sweaty audience and went to the exits but not for long for he was back again for an encore with some songs from the much-awaited but much-delayed “Chinese Democracy” album, like the title track, Chinese Democracy, followed by the future classic Madagascar, and then ended the show with a bang with Paradise City, punctuated with the flying and swirling confetti overhead!

A GNR concert would not be complete without some drunken fans heckling him and Axl giving them back with his trademark venomous “F”- word laced tongue as well as some drunks whose idea of fun is getting into a fight with another drunk, but the security is always on top of the situation and very quick to the draw as they dragged them out of the venue in a flash.

In spite of these minor glitches and interruptions, the show could only be described in Axl Rose’s own words--

“I think it's been a good night, don't you think?" Axl Rose said to the audience at the end as he and the new GNR bandmates bowed and were applauded by a wild and grateful audience for a well -deserved evening performance at the Palace from one of Rock World’s royalty.

It was a good night indeed.

But the question still remains in the minds of the GNR fanatics: when’s the much anticipated “Chinese Democracy” album gonna be released?



Only Axl Rose knows...


[Video Clips:FieldingFowler- 2006]

Back-to-Back: Mark Farner and Lou Gramm

Where else can you find a music treat at a very nominal fee and watch two dynamic performers do their thing on stage in this day and age of high gas prices and atrocious high- tech gadgets?

Once again the annual Meijer-sponsored Taylor Summerfest did not disappoint when they brought Mark Farner of the seminal American rock band, Grand Funk Railroad, and Lou Gramm, the erstwhile lead singer of the rock band Foreigner, to the 2006 edition.

Two veteran rockers with contrasting singing and performing style wowed the audience who braved the afternoon sun and captivated them enough to watch and listen to their kind of music as they shared their vintage and classic hits to us, people who braved the heat for some afternoon delight and then some into the night--

The songs still ring like they did when I first heard them eons ago, that same sound that I am so familiar with, just like the sound from the old vinyl records that I had in my collections when I was growing up in the Philippines.

My cache of old records back home, from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple to UFO to Rainbow to Black Sabbath, just to name a few, where it used to dominate the Radiowealth turntable in my younger years, that was both a source of consternation and amusement by my Gran’ Ma on the kind of music her “favorite” Grandson was hooked into.

But my taste in music is not confined to one particular genre for I enjoy and appreciate any product of artistic expression, and it also depends on what kind of mood I am at in a particular moment.

Anyway, the songs are as timeless as ever as nostalgia and appreciation quietly swept into the well- diversified crowd of “leather- clad bikers,” “baby boomers,” “thirty- some things“, “curious teens” and “old hags” that brought them together for several hours of musical extravaganza; the old revelers reminiscin’ about the good old days when rock music was pure and not yet corrupted by crash commercialism that is the hallmarks of rock groups nowadays while the young ones were introduced into a world that is so alien to them, rock and roll at its best, the way they were played before, where the guitars and drums are raw and unadulterated.



Mark Farner is the prolific songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of the power trio that is the Grand Funk Railroad who in their heyday had amassed quite an amount of jewelry in the music business (12 platinum albums/ 15 gold albums) and became one of America’s biggest bands in the 1970s as exemplified by the fact that when they performed in the Big Apple in 1971, they broke the attendance record for a concert at New York City's Shea Stadium and eclipsed the record set by the Fab Four no less in 1966, a record that still stands to this very day.

Mark Farner is a rock and roll legend no doubt, flamboyant and energetic, he held the audience captive till the end of his set with his superb guitar playing and brought us back in time with classic renditions of “We’re an American Band,” "Heartbreaker," "Some Kind Of Wonderful," I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)," "Foot-Stompin' Music," "the Loco-motion", "Bad Time", "Mean Mistreater", and other hits from his days with GFR and also his solo career.

He is a class act when it comes to performing live.

Lou Gramm, on the other hand, who, together with Mick Jones, catapulted the rock group Foreigner to the top of the charts with his trademark powerful vocals but with a soft touch on the side.

Who can forget the rock ballad "Waiting For A Girl Like You", which spent ten weeks at 1981 at No. 2 in the American Singles Charts, and the vocally challenging "I Want to Know What Love Is", which was a worldwide number one hit in 1984 that cemented their stature as one of the biggest rock groups of the late 70’s to early 80’s?

But just like any musical group, Foreigner succumbed to that age- old curse of successful music groups when fame gobbled up their musical sense and the inevitable happened---

When Mr. Gramm and Mr. Jones clashed over musical ideas, the band’s direction and petty matters, they quietly disbanded and although they would reunite every now and then for a gig or two, the group and their music as well as their relationship with each other would never be the same again. Lou Gramm for his part, continued to do solo projects and tour with his band in the summer.

Lou Gramm who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1997 and subsequently went under the knife to remove it; complications of surgery affected his voice and weakened his stamina, which was quite evident in the concert. He struggled with the high notes and at times seemed to stammer on the lyrics, but the audience did not mind these small asterisks in his performance for his drive and spirit were in full throttle.

He sang with so much power and gusto that the people showed their appreciation by singing along with him all the way-- from the opening song, “Double Vision” to “Dirty” to “Long, Long Way Home” to “Cold as Ice.”

The classic “Waiting for a Girl like You” made the audience quiet for awhile and just listened to his soothing voice float in the evening breeze.

Then he brought them back to their feet with a succession of classic songs like “Ready or Not,” “Rev on the Red Line,” “Head Games,” “Midnight Blue,” “Dirty White Boy” and “Jukebox Hero.”

“Hot Blooded” was the last song in his repertoire and a fitting one to end the hot and balmy summer night where music fans were treated to an extraordinary evening of classic rock and roll from two extraordinary performers.





*07/2006

The Best of Times

July 9, 2005 at the Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan, USA, a crowd of more than 10, 000 people watched, screamed, sang and listened to the good old rock music of the still alive and rockin’ 70’s Super group named after the river in Hades, the Greek Underworld inhabited by the souls of the dead - STYX, as they rocked the 2005 Meijer Taylor Michigan Summer Fest!

The first cassette tape that I bought was the band’s Caught in the Act Live album back when I was in first year high school in 1983. So, when I saw the poster that STYX will be performing at the annual Meijer- sponsored Summer Fest literally for a song, I decided to grab the chance to watch them in person and did not regret it. The songs and sound remain the same albeit the singers and players were older and grayer.

STYX minus original front man Dennis de Young started the show with their traditional opening song, “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” by Lead Vocalist Tommy Shaw to the delight of the screaming audience. His voice hasn’t change much since he first burst into the scene eons ago for the band.

When the STYX Godfather James “JY” Young took the microphone and sang the opening lines of Snowblind--

“Mirror, mirror…“ the roars and screams went to a crescendo!

And with its unmistakable guitar riffs, he showed us why he is one of the best rock guitarists of all time.

Tommy Shaw then shared the story behind the haunting rock ballad “Crystal Ball“, the song that he composed in a bowling alley in Chicago while waiting for the call from STYX after he auditioned for them that would become the title of the first album on which he was featured as a new member of the group.

The new lead vocalist, Lawrence Gowan, although he can never equal the trademark voice of Kilroy, the erstwhile STYX Vocalist, he definitely can stand on his own merit and boy he can hit those notes not to mention the fact that he is a better piano player than his predecessor. He can play the piano with his hands behind his back putting to good use his degree in Classical Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto.

Todd Sucherman can bang the drums better than any other and he is certainly one of the best drummers around that can do justice to the playing of the band’s original drummer, the terribly missed and departed John Panozzo, while journeyman Ricky Philips formerly of Bad English (When I See You Smile fame) is a great addition to the band with his energetic Bass guitar playing prowess and he surely found a home with STYX even though original bassist and the band’s co -founder, Chuck Panozzo, who was stricken with HIV and Prostate Cancer would sometimes join them every now and then in some of their gigs and concert tours.

The band sang many of their rock classics made famous in their Paradise Theater years like Rockin’ the Paradise, Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man), Suite Madam Blue, Too Much Time on my Hands, Come Sail Away, Captain America and of course, Miss America!

They also performed an 18- song medley of their blasts from the past and several cuts from their latest album, Big Bang Theory, their cover versions of several classic rock songs like the Beatles‘ I am the Walrus, Jimi Hendrix’s Manic Depression, and Steve Marriot’s I Don’t Need No Doctor, just to name a few.

The band played with so much energy and gusto! The concert lasted more than two and a half hours of pure rock and roll and the fans could never ask for more. We all went home with good memories of STYX and their music.



*Posted in Lagalag- C2005