|
Pryor, Oklahoma
July 10-13, 2008
By Dan Wall
Well, that was an experience!
My first trip to Oklahoma and this year’s Rocklahoma festival
turned out to be a non-stop barrage of music, changing weather
and crazy moments. The four days flew right by, just like
someone’s camper on Saturday night.
Oh, you haven’t heard about the near tornado that hit Pryor
(a.k.a. Hell on Earth) on Saturday? Or the 110 degree
temperatures that roasted the place earlier that day? Or the
mud, the washed-out roads, mini lakes, collapsed stages,
reworked sets, flooded campsites and utter chaos that took over
after the weather turned ugly on July 12?
Keep on reading, you will.
You could almost write a review of everything but the music, but
that would not be a very good review. Because about the only
thing that really works well here is the music. If you’re coming
to see the bands (like I do), the rest of this can be chalked up
to just another crazy time at another crazy rock festival. But
if you come for the ambience, the laid-back campsites, the ease
of VIP seating and eating, and all of the others things that
make RockFest and the Moondance Jam so much fun, you might want
to check out another event.
As one of the locals said on Saturday after the storm, “it makes
you wonder why anyway would hold a festival smack dab in the
middle of Tornado Alley during tornado season.” I couldn’t have
said it better myself.
Below is a recap of each day and a few thoughts mixed in to give
you an idea of just how nuts this whole thing was.
Thursday
The day starts out innocently enough, as sun and warm
temperatures greet us on the drive from our hotel (roughly 40
miles from Pryor-I don’t do camping) to the site. My traveling
companions for the weekend include my good friends the Commish
and his wife Tammy, along with Cindy and Shane. The forecast is
for a 40% chance of rain, and you know that in this part of the
country, there’s always a 40% chance of rain (how do people live
here, I keep asking myself). Anyway, the site is fairly
accessible, parking is easy, the passes are there and before
long, we are inside and ready for Jetboy to kick things off.
A quick visit to the press tent gives us an idea of how things
are going to go for the media this weekend, and it’s not going
to be good. Before the first interview is held, one of those
nice, little Oklahoma thunderstorms rains down on the site,
re-flooding everything that flooded the day before, and forcing
the first move of the press facilities to another location (the
press tent flooded, that’s how hard it rained).
With everyone focused on the main stage, we take out seats and
watch Jetboy in a steady downpour. You know a band is good when
a small crowd becomes larger while everyone is getting soaked.
Vocalist Mickey Finn (whose Mohawk got a bit tussled by the
weather), along with guitarists Billy Howe and Fernie Rod remain
from the original line-up, and with simple, head-banging songs
like “Make Some Noise,” “Stomp It” and “Feel the Shake,”
Jetboy’s Aerosmith-meets-GNR Hollywood glam sound helps the band
go down as one of the early contenders as band of the day.
House of Lords followed with a 45-minute set that wasn’t bad,
but not many in the crowd know any of the material outside of
the songs from the band’s first record. Comments about lead
vocalist’s James Christian’s considerable girth “outweigh” those
of the music, but since I usually eat when called to the table,
I hardly notice. “I Wanna Be Loved” is the best song of the set,
and it’s pretty easy to see why this band’s regal sound goes
down so well in Europe. The first set that allows me fantasize
about the Sweden Rock Festival.
Vain had a buzz but it quickly dissipated, much like the morning
storm. Vocalist/leader/namesake Davey Vain is a bit of a strange
fellow to begin with, and for some reason, this band never made
it big despite putting out the great No Respect record back in
1989. Songs from that album, especially “Bite the Bullet”
sounded good, but there too many tunes not recognized for Vain
to leave much of a mark on the growing crowd.
Enuff Znuff is a much better band with Donnie Vie back fronting
the group, and I heard many comments about how this performance
was much better than last year’s Vie-less trio show. The band’s
quirky metal pop always sounds good to these ears, but the boys
make a major mistake when they ditch the group’s biggest hit,
“New Thing,” for an overly-long jam session with GNR’s Steven
Adler (who along with Bang Tango’s Joe Leste, help out on “Come
Together” and “Knockin' On Heaven’s Door”). The jam was cool,
but not at the expense of your biggest hit.
The biggest surprise of the day takes place next, when the
Tracii Guns-led version of L.A. Guns takes the stage. Last year,
the word was that original vocalist Paul Black (not Phil Lewis,
who has his own version of L.A. Guns running around the country)
ruined an otherwise solid set by the band at this same venue.
Guns rectified this by dumping Black in favor of Marty Casey,
who you might remember from Rock Star: INXS. Thought by many to
be a poser in a rocker’s clothes, Casey capably handled all of
the big Guns songs (the group tore up “Rip and Tear”), and sang
his own hit “Trees.” The band also ripped up the Brides of
Destruction’s “Shut the Fuck Up,” a kiss-off to critics who had
written this version of the band off.
Dokken is one of my favorite bands of this era, and I looked
forward to seeing the band’s performance here. The Commish
points out that the group was spectacular last year, and I am
hoping for much the same this time around. Far from being bad,
it becomes evident early on that Don Dokken’s voice is not in
top form and that this night will not match last year’s
appearance here. Dokken simply can’t hit those high notes
anymore (when he tries, it sounds like someone hit him in the
balls), so he sings everything a couple of registers lower and
even reworks the backing vocals. Aside from the vocals,
everything else sounds good, especially guitarist Jon Levin, who
simply smokes all of George Lynch’s guitar parts.
Sebastian Bach is up next, and early on in his 70-minute set it
appears he is trying to set some sort of decibel level
record-for singing! Bach doesn’t sing anymore, he screams, and
his repeated “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs” can be
grating at times. Also grating on most of the gathered and now
deaf crowd is the set list, which features way too much of his
Angel Down solo record, and not enough Skid Row stuff. “18 and
Life” and “Youth Gone Wild” solve most of his problems, however,
and his band is rock solid.
Bret Michaels closes, and it begs the question-why is the
supposed biggest 80’s rock festival in the world featuring the
singer of Poison, but not the entire Poison, a band known in
these circles as the biggest hairball of them all? Is it because
the band was featured here last year-well, if that’s the case,
why are Dokken and L.A. Guns and Enuff Znuff and Steelheart and
Queensryche all back? There is absolutely no reason for a solo
Michaels show outside of a nightclub, because he basically plays
a bunch of Poison stuff at a decidedly lower level than his
other band does, and plays covers and solo songs no one cares
about. Since I’m seeing Poison next week at another festival, I
decide to visit with my buddies Armored Saint mid-set, who have
now arrived for its Friday show.
The best band on the side stages on Thursday was Messano, which
featured the one-time guitarist for Joe Lynn Turner, Starz and
Frankie and the Knockouts. Bobby Messano played songs that he
wrote and performed with those bands, including a killer version
of “Tell Me Why,” which is on his recently re-issued first solo
record.
Thursday’s best band: L.A. Guns
Runner-Up: Jetboy
Friday
Man, is it hot. My nose burns so bad that someone calls me
Rudolph the red-nosed rock critic. Amazingly, it’s still muddy
in just about every spot that the masses need to walk, making
negotiating the festival site a constant search for dryer
ground. And get this-the press has to walk all the way around
the site (probably 200 yards) to get to a tent which is 20 feet
from a gate on the stage’s north side. Amazing how the media is
treated at rock shows.
XYZ is a band that makes going to these types of festivals fun.
I might have seen them once back in the day, and I might not
ever see the group again. But for 45 minutes on a blazing hot
Friday afternoon, the band does its best to kick things off on
the main stage with a seven-song set that includes a beautifully
melodic “What Keeps Me Lovin’ You” and a rousing “Inside Out” to
close the set. The group probably sounded too much like Dokken
(blame Don Dokken’s production of the band’s first album for
that) for its own good back in 1989; amazingly, XYZ probably
sounded better than its mentor on this day.
Armored Saint’s up next, and it’s going to be hard for me to say
anything bad about these guys. Friends of mine for over 20 years
now, I have seen them in every type of setting, from small club
to theater to auditorium, but I’ve never seen John Bush and the
boys in front of this many people. Some questioned the group’s
inclusion here due to its heaviness, but I don’t think anyone
questioned it after the band’s 60 minutes onstage had ended. The
crowd grew larger, the heads banged harder, and the band fed off
the energy in putting on one of its best live performances ever.
Opening with the classic “March of the Saint” and including
virtually every great hard rock song the band has ever written,
the Saint showed everyone why people call this one of the most
underrated heavy metal bands of all time. And why Bush, who
fronted Anthrax for 13 years, is one of its greatest vocalists.
Bassist Joey Vera and drummer Gonzo held down the bottom, while
guitarists Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan blazed like few others
could on this weekend. “Can You Deliver” shut the set down, and
the Saint definitely did deliver.
Kingdome Come has never been one of my favorites, but I have to
admit the group surprised me a bit here. I probably was one of
those who wrote the band off as Led Zeppelin clones, and come to
think of it, Lenny Wolf and friends still sound a lot like the
mighty Zep. But this set rocked harder and featured some superb
guitar playing, specifically on biggies “Get it On” and “Do You
Like It.”
Living Colour was out of place here, and I don’t mean because
they are black. The band is a hard rock band, but for some
reason, the quartet’s set never sparked on this day. The group’s
songs from its first album sounded good enough, especially “Cult
of Personality,” but anything else was met with quizzically
stares and a tepid reaction, which can pretty much sum up the
band’s career. Being one of the most musically talented groups
here doesn’t mean everyone is going to get the music, because
simple and straight-forward seems to be winning this crowd, now
all looking like lobsters, over.
Night Ranger was up next, and in keeping with it’s now nearly 25
years playing major festivals and stages around the world, put
on a show that oozed with class. 11 songs, just about every one
of them a major hit, played with precision and punch, by one of
the best live bands from the hair band era. Bassist Jack Blades
and drummer Kelly Keagy still do all the singing, alternating
album cuts and big hits, while guitarists Brad Gills and new guy
Joel Hoekstra played tandem leads like few can. Keyboardist
Christian Cullen shaded the heavy songs and provided piano for
biggies “Sentimental Street” and “Sister Christian.” Another
band that was getting quizzical looks when this bill was first
put together, but ultimately proved it belonged all the time.
Now, after hearing about all the bands that didn’t fit into this
weekend’s line-up, we actually get one that didn’t. Extreme was
terrible, easily the worst band that performed here the entire
weekend. There was hardly any buzz on this band to begin with,
and after seeing Night Ranger, most would have easily moved that
band into this special guest slot. I like this group’s first two
albums, but I haven’t liked much since, especially it’s horrible
fourth record. Things started off well enough, with “Decadence
Dance,” “Kid Ego” and “It’s a Monster” all going off okay; then
came the droning, unknown fourth song, and the wheel’s started
coming off. Quite simply, if it wasn’t for Nuno Bettencourt,
these guys would have been booed off the stage. Extreme did not
play “Get the Funk Out,” “Rest in Piece” or even it’s new hit
“Star,” adding to the crowd’s misery. When the group tried to
rectify things, all we got was Gary Cherone butchering
“Communication Breakdown.” Not even “More Than Words” or “Hole
Hearted” could save this train wreck.
Triumph closed the Friday show, playing just its second show in
19 years and first in America since 1989 with the original trio
of guitarist Rik Emmett, bassist Mike Levine and drummer Gil
Moore. The band’s inclusion on this bill was the main reason I
got to see my boss, CCR editor Jeb Wright, at this year’s
festival, and it’s always good to visit with Jeb. His review of
the show differs only slightly than mine; I thoroughly enjoyed
the set, and have always been a big fan of the band. But 19
years away can do a lot to an act’s stage show, and I think
there was some rust on the boys at points in the set. Notes that
were easily hit by vocalists Emmett and Moore weren’t always hit
like they were in the heyday, and I heard more than a few
instrumental mistakes. But I will chalk that up to having just
two shows under its belt, and will predict that the band’s
anticipated tour in 2009 will probably beat the shit out of this
performance, once the band finds its sea legs. (And another
thing-get a little more adventurous with the set list-“Say
Goodbye,” “American Girls” and especially “Follow Your heart”
are all dearly missed.)
One of Tammy’s (the Commish’s wife) favorite bands is Dirty
Penny, and after seeing these guys play three times on the
weekend, I can understand why she loves them so much. These guys
want to be rock stars so much that they played in a tent nearly
300 yards away from the main stage, lost deep in the campsites,
on Friday night at 2 a.m., in front of a bunch of drunken idiots
(Tammy not included). Sounding more like Motley Crue than the
Crue does these days, Dirty Penny is fast becoming one of the
this resurgent genre’s favorite sons. Metal Church vocalist
Ronnie Munroe also played a side stage set with his solo band,
and closed with “Gods of Wrath.” The Gypsy Pistoleros also
performed, but I find it extremely difficult to listen to a band
that doesn’t sing in English. I don’t know how all of those
foreign rock fans do it, listening to all of our heroes singing
in a foreign tongue.
Friday’s best band: Armored Saint
Runner-Up: Night Ranger
Saturday
Its 10:15 in the morning, just hours after we left this site
following Dirty Penny’s late set, and we’re already
back-listening to Big Cock. I got five hours of sleep, my nose
is barbequed, and I’m too stupid to listen when someone says a
big storm is coming. I’ve heard it all before, so I rock out
with my-well, you gotta do something when Big Cock is playing.
Of all the sleaze rock played on this weekend, Big Cock is
probably the sleaziest of them all. I mean, the name alone
probably costs these guys a number of gigs every year, so they
concentrate on albums, and all three of the band’s records are
sleazy, guitar-based melodic slabs of rock-think AC/DC meets
Aerosmith-filled with titles like “Get a Load of Me,” “Bad
Motherfucker” and “Breaking My Balls.” Onstage, these guys rock
just as hard as on record, but until this country gets over a
name like Big Cock, this band will remain a curiosity, and
probably deserves more attention than its getting.
The main stage kicks off at 11 .m. with Pretty Boy Floyd, and
despite not being seen much in America these days, play a great
45-minute set of their best known songs. Every Mother’s
Nightmare, hair metal’s answer to Lynyrd Skynrd, and Tora Tora,
another Tennessee band who basically got together to play at
this festival, play short, above-average sets that are
entertaining, but its doubtful there worth dying for.
Unfortunately, a lady in the crowd does expire due to heat
exhaustion and complications due to diabetes (which always
worries me, because I’m a diabetic). My prayers go out to her
family, but it goes to show you just how careful you have to be
at one of these things, especially when the temperature reaches
hellish numbers.
Black N Blue, the next main stage band, has problems during its
60 minute set due to heat exhaustion as well. Bassist Patrick
Young is forced to sit down behind the band’s amp line and take
oxygen because of the heat. It doesn’t stop the band from
barreling straight through 11 classics, however. Vocalist Jamie
sounded and looked great and helped show why BNB is another one
of those bands that should have been much bigger that it was.
“Hold On To 18” should have been a massive hit, but for some
reason, these guys will never be as famous as their ex-guitarist
Tommy Thayer, currently the guitarist in KISS, is.
Little did Trixter know that the band’s first show in over 10
years would turn out to be so strange. It started out innocently
enough, as the band worked through some early sound problems and
hit its stride with some of the quartet’s mid-level hits. But
just as the group started to play its biggest hit, “Give It to
Me Good,” the skies opened up and it started to rain. It’s
almost as if God was watching all of this debauchery and heard
Trixter’s call-give it to us good. Well, did he and Mother
Nature ever do it. Before long, rain had turned to a down pour
and then into an absolute waterfall. Large objects such as
garbage cans were picked up and blown across the seating area
like sheets of paper, as the winds picked up (and would
eventually hit 65 mph). Skies that were once sunny turned as
black as night, and before the band could even finish the song,
the stage was shut down and closed to avoid the inevitable
damage that storms like this can bring. Little did we know (I
was trapped onstage with all the road crews and stage personnel,
as well as other media members) how bad things would be once we
were let out two hours later. (During the break, the merits of a
RocklaSanDiego were discussed).
The stage is the most secure structure on the site, so all of us
felt pretty good in there. Once we were let out as the storm
weakened, I headed over to VIP for dinner. Once I hooked up with
my friends and new buddy Russ Frick (”what a frickin’ storm”),
everyone wanted to know where I had been and if I knew what
happened. Stories started to spread about the side stages, which
had collapsed, and rumors of injuries and perhaps fatalities
(thank God, no one died in the storm, and injuries were
minimal). Those who hid out in VIP told how the tent nearly
collapsed, how it flooded, how the power nearly went out, and of
the panic that ensued during the storm’s strongest push. All of
us agreed that we were pretty lucky to not have been harmed, and
wondered if we could say that about everyone else (eventually,
we could, aside from some minor injuries).
A great line: for those of you who attend these festivals on a
regular basis, you all know Album Man (that’s his real name), a
guy who has virtually every record known to man. He brings them
to the show, and inevitably shocks most of the acts by
displaying his collections during the sets. His wife goes along
as well, and during the storm, she returned from the bar with a
number of beers and this line: “if I’m going out, I’m going out
with a buzz.”
Another storm hit after dinner, and this time we retreated to
our rental van to wait it out. Rumors started to swirl that the
rest of Saturday might get cancelled, but about 8 p.m., Lynch
Mob takes the stage. I don’t know if Lynch Mob is exactly the
best band to play after a big storm, but the reconstructed band,
featuring George Lynch on guitar, original singer Oni Logan on
vocals, along with bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Fred Coury
(Cinderella), did the best they could as the crowd started to
fill back into the venue, after assessing the damage to
neighboring roads, camp sites and recreational vehicles.
I had hoped (and predicted) that Kix would be the surprise band
on this bill, but was I wrong (in a good way). Kix was so good
that the band rose about 100 spots on my all-time greatest band
list. The quintet roared onstage just as another storm hit, and
it was raining so hard while the band played “Girl Money” that I
swore I saw an ark float by (with two armadillos among the
creatures gathered). Areas of my body that have never felt water
were wet as the group ripped up “Midnight Dynamite.” An ocean
liner could have parked in the lake that formed during “Cold
Shower” (which we were all getting). Funny, it just didn’t
matter to Steve Whiteman, Jimmy Chalfant, Ronnie Younkins, Brian
Forsythe and Mark Schenker. The group and the crowd decided that
it wasn’t going to get any drier, that there was really no other
place to go, and that everyone had came to rock, so that’s what
happened. 60 glorious minutes or glam rock, with “Cold Blood,”
“Don’t Close Your Eyes,” and “Blow My Fuse,” along with all the
others, definitely elevating this performance to one of the
band’s best ever shows. A career defining moment.
It would have taken Lita Ford’s best ever-show to top Kix, and
that was just not possible on this night. Lita was far from bad,
but I have seen her better (I used to do lights for her back in
1983). Much like Triumph, she has just re-emerged on the scene,
with just a handful of shows under her belt, a new band and 13
years of rust to knock off. She looked great, sung well and
played most of her biggies (“Gotta Let Go” and “Falling in and
Out of Love” were particularly powerful, but where was “Shot of
Poison.”) She left a lot of the guitar work to Tom Cavanagh,
concentrating on fronting the band, and I think the show
suffered for it a bit-Lita is a great guitarist. After she makes
a new record and gets some more touring completed, I think
she’ll be able to top this show.
Warrant could easily top its show-by firing Jani Lane again.
What an idiot this guy has turned out to be. Far from the
debacle that Lane perpetrated on a crowd in Las Vegas back on
July 5, it still wasn’t even close to a polished
performance-from Lane that is. The rest of Warrant are a far
better band than most people give them credit for, and I feel
sorry for them. Lane might not have been as high, or as drunk,
or as whatever as he was in Vegas, but he was on something
(maybe cold medicine-he kept talking about how sick he was). He
rambled on about a number of topics no one cared about between
songs, and it looked like the rest of the band wanted to dip him
in one of the new lakes that formed. He did forget some lyrics,
in an obvious tribute to David Lee Roth, and gave the rest of
the group every reason to invite Jamie St. James (you remember
him-fronting Black N Blue earlier in the day) back into the
band. The best I ever saw Warrant was with St. James singing,
not Jani Lame.
Aside from big Cock, not much happened on the side stages
today-and unfortunately the tornado (or whatever it was) caused
the closure of both stages for the remainder of the festival.
Saturday’s best band: KIX
Runner-Up: KIX’s road crew (actually Black N Blue)
Sunday
Back for the last day, everyone is in a much happier place as
Axe starts up at 1 p.m. Drier, safer, in new clothes, with
friends in tow-smiles were the order of the day. And what a
beautiful day it was-warm but not searing temperatures, and a
lot of interesting music.
Axe was another one of those under-the-radar bands back in the
80’s, and you have to wonder if the band has much of a future
without any of its original members. Bobby Barth is with
Blackfoot, leaving Bob Harris to front a band that is pretty
much a tribute to Axe, but one that gets to use the official
name. Far from horrible, the band actually sounds powerful, but
plays only two songs from the band’s biggest records. Okay in
this slot, the group should have probably been on one of the
side stages-if they were still standing.
Zebra is one of the bands you either like or you don’t, and I’m
pretty much in the later category. Randy Jackson (not that one,
or the one on American idol either) could hardly hit the high
notes this band’s music requires back in the heyday, and now
he’s just irritating. Musically a force, these guys would be
much better if they could find someone who can really sing.
UFO is one of my favorite bands, but the group is growing old
and tired, and so is its stage show. (A buddy of mine, John
Costello, and I were talking the other day, and he commented
that the band’s last two records sounded old and tired, so I’m
giving him the plug for coming up with old and tired). This band
used to kick the shit out of anyone in its way, but I don’t
think the boys can do it anymore. Vocalist Phil Mogg still acts
like he’s been drinking since 1973, even though his voice has
weathered the storm of this band’s career rather well. The rest
of the guys-guitarist Vinnie Moore, keyboardist/guitarist Paul
Raymond, drummer Andy Parker and whoever plays bass for Pete Way
since he has visa problems and can’t get into the U.S., are all
capable, but the band plays too much new stuff, while the old
hits just kinda sit there. Good songs all, but we’ve seen and
heard them played much better with that German guitarist
(Michael Schenker) ripping them up. And they forget to play
“Doctor Doctor”-oh my.
Steelheart has a big buzz surrounding it, since the group was
the surprise band from the 2007 show and was asked (pretty much
demanded) back to play here in 08. These guys are good, but not
as good as everyone has made them out to be. Vocalist Mike
Matijevic is known for his soaring voice, but boy, does he know
how good he is. Cocky to a fault, his ego often gets in the way
of putting on a good show. It took the band nearly five minutes
to start opener “Stand Up and Shout,” as the group repeated the
opening beat pattern (you might remember that Matijevic provided
the vocals for Mark Wahlberg’s character in Rock Star) as the
vocalist rode onstage on a motorcycle (hasn’t Judas Priest done
this already). He also has an irritating habit of pulling his
mike away from his mouth when hitting the highest notes, and
since the sound mix wasn’t as great as it could have been, the
vocals were sometimes lost-and that’s the band’s strength.
Things took a turn for the better once “I’ll Never Let You Go”
and “Blood Pollution” were played, but then the band was told to
take its leave after just 55 minutes onstage. An encore, which
might have took five minutes, was not allowed, and once again
showed the ignorance of those running this show to give the
crowd what it wants.
For some reason, many were writing off Ace Frehley before he
came on-what a big mistake that was. 18 months sober and playing
with a group of young, hungry lions who grew up idolizing KISS,
Frehley got everything back on track with a 60-minute set that
featured the best of his solo stuff and a number of KISS
chestnuts. It was loud, sleazy and the epitome of rock and roll,
as Frehley rocked such staples as “Rip It Out,” “Parasite,”
“Rock Soldiers,” “Shout it out Loud,” “New York Groove,” “Shock
Me,” “Rocket Ride,” “Love Gun,” “Deuce” and “Cold Gin.” It was
great to see a healthy, sober Frehley playing guitar like he did
during his old band’s heyday-too bad he can’t get along with
Gene Simmons anymore.
What can you say about Tesla that hasn’t already been said and
written 1000 times? This is one of the great bands of the 80’s
and a group that never, ever disappoints live. I’ve seen the
group over 20 times, and the only time I ever even complained
about a live show was the night I saw them play without a second
guitarist (they only did this a handful of times) 15 years ago,
and we all know that this band’s sound demands two guitarists.
We got that sound here, with Frank Hannon and Dave Rude
replicating all of the great riffs and solos from the band’s
catalog. Vocalist Jeff Keith was in fine voice, the rhythm
section of Brian Wheat and Troy Luccketta were rock solid, and
Tesla was the first band that truly brought this diverse
collection of bands, musicians and fans together as one. All of
the biggies were present, and after the band shut things off
with “Modern Day Cowboy,” you had to wonder if Queensryche had
what it would take to top this show.
Amazingly, the Seattle-based progressive rock band was up to the
task. Performing the entire Operation Mindcrime in its entirety,
the band sounded tremendous in the festival’s closing slot. Not
exactly everyone’s cup of tea, the band still was able to hold
the attention of this exhausted gathering with a 100-minute set
that also included “Walk in the Shadows,” “Take Hold of the
Flame,” “Jet City Woman,” “Empire” and “Silent Lucidity” as
encores. Geoff Tate sounded great as the band roared away behind
him, and despite some cheesy acting and ensemble play that was
used to explain the concept album’s plotline, the band turned in
a great performance as the weather-beaten, exhausted, inebriated
and deaf crowd made its way home for another year.
Hold that thought-there was still another round of side stage
bands, now relocated to the beer tents to contend with, and for
some reason, one of the organizers thought it would be a good
idea to put Ron Keel, the Bulletboys and Dirty Penny all on at
the same time. I chose Keel, since I’d seen Dirty Penny and
don’t really care too much about the Bulletboys, and the veteran
singer did not disappoint. Mr. Keel hung around all four days,
signing autographs (he was in a merch tent that was damaged when
one of the small stages collapsed) and generally holding court
with anyone who would approach him. His set included all of his
best numbers, including covers of “Because the Night” and “Rock
and Roll Outlaw,” along with “Tears of Fire” and “The Right to
Rock” from the band that carries his name. I saw the Bulletboys
do “Smooth Up in Ya” and Dirty Penny cover “Live Wire” before my
ears, feet and head gave out. It was 2 a.m. on Monday morning
and it was time to call it a weekend.
Sunday’s best band: Ace Frehley
Runner-Up: Tesla, Queensryche
After living through Rocklahoma 2008, I don’t know if I’ll be
back or not. It really depends on the bill. The organizers
promised a much stronger bill and bigger headliners than they
delivered this year, and I’m not the only one who is sitting on
the fence, seeing what they pull off in 2009. These guys really
need bands like Whitesnake, Def Leppard, the Scorpions and
perhaps a KISS or Crue to make this hellish venue worth the
trouble. Anyway, we’ll be at a festival somewhere next year
(maybe here, maybe elsewhere), and we’ll bring you all of the
details right here at CCR.
|
