Well, I dropped the ball on this one, and am already behind. Hopefully, you already knew that Cold was in Columbus at The King of Clubs last Saturday night. If not, my bad. The Jacksonville outfit also visited Cleveland two nights prior but won’t be back in Ohio for the remainder of the tour. They will visit nearby Indianapolis, Lexington, KY and Covington, KY to end the jaunt on May 30th through June 1st if you want to make the trek to see them.
If you are in the Cincinnati area, southern rock legends ZZ Top are rolling into the Queen City TONIGHT at the Andrew Brady Music Center. Plenty of tickets remain available and range from $46 to $165. They can be purchased here. I’ve been fortunate enough to see ZZ Top twice and they were stellar both times. This is the Houston trio’s only announced visit to the Buckeye State this year.
Classic era Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate is on tour and visiting each of the three big C’s of Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus. On April 12th he’ll be playing at the Taft Theatre in Cincy. On the 15th he’ll play TempleLive Cleveland and on the 16th he will visit TempleLive Columbus. The tour is featured as the final time that Tate will play Queensryche’s famous Operation Mindcrime album in its entirety. Tickets are still available for all three shows through Ticketmaster. If you dig 80’s era metal, this is a show worth looking into. My buddy Dan and I met Geoff Tate several years ago as part of an after show meet and greet from a Queensryche gig. The show was fantastic.
Thursday, April 17th, folk rock legend Bob Dylan stops in Toledo at the Stranahan Theater. This show is sold out. Two nights later the music icon stops in Youngstown at the Powers Auditorium. At the time that I am writing this, there are three total tickets still available. Dylan, who will turn 84 in May, is one of the most influential songwriters of all time.
April 19th brings options to people in Columbus. Icons like Bob Dylan? No. However, rock favorites from nearby Point Pleasant, West Virginia that have adopted Columbus as a second home, Bobaflex will be playing a rare live show at The Newport Music Hall. The band has largely been quiet for the better part of a decade as some members have moved on to a quieter life and others have soldiered on with a new project: The Lonely Ones. Occasionally, though, the McCoy brothers convene the Bobaflex band to do these one off shows at The Newport. General admission tickets are still available for $20 and can be purchased here. They aren’t all that active these days, but Bobaflex used to play anywhere and everywhere in the Buckeye State. They’ve played its biggest festival, the former Rock on the Range, but I’ve also seen them three times in Marion and another time in Mount Vernon. They aren’t in it for the stardom, they just want to play live shows…and they’ll probably party with you afterwards.
Across town, at the same time, at A&R Music Bar will be New York rockers Wheatus. Admittedly, I don’t know anything about them outside of their absolute banger; “Teenage Dirtbag”. Tickets are available here for only $17-22. At that price point, you really can’t go wrong. At the bare minimum, you’re going to get live music and get to sing along to one of the most iconic rock songs of the early 2000’s. It’s kind of hard to not have a good time under those circumstances. If you’re closer to the Cleveland area, they will be in Lakewood the night before at Mahall’s.
Wrapping up April will be arena rock legends Journey. They are coming to Cleveland for a private concert for season ticket holders of the Cleveland Browns on April 24th. The concert will be a Draft Day party and will feature a full headlining set at Huntington Bank Field, the home stadium of the Browns. Tickets are free for Browns season ticket holders. As of now, they are available for purchase from Ticketmaster as resell tickets. The current range is $20-$182. I expect these prices to steadily drop. Ohio weather in April is unpredictable and a band like Journey is not going to want to play to an empty stadium. If you know a Browns season ticket holder, reach out to them for their tickets if they aren’t going to go. Journey has been a great performance each of the several times that I have seen them over the years; albeit with three different singers. Few bands have a catalog of tracks that everyone knows every word to. Journey is one of them. This one should be a good time as long as the band members keep their egos in check and leave their drama in San Francisco.
That wraps it up for April. Go try to see some live music! If April doesn’t do it for ya, don’t worry, we’ve got the big boys coming up in May.
March is nearing its end and spring, at least by the calendar, is here. While the days may be few, there are still a handful of rock concerts coming to the Buckeye State before April arrives that are worth checking out!
This Saturday night, at my favorite small venue, is Brother Cane. They will be making a stop at The King of Clubs. These guys released three albums in the 1990’s and are led by their vocalist Damon Johnson. You may also recognize him as one of the three guitarists in the current Lynyrd Skynyrd band. Tickets can be purchased here. I’ve not seen this band live, but I’ve yet to be disappointed by a show at The King of Clubs.
Wednesday night, Poppy will visit Cleveland’s House of Blues on her They’re All Around Us tour. The pop-metal-internet sensation is fresh off of a performance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show in support of her album that shares the tour’s namesake. Tickets can be purchased here, and range from $39.50-$69.50. I’ve seen her once and found her show to be very entertaining and I enjoyed it. The House of Blues is also a cool, historic venue to see a concert in.
March 29th, the last Saturday of the month, brings two big time bands from the “nu-metal” era for a pair of arena shows.
In the capital city of Columbus, Deftones will be performing at Nationwide Arena. They’ve never been my thing and I haven’t been impressed by their live shows in the past. However, their recent career resurgence has them playing at one of the larger venues in the state, so I must acknowledge their relevance. The Mars Volta will be opening the concert and tickets can be purchased here. It does appear that the show is sold out, so you’ll unfortunately need to be prepared to pay re-sale prices.
The other arena show going on that night will take place in the Queen City of Cincinnati. Coming to Heritage Bank Center is the band Disturbed. Tickets are available from $29 to $182 and can be purchased here. Daughtry and Nothing More are the opening acts for this show. I’ve seen Disturbed live several times and have always enjoyed them. The Chicago metal act has been active since 1994 and have been touring pretty relentlessly for the past ten years or so. I’d vouch for this one, of the remaining March concerts coming to Ohio, as the best bang for your buck. If these aren’t your jam, don’t fret, Ohio is welcoming a jam packed April and it is sure to have a little something for everyone!
Quiet Riot. The members that are continuing to carry on the legacy of the very important heavy metal outfit headlined the annual Picktown Palooza festival in the Columbus suburbs last weekend. The band was fantastic and were touring on their ongoing 40 Years of Metal Health (41 now) tour that began in 2023. Their story is one of triumph and tragedy alike, and they were sure to pay homage to their former band members that aren’t with us anymore; namely an iconic trio of rock stars that left this world too soon: guitarist Randy Rhodes, drummer Frankie Banali, and lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow. Anyone that dares refer to themselves as a metal head, ought to know the importance of 1983’s Metal Health record and what it meant for the future of the genre. Metal Health was the first metal album to every top the Billboard charts. Ever. It’s a great record from start to finish and I strongly encourage anyone to put it into their rotation regularly.
For starters, the festival has definitely grown tremendously since the last time that I attended. I believe that it was in 2019 when Dokken headlined and the event was held in the middle of town. It is now held on the campus of one of their huge high schools and was certainly much larger than in the past. Sponsored by local rock station, QFM 96, the concert attendance numbered in the thousands by my estimation. The show was highlighted not only by the hits but by deeper cuts like “Love’s a Bitch” and “Run For Cover” but the absolute highlight was being able to finally see “Thunderbird” performed live. You can check my video of that performance below.
Quiet Riot performing “Thunderbird” live at Picktown Palooza
The last time that I’d seen Quiet Riot was in 2007 at The Ohio State Fair when they played the Celeste Center with Slaughter. While classic era members DuBrow and Banali were still in the band at that time and the show was great, the set list was very short (only 8 songs for a headliner?!) and didn’t have enough stuff from their iconic album. Sadly, DuBrow would leave this world just three months after that gig at the young age of 52. The current era of the band righted those wrongs in Pickerington with a 15 song set that featured a heavy portion of the Metal Health record. Afterall, when you have an album that went 6x platinum, it’s wise to feature it in your live show. With that being said, however, I always encourage new music and I was happy to see the band play a song that wasn’t released until 2022; “I Can’t Hold On”. The song was a lost demo track written by DuBrow and Grossi back in the early 2000s that had been forgotten about until it was found on an iPod in 2021. The current band constructed the track from its demo status and released it two years ago.
They did that and more. The current lineup was energized and lead vocalist Jizzy Pearl (who has also sung for contemporary acts L.A. Guns, Ratt, and Love/Hate) had great control of the crowd. Drummer Johnny Kelly (formerly of Type O Negative, Kill Devil Hill, and Danzig) had the unenviable task of trying to fill the enormous shoes of Frankie Banali. Banali famously held the spot behind the drum kit from 1980 until his death in 2020 and poured his life into keeping the band’s legacy alive after DuBrow’s death in 2008 as was documented in the 2014 rockumentary: Quiet Riot: Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back. It is a fantastic film that documents the real life struggles of a band that seemingly had it all, lost it all, and the lifelong grind of trying to climb back to keep the dream and the music alive. It’s seriously a great film and a must stream if you haven’t already. Like I said, no small task for Kelly to sit in Banali’s seat. However, he played great and combined with iconic bass player Rudy Sarzo, the rhythm section was on point all night. Sarzo is one of those guys that has been around the heavy metal and classic rock band block, general good guy, and is well respected not only for his work with Quiet Riot but also in the following bands: Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Whitesnake, The Guess Who and Geoff Tate’s Queensryche. The last of those, with Queensryche, I felt he was the star of the show when they played Columbus’ famed Newport Music Hall about a decade ago. The dude is a legend. Lastly, lead guitarist Alex Grossi, has held down that spot for nearly 20 years now. His playing did justice to those Cavazo riffs of the heyday era but he also made sure to pay homage to the all to brief career of the bands founding member; Randy Rhodes, as well. I hope that this incarnation of the band continues to tour for many years and perhaps for the 45th or 50th anniversary of Metal Health, they can play it in its entirety!
Quiet Riot Set List – July 13, 2024, Pickerington, Ohio
1. Run For Cover (1983)
2. Slick Black Cadillac (1983)
3. Mama Weer All Crazee Now (1984) (Slade cover)
4. I Can’t Hold On (2022)
5. Sign of the Times (1984)
6. Love’s a Bitch (1983)
7. Condition Critical (1984)
8. Thunderbird (1983)
9. Party All Night (1984)
10. Blackout in the Red Room (1990) (Love/Hate cover)
Well, I’m going to start this one with the elephant in the room. The first Buckeye Motorcycle and Music Rally festival in Columbus, OH (at least on Saturday, I didn’t attend Friday) was horribly attended. I don’t know who dropped the ball. I don’t know if this was promoted poorly or if tickets were too expensive or if there were just too many other things to do in Columbus on this day, but I genuinely felt bad for all involved. I felt bad for whomever put this event on, because I don’t see any way that they made any return on their investment to host this event. I felt bad for the dozens of pop up shops and food trucks that had nobody to serve. I felt bad for the three great bands that likely haven’t played to crowds this small in ages.
With that said, each of the three bands that I took in, remained professional and put on great shows. At 6 p.m. Fuel took to the stage. The Pennsylvania rock band had played this venue before at 2014’s Rock on the Range Festival, which was the last time I had seen them perform. At this point in the evening there were only a few hundred people in the massive stadium to catch their set, and that’s a shame because they were on top of their game. The people in the pit area to the right of the band was spirited and engaged and I believe kept the band inspired to put on a good performance. Honestly, with as poorly attended as this was, the event’s organizers should have began massively discounting ticket prices a month ago to try to recoup some cost and they also should have allowed everyone on to the stadium floor yesterday as it became apparent that dividing the fans into areas made the crowd size look even smaller. At one point the band even remarked that they didn’t care if they were playing to 5 people or 15,000. Most importantly, the band sounded great and were able to debut a new song from an upcoming album release that they seemed genuinely excited about. Of course, their late 90’s and early 2000’s anthems “Shimmer” and “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” were very well received by the fans in attendance but the prospect of new music is always welcome by fans and band alike.
Fuel performing “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)”.
I was very excited for the next performer of the night; Oliver Anthony. I believe that this was his first visit to Columbus. I don’t do many reviews of country artists or go to many country shows. Country music has become so commercial over the past twenty years with so many of the radio friendly artists honestly being the farthest thing from country. In recent years, however, there has been an uptick of talent being exposed that is more representative of real country music. Oliver Anthony fits that mold. His band was fantastic and brought their brand of foot stompin’, back porch sittin’, Blue Ridge Mountain music to life. After a brief Bible reading and a performance of “Amazing Grace”, Anthony would also remark about the scarcity of the crowd; commenting that “I guess tonight will be an intimate affair” or something to that effect. When their set began at 7:30 the crowd may have been pushing 1,500 spectators. While the attendees were few, the ones that came enjoyed the band in a steady rain for the majority of the set. Obviously, the highlight was their 2023 anthem “Rich Men North of Richmond”, a song that resonated with millions of Americans from every sort of background that are fed up with being sold out by the suits in Washington, D.C. However, if you haven’t dug into the rest of their catalog yet, you are sorely missing out. Songs like “Cobwebs and Cocaine”, “Ain’t Gotta Dollar”, “I Want To Go Home”, and “I’ve Got To Get Sober” as well as a cover of Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” were all highlights as well as many more. These are the types of songs that I mean when I say real country. These are the types of songs and the type of music that depict the kind of struggles that those rich men North of Richmond know nothing about. The band concluded their set with “Rich Men North of Richmond” and had three minutes left of stage time when it concluded…so they played it again, much to the delight of the rain soaked yet raucous crowd. Normally, they would also include a cover of “Free Bird”, which was requested from the crowd but Anthony quipped that “someone else had to play that one tonight.”
At 9 o’ clock it was time for the event’s headlining act, the iconic Lynyrd Skynyrd, to make their first appearance at Crew Stadium and their first visit to Columbus since 2012 when they opened the city’s Columbus Commons venue in downtown. That show was the first time that I was able to officially review this legendary group and photograph them as they toured in support of their Last of a Dyin’ Breed record. As they have every time that I’ve been fortunate enough to see them (I believe last night was #12 since the 2006 tour with 3 Doors Down and Shooter Jennings), they brought their best effort. This was my first time seeing them since the passing of guitarist Gary Rossington last spring, and while Damon Johnson has mighty big shoes to fill, he served admirably and the band is now able to continue on and keeping some of the greatest music ever written alive and relevant in the live setting. I’d imagine that by the time that Skynyrd took the stage that the crowd had probably reached a few thousand strong and the rain held off for the rest of the night. The Jacksonville band played their pretty standard 14 song set and while there weren’t many surprises, I imagine it is nearly impossible to find the perfect set list unless they were going to play until 3 a.m. Alas, they wrapped up around 10:30, sounding as good as ever. I hope that at some point Columbus gets another shot to see this band before they hang ’em up for good. If I don’t get a chance to see them again, I was glad to be there throughout the years. They always made sure to “play it pretty” for Cincinnati, Columbus, Cuyahoga Falls, Toledo, and Dayton in all of the different venues that I saw them play. Not only did I get to see them all of those times, the supporting acts that they’ve brought out on the road has also been the stuff of legend: Hank Williams, Jr., ZZ Top, Bad Company, 3 Doors Down, Justin Moore, Shooter Jennings, Black Stone Cherry, Blue Oyster Cult, The Marshall Tucker Band, and .38 Special are just some of the groups that I’ve also seen along the way as a touring partner of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band.
Avenged Sevenfold made their second visit to Ohio’s capital city last night in support of their latest offering; 2023’s Life Is But A Dream…, a project that was five years in the making. They made their initial Columbus stop last May as the Friday night headliner at the Sonic Temple Festival. Admittedly, I was concerned after watching them last year at a festival that has become like a second home for them. Perhaps, it was just the long layoff after the pandemic that had made them seem somewhat rusty. Whatever rust they may have had last May has surely been shaken off by now. Last night at Nationwide Arena the band were in top form. Their proper headlining, fifteen song set saw them focus on their latest record but also dust off some of their more obscure back catalog.
The opener for this tour is alt-pop-metal outfit Poppy. Admittedly, I was unfamiliar with her or her band prior to last night and I didn’t have high expectations. I’m glad that I went into it with an open mind, however. I’m sure that I am not the target demographic for her music and will admit that it was certainly not in my wheelhouse of something that I’d normally listen to. With all of that said, there was something about the performance that drew me in. I can’t explain it. There were elements of techno, metal, and pop that fused into an oddly enjoyable blend of music. All I can say is I had never heard or seen anything quite like it before last night. I would explain it as if you mixed Rob Zombie with In This Moment and K-Pop. I’m generally not one that would be described as a very artistic person, but her performance was certainly art. I can and do appreciate that. While I might not understand it, I was entertained and drawn into it, and in retrospect there were things about her performance that fits with the experimentation and progressive path that A7X has been on since Hail To The King was released.
Poppy Set List Columbus, OH 3/26/2024
1. Bloodmoney
2. Church Outfit
3. Bite Your Teeth
4. I Disagree
5. X
6. Hard
7. Sit/Stay
8. V.A.N. (Bad Omens cover)
9. Fill The Crown
10. Anything Like Me
11. Scary Mask
12. Concrete
Shortly after 9 p.m. the lights dimmed and Kvinsky’s Nightcall played over the speakers as the intro before Avenged Sevenfold took the stage to kick off the night with a pair of songs from the new album. It’s no secret that over the course of the past two albums the band has been experimenting with new sounds. Like bands before them (Rush, Iron Maiden, Metallica, etc.) they’ve been pushing the boundaries into new territory. Avenged Sevenfold no longer fits into a cookie cutter box of a proper metalcore band. They’ve grown. They’ve evolved. That’s okay, too. How boring would it be, for them, to continuously make the same record over and over again? Do I have a fondness for their earlier work? Absolutely. I do enjoy seeing a band grow, though, and both The Stage and Life Is But A Dream… have grown on me with each listen.
The new tracks held up well in the live setting and of course the crowd went nuts for the songs from the “classic” era of this band. For a band that I worried about potentially being lost less than a year ago; those fears have been put to rest after seeing them last night. M. Shadows in particular seemed to be having fun again and his vocals were stronger than they’ve been in a long time. With eight studio albums now under their belt, during a career spanning twenty five years, there is always going to be a gripe with any set list that they choose to perform. Of course I want to hear “Beast and the Harlot“, but I’ll gladly trade that for a band that is still challenging themselves to make new music. That means the fire still burns within them. If that fire still burns, then you’ve got a band that is going to continue to create. Bands that create, want to share their art and perform it live. Give me that. Bands that become bored, don’t last. I need live music more than I need to hear a particular song. I’m thankful that Avenged Sevenfold is still driven to create and bring us their live show. Inspiration breeds motivation, and has led this band back to being on top of their game. They were on top of their game last night.
Avenged Sevenfold Set List Columbus, Ohio 3/26/2024
K.K.’s Priest performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, Ohio 3/16/24 Photo by Chad Hobbs
K.K.’s Priest invaded the comfy confines of Columbus’ venue The King of Clubs on Saturday night. The all-star cast that Judas Priest legend K.K. Downing has put together to represent both his storied Priest career as well as two albums of new heavy metal made their first visit to Ohio on this tour and brought a pair of bands with them to warm up the crowd. The tour package paired several heavy metal legends with several legends in the making as well.
Switzerland’s (minus one, Philly guitar virtuoso Courtney Cox) Burning Witches made their second appearance at the music venue that has quickly became the local favorite for a variety of music, but has specialized in giving headbangers a place to feel at home. Last time they visited, they were on tour supporting Cox’s former band; The Iron Maidens. While she admittedly made a comfortable living in the world famous Iron Maiden tribute act, the lure of creating original music with like minded people led her to accepting a full time gig with the Witches last summer.
As is the case with most metal music, this band brings a powerhouse rhythm section with Jeanine Grob on bass and Lala Frischknecht on drums. The aforementioned Cox has assumed lead guitar duties while founding member Romana Kalkuhl handles rhythm guitars. They are led out front by the next great siren in heavy metal, Laura Guldemond. Her stage presence is what sets their performance apart from many of their contemporary counterparts. They play heavy, heavy metal yet haven’t forgotten the idea that performing live should be fun. Guldemond’s confidence while commanding a crowd is reminiscent of the legends of the genre. Even while there were issues during the first song with her microphone and the documented physical struggle that this tour has been for Kalkuhl, they soldiered through and refused to let their performance be hampered. This is a band that is only going to continue to grow its fan base as corporate radio continues to die and more avenues become available to get real metal music to the masses.
Burning Witches Set List
1. Unleash The Beast
2. Wings of Steel
3. Hexenhammer
4. Lucid Nightmare
5. The Dark Tower
6. Burning Witches
Burning Witches performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, Ohio 3/16/24 Photo by Chad Hobbs
Burning Witches performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, Ohio 3/16/24 Photo by Chad Hobbs
Los Angeles’ heavy metal staples L.A. Guns were up next. I always love seeing bands from the 80’s era that got pigeonholed into the “hair metal” scene unjustly. Firstly, most of the bands from the era are great anyway and the “hair” label cheapens their contributions to heavy metal music. A lot of them have their metal “cred” challenged on the basis of cheesy music videos for the newly founded MTV or because they happened to write a ballad or two. L.A. Guns are no exception to the rule, but this being the second time seeing them live in the past few years, I’m happy to say that they are just a kick ass heavy metal band that are even better live. The key to most of these bands that paved the way for the heavier stuff that would come in later years, is that when you see them live, you hear these songs the way they were actually meant to be heard. Live, loud, raw. The casual metal fan may only know this band for their radio friendly hit, “The Ballad of Jayne”, (which is a great song by the way) and completely may not be aware that this band is actually much closer to Motorhead than they ever were to Bon Jovi.
Tracii Guns is one of the most well known guitarists to come out of the 1980’s metal scene. In fact, while Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman” was blaring over the speakers as the band was taking the stage, Guns played along in what is one of the coolest ways to kick off a concert I’ve ever seen. While it’s pretty obvious where the “Guns” in L.A. Guns comes from; his namesake is also where the “Guns” in Guns N’ Roses comes from too as for a brief time L.A. Guns merged with Axl’s band Hollywood Rose. The pairing didn’t last long, however, and L.A. Guns forged ahead. Handling lead vocals since 1987 (save for a four year stretch in the ’90s), is Mr. Phil Lewis. His vocals were on point all night. He informed the crowd prior to the performance of “Jayne” that he’s been struggling with his vocals but that he would try hard to get through the song. He sounded great and one could not be blamed for thinking that he was full of it. In fact, Ripper Owens of the evenings headlining performers would later playfully call him out for being full of shit.
L.A. Guns Set List
1. Cannonball
2. Electric Gypsy
3. Over The Edge
4. Sex Action
5. Speed
6. Hell’s Bells (instrumental jam of AC/DC)
7. Never Enough
8. The Ballad of Jayne
9. Rip and Tear
L.A. Guns performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, Ohio 3/16/2024. Photo by Chad Hobbs
At about 9:45, the headlining act for the night took the stage. K.K. Downing is a founding member of Judas Priest. The same Judas Priest that is quite obviously on the Mount Rushmore of heavy metal bands with Sabbath, Maiden and Metallica. Don’t try to argue. His decades of playing twin harmonizing guitar with Glen Tipton in Priest formed one of the most iconic and recognizable sounds in metal music. In 2011, Downing’s time in Priest came to an end and after many years of not performing the beginnings of what would become K.K.’s Priest began to take shape right before and during the pandemic.
The new project, K.K.’s Priest, would be a combination of both some of his best work from the Judas Priest heyday as well as fresh and new music that would remain true to what his vision of the band was. Who better to recruit for lead vocals than Akron, Ohio’s Tim “Ripper” Owens who actually was in Judas Priest for a pair of albums when they reunited without Rob Halford briefly around the turn of the century. His vocal parallels to Halford are eerily close and his work with Iced Earth was my favorite that they put out. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see him perform with Iced Earth, so I’ve been looking forward to seeing him live and combined with Downing whom I hadn’t seen since 2009’s Judas Priest tour; you might say that Saturday night was a show that I was excited for.
Rounding out the band are guitarist A.J. Mills, bassist Tony Newton, and drummer Sean Elg. The hard hitting quintet opened the night with the first single from their first record; 2021’s Sermons of the Sinner. From the opening riff of “Hellfire Thunderbolt” to kick off the set and through second encore song; this was just a classic, old school metal show. With Owens piercing vocals ripping right through you and heavy riffs and plenty of double bass pedal holding it all together, the show surpassed all of my expectations and has now taken over the top spot for shows that I’ve seen at The King of Clubs. It was also a fantastic way to kick off my 2024 concert run. The night was a celebration. A celebration of the legacy of K.K. Downing and his work over the past 50+ years. It was a celebration of the legacy of Tracii Guns. It was a celebration of the future of all three of these bands. It was a celebration of the 3rd year anniversary of Columbus’ new favorite music venue. The show was sold out. Towards the end of the show, Owens remarked that after the end of this tour that the band would reconvene in England to work on the follow up to 2023’s The Sinner Rides Again album. I’m excited for that and hope that they will once again spend an evening with the headbanging faithful in Columbus, Ohio when they inevitably tour in support of whatever comes next.
K.K.’s Priest Set List
1. Hellfire Thunderbolt
2. One More Shot at Glory
3. The Ripper (Judas Priest cover)
4. Reap the Whirlwind
5. Night Crawler (Judas Priest cover)
6. Burn in Hell (Judas Priest cover)
7. Beyond the Realms of Death (Judas Priest cover)
8. Hell Patrol (Judas Priest cover)
9. Brother of the Road
10. The Green Manalishi With The Two Prong Crown (Fleetwood Mac cover)
11. Breaking The Law (Judas Priest cover)
12. Victim of Changes (Judas Priest cover)
*Encore*
13. Strike of the Viper
14. Raise Your Fists
K.K.’s Priest performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, OH 3/16/2024. Photo by Chad Hobbs
K.K.’s Priest performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, OH 3/16/2024. Photo by Chad Hobbs
K.K.’s Priest performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, OH 3/16/2024. Photo by Chad Hobbs
K.K.’s Priest performing at The King of Clubs, Columbus, OH 3/16/2024. Photo by Chad Hobbs
The King of Clubs, located on Columbus’ northern side, has quickly made a name for itself for all of the right reasons. Time and again, seemingly week after week they are announcing new concerts for their venue that are meeting a need in the city. The Al Rosa Villa is gone and The Newport and Kemba Live venues have largely ignored metal and hard rock acts for the past several years. The King of Clubs has risen to the challenge and filled that void for the most loyal fans in music.
The Iron Maidens, the world famous “only female tribute to Iron Maiden”, returned to the club for their third visit in as many years on Saturday night. While it may have felt like deja vu for most of the band, one member was making her debut for the Columbus venue. Shani Kimelman is currently filling in as one of the guitarists while Courtney Cox is doing the same for the Swiss metal band Burning Witches. Having only been on the road with the Maidens for a week or so, Kimelman handled her duties wonderfully and traded off some of heavy metal’s most famous guitar solos with long time lead guitarist Nikki Stringfield. As always, bassist Wanda Ortiz had the tall task of handling Steve Harris’ iconic bass lines. Lead vocalist Kirsten Rosenberg brought the “Air Raid Siren” screams to new highs and on some of the most challenging songs, I thought that she was at her best. This quite possibly may have been her best performance of the five times that I’ve caught this band.
Photos taken by Sydney Hobbs
I must say, though, as my wife has started to dabble in the world of drums herself; I have started to have an even greater appreciation for the work that goes on at the back of the stage. Drummers tend to get forgotten or taken for granted, but percussionist Linda McDonald really does hold it all together. With the famous riffs, one of the world’s greatest vocalists, and heavy metal’s greatest bass player; it’s easy to kind of forget about the drumming in the Iron Maiden catalog. I spent some time watching and listening to McDonald’s drum work in particular and she flat out kicked ass up there. While she might not be front and center of the stage, her role and performance cannot be minimized.
As usual, the ladies played a nice mix that represented a large portion of the Maiden catalog. Typically, they do play at least one of their more modern tracks (post-1995), this time they did not. This year’s visit was all about the classics and they pulled it off flawlessly. Highlights included the first of the Iron Maiden “epics”, “The Phantom of the Opera” from their 1980 debut album; as well as “Deja Vu” (a criminally underrated track) and of course the greatest metal song of all time; “Hallowed Be Thy Name“.
Mount Gilead, Ohio. It’s a small village in rural Morrow County. At the last census, Mt. Gilead only had a population of 3,500. However, in 2022, a group called Finley’s Entertainment organized an event at the Morrow County Fairgrounds called Freedom Fest Ohio. Apparently, the event was so successful that its second incarnation was held this past weekend at the same venue. This is big news for Morrow County. We don’t get concerts like this. When an evening of rock acts were announced for this year’s four day event, I knew that I couldn’t miss an event like this that was virtually in my back yard (Go Cardington-Lincoln Pirates!).
The event serves as an entertainment option for our rural county but also is a major fundraiser for the United States Law Enforment Foundation (USLEF) where a dollar of every ticket sold was donated to that organization. Friday night headliner, Poison’s Bret Michaels and his band announced that they would also match the donation made to the charity.
When I say that this a huge opportunity for my county, I can’t overstate that. We don’t have concerts here. We don’t see many celebrities roll through our towns. To say that I was nervous of the impression we would make on these rock heroes is an understatement. Boy, was I wrong. The organizers of this event did it right. This was a truly professional concert. A real, and professionally built stage was there for the acts, complete with professional sound and lights. Like other major festivals in the area, there was plenty of food truck options as well as restrooms. The crowd was big and appropriate size for these acts. Being from such a rural area, I had reservations on whether our community would support the concert. They turned up in a big way, even with a less than ideal weather forecast. I was proud to be there, and proud of my fellow Morrow County community for turning up.
San Francisco’s Jefferson Starship kicked things off at 6:00 and really surprised me. I’d seen the two acts that followed them many times, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from Starship. I thought they did an admirable job of mixing in the appropriate amount of Jefferson Airplane songs into their set list. Jefferson Airplane, who were one of the leaders of the psychedelic rock movement of the mid to late 1960’s, would later face turbulence in the group before forming Jefferson Starship in 1974. Their show was good, particularly with their vocalists Cathy Richardson and original member David Freiberg. I thought the highlights of their performance were the Airplane classics “Somebody To Love” and “White Rabbit”.
After a short break, 1980’s rock radio staples Night Ranger took the stage. This marked my third time seeing these guys after previous concerts in Mansfield and Marion, and as usual they were excellent. I know that this tour is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their sophomore album, Midnight Madness, which features several of their biggest hits, including the iconic “Sister Christian”. With that said, “Eddie’s Comin’ Out Tonight” from their debut record needs to permanently be in the set list! Although, this was my first time seeing them in a support role, so I’d imagine putting a set list together when you are used to being the headliner must be a daunting task. I enjoyed that they mixed up their set a bit and that they include the Damn Yankees two biggest songs as well, a nice nod to bassist and vocalist Jack Blades time in that super group as well. Their performance certainly made it known that the headlining act was going to have to be on their top performance to earn that title.
Night Ranger Set List Mount Gilead, OH
1. You Can Still (Rock In America)
2. Four In The Morning
3. Sing Me Away
4. Coming Of Age (Damn Yankees cover)
5. The Secret Of My Success
6. Night Ranger
7. *Drum Solo*
8. High Enough (Damn Yankees cover)
9. When You Close Your Eyes
10. Don’t Tell Me You Love Me
11. Sister Christian
Moments after Night Ranger left the stage, the skies opened and the heavens fell down in the form of monsoon conditions for about 15 minutes. The Morrow County faithful stayed strong, and settled in, after all this agricultural community isn’t afraid of playing in the mud. Quite literally, there were folks that made an impromptu slip-n-slide out of a tarp and were having a great time. The rest of us sat in the pouring rain and drank beer. Besides, this rain was nothing compared to the literal monsoon that I was in for a Poison/Def Leppard/Cheap Trick concert at Blossom Music Center some 14 years ago or the Iron Maiden/Alice Cooper show in Indianapolis of 2012. It was a good, solid summer rain though, and I didn’t see a soul heading for the exits.
The headliner on this tour, dubbed “Parti Gras 2023”, is of course the Bret Michaels band. He’s most well known as the lead vocalist for the 1980’s hair band Poison. Bret takes a lot of flak from every direction. Certain bass players, from other certain hair bands that possibly don’t even play live and like to pretend that they weren’t also a hair band, (cough, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue) have taken shots at Poison. The former reality TV show “Rock Of Love” also made Bret an easy target for criticism. Here is what I’ll say about all of it: The dude was and is still one of the best entertainers in the industry, and he was willing to bring that to little, ole Mount Gilead, Ohio. Sure, I know the ladies love Bret Michaels, but I’m a fan of his songs. He has played them on the biggest stages in the world. Just last summer, he played with Poison in the Cleveland Browns football stadium, and here he was on Friday night at the Morrow County Fairgrounds. Say what you want about hair metal, or the eyeliner, or any of it; but the guy is a genuine and down to earth rock star. I’ve seen his solo band once before and Poison a handful of times and he has always made sure to acknowledge who the real heroes in this country are, without making it a political thing. Because guess what, patriotism is not something that is supposed to be political, and he hasn’t forgotten that. On this night it was heroes of law enforcement that were brought on to the stage for some recognition, just as I can recall him bringing out cameras to send love to troops overseas during Poison concerts during the height of the War on Terror. That’s not being political. That’s being a stand up dude that has perspective. I’ve always appreciated that about Bret and his live shows. He’s there to party (or Parti?) and there is no mistaking that, but the freedom to live the life he lives and do the job he does came at a price, and he takes the time to acknowledge that. Every time.
Again, like Night Ranger before him, we’ve got to find a way to get “Fallen Angel” and “Cry Tough” back into the set, but I digress. The vocalist has put a solid band around him while he worked through a set list of mostly Poison classics. The crowd ate up every moment of it. The thing that gave me hope was a teenage couple, whom I assume was from out of town (he wore a Bishop Watterson football shirt), who were belting out every word to every song a few feet away from my wife and I. I wasn’t even born when Jefferson Starship and Night Ranger had their biggest success and I was an infant when Poison burst onto the scene. To see kids, who weren’t even born when I saw Poison on their 20th anniversary tour in 2006, being the next generation to keep classic rock music alive is a heartwarming thing. I hope the folks at Freedom Fest Ohio will continue to bring rock acts like this to our community and that hopefully the festival is here to stay.
Bret Michaels Band set list Mount Gilead, Ohio
Talk Dirty To Me (Poison cover)
Look What The Cat Dragged In (Poison cover)
Ride The Wind (Poison cover)
*Bret Michaels harmonica solo*
Your Mama Don’t Dance (Loggins and Messina cover)
Something To Believe In (Poison cover)
Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers cover)
Unskinny Bop (Poison cover)
*Drum solo*
Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Poison cover)
Nothin’ But A Good Time (Poison cover)
*Encore* Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover with members of Jefferson Starship)
To celebrate the upcoming Bret Michaels band and Night Ranger concert appearance with special guests Jefferson Starship at Freedom Fest Ohio in tiny Mount Gilead, Ohio tomorrow night; lets take a stab at ranking the most essential songs from Bret’s main band Poison. Those classic, hair metal anthems are sure to be peppered throughout the set list and it’s high time we rate the best of the best!
Poison performing their traditional opening song; “Look What The Cat Dragged In” in St. Louis, Missouri
The following are my rankings of the 15 Greatest Poison tracks! Agree? Disagree? Vote at the end of the article!
There are still tickets available and can be purchased here! Having seen Poison five times or so and the Bret Michaels band once before, Mount Gilead, Ohio ought to be ready to party. While Poison, and hair metal in general gets a lot of grief for being cheesy, Michaels always puts in a genuine performance that will have you singing along and leaving with a smile on your face. You can check out my review of Poison’s Cleveland performance last summer right here. Also while there, make sure to visit our friends at Legend Records at their downtown shop for all of your music needs until 4pm on Friday and also at the festival. Hit up King’s Krossing Food Truck for your hunger needs during the concert as well! Lastly, make sure to vote below for what YOU think is the greatest Poison song of all-time!
It had been four long years since I last saw a concert at Historic Crew Stadium, home of the Sonic Temple Music Festival. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the entire world shutting down. 2021 was cancelled as well due to lingering fear peddling and no word on ever was publicly made that I’m aware of as to why the event didn’t happen in 2022. As someone who is one of the originals from 2007 when this event was formerly known as Rock On The Range, the pilgrimage to Columbus for this festival kind of became ingrained into my psyche. For this year’s festival, I only visited on Friday and Saturday. While pulling off of 17th Avenue onto the festival grounds, I was met with a rush of familiarity and memories with friends and strangers. Unfortunately, I arrived too late in the day to park in my usual spot under the shade of the infamous Pee Tree. If you’ve ever pre-gamed for this festival with me and my friends, you should remember the Pee Tree. Good times.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get down on Friday in time for Black Stone Cherry. one of my long time favorites whom I first discovered on those very grounds. While walking in, Badflower had just started their performance, but I was headed straight to the Octane Stage for Dorothy. I watched the rest of Badflower’s set from the video screens as Dorothy’s stage was being put together. She remains rock & roll’s best kept secret. She’s got a powerful voice. She’s got a great, hard rocking band behind her. She’s authentically authentic. Due to being a festival performance, the 7 song set was all too brief, especially after getting to see her perform a headlining set on her own tour last year. With that said, the band made the most of their 40 minute slot. Quite literally, their frontwoman stopped the show to shout a prayer over a fan that was having some sort of medical emergency. The show did not continue until security and medical personnel confirmed that the individual was okay. While there were a few dozen apparent nonbelievers that were looking for a reason to be offended and left, I found it refreshing to hear this woman bring everything to a halt and immediately reach out for divine intervention for a complete stranger in need. How sad it is that in today’s age, someone could be offended by somebody praying over somebody in distress. Dorothy Martin is admittedly no saint. She has been open for years about vulnerable moments in her life, her own demons and the things that have led her to her renewed faith. At a festival that had tents devoted to tarot card readings, tents devoted to coven members, and countless performers and fans wearing and saying things that blaspheme virtually every religion on earth, it is absolutely mind blowing that there were a vocal minority of people complaining about someone praying and making sure the devil wasn’t welcome to harm her fans. I know, not very “metal” of me to have this take, but oh well, I’m not ashamed. Anyway, the rest of her performance continued without incident and as always was one of the highlights.
Dorothy performing “What’s Coming To Me” at Sonic Temple Festival, May 26, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.
From there it was to the main stage for the rest of the evening for me. As always, Illinois’ alt metal titans, Chevelle were their typical solid selves. Having also seen them multiple times, this three-piece isn’t there to be flashy. They show up and let their music speak for them. In their fifty minute set they fit in as many songs as the evening’s headliner, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Sandwiched between Chevelle and the Friday headliner was Seattle’s Queens Of The Stone Age. They aren’t my typical go-to type of band, but their set was fine and lead vocalist Josh Homme remarked that it was their first gig in five years. I’d have flipped them and Chevelle, but no real complaints there. QOTSA also managed to play an 11 song set, matching the output of the final band of the night.
Chevelle performing “The Red” at Sonic Temple Music Festival, Columbus, OH.
Queens Of The Stone Age performing “No One Knows” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH.
Friday night’s headliner marked the return of a festival favorite; Avenged Sevenfold. The three new tracks were fine, and expected on an album tour. It was that there was only eight other tracks during their performance that puzzles me. I love A7X and have been a fan of theirs since the early 2000’s. Yet every time that they have headlined this festival, I don’t think they’ve ever played what is a proper headlining set. In 2018 they played a whopping ten songs and didn’t encore. In 2014 they played thirteen. In 2011 they played ten and in 2009 as the direct support to the headlining Motley Crue they only played seven songs. I don’t get it. Again, Friday night in 2023, they only played eleven songs and forget an encore song or two; because they stopped playing twenty minutes before their advertised set time was supposed to end. Again, I love this band, but if there is a physical reason that they can’t play a proper headlining set then drop them to the direct support and let them play for an hour since that seems to be about what they want to do.
The band sounded better than I anticipated. The new songs are growing on me. I don’t understand the shock that people have expressed in their new sound. This has kind of been the trajectory that they’ve been heading for awhile now. I’m all for being creative and trying to grow. I do hope, however, that they are all in a good place and are taking care of themselves both in body, mind and spirit. I can’t put my finger on it, but something just seems like members of this band may need some help. They’ve been through a lot. I hope for the best and I hope to see them again, but ending a major festival performance 20 minutes earlier than what was advertised and what people paid a lot of money for makes it seem like maybe things aren’t just quite right in A7X world.
Avenged Sevenfold Set List Columbus, OH
1. Game Over
2. Afterlife
3. Hail To The King
4. We Love You
5. Buried Alive
6. So Far Away
7. Nobody
8. Nightmare
9. Bat Country
10. Unholy Confessions
11. A Little Piece Of Heaven
Avenged Sevenfold performing “Bat Country” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH
I trekked back down on Saturday for my most anticipated concert of 2023: KISS. I”ve been a KISS fan since I was about fifteen years old since Santa Claus, apparently growing tired of my rap phase, gifted me the iconic Destroyer album for Christmas. From the first time I heard “Detroit Rock City” and “God Of Thunder” among others on the record, I’ve been hooked. I first saw KISS in 2003 with my Dad on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith. I saw them a second time with my brother in 2009 in Cleveland where they had the curious choice of having Buckcherry as their opening act. Anyway, every time that KISS had came to town since then, they’ve eluded me for whatever reason. To say that I had been waiting for that concert for a long time would be an understatement. To pass on the goodwill that my Dad, er, Santa Claus passed on to me; I took my 13 year old nephew with me for his first large scale concert experience.
We arrived in time to catch From Ashes To New on the Octane Stage. Hailing from neighboring Pennsylvania, these hard rockers were really good. They brought great energy and packed 9 songs into their forty minute set. See my confusion with Avenged Sevenfold? They were given 90 minutes to headline the event, played for 70 minutes instead, and only played 11 songs. Anyway, for being the first band my nephew ever got to see at a festival, they left a lasting impression on him and I was impressed as well.
From Ashes To New performing “Panic” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH.
Following them were Sweden’s Avatar. Their performances are always entertaining. For those of you that might not be familiar; imagine Alice Cooper’s theatrics meets King Diamond piercing vocals meets Swedish heavy metal. It makes sense to me. I’m here for it and the crowd reaction was great, particularly for “Smells Like A Freakshow”. I must wonder, though, if those same complainers about Dorothy shared any complaints about the subject matter from Avatar’s performance. I’m doubtful. Anyway, this is a band that I recommend people to check out if you are a metalhead that might be looking for something new.
Avatar performing “Smells Like A Freakshow” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH.
For the rest of the evening it was time to venture from the Octane Stage into the stadium for the big acts. For the first time in awhile at this event, Rob Zombie was not in a headlining role. He understood the assignment though. Zombie is a huge KISS fan and was all on board with being the act that got the privilege of opening for them. I’d have made some changes to his set list, but as always he worked the crowd into a frenzy with his unique brand of grooving “dance” songs that tackle Gothic era horror and comics. I’ve never not enjoyed myself during a Rob Zombie performance and yesterday was not an exception.
Rob Zombie performing “Scum Of The Earth” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, OH
Rob Zombie Set List Columbus, OH
1. The Triumph Of King Freak (A Crypt Of Preservation And Superstition)
2. Superbeast
3. Meet The Creeper
4. Shake Your Ass – Smoke Your Grass
5. Living Dead Girl
6. More Human Than Human
7. Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown
8. Scum Of The Earth
9. Never Gonna Stop ( The Red, Red Kroovy)
10. Well, Everybody’s *Friendly* In A U.F.O.
11. House Of 1000 Corpses
12. Thunder Kiss ’65
13. Dragula
An hour after Zombie’s set finished, it was time for KISS. They did not disappoint. This band takes a lot of flak from people and some of it deservedly so; but their live performances are rivaled by very few acts and it makes me happy to see that they are ending this thing in a fashion where they are still able to put on a great show. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are well into their 70’s and it would be easy to phone it in on this last run of shows that will see their touring days come to an end; but they aren’t. Columbus, OH was treated to the “hottest band in the world” one final time and packed as much into a 90 minute set that I think they could. Getting to share it with my young nephew made it even cooler. With every explosion, rising platform, spitting fire, and blood capsule trick; I would look over and see a thirteen year old boy with a look of awe on his face that I was hoping for. Outside of Metallica at Rock On The Range 2017, KISS firmly planted themselves as the best performance in the event’s history in my not so humble opinion. It was awesome, for one last time, to lose our minds in *Columbus* Rock City with KISS.
KISS performing “Detroit Rock City” at Sonic Temple Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Rock Lives Here 