MIKE TRAMP
Saturday, 6/23/01 at L'amour in Brooklyn, New York
After hearing Mike Tramp's first solo album, "Capricorn", I was ready for a dramatic, emotional performance. On June 23rd, 2001 that's exactly what we got at the legendary L'amour in Brooklyn, New York. Mike and his four piece band opened with a mid tempo new song titled "Falling Down". The lyrics to this song set the tone for the entire show. It was almost a conceptual performance. It was a man on the road, knowing where he came from and realizing that it may not matter anymore. He refuses to carry on as a continuation of his former band, White Lion. Even though that had brought him success with hits like "Wait", "Tell Me", "When the Children Cry", "Little Fighter" and "Love Don't Come Easy", Mike said onstage that he considers himself as a new artist. He does play a few of the old songs but it's obvious that he's just playing them for the fans, which as we know, is very important. After White Lion, he formed a heavier band called Freak of Nature and played a few songs from them as well. But the focus was on the new songs. "Capricorn" favorites like "Here I Don't Belong", "Have You Ever" and "If I Live Tomorrow" were played beautifully. The audience loved it. Tramp puts on a very touching performance. Knowing that rock n roll, if done right, can bring people together. That night in Brooklyn, Mike Tramp and his band brought a couple hundred people together for all the right reasons.
"The Best of White Lion" at Amazon.com
L.A.
GUNS
Monday,
5/7/01 at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City
L.A. Guns back with Phil Lewis on lead vocals. Man, this is cool! They got a killer new record called "Man in the Moon". They did a promotional tour stopping at many Hard Rock Cafe's across the country. At 6pm the band did an in store at Sam Goody's on 6th Avenue. There weren't that many people there but who cares? I got to meet the entire band. My words to Phil? "Good to have you back, man". His words to me? "It's good to be back". Now on to the show. Hard Rock Cafe. New York City. Lot's of people. The band played the entire new record, song by song, from the title track to "Beautiful" to "Spider's Web" to "Scream". The people were loving it. Vibes were high. Finally, a hard rock band not trying to hide in the past (or hide from their past). Finally, a hard rock band with a new album worth bragging about. After running through "Man in the Moon", the band played a handful of thier greatest hits including "Sex Action", "The Ballad of Jayne" and "Electric Gypsy". Man, I wish they played for another hour, mixing more of the old with the new, but have no fear because the band is continuing the tour now and it's going to be just that. A good mix of all the L.A. Guns albums with the man himself, Mr. Phil Lewis.
"Man in the Moon" at Amazon.com
TUFF
Tuesday,
4/10/01 at Lakesides in Nesconsset (Long Island), New York
Tuesday night. Tuff's in town. Where is everybody? Maybe it's because it was a Tuesday. Maybe it's because it was a rescheduled show that was suppossed to be at the killer "Voodoo Lounge" in Queens, which just closed due to a fight at the club, where some dude got stabbed, but there were only about 50 people there that night. A recording of the bands new single, "American Hair Band", played over the P.A. As it ended, Hollywood glam legends Tuff took the stage. However, Tuff is not a glam band anymore and singer Stevie Rachelle is the only original member remaining. The show was primarily songs from their debut album, "What Comes Around Goes Around" and a couple from their second record, "Fist First". They opened with "God Bless This Mess". They played songs such as "Ruck a Pit Bridge", "Spit Like This", "In Dogs We Trust", "The All New Generation" and their hit, "I Hate Kissing You Goodbye", which had a long introduction by Stevie mentioning how the song had been in the top ten on "Dial MTV" back in 1991, when the album was released. There were only two songs performed that were not from the first two albums. The Tuff song "Don't Complain" and a version of Michael Monroe's "Dead, Jail or Rock n Roll". In fact, I always thought that Stevie Rachelle was very similar to Michael Monroe. In the end, it was a decent rock n roll show with no surprises. It's funny though because the music sounded real good, but all the songs were over ten years old. With all of his recent projects, I expected to hear more from a singer of such high caliber as Stevie. If the show had taken place at a proper rock venue, like the Voodoo Lounge, I'm sure it would've been more exciting.
SURRENDER
Friday,
3/9/01 at Slam in Westbury (Long Island), NY
Tuesday,
4/10/01 at Lakesides in Nesconsset (Long Island), NY
This Long
Island based rock band has opened shows for countless hard rock legends
such as Warrant, Skid Row, Danger Danger, Quiet Riot, Mike Tramp, Tuff,
etc. In fact, they were the opening act at the Tuff show reviewed
above. I got a copy of their latest CD titled "Full Circle" after
seeing them opening up for Westworld at the Voodoo Lounge. Right
away, I was into the bands melodic pop/rock music and just had to see them
headline their own show at Slam a week or two later. Funny enough,
both Voodoo Lounge and Slam have closed down recently. (Actually,
that's not funny. I'm pissed about that!) Singer Paul Carley has a very clear, controlled voice that compliments the bands bouncy, upbeat songs such as "Till the End of Time" and "Until You" , as well as rockers like "Where Do We Go From Here" and "Do You Think About Me". The band gives a great performance and is definately worth checking out whether you are in New York or not. As far as the bands amazing chemistry goes, in a letter to Music and the City, Paul states that, "We all believe in the music we play and we believe in each other. Surrender is all of us bringing what we have to offer to the table and writing the best songs we can. So to all the listeners and readers of Music and the City, on behalf of Surrender, we would like to thank every one of our fans and non-fans that have come down and supported us along the way. We appreciate it more than you'll ever know. We'll see ya out on the road soon!!!"