Category: AXSTV

Bonfire rocked at their live tribute to AC/DC on AXS TV World’s Greatest Tribute Bands  As stated by the band while they were onstage, AC/DC played the Whisky on August 30, 1977 on the Let There Be Rock tour.   At that show, they did a seven song set that included “Whole Lotta Rosie”.  Last night, Bonfire played over 12 AC/DC classics and really did an incredible job at it.   Just before the show started, the news started to spread that AC/DC may not perform or record again, so the timing on that was really odd.  Best wishes to Malcolm Young. 

Recalling how an AC/DC shows would normally cause a 3 day hearing loss (even longer without earplugs), it was nice to be able to rock out without being deafened in the process.     “HIghway To Hell”,  “Dirty Deeds”,  “Walk All Over You” and “It’s a Long Way To The Top (If You Want to Rock n Roll)” were the best of the good batch of AC/DC tunes.   Bon even rockede the bagpipes!

They asked the audience if they looked and sounded like AC/DC.  They definitely delivered in a convincing fashion and got an overwhelmingly positive response from the rowdy crowd , which included many in attendance that were wearing the flashing red horns that can be seen at AC/DC concerts.  The drummer really rocked the tunes and everyone in the did their parts very well.   This is definitely a great band to help carry on the AC/DC legacy if they are indeed done as a band.

SET LIST:

LET THERE BE ROCK  

HIGHWAY TO HELL

DIRTY DEEDS

WALK ALL OVER YOU  

BIG BALLS / ROCKER

GIRL’S GOT RHYTHIM

TNT  

YOU SHOOK ME

SIN CITY

WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE

IT’S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP (I YOU WANT TO ROCK N ROLL)

ENCORE

* – above photos provided by Jim Lott of JM-PHOTOGRAPHY.

As always, Katie Daryl did a fantastic job hosting the show.   Her camoflage outfit with the studded should pads was pretty cool.  She announced that the LA KISS Cheerleaders  will be on hand for MR. SPEED’s tribute to KISS for the season finale next Monday. 

I’ve been disappointed by just about every Beatles tribute band I’ve ever seen.   From tributes at fairs, to relatively large venues, I never found a band that did The Beatles music true justice.     I am a huge Beatles fan.   They’re one of the best bands ever.  They may be the best – whatever that is.    I’ve seen “Love” three times in Vegas, I have a good collection of Beatles stuff and I really enjoy their multi-channel music (“Eleanor Rigby is glorious in surround sound).. 

I’d never heard The Fab Four play before.  Given my low expectations for a band paying tribute to the music of the Beatles, I can say I am completely shocked by how much they nailed the entire act and by how into the show the super-packed crowd was.  They played a sold out show the night before and may have the biggest fan base of all the tribute bands.  There was a sizeable line before the doors opened.

They played 24 songs and pulled off several costume changes to represent different John, Paul, George and Ringo  time periods in chronological order during their performance.   Each song and costume change got better as the concert went on. 

They started with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, and included “Please Please Me”,”Do You Want To Know A Secret”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, “I Should Have Known Better”, “Eight Days A Week”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Yesterday”, “Day Tripper”, “She Loves You”, and “I Saw Her Standing There” before Katie Daryl  took the  first set commercial break with “Twist and Shout”.

Everyone in attendance was floored.  What a fantastic tribute to the Beatles.  And the energy was at an all-time high.

The second set of the show saw the Fab Four come back dressed in the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/ psychedelic period.  The bass drum even changed from “The Fab Four” logo to “It Was 20 Years Ago Today”.  

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To close out the telecast, the band came back out in their third costume and played “Get Back”, “Imagine”, “Here Comes The Sun”, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “Revolution”. 

The Fab Four went off the air with “Hey Jude”:

The band is solid and the drumming may have been the best part.   This is a concert worthy of seeing over and over.

If you ever wanted to see a Beatles tribute band or relive a Beatles concert, then this is the band to see.

30 years ago, The Police released one of the greatest albums and embarked on one of the most memorable tours of all time.  The Police also had a few more recent reunion tours that were equally fantastic.   They are truly one of the best bands ever!! 

The music and performances of THE POLICE EXPERIENCE are so SPOT-ON that the band has earned the approval and endorsement of STEWART COPELAND, Drummer and Founder of The Police, Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, as well as many others in the music industry.   Over the last 10 years, both Copeland and Hawkins have even jammed with the band.   The show at The Roxy tonight proved why they’ve earned such important endorsements for their amazing recreation of a Police concert.

The opened their set with “MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE”.   The capacity crowd was rocking out as Jimbo Head played the signature guitar parts of Andy Summer. 

The next song was “EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC”.   David Rasner does a remarkable job handling both Sting’s vocals and bass playing.  

“SYNCHRONICITY 2” was the next song.  This isn’t an easy song to play and they nailed it.   Mike Nieland can play the intricate drum parts of Stewart Copeland to perfection.  It was a lot of fun watching Mike play Copeland’s parts on the drums. 

The next song was “EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE” – perhaps the most popular of all of the songs by The Police (or perhaps second to Roxanne – I’m not sure).

“KING OF PAIN” rocked the show into the commercial.  

Katie Daryl came out at the end of the song and announced the band would be back in a few minutes. 

-BREAK-

Then, the curtain lifted and singer/bassist David Rasner came out dressed just like Sting during the video for “DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME”. 

That was a nice touch and a great way to kick off the second set.

With a solid groove, they segued into “WALKING ON THE MOON”.  They performed a great version of it as they sounded like the real deal. 

They then continued on with “DRIVEN TO TEARS” and had the entire room jamming.

The very popular “DE DO DO DO DE DA DA DA” was next. It had the crowd jamming and it brought back a ton of memories. 

They closed out the set with “ROXANNE” to a thrilled crowd.    

Katie came back out again and had the band play out to “SO LONELY” (which was a bonus tune for the live audience)

An extra hour of Police songs would have been just fine with everyone in attendance.

Another great performance to keep the momentum up for the second season! 

Next week?  The Fab Four pays tribute to The Beatles.  So many fantastic songs to choose from. 

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This was a solid show to start the new season of The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands.

In addition to playing a bunch of songs that appeared on the “Changesbowie” album, there were many surprises in the season 2 opener for TWGTB.

Katie Daryl introduced David and the show began with “Fame”, which got the place rocking.

David Brighton did a fantastic and very convincing job playing Bowie tunes from each era, complete with costumes changes and special guests.  He and his very capable band then launched into “Young Americans” and “Golden Years”.

Mick Adams from The Ultimate Stones came out and sang “Dancing In The Streets”, which really took the crowd by surprise. Given its normal format, the show went to a relatively early commercial break.

Katie took the stage and the curtain closed momentarily.

Following the commercial break, David came out in the Ziggy Stardust outfit.    Space Oddity played “Rebel Rebel”, “Ziggy Stardust” and then mixed together “Changes” and “Space Oddity”.

From there, they played “Suffragette City” and “The Jean Genie”

An extended guitar solo allowed more time for another costume change and another group of tunes that started with “Let’s Dance” and “China Girl” from the early 80s.

Another highlight of the show was an appearance by Freddie Mercury (Gregory Finsley from Queen Nation).  He came out and performed a rocking version of “Under Pressure”.

Then the band closed out the live telecast with “Heroes”, where  Katie came onstage and said goodnight to the TV crowd. 

The best part?  Katie said they were going to play one more song played as they went off air and they closed the show with “Modern Love”. 

This was a great way to start the season and sets the bar way high for the rest of the performers in season 2.

Next week?  The Police Experience.   This should be another outstanding show.

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