Posts Tagged ‘tesla’
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.
Scorpions/Tesla Concert Review, San Antonio, TX 6/26/12
I had just seen the Scorpions in San Antonio 2 years ago and it will forever be one of the best concerts I have ever seen. You can read about that experience here. And if you care to see which Scorpions shows I have attended, click here.
Last night marked the 5th time since 1991 that I have seen them and per usual, they never disappoint. This show was a continuation of their Final Sting tour and it’s pretty cool that they decided to hit San Antonio twice. A lot of bands owe a great deal of thanks to that City for giving them a break way back when and Scorpions are no exception.
I was less than pleased to see that Tesla was the opener. I never got into them besides Modern Day Cowboy, which is an awesome song.
Thanks to the Internet, I was able to see what the setlists for both bands were going to be as they’ve been pretty consistent for the recent leg of this tour.
Last night, I met up with my friends Don, Burney and Vanessa at the Illusions Theater at the Alamodome. They basically take one end of the Alamodome and convert it to a smaller venue. When Scorps were here 2 years ago, they damn near
Vanessa and Burney
sold out the AT&T center, but I still saw some vacant seats last night. After some brief conversations in the parking lot and a beer (heavy metal parking lot 2012?), we headed inside. The shirts were pretty ugly and quite expensive. I’ll pay that $35 a shirt for Maiden’s Texas only shirts, but not for the Scorps. The bootleg shirts were ok, but I passed on those too.
Tesla hit the stage promptly at 7:30PM and went relatively seamlessly through their set. They stuck to their classics and played them well, but again, I am not a fan. I sat through their entire set. They did Cowboy which was certainly the highlight for me and it was cool hearing Edison’s Medicine again. Not a bad song. Love Song made me want to puke. I’ve always
awful picture
hated that song. I once got kicked out of a band because I refused to play it. Haha. Jeff Keith sounded fine and the band’s backing vocals were top notch. The drums in the mix were awful though. I don’t know what the hell the soundman was doing, but it was awful. They finished up their set and it was time to stretch my legs.
Scorpions came on Right at 9PM at opened with Sting In The Tail. Everyone was standing and the Scorps rocked like they always do. There were no real surprises in the setlist. Recent Euro shows actually got In Trance, but none of the American shows. I would have lost my shit if they had pulled that one out. That setlist was almost exact to 2 years ago with only a few changes. My only complaint about seeing them is the drum solo. While Kottak is a competent player, his drum solo just isn’t my thing even with the comedic video attached to it. But…Klaus, Rudy and Matthias are in their 60s, so I am sure the break does them a world of good.
They played Wind of Change which wasn’t in the set 2 years ago. I could have done without it for sure, only because I’ve heard it way too many times since it came out. But it’s a crowd pleaser and surely has some deep meaning for those guys.
Klaus’ voice seemed a little rough in the first song or two, but it quickly got right and he sounded great for the rest of the night. The whole band sounded great. As always they put on a great show and I really think it’ll be the last chance I’ll have to see them, which is unfortunate.
It was a fun time with good friends and that always makes a show more enjoyable.
This show also got me back on course. You see, I saw the Arch/Matheos show in May 2012 and since then I have had trouble enjoying other live bands. It’s really difficult to explain. That show was so powerful and was the best live music experience I think I have ever had. While it will likely never be topped, I needed a show to get me out of my rut and back into enjoying bands that I like. The Scorpions provided that for me last night. Thankfully.
boom
goodbye San Antonioooooo!
The Metal Files 
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