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Rock Never Stops in Los Angeles

By Newsferatu, Writer
Monday, July 25, 2005 @ 12:51 AM


June 18th, The Greek Theatre

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Brad D submits this review:

OK, so if you're a stickler for really accurate set lists, read no further. This was a four band show, only one of which had I ever seen before. I do my best to tell you what they played, but the set list is far below my usual standards.

Anyway, since my wife is a huge Cinderella fan and I had never seen them, but heard they put on an excellent live show we picked up tickets for the Rock Never Stops Tour on Saturday June 18. It also happened to be at the Greek Theater, a good outdoor venue, great sound, lots of beer choices, clean restrooms and a damn fine setting to see a show. It's well designed, so most of the seats in the house are good ones. The only drawback being the stacked parking. If you want to leave early, either you'll have to shell out $40 for valet parking or wait in your car until the people in front of you get around to moving their car out of your way. Luckily, we planned to stay for the whole show.

For the first time in a while, getting in to the concert was a piece of cake. Relatively light security and for once I didn't feel like I'd been molested by the guys in yellow jackets. I guess that's the advantage of these "VH1 Classic" shows!

The opening band was Firehouse. They were the only band of the four that I'd seen before. Interestingly enough, the previous time I'd seen them was opening for Poison/Damn Yankees back in about 1994. Just as at that show, Firehouse came on in full daylight to a less than packed house. They had a clever intro to the Kiss tune "Firehouse". Their first song was the beginning of "Rock on the Radio", then kicking into "All She Wrote". During their set, the audience filtered in. The place was actually about 2/3 full by the time they wrapped it up. I got the impression that a good number of the people who came to the show were interested to see Firehouse. They sounded great, played their songs well and by the end of the show got the whole audience to stand up for the last couple songs, "Reach for the Sky" and "Don't Treat Me Bad". All in all, they did a good job with their 40 minute set considering they were the first band on a 4 band bill.

Set list:

  • Rock on the Radio
  • All She Wrote
  • 1 or two new songs I didn't recognize
  • Shake & Tumble
  • Love of a Lifetime
  • Reach for the Sky
  • Don't Treat Me Bad

Next up was Quiet Riot. This was a surprise, as I expected Ratt to come out after Firehouse. Now, I've never been much of a fan of Quiet Riot, even though my first tape in 6th grade was "Metal Health". I just haven't ever felt the band was that good, and frankly, this concert did little to change that opinion. I'll give them this, they sounded good. Dubrow's voice was just fine and for what it's worth, their songs sounded better live than I would have expected.

They opened with "Mama, We're all Crazee Now". Late in their 40 minute set, they played "Cum on Feel the Noize" and they closed it out with "Bang Your Head". In between, I have no idea what the rest of the songs were. I must point out that they played, quite possibly, one of the worst ballads I've ever heard. Knowing everyone's love for Randy Rhodes, they got a big applause by introducing a song specifically written about Randy, "remembering where Quiet Riot came from". Now, QR proceeded to sing a tune with a chorus going something like "fly on Thunderbird, fly, spread your wings and fly". It was incredibly cheesy, but certainly a way to get the audience clapping. Afterwards they got the crowd to cheer again for Randy.

Another quick 20 minute break, allowing time for beer refills and out came Ratt, at least, what's left of Ratt. It's a bit of a shame that they can't get Steven Pearcy back into the band, but they do the best they can with DiMartini, Blotzer and the newer members. Jizzy Pearl has a similar raspy voice and does a decent job on the Ratt songs. They kicked right in with one of their biggest hits, "Round and Round". Overall, they sounded really just ok. Not particularly tight or especially good, but not bad either. It did feel just the slightest bit like we were watching a Ratt cover band, but at least there were a couple original members still left. However, I was able to appreciate that Ratt has a pretty strong legacy of material, as each song they played was recognizable. Unfortunately, they played the shortest set of the night, only about 35 minutes. I still haven't figured out why the second to last band played the shortest set of the night. This is a tough one to remember the order the songs were played, but here's pretty much the songs that they did squeeze into the short set.

Set list:

  • Round and Round
  • Way Cool Jr.
  • Back for More
  • Lay it Down
  • Wanted Man
  • You Think You're Tough
  • Lack of Communication

Another relatively short break and out came the headliner Cinderella. I'd heard that they were excellent live, and they did not disappoint one bit. I'd also heard through the years that Tom Keifer is one of the most talented musicians to come out of the 80's hair band era. Again, this was proved to be true with their live show. Keifer not only sings and plays guitar for most of the songs, he plays many of the guitar solos and at various points throughout the show played a harmonica and even a saxophone.

Cinderella opened with "Night Songs" and "Push Push". Not bad, although probably my least favorite songs that they played the whole night. However, next was one of their best, "Somebody Save Me". The band sounded tight, the audience was really into every song and were on their feet for the whole show. I'd estimate that the place was about 80% full.

Contrasting Ratt, Cinderella's live sound was fantastic. The band does a good job blending different styles into their songs, from straight rock, to blues, metal and even a bit of country. Keifer has an interesting voice, going from a scratchy falsetto to a clean style. He didn't miss a note all night. They played about 11 songs and a mediocre drum solo by Fred Coury (a bit too much of the Tommy Lee style hip hop percussion in my opinion). Some of the highlights were "Coming Home", "Fallin' Apart at the Seams" and "Nobody's Fool". Cinderella's set was about an hour and 15 minutes, ending at 11 pm on the button. Their encore was "Don't Know What You've Got 'til it's Gone" and then "Shake Me". Was a great show overall, well organized, nice venue and a decent crowd. Not sure of the exact order of the songs, but this is close:

Set List:

  • Night Songs
  • Push Push
  • Somebody Save Me
  • Shelter Me
  • Coming Home
  • The Last Mile
  • Gypsy Road
  • Drum Solo
  • Nobody's Fool
  • Fallin' Apart at the Seams

Encore:

  • Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone
  • Shake Me

Had to wait about 15 minutes in our car after the concert was over before enough people in front of us left so that our car could get out. Was a pain, but worth it for a good concert.



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