CALIFORNIA ROCK NEWS

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In the Vault with Shanda Golden

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Skid Row Interview with Snake Sabo and ZP Theart

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Skid Row Interview and Concert Coverage Grand Sierra Resort September 29, 2018

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Photos and review by Manny Dominguez

First time seeing Steven and his band perform at The Rose. Music was loud and proud and everything I expected to hear from a former member and drummer for Guns N Roses. 14 songs in the set list with the encore included. Guitar and Drum solos worked into the set and the colorful and the talented Tanya O Callaghan rocked it on the bass! Looking forward to the next show when they’re back in town.

ADLER’S APPETITE’s current lineup includes former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler alongside Ariel Kamin, the singer of Argentinian GN’R tribute band SON OF A GUN, bassist Tanya O Callaghan plus guitarists Michael Thomas and AJ. Kamin replaced Constantine Maroulis of “American Idol” and “Rock Of Ages” fame, who was the vocalist for ADLER’S APPETITE for a dozen or so dates this past May, including an Australian tour.

Photos and Review by Alex Kluft

Almost a year ago, I was at the Pacific Amphitheater at the OC Fair seeing guitar greats, Steve Miller and Peter Frampton. During the show, Miller told a story of how the two met 50 years ago during a recording session in London how their life-long friendship began. After five decades Miller and Frampton are back again for their second tour. This is the guitar event of the summer. On August 15th at the Santa Barbara Bowl Miller said how it’ll be 89 shows the two have played together by the end of the tour. This tour began June 12th in Indiana and has just seven shows left.

Before Frampton took the stage a pre-recorded announcement from Frampton came on over the speakers stating photos and video would only be allowed in the first three songs of the show. Being a photographer, this rule was nothing new to me, however this applied to the whole audience. Frampton has even stopped shows over fans recording video. For being a frequent concert goer, I praise Frampton for doing this since too many fans these days take photos and video through-out a show, aren’t present in the moment and don’t watch with their eyes directly, but on their phone screens. At 6:30pm Frampton took the stage which seemed quite early, but with the venue curfew, it was the only way to allow for full sets from both acts. Of the 5+ times I’ve seen Frampton live, I’m always amazed by his guitar playing, not just his hit songs.

Frampton started his set with Something’s Happening. Not only did Frampton play great songs, he always shared stories on writing the songs. Frampton’s set also included a special tribute to Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, by playing their song Black Hole Sun, which has been in his setlist for a number of years now, but with Cornell’s passing last year Cornell’s image appears on the curtain behind the stage. Before dedicating the song to Cornell and his family, Frampton praised the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin who passed away just the next morning after this show.

Frampton’s second to last song was one of his biggest hits Baby, I Love You Way, which he told the full story of how the song came to be starting with him and Alvin Lee (10 Years After) in the Caribbean Islands. The last song of his set was Do You Feel Like We Do. Frampton didn’t play just any guitar for the last song, it was the black Gibson Les Paul seen on the album cover of Frampton Comes Alive. I happened to have a personal connection since I was at the Chicago Theatre for the 35th Anniversary of that historic album when Frampton played the guitar for the first time live since he was reunited with after it went missing in a plane crash decades earlier. This song wouldn’t be complete without its famous talk box solo which always leads to Frampton and the audience laughing. Although Frampton’s set was over, the audience enjoyed him again with an appearance during Steve Miller’s set.

Steve Miller took the stage around 8:30 P.M. I’ve had the honor of seeing Miller in concert several times in the past 10 years. As usual, Miller’s set was filled with unforgettable guitar solos and legendary stories. I would describe Miller as both a guitar genius and wizard with the unique sounds that he produces. Just like Frampton, in Miller’s career spanning over five decades he recorded many great albums as a writer, singer, and guitarist. Both artists were heavily influenced by the Blues as well. Miller opened his set with “The Stake” off his album Book of Dreams, which celebrated its 40thanniversary last year.

The simple way to sum up Miller’s set would be as a sing-along as he played one hit after the next with songs like “Abracadabra,” “Living in the U.S.A.” and “Swingtown.” Almost half way into Miller’s set, Frampton joined in to pay tribute to their idols Elmore James and Freddie King. Seeing two guitar giants on the same bill wouldn’t be complete without the two trading off unforgettable guitar solos. Like Frampton, Miller shared stories behind his songs and told my personal favorite of how he bought his Electric Sitar guitar which was used on “Wild Mountain Honey.” Miller told the story of how he went into Manny’s Music in NYC to buy a Gibson Les Paul, but only had $250. As Miller was walking out he noticed a barrel of guitars saying “Your Choice $150,” and pulled out the Electric Sitar based on it’s neck before seeing what a unique guitar it is. Miller broke down all the fine details from the lipstick tube pickups to mirrors on the back and how George Harrison playing sitar with Ravi Shankar helped him decide in purchasing it. Miller also went on to share how a guitar collector offered to buy the guitar for $250,000 and the Smithsonian Museum wanted to borrow the guitar for a special exhibit.

Rather than leaving the stage and coming back for the encore, to not waste precious time as curfew was approaching, Miller and his band continued to play. Unfortunately to be finished by 10 P.M. Miller had to cut “Jungle Love,” but played the “The Joker,” and ended with his usual closer “Threshold/Jet Airliner.” The tour ends with two nights in Woodinville, WA on August 25th and 26th at the Chateau Ste Michelle.

Photography by Shanda Golden:

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Photos by Manny Dominguez

Led by Liv Warfield of Prince’s New Power Generation and Nancy Wilson co-founder of Heart, ROADCASE ROYALE has a rich background in rock and R&B. Warfield, Wilson, and their bandmates bring their decades of experience from the upper echelon of the music industry to ROADCASE ROYALE, along with a renewed sense of direction and drive. Joining Wilson and Warfield are Warfield’s lead guitarist Ryan Waters and Heart veterans Dan Rothchild (bass), Ben Smith (Drums) and Chris Joyner (Keys). Each of these members shine with their various sensibilities creating the group’s sensitive, passionate, and driving rock and R&B sound. Great music often stems from the most unlikely of partnerships, and this is certainly true of Roadcase Royale. On their debut album, First Things First, the band, led by legendary Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson and powerhouse R&B vocalist Liv Warfield, a former member of Prince’s New Power Generation, conjure an explosive and affecting rock-and-soul sound that nods to each musician’s particular musical past while also looking ahead to explore bold sonic frontiers. From the laidback groove and liquid guitar chording of opener “Get Loud” to the piledriving heavy blues riffing of “Not Giving Up,” the sultry—and slightly Stones-y—love letter “Cover Each Other” to the hushed, hymn-like inspirational closer “Never Say Die,” First Things First draws from a deep and diverse well of styles and sentiments to create something fresh and unique. “It’s been such an exciting and creative experience, and so effortless,” Wilson says of playing with Roadcase Royale. “With this band, it feels like the first time all over again, just because of the enthusiasm and energy we share when we get together.” The roots of Roadcase Royale stretch back to 2015, when Heart had two shows scheduled at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. “We were looking for an opener,” Wilson recalls, “and we just happened to see Liv on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing with the Roots and singing a song called ‘Why Do You Lie?’ Her energy, her power, her presence, it was so overwhelming. It was like, ‘Oh my God…’ ” Heart invited Warfield and her guitarist and musical director Ryan Waters—another alumnus of Prince’s band—to play the two dates at the Hollywood Bowl, and the seeds of Roadcase Royale were planted. “I ended up talking with Nancy and we just connected really quickly,” Warfield says. “Like, seriously, from hello. And that’s how this whole door opened.” As for how they felt about bringing their two disparate musical backgrounds together, Wilson laughs. “It’s funny—when Liv and I first started having conversations about doing this she was like, ‘I wanna rock! I’ve always wanted to rock more!’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ve always had the obligation to rock. I’d love to do some R&B.’ And so it was an obvious thing to meld our styles together. And it’s a very natural combination.” That combination is reflected in the band name as well: “I came up with the word ‘roadcase’ because I’ve always liked how road cases have a lot of character, where they’re beat-up and scuffed,” Wilson explains. “They’re old warhorses—just like the people that go on the road with them. And then with Liv and Ryan coming from the Prince world, I thought that ‘royale’ would be a really nice juxtaposition to this beat-up road case concept. You put the words next to each other and it’s just a cool contrasting image.” In addition to Wilson, Warfield and Waters, Roadcase Royale is rounded out by three current members of Heart—keyboardist Chris Joyner, bassist and main producer on First Things First, Dan Rothchild, and drummer Ben Smith. Wilson calls the band an “inspired democracy,” with all six members contributing to the overall sound and direction of the music. “There’s just this great collective energy,” Warfield adds. “Everybody pitches in and brings a piece of something to the writing table.” The songs the band came up with for First Things First run a gamut of sounds and emotions, with several of them tackling hot-button social issues like female empowerment (“Get Loud”), political divisiveness (“Not Giving Up”), and self-determination in the face of aggression (“Insaniac”). “These are politically-charged days we’re living in right now,” Wilson says. “All these things that we’re facing all over again in our culture, it’s a bit frustrating for somebody that grew up in the late Sixties and was aware of all that stuff the first time around. So sticking up for yourself a little bit can never hurt.” That said, Warfield adds, “there are also plenty of songs that aren’t politically-driven. A lot of the lyrics are about love and being there for one another. They’re about humanity.” To that end, First Things First boasts a poignant and evocative take on Colin Hay’s “Hold On to My Hand,” with Warfield’s lilting vocal telegraphing words of love and loss as waves of guitars crash against the hypnotic rhythm behind her. “Cover Each Other,” meanwhile, features a lyric Wilson wrote for her husband during a moment of great uncertainly in his life. Then there’s the harrowing “The Dragon,” which paints a picture of lives in a different sort of distress. “I started writing that song back in the Nineties, for [late Alice in Chains vocalist] Layne Staley,” Wilson explains. “At that point Layne was still around, but you could see that he wouldn’t be around forever. His was a long and arduous decline that we all watched. And recently we’ve seen what has happened with Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, people in our lives that have gone down some road that is nothing but negative and you can’t stop it. So the song has become about more than just Layne since I first wrote it.”   As for how “The Dragon” wound up on First Things First, she continues, “I’ve always loved the song, but it was never finished. But then Dan [Rothchild] came up with the final bit, and finally it felt complete. Now it’s in its full capacity as a Roadcase Royale song. It was never destined for Heart, I guess.” Which is not to say that there are no traces of Heart in Roadcase Royale. First Things First features reworkings of two of that band’s classic songs—the smash 1985 ballad “These Dreams,” and the hard-rocking “Even It Up,” which is given a slinky, funkier reading here. “It’s sort of like a transfer of power,” Wilson says about bringing her past into her present. And indeed, there’s no denying the power and eternalness of these songs. “It’s crazy for me to play them,” Warfield says. “Insane. I grew up on ‘These Dreams’—that was a song that, back before anybody knew I was a singer, I’d be upstairs in my room singing it to myself. It spoke to me. So in the studio I was bugging out to be doing these Heart songs. And it’s even better to be singing them onstage for the fans.” And it’s the stage, in fact, where Roadcase Royale envision spending much of their future. “We want to take this music to the world and inspire people,” Wilson says. Adds Warfield, “Seeing us live is like a thousand notches up. I think the energy comes alive. The words come alive. It’s a totally different experience from the album. And I’m loving it.” Wilson concurs. “You know,” she says, “doing this brand-new band after working with one rock group since I was 19, basically it’s been kind of an emotional and artistic lifesaver for me. And I never expected it. When we first got together to do Roadcase Royale, I thought, Oh, it’s just a side project. And now I’m thinking, maybe not so much. Now I’m thinking, This is my calling.”

Photos by Chuck Walker

Pics and Vids by “Sound” Chuck Walker

Cheap Trick
Grand Casino Resort
Pictures by Shanda Golden

Pictures by Shanda Golden