The New Monsters of Rock
Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 10:01AM Glam fans, time for another report on Rocklahoma. Your glam mistress is downright tired kids. Sitting in the sun for 12hours will nearly kill anyone!
Yesterday, fans were treated to performances by Vince Neil, Dokken, Winger, Warrant, Firehouse, Enuff Z'Nuff, Faster Pussycat, Bulletboys and Bang Tango.
My day started early on a quest to hunt down Marq Torien (Bulletboys) for a sit down interview. The quest took about six hours, but we finally met in his trailer for a chat after the band's set. I don't have time to transcribe that entire interview now, but Marq did say that Rocklahoma is a great idea not only for fans but for the musicians. Observing the artists, it's almost like a high school reunion. Marq was exceptionally emotional when talking about Greg Leon (Greg Leon Invasion), explaining how many of the glam bands got started with advice from Greg. When I have more than 15 minutes, I'll transcribe the interview and you can read it here first. The Bulletboys sounded pretty good on stage, and they closed their set with "For the Love of Money" and "Smooth Up in 'Ya." When Marq sang the very familiar opening to "Smooth" the place went nuts. Since Bulletboys were on very early the festival grounds were not full by any means, but the 6,000 or so people watching at the time were all on their feet.
Faster Pussycat are a very funny group of guys. I think they were awake for about 30 minutes before their press conference, and every last one of them was punchy. They said a lot of things I can't repeat here, other than to report that no one asked the band about the recent lawsuit and victory over the band's name. During their set, Faster Pussycat sounded very sleazy and not industrial. Taime wore his customary hat.
In an effort of full disclosure, I must admit I skipped Enuff Z'Nuff to attend the Firehouse press conference. Firehouse were jovial enough and said they were working on some new material. The glam rock husband went to the pit for this show since Firehouse is one of his favorite bands. 
Next up was Warrant. They played "Bourbon County Line" from their new record, but mostly stayed true to the classics. Songs included "Down Boys," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "I Saw Red." They closed with "Cherry Pie." During the Warrant press conference, one journalist asked the band about the set list. Erik Turner had no problem saying that they like playing the "old stuff" and he hates when bands only play new material. 
Heather is a big Warrant fan and neither one of us saw the original line-up. She said the show was good, but it was like rock karoke. I think that's probably a fair assessment.
Skid Row was next. The glam mistress and Heather met the band for a small chat and pictures. I *think* singer Johnny Solinger said that Rocklahoma was the new "Monsters of Rock," but I could be wrong. Someone said that yesterday, forgive me for not writing that down. Skid Row played a few songs from Revolutions Per Minute, but also sang the hits like "18 and Life," "Monkey Business," and my favorite, "Slave to the Grind." They closed with "Youth Gone Wild." During the finale, show host Eddie Trunk sang along on stage. During the press conference, Eddie kept saying how much he loved Skid Row. Also during the media event, Johnny Solinger said the band is working on new material to stay current and keep moving forward. Rachel Bolan missed the press call because of illness, but he didn't seem sick at all when it was time for the show.
Winger played right after Warrant. By this time, the sun was down and the crowd was getting rowdy. I observed the ladies singing along to Winger. It seemed like they knew the words much better than the men. Maybe it's because Kip Winger is so darn pretty. The band sounded pretty good, but I wasn't able to stay in my seat too long because I had to book it back for Vince Neil's press conference. While waiting, I head "Headed for a Heartbreak" and they closed with "Seventeen." Kip changed one of the verses to "She's only 35." The crowd seemed pleased.
Turns out I wasted my time missing most of Winger because Vince Neil cancelled his press conference with no warning. While this was going on, Dokken were performing. The glam rock husband went to the pit for this show as well. He reports that security guards were actually pulling fans from the stage. This blew me away. Who knew people rushed the stage for Dokken? The band played "Dream Warriors," "Alone Again," and "In My Dreams."
After an excessively long wait, it was time for Vince Neil. When I say excessive, I mean ridiculous. Even the guys working the camera booms were getting ticked. In the pit, I was ready for some Motley Crue. The rumors that Nikki Sixx were coming were too intoxicating to ignore, so I shot from the left side of the stage just in case. I won't lie. I was disappointed when the music started and Nikki was nowhere to be seen. I typically keep set lists in my cellphone, but my phone was locked and it was too hard to shoot and type at the same time. I grabbed a marker and wrote the set on my arm. I think that's pretty hardcore right there. Sadly, when I got back to the car, I realized I couldn't read most of what I had written! The set looked (something!) like this:
Live Wire
Piece of Your Action
Helter Skelter
Red Hot
Whole Lotta Love/Black Sabbath (performed by Jeff Blando and Dana Strum)
Dr. Feelgood
Same Old Situation (S.O.S.)
Girls, Girls, Girls
Wildside
Kickstart My Heart
Teaser
Remember, glam fans: don't hold me to that exact line-up. There were a couple more songs that I can't decipher and I can't remember. The performance was not good by any means. This was the case for many reasons including the delay, audio issues, and Vince only singing every other word to the songs. At one point, Vince said "Hello Montana!" and that about did it for me. I also decided that we needed a bouncy ball with lyrics on the jumbotrons, so everyone could help Vince with the lyrics. Besides my disappoint in the lack of Nikki Sixx, I was also mad that Vince and company didn't perform "Shout at the Devil." I mean, are you kidding me?
By the time "Teaser" was done Eric, Heather and I were just about fried. My legs felt like they were going to fall off, Eric was starving and Heather had about a million bug bites. I went to bed at four and woke at eight to write this, plus filter photos. Concessions must be made in the name of rock!
Check back tomorrow for reviews of Twisted Sister, Queensryche and more.
Reader Comments (25)
I left during Dokken ( I was hosed ). I gotta say, Winger were better than I expected. Also, having seen Sebastian Bach recently, I thought Skid Row were way better than I had thought they would be.
I feel like vince totally proved my points made earlier. No solo songs, sloppy performance, waste of time. Glad I went to bed.
Great work Allyson! Thanks for sharing the experience with us!
Also, as an ammendment to Vince's song list, the song after The Beatles "Helter Skelter" and before "Red Hot" was Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll."
Sarge: They'll come to OZ if someone pays them too...;)