The Amity Affliction
Unfortunately, I missed the first band on the bill Endless Heights. The damn trains were running late due to a steam engine going through the main line to Bristol, so middle fingers in the air to them for causing me to miss a talented opening act. Continue reading
Skillet
Words By: Gretchen Piening & Mark Bryson | Photography By: Travis Eisenhard
This years Rock Allegiance in Camden, New Jersey was one no one wanted to miss. One full day of hard rock and brotherhood among fans. Unlike some of the other weekend long festivals Rock Allegiance gives us the chance to go all out for one day and not worrying about conserving energy for tomorrow. This years headliners made the festival even more special with Papa Roach, and Limp Bizkit leading the way followed by well-known established acts like Motionless In White, Skillet, and Bullet For My Valentine. To make things even more special we also got some bands that aren’t often seen on Danny Wimmer produced festivals like Insane Clown Posse and Gwar, regardless if you like either band there is no denying they both bring something to the stage that no other band does. Of course we can’t forget those up and coming bands that play in the heat of the day. These are the bands that in a few years will be headlining stages across the country. Some of those bands we had been looking forward to were Blacktop Mojo, Sylar, Stone Broken, Bad Flower and the Kentucky Hardcore heroes Knocked Loose. Unfortunately due to some of the bands set times overlapping and also conducting interviews we weren’t able to see every band, but we tried to see as many as possible and if you missed a performance hopefully we can clue you in on what went down. Continue reading
Sylar
Metal fans packed The Fillmore in Charlotte, NC for an emotional night as Beartooth’s Disease tour stopped in the city. With the headliner bringing along Sylar and Knocked Loose on this tour the crowed was instore for some pretty awesome performances. Continue reading
Trivium
Wrapping up “The Sin and the Sentence” touring cycle that began in late October 2017 and saw them trek all through the US, Canada and Europe for more than 100 dates, the road warriors in Trivium are back for another leg of North American dates that will see them hit 25 more cities through November 3rd. Joining in on the fun for this leg are the supergroup-esque fellas in Light the Torch and the ever entertaining band out of Gothenburg, Sweden, Avatar.
Bad Wolves
So here we are again, another gig, another press pit and another great night in the city of Bristol in the UK. This is the first event I have covered at the Marble Factory in Bristol and this venue is awesome. It is set in a big warehouse and has an arena type vibe to the place. On arrival the 2 tour buses for Bad Wolves and Three Days Grace parked and fans queued all down the street behind the barriers. Continue reading
Glenn Hughes
Glenn Hughes aka “The Voice of Rock” and the band came out to an almighty roar at the o2 Academy Venue in Bristol, UK. Though Glenn has been in various bands like Trapeze, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Black Country Communion, California Breed, and various others this tour was specifically about Glenn Hughes performing classic Deep Purple.
The cheers sounded like a stadium, the upstairs balcony area was also packed. Glen stepped onto the stage rocking a jacket with Union Jacks on the sleeves and of course his Yamaha bass. Continue reading
Suicidal Tendencies
First Avenue welcomed the “Church Of Suicidal” congregation for a night of bombastic music and circle pits. Suicidal Tendencies has been moshing its way through the states in support of “STill Cyco Punk After All These Years” which dropped a few weeks ago. The long-standing New York hardcore outfit, Madball, provided support. Continue reading
Tesla
Minnesota’s own HERICANE ALICE opened up the final day. In 1990 they released “Tear The House Down” and we got some of the great cuts off that album. The band is fronted by Bruce Naumann and also features Johnny Holiday (guitar), Johnny (Super J) Keyte (Bass) and Jerry Babcock (drums). The band opened with a cover of “Radar Love” but the crowd really reacted to “Tear The House Down” and “Wild, Young, and Crazy”. There is new material on the way and I know a lot of people looking forward to that. They were a great way to get the day started.
Tuff
The Stevie Rachelle lead TUFF brought a great show to the stage next. Flanked by founding member Todd Chase on bass the band opened with “God Bless This Mess”. The roster was filled out with Jimi Lord on drums and Billy Morris on guitar. They were a lot of fun and Rachelle’s personality kept you dialed in. Some songs that made the playlist included “Spit Like This”, “Ruck A Pit Bridge” and “In Dogs We Trust”. Stevie gave a nice shout-out to Nicci Wikkid and dedicated “Good Guys Wear Black” to him. He was the guitarist for one of Minnesota’s most loved metal bands, Slave Raider, and sadly past away recently. “The All New Generation” and the anthem “American Hair Band” brought the TUFF gang’s time on the stage to an end.
Autograph
AUTOGRAPH launched into “Deep End” and then “Loud and Clear” to get people moving. Steve Lynch (guitar) and Randy Rand (bass) have been waving the Autograph flag since the beginning and have recruited drummer Marc Weiland and singer Simon Daniels to carry the band forward. They released a new album in 2017 called “Get Off Your Ass” and showcased the title track along with “Every Generation” and “You Are Us, We Are You” during the set. It’s hard to imagine an AUTOGRAPH without a Steve Plunkett on vocals but I’ve seen this line-up multiple times now and they have won me over. Daniels is a true talent and his vocals play well with the Autograph catalog. Your not leaving an AUTOGRAPH show until you get the built in closer, “Turn Up The Radio”, and it still consumes everybody within earshot of it.
Lynch Mob
George Lynch would make his second appearance of the Festival with LYNCH MOB. “Street Fighting Man” was the opener and then they jumped into “She’s Evil But She’s Mine” and “River Of Love”. Nathan Utz handled the vocals while Sean McNabb (bass) and Scot Cogan (drums) took on the rhythm section. A couple highlights for me were “Tangled In The Web” as loved that second LYNCH MOB record and the DOKKEN cover of “When Heaven Comes Down”. I not sure I’ve ever heard that song sound so heavy and epic, it was brilliant. Utz was very entertaining and was all over the stage and George put in another great performance to follow up the DOKKEN show the night before. The rest of the set included “Mr. Scary”, “It’s Not Love”, “No Good”, and the closer “Wicked Sensation”.
Queensryche
QUEENSRYCHE struck gold when they were able to replace Geoff Tate with Todd LaTorre. He is a true talent with a voice that perfectly fits within the bands sound. Every time I see them I’m still amazed how seamless that transition was. Michael Wilton on guitar and Eddie Jackson on bass are the only original members playing with the band now. Scott Rockenfield is still listed in the band but hasn’t played with them in some time as Casey Grillo has been filling in behind the kit. Guitarist Parker Lundgren was absent and Mike Stone took over those duties for the evening. The band opened with “Best I Can” with a rousing response from the crowd. I like hearing the stuff from the pre-mindcrime era and we got a few, “The Whisper”, “Queen Of The Reich”, “Take Hold Of The Flame” and “Screaming In Digital”. The staples of every set were also present in the forms of “Silent Lucidity”, “Empire”, and “Jet City Woman”. These guys never sound bad and they played a great set that was capped off with “Eyes Of A Stranger”.
Tesla
TESLA would close out the three-day festival. These guys seem to never come off the road and remain one of the busiest rock bands out there. With a ton of great material to choose from, the band opened with “I Wanna Live” and then “Hang Tough” and “Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)“. There isn’t much left to say that hasn’t already been said but TESLA is simply a great rock-n-roll band. Jeff Keith on vocals, Brian Wheat on bass, Troy Luccketta on drums, and the twin guitar attack of Frank Hannon and Dave Rude powers the TESLA machine. The crowd loved every minute of the set that also included an acoustic section that included “Cumin’Atcha Live/Truckin’”, “Lazy Days, Crazy Nights”, “Paradise” and the ultimate sing-along song “Signs”. All the usual hits like “Love Song”, “What You Give” and “Little Suzi” were played but it was “Mama’s Fool” and “Edison’s Medicine (Man Out Of Time)” that got my attention. A perfect ending to the event was TESLA filling the nighttime air with “Modern Day Cowboy” and I’m sure I’m not alone in that thought.
Grand RockTember VI comes to an end after three days of some of the most iconic material written from a time period that so many hold near and dear to their hearts. The guessing game is already in progress to who will be on the bill in 2019 as hotels are already being booked for next years pilgrimage to the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN. Let the countdown begin…
David Byrne
Danny Wimmer Presents the second annual Bourbon and Beyond festival which made its way into Champions Park in Louisville, Kentucky. The grounds were setup with all kinds of different food vendors and they smelled great as soon as you walked through the gates. Every kind of bourbon you could desire was on hand. The VIP tent really made you feel at home with a huge bar, big screen TV’s with a live feed from the main stages, and plenty of tables and couches.
I didn’t know what to think of the weather. Just about everyone I saw had a poncho or rain suit and for good reason. On this cool, rainy, gloomy day in September, a day of live music, great food, and bourbon was upon us. The Bluegrass Situation Stage and the Mash Stage were home to the smaller side stages and the Barrell Stage and the Oak Stage were setup for the headlining acts. The first day had some heavy hitters with John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, and Lenny Kravitz. The Louisville crowd was setup for a great time. Continue reading
Chris Hawkey
Chris Hawkey would welcome the crowd to day two of RockTember. Hawkey is from Minnesota and does a wide of range of music that covers country to hard rock and metal. He mixed in original material with covers of “Wasted Years” (Iron Maiden), “Man In The Box” (Alice In Chains), and “Fat Bottomed Girls” (Queen). His band sounded fantastic and he has a great stage presence. He was able to win over a skeptical crowd that had worried he wasn’t rock enough to play this festival. Chris Hawkey was an entertaining and fun opening act that set the table for things to come. Continue reading
