| |
Untitled Document
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
| Rock the Bayou - The Concerts |
By: Thais Grossi
09/11/2008 |
| |
My Rock the Bayou Saga started on Saturday, the 30th of August, and I watched Bullet Boys, Enuff Z’nuff, Great White, Dokken, Lita Ford and Sammy Hagar. Here you are with a bit of what had called my attention. |
|
| |
 |
|
DOKKEN |
| |
|
|
It was the first time I saw them alive and from the original line up, Don Dokken is the only survivor. Ok, I was born a little late for the hard rock party... The band got on stage full of energy playing classics and some songs from their latest album. The sound quality wasn´t that good, the microphone stopped working for a while and Don sang in a lower tune than the usual. Later I found out that he was voiceless a day before. It happens... Although we missed George Lynch on stage, the new guitarist, Jon Levin, did a great job. The band´s performance was nice and firm showing the experience of those who have been for so long on the road. It was worth my 30 minutes of attention. |
|
| |
SAMMY HAGAR
When I think of Rock the Bayou, I remember the face of despair one of the staff members did, when he received the task of buying 4 bikinis for the chosen girls from the audience that would be the “waitresses” on stage during Sammy´s performance. Sammy had brought to the stage bleaches with around 30 people. Those were fans that had paid 200 dollars to watch the concert from a very good area, having drinks served by the mentioned waitresses. They served tequila margaritas, very good and expensive tequila actually, created by nothing else nothing less than Mr. Hagar himself. The seaside environment on stage had a bar from where the drinks would come and Sammy was also wearing summer clothes.
The concert started with I Can´t Drive 55 and it was perfect. It is hard to believe that a 60-year-old man can keep such a powerful voice. |
|
 |
|
| |
Next song was a cover from the classic band Led Zeppelin, Whole Lotta Love, and the audience got really excited. From that moment on, with a lot of tequila in his brains, he sang some Van Halen classics, songs from his solo career, let the guitarist Vick Johnson and the bass player Mona sing and did an excellent concert. Although I didn´t like very much the cover Fight For Your Right to Party from Beastie Boys, if we really pay attention to the lyrics, we may agree that it fits perfectly on Sammy´s personality. And of course, it wasn´t a problem to the “rock summer night in Acapulco” he gave us.
On Sunday, the 31st I was there again and this time I would watch Dangerous Toys, L.A. Guns, Slaughter, Yngwie Malmsteen, Warrant and Alice Cooper. I have a lot to say about this day. |
| |
 |
|
L.A GUNS
Dangerous Toys opened my day with nothing but a good concert. They were the warm-up for what was up to come. LA Guns got on stage with the living legend Tracii Guns on guitar and Marty Casey on vocals. Right after the first song, No Mercy, I had to ask myself why I had never seen them alive before. I repeated this question to myself several times while the set list went on. It was a great concert from the beginning to the end and I must mention here Marty´s great performance. He was the winner of the reality show Rock INXS and his energy on stage, added to his kindness out of it, have really impressed me.
Actually, I saw him having a deep conversation with a 5-year-old girl. |
|
| |
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
Slaughter played at around 4 pm and gave me the opportunity to sit down and relax to the sound of an OK concert. The best moment was a cover, not bad, of Heaven and Hell.
Yngwie Malmsteen was coming and backstage some king of buzzing was going on. People were talking about him with an infinity of “loving” nicknames and everybody was apprehensive since they didn´t know if the guy would have some kind of “breakdown”. Well, people enjoy seeing flares everywhere in the world... He arrived surrounded by 3 cops, tanned, wearing quite weird clothes added to the golden accessories (necklaces, bracelets and so on). He took one of his three identical Fender Stratocaster cream color guitars available, took a deep breath and got on stage. He is still the same awesome guitarist we all know, full of energy, he threw the guitar, rolled it around the neck and frighted his roadie (guitar tech), whenever he ended a song and threw it to him. Please, imagine how frightened that human being might have felt with the simple risk of letting one of Yngwie´s triplets fall down... The band that plays with him is extremely good, specially the singer, Tim “The Ripper”, who doesn´t need introductions, he is a great singer. During Malmsteen´s long solos it was possible to see him walking around and chatting backstage. It was a great concert that made me feel sorry for the next band. |
|
|
|
| |
WARRANT
After Malmsteen it would be difficult to impress but Warrant crossed the line of mediocrity and got to the line of a real bad concert, the one and the only among the bands I saw at the festival. Jani Lane wasn´t OK and it was really clear not only because of his terrible voice but also for the gloomy attitude. The worst performance of the festival in my opinion. However it wasn´t that important considering that in a few minutes I would see one of the most impressive concerts of my life: Alice Cooper. |
| |
ALICE COOPER
watch the video >>
The backstage was emptied and only those with a special badge were able to get in. At the beginning, I didn´t understand why, but later it was clear. In spite of being a rock concert, sitting there on the corner of the room I could see the roadies carrying not only instruments and equipments, but also hangers full of clothes, customs, wigs, balloons, dolls, gallows, a baby cart. It reminded me a bit of what Cirque du Soleil´s backstage might be, all that completed by the kind and nice Alice Cooper´s daughter, warming up her voice, combing wigs and having fun with the crew.
Alice got on stage “murdering a person” singing It´s Hot Tonight together with No More Mr. Nice Guy. The band was very well rehearsed and the musicians were excellent. It was quite of a concert . I would describe it as some kind of Rock Horror Show making everybody in the audience join in the nightmare. The several roles of the story were played by guitar techs, roadies and his daughter. They were all the time changing clothes and giving life to the characters. The rush backstage was a real fun and the audience was able to see 90 minutes of a real rock ´n roll live drama. Alice sounds the same as 20 years ago and was responsible for the best rock concert. Not only at Rock the Bayou, but the best of this year. I´d rather not tell all details not to spoil the surprise. |
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
THE KIX
Watch the video >>
Monday, September the 1st, the American Labor Day, the fourth day of festival and I was exhausted. Goustav, the hurricane formed in the Gulf of Mexico was supposed to arrive in Houston that afternoon. The boiling hot sun of the past days gave place to a cloudy sky and the crowd in the arena was replaced by an audience much smaller than on previews days.
There was a weird feeling in the air as if everything was happening slowly, including my thoughts, something made me spend most of my time sitting backstage waiting for a band that would make me feel like getting up.
|
|
| |
And there they were, The Kix, with the looks and the typical thin of the 70´s, they not only won the audience that clustered in front of the stage to see them, but also many musicians that stood up on the stage aisle to watch their concert. Among them, Twisted Sister´s Dee Snider by my side!!!! |
| |
 |
|
TWISTED SISTER
watch the video >>
Twisted Sister played right after Jackyl, a band that didn´t call my attention. When I was a child I used to be impressed by Dee Snider´s hair and makeup drag queen style, and I´ve always wanted to see him alive.
It was a great concert full of classics such as The Price, We´re not Gonna Take it, I Wanna Rock, You Can´t Stop Rock ´n Roll and Burn in Hell. But The Kix won! And at that time, having Bret Michaels as the evening´s headline, I knew they would take that night´s trophy anyway.
|
|
| |
BRET MICHAELS
Bret got on stage to play and film scenes for his next reality show, The Rock of Love 3, where he eliminates girls and the finalist becomes his girlfriend. Considering the fact that it will be the show´s third season, we can conclude that it´s been difficult for Bret to find a girlfriend, right? Inserting the show´s opening (what a drag!) with the music, he did a pretty basic concert full of covers and Poison´s classics like Every Rose Has Its Thorn and Unskiny Bop. I had a lot of fun, mostly after being told that the hurricane wouldn´t reach Texas anymore! |
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
