Archive for the ‘hard rock’ Category
Tesla Concert Review, Austin, TX, January 28, 2015
Happy 2015 everybody. Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve written. There just haven’t been that many touring shows since December but that all changed starting last night.
Tesla. To be honest, and I’ve stated it before, I’m not a fan. While I like Modern Day Cowboy and Heaven’s Trail, I just don’t get into them at all. A big part of it are the vocals. Just a bit too whiny for me. So why did I go? Free tickets! Good enough reason to go and to hang out with some friends who were going.
A little history. Back around 1990, the metal band I was in wanted to play Love Song. I was completely against it. NO BALLADS! I was happy sticking with the heavier covers we were doing and not pussing out to wimp rock, and this song qualifies as wimp rock. I’m pretty sure it was because of the bassist we had who had a new girlfriend and he was all goo-goo over her. The rest of the band didn’t seem to mind playing that song but I was adamant about not playing it. I had to maintain some integrity after all, yes? After the second or third practice of them trying to introduce the song and me bucking against it, someone stated that it was time to find another drummer. DONE AND DONE. I packed up my gear and rolled on. No muss, no fuss, no hard feelings.
We got there right as the opening band was going on and quickly went out to the patio. We stayed out there for most of the second band, too. To be honest, they weren’t memorable enough for me to care about their names, but hey, they were up there and I wasn’t, so good on ’em, eh?
Tesla comes on and opens with a song from their latest album, Simplicity. They ran through most of their catalog and the crowd responded accordingly. They played pretty much everything you’d expect to hear. We stayed near the back of the venue and I was quite surprised as to how many people were there. The venue holds about 1700 and there were roughly 1200 in attendance.
The band was tight and Jeff Keith’s vocals were hanging tough (sorry, I had to). Frank Hannon is a beast of a guitarist. Brian Wheat’s bangs were in full effect, too. Holy cow!
This was a great show for people watching, too. Saw some sights that I’ll never un-see, that’s for sure. Overall it was a good time and it felt great to catch another live show and to spend some time with good friends. It’s also nice when a show ends earlyish (1130PM) since I have to get up early for work.
Lots of things in the hopper in the coming months like Uli Roth, Doro, Krokus, Alice Cooper, The Who and Bob Seger.
Concert Review – Danava 3/17/11 SxSW
It’s not very often that I hear/see a band that makes my jaw hit the floor and makes me want to run around and tell every person that I know to check them out. That’s what Portland’s Danava did for me this year at the SxSW music festival. I had never heard of this band until a few days before the festival when viewing the showcase at Valhalla that also featured Christian Mistress and Zoroaster, 2 other bands that I like a lot. I didn’t get a chance to listen to them before the show so I went into this cold.
Dang! These guys kicked into a 70s style jam fest that hit me right in the nuts. When i say “jam” I don’t mean like some hippie jam band improv type of thing, this music was well-thought out riff-oriented hard rock. I heard elements of a lot of my favorite bands like Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Hawkwind, Allman Brothers, White Witch, Thin Lizzy and even more modern 70s worship style ala Witchcraft.
One of their defining attributes is their riffing style. Lots of movement all over the fretboard with the 2 guitarists playing some great melodies. Add in the bassist playing the same riffs behind them and it’s pretty badass to watch and hear. He’s really a damn fine bassist in general. It’s great to see a band that obviously rehearses a lot. They’ve been on the road quite a bit over the last few years as well and that has a tendency to tighten a band up as well. Mix in the clean vocals (very early Ozzy-era Sabbath/Bobby Liebling) and you’ve got a great mix.
After their set I was looking for some merch to buy but they didn’t have it handy. Fortunately their music is on iTunes and I downloaded their entire catalog a few hours after seeing them (3AM!). I was happy to catch them again a few nights later for free for a quick set. Just great. Period.
Highly recommended!
The Metal Files 
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