Live music is coming back, and it’s a beautiful thing. While last night’s show featured a trio of high quality tribute acts, even the big tours are starting to get the wheels rolling towards big shows as well. The concert last night was at a new, to me, venue that exceeded my expectations. What they’ve got going for them first and foremost was excellent hospitality. I’ve had VIP at both The Newport and ExpressLive (or whatever it’s called these days) and never been treated as exceptionally as we were last night at The King of Clubs. While this new venue is in a tough part of town like The Al Rosa Villa was, they’re offering something that the rest of the city hasn’t for quite some time. Just being frank, compare the largely utter garbage that The Newport and Express Live are booking compared to The King of Clubs and you’ll see why I have hope for this place. The joint is being ran by a heavy metal vocalist and the talent they are booking are filling the demand for hard rock and metal fans in the 614. The former Al Rosa was not only in a tough area and it was cramped; and while we all have fond memories there, this new venue appears set to offer the same music but with more space and much superior hospitality. They’re pushing this narrative at The King of Clubs, where they are going to be Ohio’s finest entertainment venue and everyone is treated like royalty. Well, to my surprise, they delivered on all of the above. I want to see this venue do well and the surrounding area come up with it.

The opening act were Sweet Leaf, a Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne tribute. They were a fun way to kick off the night and until you hear these songs live, it’s easy to forget just how heavy Sabbath really was. In today’s world of growling vocals and muddied distortion, what was once considered heavy could be forgotten. Not the case with Sabbath though. Those old, doomy riffs still hit today. Their lead singer and Ozzy lookalike took time to take a photo with my daughter who was with us celebrating her 14th birthday to see the evenings headliners. Much appreciated.

Sweet Leaf set list

1. I Don’t Know (Ozzy cover)
2. Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath cover)
3. Bark at the Moon (Ozzy cover)
4. I’m a Believer (Ozzy cover)
5. Crazy Train (Ozzy cover)
6. Suicide Solution (Ozzy cover)
7. Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
8. N.I.B. (Black Sabbath cover)
9. War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

From there we’d be treated to the Steel City Crue, who came from Pittsburgh to bring the Motley Crue goods to Columbus. When people think about or listen to Motley Crue music, I think the general consensus is fun. At least for me, I just think of good times, anyway. These guys went the extra yard and the entire four piece looked and sounded like their counterpart from the real Crue. That’s what the people want. When they go to a show like this, they want it all. It was my first time seeing either of these opening acts and they both exceeded my expectations. Steel City Crue didn’t only focus on the radio hits either, and made sure to play some of the old, heavier Crue as well; which was very well received. They also made sure that everyone knew that they were from Pittsburgh so they also didn’t like Penn State and of course did the obligatory “O-H” “I-O” back and forth with the crowd.

Steel City Crue set list

1. Shout at the Devil
2. Doctor Feelgood
3. Take Me to the Top
4. Wild Side
5. Red Hot
6. Home Sweet Home
7. Looks That Kill
8. Ten Seconds to Love
9. Kickstart My Heart
10. Smokin’ in the Boys Room (Brownsville Station cover)
11. Live Wire

The headlining Iron Maidens were making their King of Clubs debut as well. The two previous times that I’ve been able to catch them were at The Al Rosa Villa. While they are credited with being the ‘World’s only all female tribute to Iron Maiden’; their gender really is irrelevant to their musical abilities. As a Maiden die hard, it’s cool to see chicks that even like Iron Maiden and the fact that they are excellent musicians is the icing on the cake. Just don’t get hung up on the “female” part as a gimmick. It is not. These ladies flat out rock. Nikki Stringfield and Courtney Cox trade guitar solos throughout the show and pack the Maiden punch. Kirsten Rosenberg hits Bruce Dickinson’s high vocal notes and even takes them up another couple levels on her screams. The backbone to both Maiden and their counterparts in this tribute band operate at another level. Wanda Ortiz’ right hand is a blur on the bass as she holds down the Maiden gallop and Steve Harris’ rhythms and Linda McDonald seemingly had all four of her limbs in constant motion for the entirety of the set on the drums. Fantastic as always. And in a time when most of the big tours haven’t returned yet, and the uncertainty of the industry, these high quality tribute acts bring much needed live music to concert craving fans.

Small venues are cool. In the mezzanine was a VIP lounge where the girls were prior to the show. It appeared that they briefly may have had a Spinal Tap moment in not being able to find their way to the stage, which I genuinely hope was the case as I love that movie. My daughter was able to get a fist bump from Courtney after the show and seeing her smile and enjoying these songs with me, the same way that I’ve enjoyed hearing these songs live with my dad, made me a happy man.

The Iron Maidens set list

(Doctor, Doctor)

1. Aces High
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight
3. Infinite Dreams
4. Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)
5. The Trooper
6. Stranger in a Strange Land
7. Wasted Years
8. Wasting Love
9. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
10. Sun and Steel
11. Killers
12. The Number of the Beast

*Encore*

13. Hallowed Be Thy Name

14. Run to the Hills

(Always Look on the Bright Side of Life)