Tag: hard rock

Ranking Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne. Man, what an icon for the world of heavy music. There would be no hard rock and heavy metal as we know it today if it weren’t for Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward when they founded Black Sabbath back in 1968. Picture that. The popular bands at the time were groups like The Doors and The Rolling Stones…and then, here comes Black Sabbath. They, quite literally, changed the world; and like so many of their contemporaries, their run at the top of the world was all too brief. For various reasons, Osbourne would be out of the band throughout the 80’s and 90’s before reconnecting and performing with Black Sabbath sporadically since 1997. Osbourne’s passing on Tuesday, just seventeen days after the final Black Sabbath show, truly feels like one of those deaths that marks the end of a chapter of your younger self. Ozzy Osbourne. I’m not sure there has been a bigger individual name in my lifetime that is more synonymous with heavy music.

In honor of his memory, and the killer tunes that he graced us with, now is your turn to choose YOUR favorite Ozzy (solo) tune. I will save Black Sabbath for a different time. Vote for your favorite below and then read on as I reveal my favorites from his wild career.

I was fortunate to see Ozzy perform live one time in 2007. It was at Ozzfest at the old Polaris Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio before it turned into a Top Golf and a Swedish furniture store. It was a great show and I honestly remember being surprised by that. At that time, Ozzy was still largely in the public eye due to the popularity of his family’s reality TV show but I honestly didn’t think that he would still be able to perform. He proved me wrong. I wish that I had also got to see Sabbath, but it wasn’t meant to be, as Ozzy was sick for the 2005 Ozzfest and Sabbath had to cancel; leaving Iron Maiden to headline instead… Anyway, my introduction to Ozzy came from my dad’s Diary of a Madman cassette tape. That album still holds up and is the one that I hold in the highest regards from Ozzy’s career, although a decade later, No More Tears gives it a serious run for its money. Some of Osbourne’s greatest songs, though, would come towards the end of his life. His later works were introspective and I believe through this music was how he came to terms with his demons. My Top 30 songs from Ozzy’s solo career are below, in reverse chronological order:

  1. Patient Number 9 (2022)
  2. Ordinary Man featuring Elton John (2020)
  3. Under The Graveyard (2020)
  4. Let Me Hear You Scream (2010)
  5. I Don’t Wanna Stop (2007)
  6. Gets Me Through (2001)
  7. Perry Mason (1995)
  8. I Just Want You (1995)
  9. See You On The Other Side (1995)
  10. Mama, I’m Coming Home (1991)
  11. No More Tears (1991)
  12. Desire (1991)
  13. Hellraiser featuring Lemmy Kilmeister (1991)
  14. Road To Nowhere (1991)
  15. Breaking All The Rules (1988)
  16. Fire In The Sky (1988)
  17. The Ultimate Sin (1986)
  18. Shot In The Dark (1986)
  19. Bark at The Moon (1983)
  20. Over The Mountain (1981)
  21. Flying High Again (1981)
  22. You Can’t Kill Rock & Roll (1981)
  23. Believer (1981)
  24. S.A.T.O. (1981)
  25. Diary of a Madman (1981)
  26. Tonight (1981)
  27. Mr. Crowley (1980)
  28. Goodbye To Romance (1980)
  29. I Don’t Know (1980)
  30. Crazy Train (1980)

This weekend, raise your glasses to the Ozzman and turn it up to eleven.

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AC/DC powers up Cleveland crowd

Over the past seventeen days, I was able to take in live shows by the two biggest active rock bands in the world. May 11th, my niece and I took in Metallica. This past Wednesday, my daughter and I went up to Cleveland to see the one and only AC/DC. Both shows came as a surprise to me. My niece had picked up an extra ticket for the Metallica show when she grabbed tickets to surprise her boyfriend with. My daughter had apparently told my wife that she wanted to see AC/DC as her graduation gift. Unbeknownst to me, this plot involved a ticket for me as well for my birthday. Am I blessed or what?

AC/DC is one of those bands that, for some unknown reason, has kind of become mainstream to make fun of. It’s ridiculous. AC/DC and Led Zeppelin are the two most important hard rock bands of all time. Yet, it’s become cool for dorks in Falling In Reverse shirts to tell us that “If you’ve heard one AC/DC song, you’ve heard them all.” In honesty, that’s such a lazy take. Typically, the rhythm section is playing some straight forward blues based rock & roll but the late Malcolm Young also had some killer rhythm guitar lines as well. And brother Angus? Those leads are the stuff of legend and sound as great today as they did in the 1970’s.

A lot has changed since AC/DC played Ohio. They hadn’t played the Buckeye State since back to back shows in Columbus and Cleveland in 2016. Axl Rose, whom I thought did a great job, was on lead vocals for that tour after Brian Johnson was medically advised to retire due to him going deaf. Not everyone was keen on the Axl Rose led AC/DC however, as the arena date for Cleveland was attended by less than 9,000 folks. Thanks to the power of science, Johnson has been able regain his hearing, at least enough to allow him to sing. The band released their latest album, Power Up, in 2020 and unfortunately we all know what happened to any touring plans that may have came from that. It’s been a long road to get to this point, but they were finally able to start touring on their new album and the U.S. tour would finish with a stadium appearance in Cleveland.

To say their return was heavily anticipated is an understatement. Like I said, less than 9,000 people went and saw them in 2016 for their Cleveland date. Last week, over 50,000 people filed into Huntington Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. This was the third time that I’ve seen AC/DC and they were absolutely on fire. Johnson’s vocals were better than they were the first time I saw them back in like 2008. The star of the show, though, is Angus Young. He is 70 years old and his energy, let alone his guitar chops, blows away modern bands with players 30-40 years his junior. For anyone that says that you need an ocean of crowd surfers at a rock show to enhance the experience….all they need to do is watch footage of this concert. From the opening riff of “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” through the final cannon bursts of “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)“; the crowd was on their feet, pumping fists in the air, and singing back every lyric to these timeless songs. It’s almost as if when the songs are good enough, the fans don’t need to distract themselves with the world’s biggest game of “everybody look at me while I crowd surf.” Simply, it was two and a half hours (yes, you read that right) of pure rock & roll adrenaline.

My daughter and I were way, way, way up in the football stadium. Section 507. If you know anything about football stadiums, the seats closest to the field start in the 100s and gradually climb. We were as high as the stadium goes. It didn’t matter. With the exception of the band being so loud that at times the music was echoing by the time it reached us in the heavens, the band were fantastic, and the sold out crowd head banged for the entirety of the twenty one song set. I have no idea what the future for AC/DC holds. Brian Johnson is 77 years old. Angus Young is 70. If they come back, I’ll hopefully be there. If this turns out to be their swan song, then I salute them going out while they are still the biggest and baddest band in the world. Way up there in the sky where our seats were, I saw toddlers, teens, people my age, and people that appeared to be in their 70s and everyone in between. With that kind of impact and that kind of reach, surely, rock & roll ain’t noise pollution, rock & roll ain’t gonna die.

AC/DC Set List 5/28/2025 Cleveland, Ohio

  • If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It) – 1979
  • Back In Black – 1980
  • Demon Fire – 2020
  • Shot Down In Flames – 1979
  • Thunderstruck – 1990
  • Have A Drink On Me – 1980
  • Hells Bells – 1980
  • Shot In The Dark – 2020
  • Stiff Upper Lip – 2000
  • Highway To Hell – 1979
  • Shoot To Thrill – 1980
  • Sin City – 1978
  • Rock ‘n’ Roll Train – 2008
  • Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – 1976
  • High Voltage – 1976
  • Riff Raff – 1978
  • You Shook Me All Night Long – 1980
  • Whole Lotta Rosie – 1977
  • Let There Be Rock (with extra long guitar solo) – 1977
  • *Encore*
  • T.N.T. – 1975
  • For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) – 1981

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Ranking: Foo Fighters

The inaugural Sonic Temple Music and Art Festival made its debut in 2019. The final headliner to close out that event was the Dave Grohl led Foo Fighters. After back to back to back years of COVID related issues preventing the festival returning until now in 2023, it is fitting that Foo Fighters will return to once again to close out the festival. When the concert used its former moniker, Rock On The Range, there were several iconic moments that perhaps can only be appreciated if you were there. Special moments that make your hair stand up and gives you goosebumps. The tributes to Chris Cornell by Corey Taylor and Taylor Momsen come to mind just days after Cornell’s passing. Soundgarden were set to headline the event that year. When Foo played in 2019, they also laid claim to some of those special moments. Actor and comedian Pauly Shore was at the concert to headline the comedy tent and had just lost his dad in the nights before. Grohl and company brought Shore up on stage and when they performed “My Hero” in dedication to Pauly’s dad, there couldn’t have been a dry eye in the stadium. Later, they also brought out The Struts lead singer Luke Spiller to duet with Taylor Hawkins on the Queen and David Bowie classic “Under Pressure”. That moment was pretty special at the time, but even more now due to Hawkins’ untimely passing last year. I’m confident in my belief that when they return to the main stage at Historic Crew Stadium next month, that there will be another moment or two that will be cemented in the lore of this festival.

Started in 1994 after the death of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana’s disbanding, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as a side project for him to continue to make music. Initially, he played all of the instruments, as this was meant to simply be a creative outlet for him to share his ideas and songs that he hadn’t previously done in Nirvana. The quality of the songs and the demand for more, ultimately led to putting together a group of musicians to tour and make subsequent Foo records with. It paid off as the Foo Fighters went on to become one of the biggest rock bands of the past thirty years, selling millions of records, playing concerts to millions of fans, and ultimately getting themselves inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021! Don’t miss them during what is sure to be an unforgettable performance in May. Tickets can be purchased here! As always, I’ve linked my Top 20 Foo Fighters songs for your listening pleasure below, but please make sure to vote in my poll at the top of the page to let your choice be heard!

  1. Let It Die
  2. The Pretender
  3. Everlong
  4. Times Like These
  5. My Hero
  6. Best Of You
  7. Learn To Fly
  8. These Days
  9. Walk
  10. All My Life
  11. Monkey Wrench
  12. I’ll Stick Around
  13. Breakout
  14. This Is A Call
  15. Big Me
  16. Run
  17. No Way Back
  18. Have A Cigar (Pink Floyd cover)
  19. Resolve
  20. Generator
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Tom Keifer, L.A. Guns on solid ground in Akron

Ohio’s Rubber City faithful were treated to another fantastic performance by the Tom Kiefer Band last night as well as an outstanding effort by opener L.A. Guns. Kiefer, who last played the classy Goodyear Theater in fall of 2019, had his band firing on all cylinders to the packed house.

The evening was started off by the hard rockers; Enuff Z’Nuff, but I unfortunately missed their set while travelling up to Akron. Shortly after finding my 11th row seats; it was the well known, Tracii Guns led, L.A. Guns that took the stage. To say that I was pleasantly surprised with their performance would be a major understatement.

For whatever reason, I’d never really checked out the band prior to last night. I’ve seen almost every band from the 80’s metal scene multiple times but had never had the opportunity to see L.A. Guns before; and if I’m being honest, I wasn’t familiar with them either. Guns is a well-known and well-respected guitar player in the metal community, but outside of being aware of him, my knowledge of the band was minimal. They have now forced my hand and my L.A. Guns phase will start in earnest after the performance that they gave as the support act.

I’d have never expected that they’d be so heavy. They were borderline too loud but got the place pumped up, as most of the spectators were standing during their set. Highlights included a Guns guitar solo with what appeared to be a violin bow, “Over the Edge”; “Never Enough”; and of course, their 1989 power ballad “The Ballad of Jayne”.

If an opening acts job is to get the crowd riled up for the headliner, L.A. Guns did that and then some. In between acts, the place was popping with plenty of buzz and the merch tables were packed. As usual, Chip Z’Nuff was at his band’s merch table taking photos and signing memorabilia for the Enuff Z’Nuff faithful in the crowd.

After a brief hiatus, the Tom Kiefer Band took the stage and ran through the Cinderella classics as well as a pair of songs each from their 2013 debut “The Way Life Goes” and 2019’s sophomore effort “Rise”. The newer tunes sounded good, as always, but it was the Cinderella anthems that kept the crowd on their feet, toe-tapping and fist pumping throughout the 14-song set.

Few performers are more obviously leaving everything they have on the stage than Keifer, which was apparent throughout the show, as his scream during “Nobody’s Fool” literally brought him to the floor. I believe that Keifer has found the sound that the Cinderella band was meant to have. During their hey-day Cinderella was often lumped with rest of the “hair” bands; criminally, I might add. They were always a great hard rock band and when you see his band perform now, there is no mistaking that this music was always more rooted in the blues than it was big hair.

Tom Keifer band performing in Akron, Ohio. Photo credit Amber Hobbs.

All the things that you’d expect from a band of that nature are present. There are piano pieces and steel guitar. The women that provide the backing vocals compliment the thumping rhythm section and a pair of guitars; combining to make a much fuller sound than you get on the Cinderella records. I’d absolutely love for the current Tom Keifer Band to do a live release because they do true justice to the Cinderella catalog as well as their own music.

An underrated element to their live sound, is that the band appears to be having the time of their lives up on stage. Nobody wants to pay hard earned money to see a band phoning it in just to collect a paycheck. Both bands that I was able to see last night, were doing it for the right reasons and the crowd can feel that energy; and feeds off it. With Led Zeppelin nonexistent, and things quiet on the AC/DC front; I’m willing to say that the Keifer Band is the group that is best flying the flag for bluesy hard rock these days.

You’re in luck, too, Ohio; if you couldn’t make the Akron gig, they’ll be back July 16th in the Columbus suburb of Pickerington headlining the Picktown Palooza Festival with Faster Pussycat and L.A. Guns supporting. The concerts are included with a paid admission of only $5 and can be purchased here.

Tom Keifer Band Setlist 6/29/2022 Akron, Ohio

  1. Touching the Divine
  2. Night Songs (Cinderella cover)
  3. Coming Home (Cinderella cover)
  4. It’s Not Enough
  5. Somebody Save Me (Cinderella cover)
  6. Rise
  7. Nobody’s Fool (Cinderella cover)
  8. Solid Ground
  9. Fallin’ Apart at the Seams (Cinderella cover)
  10. The Last Mile (Cinderella cover)
  11. Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone) (Cinderella cover)
  12. Shake Me (Cinderella cover)
  13. Shelter Me (Cinderella cover)
  14. Gypsy Road (Cinderella cover) *Encore*
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Dorothy brings the wild West to Columbus

As a huge fan of bands like KISS, I’m no stranger to huge concerts that require a massive production to pull off. Sometimes, though, it’s refreshing to experience rock & roll, rhythm & blues in its rawest form in a sweaty concert hall where the onstage talent is truly working (and truly sweating!) to gain their still growing fanbase.

I’ve been on the Dorothy hype train since I first saw her music video for “After Midnight” (that’s still my favorite song of hers) several years ago and watching their performance on the tiny Jagermeister stage at Rock on The Range back in 2015. I have a mad respect for true, old school rock bands that grind to earn their way to the top. I saw that from this band the first time I saw them. I saw them a second time at the same festival on a bigger stage in 2017. There ascension had kind of been slow to that point, and they had every excuse to phone it in for that gig. They played early, on a chilly and rainy day; hardly ideal conditions to be excited to play to a hungover festival crowd. They absolutely brought it though and won me over again with a haunting rendition of “I Put A Spell On You” that was one of the highlights of the festival. I’m absolutely convinced that if/when that event returns to Columbus post-COVID, that this band will be gracing the main stage whenever they make their third appearance. So, that’s the backstory for my fandom with this band.

The LA based group returned to Columbus last night with a pair of hard rocking up and coming bands to a venue that I had not previously been to. The Bluestone turned out to be a perfect setting for the rock revival that took place last night. The concert hall is actually in an old cathedral and provided both amazing acoustics and an atmosphere that was just right for the evenings event. Afterall, Dorothy’s new record is inspired by a revival of their own sorts; both literally and spiritually.

All three bands were on fire. Outstanding musicianship was on full display and all three bands feature they type of virtuoso front man/woman that gives me hope for the future of the genre. These vocalists have the type of stage presence that demands the crowd’s attention. Both opening acts’ lead vocalists feature fellas with soaring vocals reminiscent of the heavyweights of the 70’s and 80’s; and Ms. Dorothy Martin’s vocal talent is as good as any live performer I’ve ever seen. It’s cliche these days to claim that “Rock is dead.” I would counter that with real rock & roll is alive and well if you know where to look.

The evening started with a quintet from California (minus one from Texas) called Classless Act. I wasn’t familiar with them before last night but they absolutely will not be a “warm up” band for long. They give me so much hope for what can be with hard rock. With a sound and performance that reminded me of what I imagine it must have been like to see bands like Guns N’ Roses before they became a radio band, they quickly won over the crowd during their abbreviated set. They even played a blistering cover of GNR’s “Civil War” that really brought the crowd to a frenzy. My fourteen year old daughter and I were towards the back of the concert hall, near the merch booth, and it was cool to see these guys mingle and sign autographs and take pictures with fans for the rest of the evening; when they weren’t going out into the pit and enjoying the other two bands that is. I’ll definitely be pulling for these guys moving forward and their debut album will be coming out on June 24th. If you weren’t able to catch them this time around, they’ll be back in Ohio for two stops as opening support for Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts on their summer Stadium Tour.

The next act is one that I’ve been wanting to see for a long time. Orange County, California’s Joyous Wolf have long eluded me. I had arrangements to see them and review them at Rock on the Range one year and for reasons that I don’t remember, I missed their set. In all honesty, my group was probably having breakfast beers in the parking lot, and I may have forgot. My bad. Subsequently on their visits to Columbus I haven’t been able to get there. This quartet took the energy up even another level, led by the stage command of lead vocalist Nick Reese. My introduction to this group was when I was reading up on the bands that I wasn’t familiar with coming to that festival and I was immediately drawn to their bluesy rock sound and the antics of Reese. They lived up to the hype last night with a wall of sound and their front man doing flips on stage, diving into the crowd, and even doing the splits. Compared to their early live videos of six or seven years ago, we’re witnessing a band that is now really coming into their own as seasoned vets in the world of rock & roll with multiple records under their belts. Highlights from the set were “Fearless” and a mandatory crowd participatory version of “Mother Rebel“. They also could be graciously seen for autographs and photo ops at the merch booth after their set and well after the evening’s event concluded.

After a short while, the evening’s headlining act took the stage. I’ve long considered the Dorothy band to be the best kept secret in modern rock music as they’ve stayed largely underground to the “mainstream” rock & roll powers that be. Whatever that means and for whatever that’s worth. That best kept secret, however, is making its way out as the band continues to put out high quality jams and at this point are refusing to be ignored. Their current album, just released last week (I picked up my vinyl copy at the show last night), has them on the verge of exploding. Titled “Gifts From the Holy Ghost“, the record had been gaining steam before it’s release with the lead single “Rest In Peace“. The album, the group’s third, was featured less than I imagined it would be in the setlist from the night, but the songs that were played were very well received.

The motivations for this album have been well documented, and the songs have shown a maturity that only life experiences can create. She and her band are in a different place than they were on past records lyrically but continue to excel at their craft musically as a raw, bluesy hard rock band. While her stage presence and vocal talent demand the most attention; Martin also shows off the talented musicians in the group with numerous extended jams and a terrific drum solo towards the end of the set. I’ve long thought that they should be the next big thing, and now I believe that time has arrived. While her debut album may have been titled “RockIsDead” they’re certainly too good and at the forefront of a modern rock revival for that to be true.

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