Some Prospects for 2016!

Happy New Year to All!

Something a little different for the first post of 2016! We reached out to various bands over the last week or two and asked them: What they are looking forward to in in 2016?

This is what we got back:

Black Satellite shared that they are currently working on their our second EP, "Infinite Illusion". They plan on releasing it late in February or early March. "We can't wait for everyone to hear it." Stay tuned for their EP and our review!

Black Satellite

Jane Lee Hooker -  The big news with them is of course that they have signed with Ruf Records, which will entail a new record this year. Also tied to that I imagine are the recent gigs they added to their schedule. They got two shows at BB Kings in the coming weeks, and then another handful in upstate NY, PA and one over in Delaware! Then, I see they are hit Las Vegas in September for the Big Blues Bender! Last year JLH were busy. It appears they will more than continue that on into 2016!

Jane Lee Hooker

Mother got back to me with the announcement that they are currently heavily focused on writing some new tunes at the moment, but will be back to playing NYC in the spring. So I am looking forward to that. For those who in meantime want to check out some of their current stuff there is a sampling on Facebook. and no doubt we need to finally get them onto WildWestRadio. . . And it appears they too are also heading out to Pennsylvania in February hitting some venues around Harrisburg.

Mother

Ten Ton Mojo is right out of the gate, heading down to the Stone Pony in Asbury Park NJ for the Light of Day Winterfest Festival on January 15th, and then on January they are with Killcode and others at the Shop in Brooklyn. And that I am sure  is only the beginning. . .stay tuned for more.

Ten Ton Mojo

Which brings us to KILLCODE. So you already know they are heading to Brooklyn on January 30th for a gig at the Shop. On top of that they have recently released a new tune, the Answer, and that is what you should be checking out. More to follow no doubt.


Queen V. . . I have been a fan of hers since late 2003, when I got that Radical Records collection of NYC Bands. I remember plugging that into my CD player on my way up to the Chance in Poughkeepsie to see Bent Brother (aka Twisted Sister). It was one of their holiday shows they do now and again. Who was warming up. . . Queen V, who had just wrapped up a tour with Billy Idol. Good Girl Gone Bad still rocks. Her new EP Bridges will be coming out on February 12th! To follow that up she will be at the Rockwood Music Hall on Thursday, February 18th and promises more shows to come!

Queen V

Now we arrive at Maniac Rise. They quickly got back to me with this: "Maniac Rise will conquer the world!!" I am looking forward to it!

Maniac Rise

The next two entail a jump across the pond over to the UK. One a fairly recent entry into the scene, and the other a bit longer. . .

The Gang, which have been at it I guess since 2013, and just announced a January 2016 Tour, of course of the UK. Regardless, anyone who is in the area, I do encourage them to check them out! If you aren't in the UK, they still got a recent collection of tunes up at

Lastly, there is Mr. Bernie Torme, who with two recent CD releases, two successful Pledge Music campaigns, and numerous gigs throughout the UK happening, I ask What's Next?

Again a Happy New Year to all! The above just scratches the surface of what is coming. As DLR said so long ago. . .:"Don't be staring at your stereo, fool. . ."

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A Gillan Show - Recollections and a Reposting of the Western Front

We continue celebrating ten year of the Wild West and the Western Front. What follows was originally published back on December 12th, 2005 and focuses on some recollections of the a Gillan show from a long time ago that largely started all of this. 

Again, enjoy. . .

Gillan - featuring from left to right - Bernie Torme,
John McCoy, Ian Gillan, Colin Towns, and Mick Underwood

A continuation of the post from December 11th, exploring three shows, two from December of 1980 and the other happening on December 14 (2005) at Don Hills in New York.

This post looks at the show that took place on December 12th 1980. A show that took place at Emerald City in Cherry Hill NJ, right across from Philadelphia. The band was Gillan.

And if you don't have the patience to read all of this, just go to the music. . .Click here to check out a sample of the actual December 12th 1980 Gillan Show! (Sorry no longer available.)

Nothing like the crowd that Thin Lizzy brought in. A week ago we were part of crowd of 500. There was no room to move and we felt the surge of the crowd when Lizzy took the stage. The 12th was a cold and icy night, with maybe 100 people there, maybe. In place of the punk band we had a reggae band warming up. No hint from anywhere of what we were going to see, just a few more Michelobs as we waited.

We knew little of the material. There was no Gillan being played on the radio, and this was before MTV, much less the Headbangers Ball or anything else. A few songs were recognized during the set - Smoke on the Water, Lucille, and maybe Trouble. The rest were new to the small crowd.

Gillan was front and center, wild long hair, which he loved to whip around in between verses, but always a gentleman in between songs complete with a bit of English wit. And then you had the band-not your typical band. You had Colin Towns on keyboard. He seemed to be the musical leader, the conductor of the night’s festivities. Mick Underwood on the drums, a solid drummer.

The other two, however, were the more interesting, maybe a dash of menace, . First off, there was John McCoy, the bass player. He was and is a big man, with a shaved smooth head and a beard. Remember it was 1980 and aside from the drummer in Spirit, I can’t name many performers sporting that look back then. Maybe he had some shades on too.

Lastly, there was Bernie Torme, the guitar player in this long gray suit jacket. At least I think he was in that outfit. Many of the photos of him from that vintage have him in such a jacket and I think I recall it on him. Bernie himself has referenced it as something out of Dickens. He did definitely did have your shoulder length peroxide blond hair and his Stratocaster guitar. Keep in mind that everyone who came was thinking Deep Purple and all knew that Ritchie Blackmore was a player of such guitars. So the Strat was required, but by the end of the night I had forgotten such requirements.

The music was heavier than Deep Purple but with these melodic preludes. You had Towns’ keyboards, primarily piano and synthesizer, that would often start out the tunes, providing these musical interludes, and then the band would tear into high gear with these pounding rhythms provided by McCoy and Underwood. So you had the tension of those two extremes, and then Bernie with his Strat, which would compete with Town’s keyboards for the solos. But the thing that intrigued me was how he made up for the shared solo time with these amazing whammy bar fills all over the place. I have yet to see anyone abuse a Strat and its whammy bar like him, nor get the sounds out of it that he did. And on top of all this chaos you had Gillan with his amazing vibrato, He is one of the few singers in rock to use vibrato. And to turn to another show for a second, you will never hear Ozzy use vibrato in those opening verses of War Pigs! So Gillan could go from this flowery vibrato in his voice at times to his infamous screams. Gillan the singer and Gillan the band were all over the place!

Now you take this music and this band and you have them performing it on one stage - it was an amazing scene. You had Gillan front and center who would go from a little quiet conversation with the audience in between songs to screaming and truly just headbanging up there, to John McCoy who was working his bass and just had a certain sinister look, and Bernie, who was just wild with the peroxide blonde hair, the jacket, and the constant abuse of his Strat.

So that is what I recall. You have to figure, I have been hyping Mr. Torme for the past three years so who knows what is actually real. I am pretty sure that the above is accurate but it has been 25 years. Luckily, I was given awhile back a recording of this Gillan show at Emerald City, so no need to rely upon my fading memory. Check out the MP3 of Smoke on the Water complete with Bernie doing a lovely little intro right here - Click here to check it out! (Again not working. . .). Regarding the recording, it turns out that one of the folks next to me had smuggled a cassette recorder in and and recorded the show. Enjoy and we still have one more show to cover-that is happening on Wednesday, December 14 2005.

A little about how this came about. . . I was at dinner talking about how I came to this obsession with all of this, so I figured, let me put it down on paper. Also it is offered as I do wish that Bernie Torme was included on Ian Gillan's New CD set celebrating his solo work, which Mr. Torme did not contribute to.

Next-the third of the three shows. . .To be continued. . .

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Recollections on two shows and how the Wild West began. . .

Originally published back on December 10th, 2005. There has been ten years of various projects at the Wild West. Some successful, some not. Through the ups and downs of the Wild West, the Western Front has continued and now has 122 posts to its name! Tonight I share again two of those early posts that point to where this largely began. The first focusing on a Thin Lizzy show, which took place way back in December of 1980 in South Jersey. The second post, which we will also republish, focuses on a second show. That show also took place in the December of 1980 - the following week, at the same venue and featured the band Gillan. 

Hope you will consider and enjoy them both. . .

RGS

Twenty-five years ago this December 12th I was lucky enough to see a band called Gillan. It was a show that has haunted me ever since. Gillan was the project of Ian Gillan, who was on vocals-the man whose resume included playing Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, who did the vocals on songs such as Child of Time, Highway Star, and of course Smoke On The Water; those with another band - Deep Purple.

I had little idea what to expect from Gillan. Gillan the man had left Deep Purple and then went on to form the Ian Gillan Band, which was a jazzy artsy project, a far stretch from songs such as Space Truckin and Fireball. And being a 17 year old rocker, I had little use for the project. He had an amazing voice and I did want to see, however, if lightning does strike twice at Emerald City, the venue he was playing.

You see the week before, on Saturday, December 6th at the same club, Emerald City, across the river from Philadelphia in Cherry Hill, Thin Lizzy had taken the stage. Thin Lizzy was and another band that I had idolized. And that Saturday night at Emerald City I had the pleasure of seeing, five or ten feet from the stage, Phil Lynott and Scott Gorham. Snowy White, who was at that time the second guitar, was on the other side of the stage.

I recall how Lynott’s bass with a shiny metallic pickguard that just reflected the spotlights that were on Phil and would blind us in the audience as he moved around the stage. I am sitting here as I write trying to recall if they had their keyboardist back then, Darren Wharton. I think he was in fact in the back, kind of hidden. Brian Downey was on drums. It was an amazing show complete with some Christmas Carols Phil had us singing at the end. Basically it was a Live and Dangerous type set with Killers on the Loose, Looking for an Alibi, Dear Miss Lonely Hearts, and Black Rose thrown in for good measure.

Add to this my personal history. Here I was seventeen, from a quiet town in central Jersey. This was a rock’n’roll club in the city, alright, outside of Philadelphia with Thin Lizzy on their marquee. And I was a Lizzy fanatic. Back then everybody else was hooked on AC/DC. Bon Scott was dead and Back in Black was out. It was the album of 1980, but I knew better. Chinatown was so much better! The challenge for myself in seeing Lizzy was that the venue was a club. The drinking age back then was 19 but I was 17. Out of the three of us intent on going, I was the one who could not find an ID. And the club did card everybody.

I still went down to the show with the two other guys, but I was sweating it. Lizzy was my band. I did not want to be sitting out in the car, hanging out in the Parking Lot. I suppose there is always the stage door, but I wanted to see them. I was saved when one of my buddies went in and then came back out to the parking lot for something, gave me his ID and got back inside pointing out he had already been inside. I waited a few minutes and then with an ID and a ticket in hand was in. I was in, drinking a few Michelobs, waiting for Lizzy, and suffering a lame punk band that was warming up.

So when I saw that Gillan was playing the next weekend, the whole event, the venue, the Lizzy show, finding the damn place, getting into the place, left me with the question: How do I get there for Gillan. Actually, it was not a question, but the conclusion that I would have to come back for Gillan.

To be continued. . .

One update:
A quick search of the web produced these two links:
http://www.thinlizzyguide.com/tours/year/1980.htm
http://www.thinlizzyguide.com/tours/dates/1980/801206.htm

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A Shout Out to Two Bands and a Friend and Musician. . .

I just wanted to give a nod to two bands that I have been following over the years. Both recently had some success. I am talking bout KillCode and Jane Lee Hooker and their recent signings with a record label or agency.

I first  saw Jane Lee Hooker back in 2011. They are basically playing a lot of classic blues in a very loud fashion. they have been at it for four years now. They just released their first album back in September, which was very cool. The record is good but their shows throughout this time have just been amazing. They just have the musicianship of the band at large, the dual guitars of Hightop and T-Bone, and Dana Danger on vocals, who is simply one of the most expressive singers I have seen or heard. Plus all those blues classics to work with. . .




So it was very cool to hear that they have signed with Ruf Records and that they will record their first album for the label in 2016. Further Ruf will be working with them on additional tours both in and outside the US. All very cool!

Killcode has likewise has signed with Coallier Entertainment. Unlike Jane Lee Hooker though, Killcode is a serious metal / rock act with a dash of southern hospitality. I remember seeing them in like 2009, and playing their first EP for my son, a serious metal head. It must have been as the Haunt in Yonkers was winding down. Again they do know how to command a stage. And Killcode, like JLH, features some amazing guitar work coming from Chaz and DC Gonzales. And they too have a solid frontman and singer in Tom Morrisey.



A bit about Coallier Entertainment. I have run into them a few times over the years. My fav of these was when they brought Thin Lizzy to the US in like 2003 or 2004. This was back when John Sykes was still in the band along with Scott Gorham. I grabbed my son, Phil, and we checked out the boys up at the Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie. I still remember Scott Gorham smiling at the fact that there was a kid and his dad rocking out to Lizzy. At least that was my read of it. . . That was a cool night and Phil and I both enjoyed. And it was very sweet that Lizzy popped up again the next week in Yonkers in some venue I never heard of before or after. It was down in the Irish part of town. Both were very good nights.

Coalier of course has routinely worked with Dee Snider, Twisted Sister, and the related group. . . Bent Brother. They have even signed Guy McCoy Torme (GMT), though they have yet to get that act over to the US. They work with a lot of established acts, which makes this more interesting in that KillCode is a newer act or band for them. Further, we know Killcode here in NYC, but audiences elsewhere not really, not yet. So Coalier has some work to do, and I cannot think of a better act for Coalier to work with, considering their focus on rock and metal.

I went back and forth about posting this. I just rarely see acts get signed by any labels today. Before this I kind of knew that the Sex Slaves were signed with Radical Records, and of course there have been a handful of acts that have come from NYC who I did not know about until they were signed. It just seems very rare these days that bands sign with a label and it perhaps is not celebrated like it was. I recall venues and others posting full-page ads in the Aquarian when Twister Sister was signed way back in the day. It is an achievement to sign a contract relating to one's artistic achievements and future works. It should be recognized.

Lastly, I just wanted to wish Karen Curios a Happy Birthday. I believe it is today. Great singer and songwriter, who if you have the chance to see, you should check out. Interestingly, she posted yesterday that she has finally arrived at the conclusion that her latest album "doesn't suck at all. . ." To which I respond, it is about time. A bit poppy - perhaps, sucky - no. I do not believe she has signed with a label, but still I will happily go see her perform any day anytime. I do wish I could get an mp3 of her current band, the Glorious Revolution doing her tune, the Rising Sun.

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Don't Count Me in for Guns N' Roses. . .

It was recently announced or speculated that the original line-up of Guns N' Roses will reform and tour in 2016. I dont know. . . regardless of how good Appetite for Destruction was, it was thirty years ago now. A lot of water has passed under that bridge. They are talented folks. Slash is a great guitarist, and Axl is an excellent vocalist. Further, they are not only more than competent, they just brought their mix of styles and fancies to the stage. No one really sounds like Axl. He just has a unique voice and likewise with Slash with his top hat and his Les Paul.

The band definitely had something back in the day but I just am not feeling a tour at this point. Slash has been routinely working on various projects. Axl of course has to some degree been maintaining the Gun N' Roses brand, though literally it seems like a Chinese Democracy. I know Izzy and others have had explored various projects.

It is interesting, you go to their Wikipedia page and it is claimed that they saved rock and roll in the late 80s. I don't know about that. I think a band called Metallica might have helped out on that score, and perhaps Nirvana and maybe some others out of Seattle. No doubt they get some recognition here, but it always comes back to that old question of "what have you done for me lately"?

I think the answer is . . . not much. Some jokes about plastic surgery, folks wearing buckets, and comparisons to actual Chinese democracy. Basically it has become Axl Rose's band and for me it really does go back to that first album. That said that is who is being promised here - the original lineup. Add to this, however, the price of a stadium priced show. I do not care who it is I am just a dinosaur who remembers going to the Ticketron and buying Sabbath tickets for $15. And I was upset way back then about the Stones tickets being $23!

What is above, however, is just the negatives. Why I won't do X. What really compels is what is on the positive. As I was writing the above I pondered that I cannot just write about what sucks, what I do not like, etc. And happily I realize that my last post though I complain about the revival of vinyl, does end with a focus on new I act I tripped over at Arlene's, Crush of Empires. I do not want to be the grumpy old man but someone with opinions and suggestions.

My suggestion here - is LA Guns. Yes LA Guns, which began I guess when Axl lost the original guitarist, Tracii Guns, who put the Guns in Guns N' Roses. Always seen as a bit heavier than Guns N' Roses, LA Guns likewise has gone down a long and winding road, which includes Tracii Guns not being a part of the band since like 2005. So today LA Guns, like Guns N' Roses, is also largely a singer / frontman driven effort. In their case it is Phil Lewis who has been with the band much of it's 30 year existence.

The differences, aside from the above, are many. The first is that the music is heavier, which for me is a good thing. Phil Lewis is just as good a front man with more a sense of humor, and less drama and likewise with an expressive voice. The musicianship is there, just as in Guns N' Roses, but there is also more a band. With LA Guns it is not just a personality. And they have released a steady flow of material, granted that flow may have slowed a bit. That said the last three or four albums since 2001 have been pretty damn good.

Now you might suggest that I just like LA Guns more than Guns N' Roses. Everybody has their favorite band. And no doubt I do like LA Guns. There is another reason I will go see them and it in part goes back to cost. In part. . . Guns N' Roses is the Garden or Barclays at $100 a pop. So the beer, any food, any swag. . . is on top of that. With LA Guns I will spend maybe $20 for a ticket and the rest is beer and etc.

Forget the dollar comparison. That is all true but that is not why you go see LA Guns. You go to see LA Guns for two reasons - the band and the show. LA Guns has been touring the last ten years and granted guitarists have changed, but there is continuity - they are out there at Sturgis and down in Florida and over in NJ-routinely. They are out there performing nightly. For me there is something to be said about a band that is living and performing like that on the road.

Lastly there is the show. There is something very appealing about just having such band on a small stage with some lights and some Marshalls behind them, and all feet away from you versus the 100s of feet or even levels or sections away at the big arenas. Now I wish LA Guns were playing larger venues when they hit NYC. Regardless, it is simply amazing to be able to watch such artists perform and you are right there. For me that is a live event. It is not the pyrotechnics, nor the lasers nor whatever, but being right there and being able to watch Phil sing or Michael tear up the guitar, or Steven on the drums. It is very cool being able to get up off one's barstool and move down to the stage to  in front of Kenny or Phil, perhaps with a little bit of work but still doable.

And that is why I am looking forward to December 9th at Blackthorn 51.

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A Story of Sound and Fury. . .

Tonight I want to zero in on a current trend and a new band and the differences between the two. The trend I am talking about is vinyl records and the act is one I came across at Arlene's Grocery last Monday (October 15, 2015). One I just do not get, and the other was simply refreshing to see and hear.

Vinyl records. They are all the rage again and I am asking myself why. I am afraid that many that are infected with this desire for vinyl just did not experience the phenomena the first time around. Those who in fact have had the pleasure of vinyl records must have selective memories. Don't we all I suppose.

All kidding aside, one might look back at the amazing music of the sixties, seventies, and eighties, when vinyl was king. One might lament that music like that is not made anymore. That, however, does not justify the romanticising about records. Even the first claim about the music is inflated, but the claim about vinyl records I just do not comprehend at all.

 I know there are a range of technical, social and even economic reasons for why vinyl is the way to go. I am skeptical of the technical ones but not going dig into the audio engineering - not my forte. I might not be willing to weigh in on the technical virtues of vinyl, but I can share my recollections of their use. I am sorry but my recollections are not good. They did not treat me well, with all the dust and the skips, even at times some warping. They were routinely despite my efforts scratched. Regardless of my attempts to clean them, with the various sprays and felt brushes and more, they still were dust-covered. And with all of that the sound quality diminished.

On top of that there are the creature comforts. I cannot with vinyl just flop on the sofa and relax and listen. Nope. You are up roughly every 20 minutes to flip the record or put on the next one on. Today I have brought the decadent ways of TV remotes to music listening. Today I have my phone and a bluetooth connection and I simply like it. Not only like it but am amazed that I basically have my music collection in my pocket even if some of them are MP3s.

Now the social argument might have some sway. Going through the bins of a local record store is something I have found myself engaged in many a Saturday afternoon with my bandmates at the time. And no doubt the album artwork is and was worth checking out.So there might be some merit there. But as one lyricist states. . .classic art has had its day. And not just art but the band, the bandmates, and also the record shops - all are long gone.

Regarding the economic, I am not seeing a huge return on one's old record collection. Like any collectors item - high value requires the item be pristine. It is unused, ideally unopened. Any serious record collection, or serious record, was and is NOT unused and most certainly opened. And I have sold my records and have gotten a few bucks but far from even. I bought a lot of records and they did get played.

So that brings me to my own conclusion regarding vinyl - that it is just a bad trip down memory lane. For those of us that love rock and all that entails, it is hard to accept that it is fading - that the times are a changing. And I do feel that is the case. To proclaim vinyl as THE audio platform, however, is to just return to a time when life was good. . .was simpler. And what better way to challenge the contemporary than to critique the digital platform - to look back and hold up the vinyl record as the true coin of the realm. Sadly the coin of the realm is a slug or wooden even.

That however brings me to the new band that I found at Arlene's. That band being Crush of Empires. A four piece with a great singer, tasteful guitars and solid rhythm section. Their tunes worked and we are talking the groups first EP. Perhaps they owe a nod to Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains, but nothing wrong with that. They were just refreshing to see. It has just been awhile since I was out checking out new talent or so it feels. So I saw these guys had a few gigs and figured, lets go check them out. It was well worth it!

So I am not sure about the value of vinyl but once again a live show just can be so good. I just enjoy checking out a new act with little or no idea what I am going to see or hear. And I am not looking for visionaries or the next big thing, nor the loudest, nor the greatest. That would be lovely to see. I wish I had seen lady Gaga when she was playing the Lower East Side and all. My sights are much lower, I just enjoy a band or artist that has something to say, that offers something to me.

The question though is what is the difference between holding up vinyl records and a grunge influenced live act. Both have their roots in the past. Everything does. Just the live act is building on that. They are taking that sound and making it their own - recreating it. The vinyl for my money is an attempt to go back to something that really was not there in the first place. There is no perfect or ideal sound. . . sound is always reflective of the moment. I guess I would argue that sound is best not on vinyl or digital but live.

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The Old and the New

It is hard not to run into the dilemma of the old and the new in the NYC music scene. If a band is around for any period of time it is old. If a band is still playing after that initial flurry of activity, if it is around a year after that first batch of shows, they are old.

How could they not, considering the flow of talent passing through. It is not 1975 but still there are plenty of bands wanting to play. In fact, I would speculate that there are probably more bands out there now doing more styles of music through out the city and beyond.

So bands come and bands go and some will stay a little longer than others. The reasons for such things vary. That is not what I am pondering here. No what I am dealing with is what one should do in relation to such bands, the old and the new.

Two things run through my head. My passion for certain bands and my desire for new bands. And the dilemma is who do I go see? It is like that Robert Palmer tune, Rip Tide. "Torn between two loves, the old and the new". Is it the band that I have seen twenty times over the past few years or the group that just finished a month long run at Arlene's and might just be something to check out.

Will I go with the tried and true and know I will see a good show. Generally true. Or will I go check out the new act and maybe walk out thinking, Wow! It happens. Rarely. Sometimes it is the old act that makes me say,"Holy shit!" Such shows are worth the rest.

And at the end of the day I still do not have an answer to my dilemma.

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