Contrasts A Plenty With The Winery Dogs
Published
Quite a divided crowd at this gig. I began the evening next to a party who were only here for support band Inglorious and left the barrier straight afterwards, a practice usually the preserve of festivals or extremely ill-suited bills.
Actually the line-up was reasonably cohesive, even though Inglorious seem to change style when they change tempo. Much of their set was played at what one might call a strutting pace, whereupon they sounded quite like the Rival Sons but with better vocal range. Things got a lot more exciting when they speeded up the tempo. The keyboard player showed hints of Uriah Heep, while the influence of Deep Purple and Rainbow (their sound came closer to the former, which may be why they covered the latter) loomed everywhere.
Their frontman's range doesn't match Gillan in his prime, of course - hardly anyone's does - but he can achieve plenty with it, including some mean rock 'n' roll screams. When they stop aping their contemporaries who have decades ahead and serve up their own twist on the influences we all resolve to cherish while they're still around, Inglorious rock like b*****ds.
The night of contrasts didn't stop when The Winery Dogs took to the stage. This may be the nature of things when extremely technical musicians set up a super-group to pay tribute to the more accessible sounds that got them into music. The idea may be very crafty if it acts as a gateway for the average rock fan to start discovering everything else Messrs Kotzen, Portnoy and Sheehan have ever done, but I wouldn't predict that effect from what I saw on the night.
Of those who were there for the headliners, there were some who relished the extended solo spots, while others just stood around and did... not a lot. A bit of head-nodding, cheers when expected, clapping when told and that was it. There was even a wally next to me who was commenting on his friends' FB statuses - while Billy Sheehan was noodling on the higher register of his bass as fast as if he was in a competition with Joey DeMaio.
I am not a camera/phone hater and applauded when Mike Portnoy told the busy-body security guard to stop hassling amateur photographers, but using one's phone for something non-gig-related when a musician is playing his proverbial off is a bit much. However, by the time Portnoy decided he wanted some new drum sounds and starting drumming on the riser, the stage and the back of Sheehan's bass, the wally had thankfully stopped, perhaps afraid of being hit on the head next.
The people who were there for the "accessible" side of The Winery Dogs rather than the "technical" aspect only really got going and started singing along when the band launched into 'I'm No Angel'. From there on in, a change in atmosphere was palpable. The cover of 'Moonage Daydream' in tribute to Bowie managed to be both appropriately moving and yet fun, while by closer 'Desire', Richie Kotzen had got the audience finding their voices with gusto.
There are lots of songs called 'Desire' and this isn't even the best one that features Kotzen (in 2006 he helped Lemmy do a stupendous cover of the Ozzy track by that name), but it is an infectious song and as a moment when the crowd really came together, it remained a highlight of the gig. It just goes to show that music can help people to surmount their differences... eventually.
COMMENTS
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Great review
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Who doesn't love a Bowie tribute?
