M3 Rock Festival - 80's Hard Rock Fans Rejoice!

[TVC 15]

Thanks for the set times posted a few notches back.  HDNet on cable is broadcasting the event live tonight and tomorrow.  I can work my way around errands and stuff for the day and catch the bands I want to see, especially so for tomorrow.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

No problem.  We freed up a bunch of room on the DVR to record it, ourselves, just for the hell of it.  I'd forgotten to mention that, actually, so if any of the rest of you get HDNet, check it out.  I imagine HDNet's programming is the same wherever you live.

[jingle.boy]

No problem.  We freed up a bunch of room on the DVR to record it, ourselves, just for the hell of it.  I'd forgotten to mention that, actually, so if any of the rest of you get HDNet, check it out.  I imagine HDNet's programming is the same wherever you live.

Except in Canada... my provider stopped carrying HDNet late last year.   

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

D'oh!

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I'm so happy.

Don't forget, live tweeting.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Night Ranger kicked serious ass. Holy shit.

[jingle.boy]

Jealous!!!  just like her (figure you'd appreciate)

[King Postwhore]

Man I haven't seen Night Ranger since the 7 Wishes tour back in 1985.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Rough morning. Heading back to M3 soon.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I could've sang Dokken's set better than Don Dokken did. He was awful.

[jingle.boy]

That sucks.

[wolfking]

I could've sang Dokken's set better than Don Dokken did. He was awful.

Yeah, he's been sucking for a long time.  Everytime YT clip I've watched he's been terrible.  Interesting to see how he sounds on the upcoming album.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Headed home. What an excellent time.

[King Postwhore]

Can't wait to read your full update.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Probably tomorrow.  Just got back from The Avengers, and making dinner tonight, then 3 hours of Survivor.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

So yeah, wow!  What a weekend at M3!  We got into town around 4:30-ish Friday, after sitting in gridlock on the beltway.  Awful.  We arrived to M3 just prior to Enuff Z'Nuff taking the stage.  A band I've gotten more into in the last few years, I'd never had the chance to see them (I didn't start getting heavily into this kinda music til the very late 90's).  I think Donnie Vie is an excellent singer, so I was stoked to start the night off with these guys.  Their set was as follows:

Heaven Or Hell
Kitty
Baby Loves You
We're All Alright
High
There Goes My Heart
Fly High Michelle
Come Together
New Thing

First song, the vocals were a little loud and Donnie was sounding a little rough.  I know he has a slightly different kinda voice that takes some getting used to, but after a song to warm up, he sounded great.  Most of the set was from later albums that I'm not as familiar with yet, but notably, they did a crushing cover of Come Together.  Fly High Michelle was swoon-worthy and they finished up with their best known song, New Thing, a big favorite of mine.  Excellent set, excellent energy, and I'm really glad I got to see them.

Next up was (for me) probably the best set of the entire festival.  Night Ranger.  I've known Night Ranger was a great band, with a lot of fantastic hits.  So I knew to expect some good songs.  However, I was totally unprepared for them to kick so very much ass.  Another band I had never seen live, I never realized that Kelly Keagy sings as much as he does.  These guys had a ton of energy and just sounded absolutely ridiculous.  Their set:

Lay It On Me
Sing Me Away
Rumours In The Air
Growing Up in California
The Secret of My Success
Touch of Madness
Sentimental Street
Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight
High Enough
Four in the Morning
When You Close Your Eyes
Don't Tell Me You Love Me

Encore:
Sister Christian
(You Can Still) Rock in America

Growing up in California is from their 2011 album "Somewhere in California" and is a really rocking tune.  A new anthem for the west-coasters:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPpkk20tF8Y

I really cannot say enough good things about these guys.  I seriously think I'm going to go stock up on some Night Ranger.  Hell of a show.

Next up was Kix.  Kix is kind of a big deal around here, as they originated in Hagerstown, MD.  I’ve done openers for Steve Whiteman’s band, Funny Money and while he may be a bit of a tool, there is absolutely no denying what a fantastic frontman the guy is.  Charisma for days on end.  While the subject matter may come off a little clichéd, they’ve got some good tunes:

Hot Wire 
Heartache 
The Itch 
Same Jane 
Cold Shower 
Girl Money 
Don't Close Your Eyes 
No Ring Around Rosie 
Lie Like a Rug 
Midnite Dynamite 
Cold Blood 
Blow My Fuse

Encore:
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

We left right at the beginning of Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, to try to beat some of the crowd and to get something to eat, as sobriety had long since gone out the window.  I don’t think I’m going to drink Budweiser anymore.  So night one was a damn strong start.  What a great time!  Nothing like sitting with your woman and your friends, out on the lawn, in the evening, with beer and nachos, seeing some ridiculously cool bands.  Such a happy feeling.

Then Saturday morning came...

[BlobVanDam]

I could've sang Dokken's set better than Don Dokken did. He was awful.

He's pretty bad on their latest album too (at least, the latest one I know of), and he's sucked in the recent live clips I've seen. This does not surprise me.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Think "3/4 octave range" and you're getting close to the patheticness of his performance.

[Lowdz]

Would love to see Night Ranger. that new album is awesome. Brad Gillis was a bit of a hero in the days when I used to really abuse that wammy bar! hardly touch it now.

[ShadowWalker]

Next up was (for me) probably the best set of the entire festival.  Night Ranger. 

I am going to have to agree with you here. Of the bands I paid attention to throughout the weekend, they really shined. It was my first time seeing them and I really enjoyed their set.

[My thoughts are of someone who was there, not from the HDNet feed]

The other one that really stood out was LA Guns (whatever version it was). I never listened to them back in the day, so I was coming in with a clean slate and I thought they did a great job. I may have to go out and get something from them. Stryper also put on a strong set, I thought. I enjoyed seeing Lynch Mob again, though that version of "Mr. Scary" was a bit sloppy for my tastes and it really showed what Mick Brown and Jeff Pilson brought to the song. The drummer Saturday was ok, but the bass did not do that song any justice.

Ratt - I enjoyed them. When Eddie Trunk introduced them, he said it was their first performance in a year and their only performance in 2012. And it showed. Warren DiMartini was a bit rusty. But overall, it didn't matter. They put on a fun, high energy set to close the festival. Pearcy was as good as you are going to get out of him, based on how I have seen him perform throughout the past 15 years. And it was cool seeing Juan Crucier back on stage with them, bringing core band back together (minus the late Robin Crosby). So that gave the set a bit of a special feel, despite some musical rust that was clearly apparent.

I have seen a lot of praise for Queensryche's set, but I don't get it. People were saying Tate was as good as he was in the 80s/90s and that is clearly not the case. And with all the rumors about the band swirling around, I was more paying attention to the nuances of the performance. Zero band interaction on stage. Not a single tri-ryche on stage (most noticable on SRock's drums, which were generic Pearl drums and did not have a Queensryche logo on them). Whenever Tate would wander over on Whip's side of the stage, Michael would move to put some distance between them. And there was no final bow. Tate exited stage right after he finished his vocals on "Eyes of a Stranger" and did not come back. Once he was gone, that was the only time Parker and Wilton came together on stage to play off of one another. Once Anarchy-Xtra wrapped up, the four musicians exited stage left. The guys sounded as tight as expected, but there was no engagement by any of them (well, there was some animation by Parker). The vibe was guys being paid to be there, not guys on stage having a killer time and feeling happy to be playing in front of such a large audience.

And then there was this cryptic gem spoken by Tate: "Are you having fun? That's good to know because life is going by very quick. It could all end tonight. This could be it. So God damn, have a good time, hey!"

The writing is on the wall. I would not be surprised at all if Rocklahoma in two weeks is the band's last performance.

Dokken was terrible, as was the non-Jack Russell version of Great White (the singer they have just is not a good fit). I did not check out Loudness, Quiet Riot or Skid Row or Bang Tango and only half listened to Warrent so I can't offer any perspective to those sets.

[King Postwhore]

Would love to see Night Ranger. that new album is awesome. Brad Gillis was a bit of a hero in the days when I used to really abuse that wammy bar! hardly touch it now.

Loved his whammy bar work.  Floyd Rose and he set the springs for the pull ups on the bar. I Remember everybody getting that done to your guitars.

[Lowdz]

Queensryche's full set is on YT but I couldn't make it past the first three songs. Awful.

[TVC 15]

Was Warren's guitar signal cutting in and out only in the broadcast?  There were bars and bars of his riffs and solos muting then coming back audible throughout their set.  Pearcy seemed to be gassing out as their set proceeded too.

I enjoyed Skid Row's set as well.  They knew the crowd wanted the hits, they delivered.  I can't believe that Bolan still has that Jane Child nose ring/earring thing going today.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Good God, what a wretched morning on Saturday.  Again, Budweiser is now a strict no-no (or at least Budweiser and Jack Daniels).  Some breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn, and off we went.  We arrived as Let There Be Rock was playing.  Apparently this is some sort of “School of Rock” in Columbia, MD.  We only caught the tail end of their set and I recall hearing Live Wire and Slide It In.  It was really very strange seeing a teenage girl standing on stage in front of a bunch of aging metalheads, singing Slide It In.  Still pretty damn cool to see teenagers playing some good music and playing it pretty damned good.

Next was DrumWars, which had the potential to be cool but was one of the lamest parts of the day.  Carmine and Vinny Appice next to each other, on stage, behind their drumsets.  They did a lot of drumming.  No other people out there playing with them, just drums, as the name implies.  Some back and forth stuff, throwing drumsticks to each other, etc.  Yawn.

Great White came out next.  By this point (as usual) they bands were starting to run behind.  Great White did a REALLY short set.  Terry Ilous of XYZ is fronting this version of the band and though he’s really not too bad, I agree with ShadowWalker, he’s not quite right for this band.  Their set:

Big Goodbye
Lady Red Light
Save Your Love
Rock Me
Once Bitten Twice Shy

Because the main stage had started getting behind, there was a band on stage 2 while Great White was on, Streetlight Circus.  I only checked out a little of their set, but from what I could tell they were a pretty decent band.  According to the singer, they were the only independent band on the bill, having driven from New York, they weren’t getting paid.  I wasn’t losing my shit over them, but they were all right.  Maybe worth my looking into.

Next up was Stryper, who turned out to be one of the other BIG highlights of the show.  Michael Sweet sounded fantastic.  Of note, something I found cool, was that in certain places, Oz Fox would sing parts of songs to give MS a break (the chorus of Calling On You, for example – MS would sing a line, Oz Fox the next line, then MS would finish the chorus).  It’s a good way to keep the singer from tiring out, especially on songs with a demanding vocal like Calling On You.  This is an idea I should run by my band members.    Michael Sweet is a pretty damn good guitarist, also.  Their set:

Sing-Along Song
Reach Out
Calling On You
Free
To Hell With The Devil
Soldiers Under Command

Sing-Along Song was a fantastic opener.  They’d intended to do one more song, but were told they had to get off, as the 1st stage was running late already.  I’ll assume it would’ve either been Honestly (which, despite being a good song, would’ve been a very bad closer) or Always There For You (which would’ve been awesome).  Either way, I was very pleasantly surprised with how great they sounded.

So by now, they’d pushed XYZ’s start time back on stage 2, so they could start after Stryper finished.  I’m not really at all familiar with XYZ, really.  That said, they sounded great.  Terry Ilous is obviously a better fit for this band.  Set:

C'mon And Love Me
Face Down in the Gutter
What Keeps Me Lovin' You
Souvenirs
Inside Out

Next on the main stage was L.A. Guns.  As SW said, a great set.  I really like L.A. Guns and it would be excellent to see Phil and Tracii get back together again, but I doubt that’ll happen.  For the record, this was the Phil Lewis version.  Dude has such an excellent British accent (fun fact: He used to play in a band called “Girl”, with Def Leppard’s Phil Collen) and still has a great singing voice.  Their set:

Sex Action
Never Enough
You Better Not Love Me
Sweet Mystery
Revolution
Sleazy Come Easy Go
Electric Gypsy
Ballad of Jayne
Rip and Tear

Never Enough is an excellent tune, Ballad of Jayne always goes over, and I realized that the beginning of Rip and Tear sounds a lot like the beginning of Wango Tango.  Whatever, great set.

Was Warren's guitar signal cutting in and out only in the broadcast?  There were bars and bars of his riffs and solos muting then coming back audible throughout their set.  Pearcy seemed to be gassing out as their set proceeded too.

We left a little ways into Ratt's set, as we had an hour and a half drive home.  From what I've been reading, they were indeed having sound issues.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Damn this is going on a little long...

Next on stage 2 was Bang Tango.  Not a band I was ever a fan of, but they still sounded decent.  This was one of the “go walk around, get outta my chair and get something to drink” bands.  Their set:

Suck It Up
Ready To Go
Attack Of Life
Bring On The World
Soul to Soul
Someone Like You

Stage 1 would now host the single biggest disappointment of the entire festival.  Dokken.   I love Dokken.  I have ALWAYS loved Don Dokken’s voice.  That said, it’s time to hang up the mic for good dude.  As someone on Twitter said, “More like DONE Dokken”.  Think “3/4 octave vocal range” and you’re getting a half-decent idea of how pathetic Don sounded.  I will say however, that his band was tight.  Really excellent, and Jon Levin NAILS Lynch’s solos.  The set:

Kiss of Death
The Hunter
Just Got Lucky
Into the Fire
Breaking the Chains
Alone Again
Tooth and Nail
In My Dreams

In the hands of an accomplished singer, this is a DREAM Dokken set.  It absolutely slays from start to finish.  Alas, it was rendered nearly unenjoyable, from my inability to take my focus off of how bad Don was.  So disappointing.

Next on stage 2 was Japanese metal band Loudness.  This is another band I was not really familiar with aside from simply having heard of them.  These guys absolutely BROUGHT IT with ferocity.  Eddie Trunk dubbed Akira Takasaki the “Japanese EVH”.  They were borderline thrash, and good God were they killer.  AT smokes on the guitar and the drummer looked like Genghis Khan.  I do not know why I get the feeling though, that I wouldn’t like them as much on a recording as I did live.  Here’s the set:

Crazy Nights 
Crazy Doctor 
Let It Go 
SE (Requiem) ~ The King Of Pain 
Survivor
S.D.I

Next main stage act was Warrant.  Oh wow, Robert Mason is an absolutely amazing vocalist.  He’s got that slightly snotty 80’s lead singer bit DOWN and he’s got the vocals to TOTALLY back it up.  He certainly isn’t Jani Lane, but it almost doesn’t matter.  He’s that good.  They did a good mix of old songs and new songs, the new songs sounding pretty cool.

Down Boys
Innocence Gone
Sometimes She Cries
Life's a Song
D.R.F.S.R.
I Saw Red
Sex Ain't Love
Home
The Last Straw
Heaven
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Cherry Pie

Stage 2, Lynch Mob.  Apparently Don and George were seen talking amicably earlier in the day, then George was seen standing side stage while Dokken played “The Hunter”.  Interesting.  As is the problem with all day festivals, sometimes you have to get up and take a bathroom break, grab some food, etc.  Since the All-Star Jam was coming up next, I chose this time to go get food and such.  I really wish I’d have gone and listened to these guys closer, but each time another bands came to stage 2, it got more and more impenetrable each time.  I could hear them though and they sounded excellent, with George pulling out Mr. Scary.  I agree, it was not quite up to snuff as we’re used to (Mick and Jeff DO add a lot of attitude to that song), but still a good set:

She's So Evil
River of Love
Mr. Scary
Where Do You Sleep at Night?
Sweet Sister Mercy
Wicked Sensation

As mentioned, the All Star Jam was next on stage 1.  I was hoping for a good long jam, but it turned out to only be 3 songs, though they were 3 good ones.  Carmine and Vinny both played drums on all 3 songs.  For the first two songs, there were members of Warrant, Great White, and XYZ on stage to perform Rainbow in the Dark and All Right Now.  Getting to hear Terry Ilous and Robert Mason trade off vocals on All Right Now was a special treat.  VERY cool.  So those guys left as the members of Stryper came out to join Carmine and Vinny on a cover of Heaven and Hell.  The last thing to be seen on the video screens after H&H was a pic of Ronnie James Dio, 1942-2010.  So very cool.  So yeah, for me, entirely too short of a “jam”, but I’ll take it! 

Stage 2 – Quiet Riot.  A LONG time favorite of mine, a band responsible for one of my all-time favorite songs to come out of the 80’s – Slick Black Cadillac.  This is essentially the Frankie Banali Band now.    I will say that the singer, Scott Vokoun (Wikipedia refers to him as a “new unknown vocalist”) sounds DAMN good covering DuBrow’s well-known style.  I was at first thinking that I’d just stay in my seat on the lawn and listen (the 2nd stage was behind us).  Then they opened with Run for Cover.  I was out of my chair and dragging Mrs. Cozmo along.  Wow.

Run For Cover
Slick Black Cadillac
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Sign of the Times
Love's A Bitch
Cum on Feel the Noize
Metal Health (Bang Your Head)

I was kinda surprised at the inclusion of Love’s a Bitch, but it was killer along with the rest of the entire set.  Frankie came to the mic and dedicated Metal Health to Randy Rhoads and Kevin DuBrow.  Very cool.  Would’ve been nice to see such a tribute to Jani Lane in Warrant’s set.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

One of the obvious big things of the day was the inclusion of Queensryche on this bill.  They took stage 1 next and played for quite a while.  I saw QR back in 2005.  They did a first set of “Greatest Hits” and a second set, performing ALL of Operation: Mindcrime.  They were damn good.  That’s not the same Queensryche that M3 saw, for sure.  While Tate sounded pretty good, he isn’t the Tate he used to be.  He doesn’t sound “as good as he was in the 80’s/90’s”, though I heard that being said as well.  Look there were obviously plenty of Ryche fans there, that knew probably everything they’ve done, but there were likely plenty that weren’t.  Like me.  They played a number of songs I know, and plenty I didn’t.  I was happy to hear them aging, but I’m pretty sure Tate was the only person who moved the entire set.  The others stood as though they were surrounded by some sort of invisible box.  Michael moved a tiny bit, but he basically moved around in place.  It all seemed a bit odd.  Whatever.  Set:

Get Started 
Damaged 
I Don't Believe in Love 
Hit the Black 
I'm American 
NM 156 
Screaming in Digital 
The Lady Wore Black 
Walk in the Shadows 
Silent Lucidity 
Jet City Woman 
Empire 
Eyes of a Stranger

I will say this:  One of the cooler moments of the night was in Eyes of a Stranger.  It was one of those “let the crowd sing this part” moments.  The lyric “Why am I here, and for how long?” To hear the band stop and hear nothing but an absolutely MONSTER crowd sing the lyric back at full volume was fucking impressive.  We were WAY up the lawn away from the main floor section at the main stage and you could clearly and loudly hear every word the crowd said.  Chilling moment.

Closer on stage 2 was Skid Row, fronted by Johnny Solinger.  I heard a number of people complaining that he didn’t sound good, something that I did not find to be the case.  The whole band sounded fantastic.  This guy will never be Sebastian Bach.  Bach STILL sounds like he just stepped out of 1989 and has taken excellent care of his voice, it seems, but this guy will do also.  The first half of I Remember You was all acoustic.  The band didn’t come in till the solo.

Big Guns 
Piece of Me 
New Generation 
Slave to the Grind 
I Remember You 
Monkey Business 
18 and Life 
Youth Gone Wild

And finally, the closer on stage 1, Ratt.  By this time, it was pushing 10 PM (the first band started a little after 11 AM).  We stayed for a handful of songs and decided that since we had a long drive home, we’d head out and beat some of the traffic home.  I was never a huge Ratt fan anyway.  The little we heard sounded decent, but yeah they were a little rusty.  I didn’t realize Carlos Cavazo was in the band now.  Very cool.

Dangerous But Worth The Risk 
Scene of the Crime 
In Your Direction 
Wanted Man 
I'm Insane 
Lay It Down 
Lack Of Communication 
Take A Big Bite (snippet)
Way Cool Jr. 
You Think You're Tough 
Nobody Rides For Free 
Body Talk 
Back For More 

Encore:
You're In Love 
Round And Round

So that’s that.  What an excellent weekend.  Night Ranger, Stryper, Quiet Riot, LA Guns, Warrant, and Loudness ALL brought the awesome.  The others fell into a range of “meh”, with Dokken sadly falling at the bottom, entirely because of Don’s inability to sing any of the songs worth a shit anymore.  But that was only one down spot in a weekend of awesome.  Mrs. C., a couple of our friends, and absolutely perfect weather.  It doesn’t get much better.

[jjrock88]

Thanks for doing that writeup Cozmo, great job.  Sounds like a great show.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

  It most certainly was.  I also enjoyed posting tweets throughout the day, for anyone who may have been following along.  I can't wait til next year.

[jingle.boy]

Nice reviews dude.  Would've loved to have seen any of this .... especially SR.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

As noted, the entire thing was broadcast on HDNet.  Bummer you couldn't get it, as the little I've seen of it so far was excellent quality recording.  We DVR'd it.  It took up about 80% of the DVR space.  I'm now trying to record it to DVD.  Unfortunately, our recorder is a little older and doesn't support dual layer discs, so I'm stuck recording 2-hour discs at a time. 

[bosk1]

Good review.  Thanks for that!  I hope they can get Y&T on the bill next year.

Next up was Stryper, who turned out to be one of the other BIG highlights of the show.  Michael Sweet sounded fantastic.  Of note, something I found cool, was that in certain places, Oz Fox would sing parts of songs to give MS a break (the chorus of Calling On You, for example – MS would sing a line, Oz Fox the next line, then MS would finish the chorus).  It’s a good way to keep the singer from tiring out, especially on songs with a demanding vocal like Calling On You.  This is an idea I should run by my band members.    Michael Sweet is a pretty damn good guitarist, also.  Their set:

Sing-Along Song
Reach Out
Calling On You
Free
To Hell With The Devil
Soldiers Under Command

Sing-Along Song was a fantastic opener.  They’d intended to do one more song, but were told they had to get off, as the 1st stage was running late already.  I’ll assume it would’ve either been Honestly (which, despite being a good song, would’ve been a very bad closer) or Always There For You (which would’ve been awesome).  Either way, I was very pleasantly surprised with how great they sounded.

I can also vouch for the fact that they are an excellent live band.  If you only know them from the albums/videos, you probably don't realize what a phenominal singer Oz is or what a phenominal guitar player Michael is.  But, yeah, as you pointed out, most people don't realize that Oz does a lot more lead singing and Michael does a lot more soloing and lead riffing than you would think just from the videos.

Stage 1 would now host the single biggest disappointment of the entire festival.  Dokken.   I love Dokken.  I have ALWAYS loved Don Dokken’s voice.  That said, it’s time to hang up the mic for good dude.  As someone on Twitter said, “More like DONE Dokken”.  Think “3/4 octave vocal range” and you’re getting a half-decent idea of how pathetic Don sounded.  I will say however, that his band was tight.  Really excellent, and Jon Levin NAILS Lynch’s solos.  The set:

Kiss of Death
The Hunter
Just Got Lucky
Into the Fire
Breaking the Chains
Alone Again
Tooth and Nail
In My Dreams

That is a really good set.  It's a shame about Don.  But, yeah, I saw them a few years back, and it was obvious Don's voice has taken enough of a beating that it is gone beyond repair.  And the other piece of the puzzle on that issue is that his stuff is deceptively difficult to sing anyway.  It doesn't sound like it should be, but it is.

[ZirconBlue]

Stage 2 – Quiet Riot.  A LONG time favorite of mine, a band responsible for one of my all-time favorite songs to come out of the 80’s – Slick Black Cadillac.  This is essentially the Frankie Banali Band now.    I will say that the singer, Scott Vokoun (Wikipedia refers to him as a “new unknown vocalist”) sounds DAMN good covering DuBrow’s well-known style.  I was at first thinking that I’d just stay in my seat on the lawn and listen (the 2nd stage was behind us).  Then they opened with Run for Cover.  I was out of my chair and dragging Mrs. Cozmo along.  Wow.

Run For Cover
Slick Black Cadillac
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Sign of the Times
Love's A Bitch
Cum on Feel the Noize
Metal Health (Bang Your Head)

I wonder if they remember they made more than 2 albums.   

[bosk1]

I think the issue is more that the vast majority of "fans" don't remember they made more than 2 albums, honestly.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Good review.  Thanks for that!  I hope they can get Y&T on the bill next year.

Me too.  This is the 4th year of M3.  We missed the first year.  That was the year Y&T was there.  Figures.  I did see a guy with a Meniketti shirt on (with the Meniketti/Les Paul graphic).

I can also vouch for the fact that they are an excellent live band.  If you only know them from the albums/videos, you probably don't realize what a phenominal singer Oz is or what a phenominal guitar player Michael is.  But, yeah, as you pointed out, most people don't realize that Oz does a lot more lead singing and Michael does a lot more soloing and lead riffing than you would think just from the videos.

Mrs. Cozmo was even visibly impressed.  She said of everybody we'd seen, they sounded most like the band you remember hearing.  The version of themselves you'd WANT to hear them sound like.

That is a really good set.  It's a shame about Don.  But, yeah, I saw them a few years back, and it was obvious Don's voice has taken enough of a beating that it is gone beyond repair.  And the other piece of the puzzle on that issue is that his stuff is deceptively difficult to sing anyway.  It doesn't sound like it should be, but it is.

Oh I know it.  His vocals ARE really tough.  One of the reasons I always loved Dokken, because he had some TOUGH lines and nailed them.  Now, not so much.  I really cannot convey how disappointed I was to see one of my heroes having fallen so far.

I think the issue is more that the vast majority of "fans" don't remember they made more than 2 albums, honestly.

I was going to say something along these lines also. 

[King Postwhore]

The Wild and the Young would be a song I'd like to hear live from Quiet Riot.


Coz.  Fantastic review.