Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society - Unblackened - The Sacramento Chapter Abides - Gig Review

Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society Unblackened Mass
Ace Of Spades
Sacramento, California
April 18, 2015

Zakk Wylde brought a special show to town last night with his Black Label Society, and their Unblackened Tour is a magnificent semi-acoustic resume for the ex-Osbourne guitar star. My mind is still reeling at the whole thing.

The Sacramento Chapter of the Black Label Society showed up en mass to Ace Of Spaces, and if anything, the club was oversold - though it mattered little to the County Sheriffs who were hanging out at the mouth of the club and the merch table all night. It's my opinion that they're paid to keep things in order, but they were more interested in checking out the music than giving anyone the business. And you couldn't blame them as the music was superb.

Mos Generator / Zed / Blackwülf - Rock Ain't Near Dead - RippleFest 2015 Gig Review - Oakland, CA

Mos Generator/Zed/Blackwülf
The Golden Bull Bar
Oakland, California
March 27, 2015

Have you ever gone back for seconds, and found it to be better than the first go around? Well, I know that it doesn't happen often, but I got lucky and that was just the case when I saw the mighty Mos Generator for the second time in a week at the label party of the year, RippleFest 2015 at the packed wall to wall Golden Bull Bar in downtown Oakland, California.

I had just seen Mos Generator play an abbreviated set in Sacramento two nights earlier, and even that brief set would have sated my rock 'n' roll hunger for a month, but to see them rip into a full throttle headlining set before a rapturous crowd set me completely right.

Michael Schenker/Temple Of Rock - Gig Review - The Boardwalk, Sacramento, CA

Photo by Anthony Crawford

Michael Schenker/Temple Of Rock

Gig Report (Plus Photo Gallery)
The Boardwalk
Sacramento, CA
April 1, 2015

I've augmented this gig report with a great many photographs courtesy of the wonderful members of the Facebook group "Michael Schenker".

Michael Schenker and his Temple Of Rock raised the ante for their Spirit On A Mission US Tour 2015 by bringing along to the states for the first time their recording and European touring partners from the classic era Scorpions, drummer Herman Rarebell and bassist Francis Buchholz, and it's paying off in spades. This show was the first of the tour, and while there were moments where it looked more like a dress rehearsal (understandably so, as the band had to cancel their first three shows and any prep when work visa issues slowed their entry into the US), but in fact, they had the crowd eating out of their hands from the moment they walked onstage until they strode of in victory two hours later.

Photo by Patrick John

As the band continues to morph into its own entity as Temple Of Rock, and less as the Michael Schenker Group, they are introducing more new material and depending less on the once mercurial guitarist's vast catalog of hard rock history with The Scorpions, UFO, and his own MSG imprint. Doogie White seems to be stepping up in his role as frontman more comfortably with each tour, and while it's still readily clear that he much prefers singing his own material to that of Schenker's past vocalists (and I don't blame him a bit for this, but many longtime fans do). He certainly put on a great show on this night.

Dio Disciples, The Quart Of Blood Technique - Gig Review - Rockbar Theater, San José CA

A nearly three hour drive into the bay area for a gig on a Friday night - that's the kind of assignment you give yourself when you're a full time rock 'n' roll junky. However, my success had been so great the week before at RippleFest 2015 that a drive to the bay seemed like a small price for the dope my soul requires, and I was right. Dio Disciples brought it like they always do, and it's a good thing that I'm scrupulously (some would say neurotically) early to any event, as it meant I got to see a scorching hot set of rock from The Quart Of Blood Technique, who got the night off to a raging start.

Some of you will remember Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) from the 1983 film, Trading Places, in which the comedian enthralled a jail cell audience with his mysterious kung fu "quart of blood technique", and I gotta think that it's the perfect name for this four piece. The Quart Of Blood Technique was formed in 2012, and they've released their first long player, The Greatest Kicks, and it's a solid sender from start to finish, but where this bunch really shines is on the stage.

The Legend of Uli Jon Roth and The Scorpions

"Just before he left the band, Michael Schenker asked me, in fact, to join The Scorpions. He told me what was going on with the UFO thing, which was supposed to be a secret. Then Rudolf Schenker rang me a couple weeks later, and said 'Did you know Michael has left the band,' and 'We've got this gig lined up, would you like to fill in?'" ~ Uli Roth

And so it was that Uli Jon (Ulrich) Roth joined The Scorpions, and in four short years the guitarist created a legacy that still dominates any discussion of what has been an incredibly varied, and productive career. In those years (1974-1978), Roth recorded five albums with The Scorpions, and arguably created a genre of rock guitar known as shred. This last comment may raise the hackles of fans of Blackmore, Page, Schenker, Beck, and Iommi, but Roth brought to the table some skills that none of these greats could quite claim.

Uli Roth took the Stratocaster and Marshall sound of Jimi Hendrix and injected it with a sense of precision, daring, and technique that had not previously been demonstrated. His speed was unparalleled, his knowledge and use of theory unique to the world of hard rock, and his whammy bar histrionics set the stage for Edward Van Halen.

Damo Fawsett of Slam Cartel - The Rock Guitar Daily Interview (Soundcloud Audio)

Guitarist Damo Fawsett joined Slam Cartel in 2014, and he came into a band that was becoming well established and had already built a significant fan base. The band is the brainchild of Terance Warville, and after several years he had decided to make some changes to the lineup, so he brought in Gary Moffat on lead vocals, who in turn recommended Fawsett for he lead guitar position.

Fawsett brings to the band a wealth of experience, having been gigging regularly across the UK and Europe for several decades in a wide variety of bands, sessions, and situations, including a stint with the reformed Sacrilege, and touring with Reagan Browne.  He's obviously got the nerve that goes with the job, as one of his first gigs was replacing the legendary Dave Kilminster, so stepping into a situation such as Slam Cartel, which is a bit different than what he's done before presents new challenges as he fits his style into an existing machine. The results seem to speak for themselves as the band's first single with the new lineup, the double A sides 'Vanishing Worlds'/'Hypnotized' which have received excellent reviews and airplay on both sides of the ocean. The band is currently on tour across the UK.

Van Halen - Tokyo Dome In Concert - The Band Is Named Van Halen, And This Show Rocks

Van Halen
Tokyo Dome In Concert
Rhino Entertainment
Out now

Perspective. That's when you look at something through the proper set of eyes. When you hear with the right set of ears. That's what I've tried to do with the new live Van Halen live album, and it's working for me. Tokyo Dome In Concert is something we've been waiting for for decades, and it does not disappoint.

The 800 pund gorilla in this is Diamond Dave's voice, so let's talk about it. DLR was never about the notes, the tone, or the enunciation - he's the clown prince of hard rock, and he runs this three ring circus like a champ. He gives a great running commentary, supplying the words, and he cheerleads the finest family act in heavy rock history. 'Panama' is a great example as he talks about the weather, his bassist being in Tokyo for the first time, and his delivery is no better or worse than it was in the '80s. We've become so reactionary about old lineups and what we think we remember that we've lost track of what's right in our ears and eyes.