Tagged: scorpions
Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Steel Panther – let’s get ROCKED! :)
Just a few more days until the Steel Panther, Def Leppard and Motley Crue show in Manchester. Going with my friends “Catz” and “Sleazee” and a friend of theirs. Will be a fun trip with good friends. :)
I have to admit that for some reason, I haven’t cared to listen to Steel Panther much. A friend of mine is a huge fan, and he’s sent me links to some of their videos on Youtube but I never took time to really get into them. Guess I took them for another Spinal Tap sort of band but I guess they’re not..really.
So – it will be a nice surprise I’m sure. After all – with Russ Parrish, an ex-Fight member, in the band, it can’t be bad…!
Def Leppard – oh boy. An amazing live band. Probably one of the best live acts ever. First time I saw them was actually pretty late – it was back in 2006 when I flew to Las Vegas for just a few days to attend VH1 Rock Honors at Mandalay Bay. I was one of the chosen for a TV-audience, which means we were not a “regular” crowd per se, we got our tickets for free because we were being directed how to act, what to wear, where to be, by the TV-producers.
The “tryouts” took all day and I remember how surprised I was to learn how it all worked with these TV-galas. The “Black carpet”-thing wasn’t what you would think. It was filmed in the back yard of Mandalay Bay, we were placed where the TV-team wanted us to be and the bands “drove in” from around the corner in the same limo that just went for the next band over and over again. Actually it was a van and a limo and there was no real crowd, just us who were told when to scream and clap our hands, and when to shut up. That’s show business!
(Find the Def Leppard Rock Honors video here:)
Get More: Def Leppard, TV Shows, Full Episode Video, Reality TV Shows
Once we got in, I was actually told to stand somewhere that I didn’t think was close enough to the stage, so when the security guy looked elsewhere, I just sneaked in behind his back and blended with the front-row crowd! I hadn’t come all the way to Vegas to be standing somewhere way in the back like a moron.
[Joe Elliot, Def Leppard – VH 1 Rock Honors, Las Vegas 2006. And me – somewhere uh…Yeah.]
And when PRIEST played…. There was no happier fan anywhere in Vegas! It’s been caught on camera, I remember the camera-guy came running with this huge camera that he pointed straight in my face when I was going crazy over Priest…! :-) It’s out on Youtube somewhere, I’ll see if I can find it.
As for Motley Crue – that’s a band I’ve seen a bunch of times through the years. And some funny memories too. I remember the Dr Feelgood tour in 1989 – Copenhagen, Denmark. They were having a meet and greet-thing organized by the record company at the KB-Hall (which burned down recently…) and they put all of us journalists in one room with the free snacks and drinks.
I think most of the people there were there for the free food more than for the band, because when Nikki, Vince, Tommy and Mick walked in, one of the reporters had the nerve to ask for more peanuts….!
The one detail I remember the most was Mick Mars – cause he had makeup on, some sort of foundation and powder, and when he was that close, you could see how it was all stuck in his bristles…! :-) Not too classy.
The record company representative came over with Nikki and Vince and introduced them to me. “This is Daniela, she came over here from Malmo, Sweden…” and they both went: “Ooooh, wow, all the way from SWEDEN??” It’s like they had no clue it was only 45 minutes away by airboat (this was before the bridge was built).
The meet and greet was a pretty meaningless event actually. They shook hands with people who didn’t really give a shit about them, and then they left. They signed a few things for those who wanted something autographed, but that was about it.
The show that night rocked. But funny enough, the opening act, Skid Row, a new up-and-coming band in 1989, gave them a good run for the money!
It was fun – Motley Crue is always about party, having a good time, over-the-top stage effects…! In Washington, 1998 I think, they shared the bill with Scorpions and a lot of families had shown up to see the outdoor concert. What they didn’t realize was that Motley had some pretty….explicit parts of the show. Two strippers not only getting almost totally naked, but also doing a….ehm, show with eachother. Not sure how to describe it without getting too visual. ;) Use your imagination. I saw mothers dragging their kids out of there covering their eyes with their palms. :)
Many were pissed off, but what the hell, if you don’t know what Motley Crue is about by now, don’t take your KIDS to their gigs! Five-six year olds are not supposed to be at Motley-shows, period.
Vince is not the greatest singer and he never will be. But he’s a great entertainer, the perfect frontman. Nikki used to be hot. He’s not anymore. But it’s still a band that knows how to entertain. And with Def Leppard setting the bar high, there is some healthy competition going on which will most likely bring out the best in both bands!
Looking forward to getting ROCKED on Sunday!
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Graspop 2011 – reviews (Part 1)
Just a few reflections – in no particular order, just whatever comes to mind….
SCORPIONS……..
Headlined Friday night, and like any headliner with self-respect, they brought enough fire, smoke and fireworks to make us feel like it was New Year’s Eve. But unfortunately it couldn’t hide the fact that Claus Meine isn’t exactly the most charismatic frontman in the world. And nowadays, when his voice sounds like a tone-deaf karaoke-singer in a bar at 2 AM, there is not much to get impressed by. I kept wishing that my earplugs had had a Meine-filter or something, because when he sang “Dynamite” it was so embarrassing that I could barely stand it.
Luckily, the show was saved by the stringbenders Mathias Jabs and Rudolf Schenker who amaze me because they must have found the fountain of youth or something. They never grow old, they still look cool in tight leather pants, and they can work a big stage like it’s still 1983!Mathias’ smile has always been contageous, and being a stage performer is about projecting a feeling, not just being a perfect musician. There’s so much more to it and he knows what it takes.
Then of course, there’s the energetic and crazy drummer James Kottak who definitely doesn’t allow anyone to fall asleep.
I just think that if the Scorps are about to retire, they should do the predictable thing that always works. Predictable can be boring, yes, but sometimes, at festivals especially, you need to just do what’s expected of you – which is play a “Best of Scorpions”-set.
Give people the hits, the sing-alongs, and create a singing crowd with cigarette-lighters and all that shit. We (almost) didn’t get any of that until the encores when they did “Still Loving You”.
You can fire off as many fireworks and flamethrowers as you want, it won’t help if the vocals suck and the setlist is boring. Maybe I’m just jaded, but Scorpions didn’t charm me this time.
I’ve seen them before, and years ago when they played Sweden Rock Festival, they kicked so much ass that I was totally exhausted from just having WATCHED them! That I remember it to this day. It was great.
FIREWIND…………
It’s safe to say that there is not a weak link in this band. Bob Katsionis blows me away every time, that guy is unreal..! Gus G may be the star of the band, but him and Bob are without a doubt equals musically – and honestly, if these two guys were to compete and play for their lives, it’s hard to say who would win!
When Firewind were due on stage, it was raining and the keyboards were covered with a towel for protection. Bob played it, with the towel still on it, and didn’t miss one single note…! Call me easy to impress, but my jaw just dropped. Is he serious?! :-)Apollo has this Tony Martin-like voice that I really like, and although it’s a bit annoying when he adds or changes wovels to make some of the songs easier to sing (e.g a line from “Falling To Pieces” for instance: Let me lead you to-aaaah) he’s still a solid metal vocalist that brings his share to the table.
Bassplayer stand-in Marios (Nightrage) reminds me of Ian Hill of Judas Priest for some reason. :) He just has that same vibe somehow, doing his job and doing it well, but not claiming to compete with Gus and Bob for the crowd attention.
There’s not a lot more to be said about Gus G that I haven’t already said. I haven’t exactly made it a secret that I’m damn impressed by his abilities and I could probably watch another handful of shows with Ozzy or Firewind without getting bored for one second.
Usually what is being mentioned the most about Gus G, is his fast fingers – the ridiculous speed at which he can play. But the fact is that he is also a tasteful player, not just a shredder. In short, you always get what you came for. You get the faster-than-the-speed-of-light shreddng, but you also get simple, cool riffs that stick like glue and he is never boring on a stage either, as he’s all over the place. Just when you think you know where’s he’s heading, he’s already ran off in the opposite direction. :)I might not be the right person to review Firewind since I really love what they do to begin with, but when you get a soaked crowd to stay throughout the whole set, dispite the pouring rain – you know that you’ve definitely got a good band right there. Looking forward to seeing more in a few days.:-)
WHITESNAKE………..
Oh boy. You can’t really review Whitesnake, because it’s an institution more than it’s a BAND. There’s not a person on this planet who doesn’t know at least one Whitesnake-song (unless they lived in a cave for the past 25 years). That alone, secures a great show.
However… in this case I’ve got to be honest and establish one thing: The Belgian crowd was more into Channel Zero, who played on the same stage shortly before Whitesnake entered it, and it seemed that in a way the brutal macho-metal worked better than the melodic virtuosity from Whitesnake.
That has nothing to do with the band though. David Coverdale is the MASTER of a stage, he OWNS it, and moreso, he OWNS his crowd. There is not a frontman anywhere that can compete with David Coverdale in terms of charisma and total focus on what he’s doing.
He can project that emotion that I was talking about earlier, where he touches your soul by just showing his own emotions in every song and the way he performs it.
He is professional, yet one of the few who is still genuine and doesn’t come across as one of those “I’ve got to do this gig to pay the bills”-kind of people like so many of the older bands sometimes do.
There were some major differences in this show compared to the Sweden Rock-show. First of all, it’s difficult to create magic in broad daylight, secondly – the long guitar solos had been cut out of the set. Although I really love Doug Aldrich’s very cool, bluesy style, it’s Whitesnake that people want to see and hear, not necessarily a handful of solos.
I was glad that the DRUM-solo was still included though. I’m a sucker for drums, always have been. Brian Tichy is nothing short of amazing. I don’t think I even need to say anything, I’ll just share the evidence of my criminal deed, the video!
It was a good balance between new and older Whitesnake-material but I missed “Ain’t No Love In The Heart of The City“. It may not be Whitesnake’s own song, but they made it their own, and somehow it belongs in a WS-set just as much as “Here I Go Again“.
The Sweden Rock-show was pure magic, so it’s difficult not to compare and you really can’t.
David Coverdale rules, he always have, he always will – period. Doesn’t even matter if his voice can’t reach the stratosphere in some of the songs anymore. He was smart enough to write so many other songs that are not focused on the high-pitch singing. Stuff that shows off his more bluesy, deep, masculine voice that is so, SO sexy!
I’ve seen Whitesnake all over the world tons of times through the years, and they never bore me. Maybe once or twice they haven’t lived up to their standard, but when their standard is in a league of its own, I guess you’re entitled to suck once in a blue moon. :-)
MORE TO COME……
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 