I have such a a great time with my daughters.  My oldest had a band concert and choir concert in the same week.  I was able to attend both.  I am so proud of how she is growing up.  She has some fun friends and it was obvious that she is very popular among them as they were goofing off before and after each concert.  She is becoming quite a saxophone player and her voice is becoming very mature.  She just turned 12 last weekend, too!  I was fortunate enough to have her here the weekend before her birthday and we celebrated with cake and ice cream and she got to go shopping for her gifts.  My youngest daughter has a birthday the next time they get to visit me at home.  I am very fortunate.

Lazerfest isn't normally the type of festival I would attend.  I'm not a fan of any of the bands, except Buckcherry.  I went because it cost $20 and Buckcherry was on the bill.  I also figured that since I was going, I may as well see what the other bands have to offer live.

 

I missed Operator and Bullet For My Valentine.  When I arrived, I could hear a small bit of Bullet, but not enough to come to review their show.  I was anxious to see them, but apparently not enough to get ready to go on time.  I also had to walk the last 2 miles to the show and stand in line.

 

Fuel was the first band I paid attention to.  I believe that Daughtry was offered the job fronting this band.  The guy that they have singing now did an adequate job, but this seemed like a band that shopped at Hot Topic and wrote songs like every other band on rock radio these days.  They didn't make me want to buy their CD, but they were a decent opening band for this type of festival.  I did recognize their last song, So Far Away.

 

Saliva really took the crowd by storm, but it wasn't enough to make me tune in.  I did perk up when they started doing a little Pink Floyd in their set.  I also recognized Click Click Boom.  They were interactive with the crowd and the crowd loved them for it.  They put on their type of show.  I just stood back and visited through most of it because this style of music doesn't move me.

 

Papa Roach stepped up the crowd noise another notch.  I recognized their last song, Last Resort, but the rest seemed like the first two bands combined.  It just all blends together for me.  There aren't many lead guitar solos and the guitar, bass, and drums tend to blend together for rhythm.  I prefer to hear different instruments stand out and do different things from each other under the melody of the song.  This just doesn't happen often with this style of music.

 

Buckcherry did a similar set to their recent ValAir Ballroom show.  They concentrated on the CD 15 and threw in some songs from their first two CD's.  You could definitely tell the difference between this band and all three of the openers.  Buckcherry raised the bar musically and intensely.  Josh Todd is a frontman whose actions and stage banter far exceed that of the previous three singers.  The musicality of this band is far better.  I'm hopeful their next CD picks up where 15 left off and raises them to the next level.

 

 

So Far

Broken Glass

Porno Star

Whiskey In The Morning

Out Of Line

Everything

Sorry

Crazy Bitch (w/ The Stroke and Fire)

Next To You

Ridin'

Dead Again

Lit Up

 

I stuck around for a full two songs of Hinder.  The second song, Shame, was good, but the first one and the beginning of the third one sounded a lot like the other bands that preceded Buckcherry.  I'll be checking out more of this band as I keep reading how popular they are, but I haven't heard anything by them and hadn't even heard of them until a couple months ago.

 

Buckcherry should have headlined this event, in my opinion.  The other fad bands will be gone in a year or two, but Buckcherry will be around quite some time.

 

The crowd was huge.  I'm sure it was about 13,000-15,000 people.  Lazer was not prepared for this size of a crowd.  It was crowded from fence to fence.  This was a younger crowd, too, and you could tell by the lack of respect they had for those around them.  You could be standing in one spot and someone would just run into you trying to get past you without apology or even stopping to acknowledge that they ran into you.  The crowd did seem to enjoy this show, though.

 

It is my futile hope that Lazer promotes Waterstock the same way they promoted this show by playing the bands on the radio and including their new material.  As I said, though, that is a futile hope.  Lazer only plays what they think the public wants to hear in cheap one hit wonder bands instead of playing artists that have sold more in their careers by writing better songs and putting out better albums.  I've written Lazer about this and received a condescending attitude that assumed the new music by great artists isn't as good as the stuff the artist originally put out.  In most cases, it is better due to maturity in song writing, but Lazer will never know this because they have a snobbish air about them.

 

Lazerfest wasn't my thing, but Buckcherry made it well worth the money spent.  If you like unoriginal hard rock without the musicality of the greats, this will be right up your alley.

The voice is still strong.  Mike Reno hit every note he recorded and then some.  Loverboy was truly on fire tonight.

 

Loverboy opened with Notorious from my favorite CD, Wildside.  They launched into a hit filled set with Only The Lucky Ones, Leave It Alone, and Take Me To The Top.  Take Me To The Top had a keyboard section in the middle that led into a short bit of Riders On The Storm by The Doors.  There were two new songs performed mid set.  The One That Got Away and I'm Alive fit right in with the classics.  The crowd enjoyed the new tunes, but you could tell they really got excited for the familiar.

 

This was a smaller crowd than the Warrant show a few weeks ago.  They were just as enthusiastic, though, even though they were a tad older.  Loverboy certainly deserved a larger crowd, though.

 

There were a couple of surprises in the set tonight.  There was the Riders On The Storm segment I mentioned that kicked the surprises off.  There was a tremendous bass solo with the drummer that just shocked me at how rhythmic and melodic the playing was.  This rhythm section was really in a groove while they worked up a sweat performing for us.  During their closing number in the encore, Lovin' Every Minute Of It, they did some call and response in addition to throwing in bits of Superstitious and Come Together.  Loverboy is a Canadian band, but really showed off their chops with some bluesy riffs and runs during the jamming portion.  Loverboy is a true band that can change things up live and keep the show fresh.

 

I got to visit briefly with a few of the members of the band after the show.  I commented to the drummer that I was truly amazed at just how in the pocket Loverboy seemed this particular night.  I've never seen the band live before, but there was just a certain groove they had tonight that was undeniable.  Paul Dean was kind enough to take a picture and give me a pick.  When I mentioned the groove to him he stated that this was the best show they have had in quite some time.  The band really noticed they were in a groove, too.

 

Loverboy is a great rock band.  They have great songs and put on a tight show.  Yes, they look older, but the chops are what matters and they have it in spades.

 

 

Notorious

Lucky Ones

Leave It Alone

Take Me To The Top (w/ Riders Of The Storm)

It's Your Life

The One That Got Away (NEW)

I'm Alive (NEW)

When It's Over

Hot Girls In Love

BASS SOLO w/ Drums

Turn Me Loose

Workin' For The Weekend

 

 

The Kid Is Hot Tonight

Lovin' Every Minute Of It (w/ Superstitious and Come Together)

 

Opening the show were two local bands.  Saucy Jack is a three piece that sounded decent as I approached the building.  The lead vocals were a tad off in spots, but not a big deal.  When I walked in they looked like they were having fun with the few people down front.

 

Cold Filtered drew a bigger part of the crowd as they performed a mixture of covers and 3 originals, even though I thought I had him convinced to do more.  I got to visit with Brian, the singer, before the show and he said they were allotted 90 minutes.  I asked how many originals they were going to do and he said 4.  I told him that with 90 minutes they should do more.  He said they might do all 7 that they do live.  The set time was shortened a great deal from 90 minutes due to running time and to a power outage in the middle of an AC/DC cover.  They opened with Comin' Atcha Live and performed two other Tesla covers, if my count is correct.  They closed with Cum On Feel The Noize.  Cold Filtered is starting to win me over a bit.  The band sounds tighter every time I see them.  Tonight they were on.  The dual guitar parts blended well.  The drums were tight.  The vocals were on.  You can tell that the constant gigging is making them function as a single unit.

 

Of the three originals, the first two that they played back to back really fit in with the classic covers they were doing.  I mentioned to a couple of the guys that most songwriters forget that music is made up of sound and silence.  They made good use of the silence in the song to let the chords breathe as the music came to life this way.  The first, sorry I don't have the titles, had a good aggressive AC/DC rhythm to it.  The third song, Send Me To Hell, was good in the verses, but they lost momentum in the song when the time when to a half tempo chorus.  Of course, the double time ending was very welcome and was executed with spot on precision.

 

Yes, there were things that a musician might notice such as a timing malfunction in All She Wrote (Firehouse), a missed guitar chord at the intro of a Ratt cover, and some minor vocal phrasing with Whitesnake's Still Of The Night, but these are minor issues as the crowd enjoyed themselves and SO DID I.  One guitar player has a Les Paul and great tone, but his stage volume is outrageously loud.  The other guitar player has great chops, but the tone sounds muffled due to some sort of compression effect he is using.  Brian hits the notes as the singer, but you can tell in his higher register that he isn't attacking the phrasing and is coming in just a micro-second after the beat.  Although, during Skid Row's Monkey Business his vocal attack was mostly on target.  These are such minor things, though, that they aren't something that detracts from having a fun time with the music they are performing.  Again, I had a fun time during Cold Filtered's set and I just mention these things as a former rock n roll singer.

 

The one major thing that Cold Filtered needs to do to get over the top is to put on a show.  One guitar player moves around a bit, but his face is a stone.  The other moves around a lot and acts like a rock star.  He seems to be the only one that knows this is a show from start to finish.  The bass player has a great tone and moves around and gets into the songs singing along, but he looks like he just stepped out from the crowd.  Get the boy some tattoos and mess up his hair or something.  (Hey, the bass player is a great guy!  I've met him and he's a music fan through and through.)  Brian works ok with the crowd, but could use some stage banter to make the set flow better.  A lot of frontmen can use this, actually, like Jaime St. James of Warrant.  There shouldn't be a break between songs where guys are standing around talking amongst themselves without someone addressing the audience.  I think if the guys watched themselves on video after the shows they do, they may see some things for themselves that they could do to improve the show value.  The music is there, now it's on to the show to separate themselves from other local groups.  They know what they are capable of.

 

I'm hard on local bands due to seeing up 'n comers from places like Kansas City, San Francisco, and even Swedish bands that are just starting out.  There are bands that really work on the total package like they are playing an arena.  They have a look, a sound, and really put something together special for each show they do.  A lot of local and regional bands just get up and play while focused on just a part of the total package.  Cold Filtered is at the stage where they could take things to the next level.  Support these guys and encourage them to keep taking things up a notch.  Iowa needs a strong music scene.

 

This was a fun concert tonight and I would encourage everyone to support bands like Loverboy by getting to the shows.  Loverboy is still touring and putting out new music.  See ya at Lazerfest on May 13th and the M!SS CRAZY show at Shooter's Hideaway on May 26th!