A Pop Metal Original Rocks The Grove Of Anaheim

September 25, 2013

Multi-platinum rock band, Tesla will play The Grove of Anaheim on Sun, Oct. 6 performing their ‘80s brand of melodic, hard-hitting songs.

“We’ll be playing a lot of stuff that we’re famous for, a lot of radio stuff, maybe a couple obscurities,” drummer Troy Luccketta said. “There is also a broken down acoustic set, maybe three tracks inside the show, so we can kind of revisit that whole ‘Five Man Acoustical Jam’ for a minute. It’s a good little show.”

The 90s “Five Man Acoustical Jam” album was innovative in the sense that it was an acoustic album by a pop-metal band, which had rarely, if ever, been done before. It inadvertently inspired MTV’s “Unplugged” series and led to an “Unplugged” craze for many well-known artists of the time such as Eric Clapton, Nirvana, and many others who released acoustic live albums.

In addition to playing acoustic versions of some of their own songs, they also covered a few favorites. One of the covers, “Signs,” became a Top Ten hit as well as the band’s highest-charting single.

“You would think after playing all these same songs all these years that you’d get bored but quite frankly that’s not really the case at all,” Luccketta said. “I think you’re just constantly inspired by the people and your fans that you’re not really thinking about it. You’re just selling it because you believe in it, and you love it, and you can do it. You’re just so grateful that you can do it.”

Tesla formed in the Sacramento area and played locally in the early days, noticing other nearby bands such as Y&T.

“They’re out of the bay area and we all loved that band. When I was young I was watching those guys, and the rest of the band was watching them, too. And there was some influence. That stuff creeps out and creeps over; it has a way of self-pollenating. It’s a natural progression of where you’re at, where you’re living in, how you’re influenced, ” Luccketta recalled.

“There was a good scene in Sacramento – things were pumping, it was good. Back in the day, maybe because we were young, we chased after everything. It seemed like there was always so much local support and bands trying to get that Friday night gig. There was a good scene out there.”

One of the band’s most well known songs was the ballad, “Love Song” from the 1989 album, “The Great Radio Controversy.” It was a Top Ten hit that made the band stars.

“Tesla is a band that’s been through a lot over twenty-seven years,” Luccketta noted. “The last 10 years there’s not even been one ounce of alcohol or drugs, not even one beer, backstage. We’re a band that figured out how to do this thing and enjoy it for all the right reasons.”

He continued, “We get it man. We know how lucky we are. We are a lucky bunch of guys and we all know that. We kind of live in that gratitude world.”

Joining Luccketta are original band members Jeff Keith, vocals, Frank Hannon, guitar, and Brian Wheat on bass. Dave Rude also joins on guitar and has been playing with the group since 2006.

“Follow your heart and stay true to your passion,” Luccketta offers new musicians starting out today. “Don’t give up if you’re inspired, even if it’s going against the grain and against the world. If you believe in it, and you believe in a cause, go for it. Dreams, that’s how we all got here. We all picked up an instrument at one point and we had a dream to do what it is we’re doing.”

Kyuss Lives! On And Brings The Peace

September 3, 2013

Kyuss Lives! Currently known as Vista Chino, will be performing songs from their debut album, “Peace,” along with classic Kyuss songs at House of Blues Anaheim on Sept. 14, 2013.

Two of the original members of Kyuss, John Garcia (vocals) and Brant Bjork (drums), are joined by Bruno Fevery (guitar) of Kyuss Lives! and recent addition Mike Deans (bass) of Corrosion of Conformity.

Their music has often been described as “stoner rock,” which wasn’t actually a style of music at the time Kyuss began.

“Lucky for me I don’t have to come up with the name of the genre of which my music might be considered. It’s hard enough thinking of names for a band,” Bjork said. “As far as stoner rock goes, in the early ‘90’s we were doing our thing and we were stoners. We were smoking a lot of grass. I’m sure it had a lot to do with how our music came about.”

A couple of years ago, Garcia approached Bjork and Nick Olivieri to get Kyuss back together, knowing that Josh Homme probably wouldn’t be interested.

“I thought it was a great idea, I thought the timing was perfect. The fact that I wasn’t expecting it made it super appealing,” Bjork recalled.

“As for Josh, I don’t talk to him a whole lot. I don’t really know where his head’s at, nor has been, for the last 20 years. We kind of knew going into it that he would not want to participate. Thank god we got Bruno Fevery because he’s an exceptional guitar player and we were able to do it.”

The new album “Peace” was written, produced, arranged and recorded all while going through an intense lawsuit that Homme and Scott Reader filed against them.

“By the time we got to the end of the record and it was time to give it a title, we thought ‘Peace’ would be a good name to kind of keep us centered. Keep our feet on the ground, keep ourselves focused on our love, which is music,” Bjork explained.

“And also to send out a message that conflict is not something we were ever interested in. We weren’t looking for a fight. We didn’t start that war. And really we just want peace and to do what we really love to do, which is to play music.”

Now that the lawsuit is behind them, Vista Chino is looking forward to playing some of the new material live.

“We want the people to come out and experience the band and the fresh music along with the Kyuss classics, and have a good time!”

Ten Years After Cures The Summertime Blues

July 28, 2013

Ten Years After, icons from Woodstock with their ten-minute rendition of “I’m Going Home”, will be part of the Rock ‘n’ Blues Fest coming to the Grove of Anaheim on August 2.

In 1971, the band had a Top 40 hit with “I’d Love To Change The World.” Although lead singer/guitarist and founding member Alvin Lee passed away earlier this year, Joe Gooch has been filling his shoes since 2003 when Lee severed ties with the rest of the group.

Leo Lyons, bass, Chick Churchill, keyboards, and Ric Lee on drums originally started Ten Years After with Lee back in 1967 and remain active members. They released their self-titled debut album that same year.

The band released nine albums together including two of the most popular FM radio albums of the late ‘60’s, early ‘70’s, “Ssssh” and “Cricklewood Green”, featuring classic tracks such as “Good Morning Little School Girl” and “Love Like a Man.”

While Ten Years After plays most of their classic songs live, they also have the albums, “Now” and “Evolution” with Gooch instead of Lee, to round out their live set.

Other rock and blues legends appearing with Ten Years After are the Edgar Winter Band, Canned Heat, Rick Derringer and Pat Travers.

“All the members of Ten Years After are enthusiastic about reuniting with Edgar, Rick and especially Canned Heat again,” Lee said. “Original members Chick Churchill, Leo Lyons and I first performed alongside Canned Heat at the legendary Fillmore Ballroom on our first tour of the United States in 1968 and have remained good friends ever since. We are also excited to tour the U.S. as we pay tribute to band-mate Alvin Lee, while igniting a new wave of youthful excitement and appeasing long-term fans.”

Who said there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues!

Love The Way The Furs Play

July 12, 2013

The Psychedelic Furs will be performing a mix of their classic 80s songs at the House of Blues on July 12 as part of their current 40 nights US tour.

“We always love playing in Southern California, crowds are energetic and that really makes for a great show! Plus the House of Blues is a fantastic venue in the shadow of Disneyland!” co-founder Tim Butler (bass) said.

Numerous songs such as “Love My Way”, “Heartbreak Beat” and of course, “Pretty In Pink”, have become staples on college and mainstream radio stations over the years.

Which songs will they be playing on tour? “Everything you’d expect and more,” Butler promises. “We’ve reached back and grabbed a few songs we haven’t played at all since the very early 80’s, and we’ve got a couple of new songs too. We’ll cover it all!”

On stage fronting the Psychedelic Furs is charismatic Richard Butler (vocals), Mars Williams (sax) and Paul Garisto (drums) who joined the band during the “Midnight to Midnight” era, Rich Good (guitar) and, Amanda Kramer (keyboards).

OC Concert Guide caught up with Tim Butler to find out how the tour is going and more.

OCCG: How is the tour going? Have there been any surprises or do you have interesting stories to share?
TB: It’s been going really well. It is exciting to get out there and experience summer all throughout America. We’ve been surprised as to how enthusiastically some of the more obscure songs have gone over with the audience. It’s been great.

OCCG: How did the name “Psychedelic Furs” originally come about?
TB: When we first started in England, a lot of the bands had pretty hard aggressive names like Sex Pistols, Clash and Stranglers…so we wanted something that would stand a bit apart. We had admired bands from the “psychedelic” era such as the Velvet Underground and Love, so “Psychedelic” sounded like a good start. So we would be the Psychedelic something and “Furs” was just something we pretty much thought worked well with it. People would see that in a club listing and think, “what’s THAT all about?”

OCCG: Some artists have claimed to be distracted or annoyed by audiences holding up their cell phones to video a song or take a photo during the show and others seem not to mind at all. What are your views on this current trend?
TB: It really doesn’t affect us all that much when we’re playing. It seems like most of the audience is really more into experiencing the show in the present, rather than concerned about taking pictures or videos.

OCCG: What is on the horizon, post-tour for the Psychedelic Furs?
TB: We are believe it or not….working on a new album. We’ve really taken our time on it, there has been no pressure put on us, and that suits us fine. But there will be new music coming.

OCCG: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
TB: We’re excited to be back in Orange County…and we hope to see you all in Anaheim!

Love and Her Music At The Grove Of Anaheim

July 12, 2013

Courtney Love, singer, songwriter, guitarist and front woman extraordinaire, is performing at the Grove of Anaheim on July 27.

“I have a lot of friends from OC. I went to rehab in OC once. It worked, too, good rehab. Over charged like crazy, though, Laguna. I always thought of the OC as part of L.A. really,” Love reminisced.

Love said the material they will be playing at each show will depend on “whatever strikes me that night.”

“This guy from the Boston paper told me Live Nation was advertising the concert like ‘Courtney Love Sings the Hits.’ I called the poor girl at Live Nation and chewed her head off!” Love chuckled. “I’m like, ‘have you seen what my audience is made of? It’s little girls and gay guys, and a few really smart dudes that aren’t going to see a death metal band that night.’ Sings the hits! I don’t even have quantifiable hits like that!”

“Although I’m really heartened today because I found out Queens of the Stone Age have the number one record in America, which is awesome and it’s on Matador, which if you’d have told me that ten years ago I would have laughed in your face!” Love continued. “If you’d have told me that a month ago I would have laughed in your face. I’m really impressed. It’s amazing. It’s kind of like a Subpop record getting to be number one. It’s crazy. But, I mean, it’ll last for 10 minutes. But it’s still cool.”

Love doesn’t play under her former band name “Hole,” any longer, but she has been performing with the current lineup, Micko Larkin (guitar), Shawn Dailey (bass), and Scott Lipps (drums) for a number of years. “Micko’s been with me as long as Eric’s (Erlandson/former Hole guitarist) been with me. He’s been with me 8 years. He’s an English-Irish lad,” Love mentioned. “And then Shawn’s been with me since ’09 and Scott’s been with me since 2011. Micko’s the one that I’m closest to and we do the most co-writing together.”

During rehearsals for the upcoming summer tour, OC Concert Guide caught up with Ms. Love for a quick chat.

OCCG: As a woman in rock, what significant changes for women have you seen in the music industry from when you first started to now?
CL: Shrinking. There’s not a lot of other women in rock, put it that way. Girls that play rock tend to know each other and there’s just not a lot of us. And it’s true. There’s a lot of duos. There’s a lot of girls that sing. But there’s not a lot of players.

OCCG: Personally, who would you still like to play music with, write a song or perform with?
CL: I don’t know. Probably, PJ Harvey, if she could go back to being a little more rock. I’d love to write a song for Marianne (Faithfull) because she doesn’t really write her own songs. She gets real neurotic about performing her own material. It’s just Marianne. I’d be really honored to write with Leonard Cohen. Nick Cave. I’m trying to think of super-genius younger people. I like the Arctic Monkeys a lot.

OCCG: What inspires you now to make music that is different from when you first started and what hasn’t changed in your music?
CL: What hasn’t changed is I’m still as ambitious as I’ve always been. I’m a little more mellow. You know what hasn’t changed is, I’m still writing about the same old shit. You know – sex, death, love, hate – same old shit everyone writes about. It’s just my take on it – rage, the economy. Nothing’s really changed. I’m just older. I have a guitar player that’s really well suited to me that I wish I’d been playing with the whole time. And a band I really love.

OCCG: Next year marks the 20-year anniversary of the album “Live Through This.” Are you considering anything special, a re-issue, a tour playing the album in its entirety, anything like that?
CL: No. I mean I’m not. Maybe some agent or manager or label will think of something like that.

The thing with this tour is that we have new material and there was supposed to be a new single to accompany it. The reason we’re not playing LA but we’re playing Anaheim, and smaller venues is because I have to wait for the first of the year. My book comes out at Christmas, and the single will come out probably as an album at that point because we’re very fast and we have 8 songs already recorded. But I can’t play the single live because then everyone would hear it already and you can’t just do that. You can’t just give the songs away straight up.

We have about 4 songs that are really, really, really excellent. Four songs that are really good. But the really excellent ones are the ones I want to play and I can’t. I mean I don’t do well unless I’m playing new material. I like to play old songs, too. It’s a little tour. It gets me out of the house. It gets you out of the house. It’ll be really fun. It’ll warm us up.

The House Of Blues Anaheim Goes ‘Electric’ With The Cult

July 10, 2013

The Cult’s ‘Electric 13” tour makes a stop in Anaheim at the House of Blues on July 26. The group will be performing their classic third album, “Electric” in its entirety, which includes fan favorites “Love Removal Machine” and “Wild Flower”.

The band will also reissue “Electric” along with the original recording of the album initially titled, “Peace” but never released, as part of a double-disc set.

Long time Cult guitarist, Billy Duffy, talked with OC Concert Guide about the upcoming tour and the album, “Electric”.

OCCG: The Cult has previously played in Orange County, California, what do you remember/like about it?
BD: Love the OC. I live in So Cal so how could I not? Always, always great shows down there.

OCCG: How was “Electric” chosen to be the album performed in its entirety?
BD: Seemed to make chronological sense after the success of “Love” in ’09.

OCCG: In addition to “Electric”, what sort of set list can fans look forward to?
BD: We are always very much about new music as well as honoring our heritage. So a fair bit from the last album, “Choice of Weapon.”

OCCG: “Electric” was perceived as a harder rock record at the time. Was this primarily Rick Rubin’s influence, or had the band already started evolving in that direction?
BD: It was both. We had started to move that way but could not capture what we wanted until Rick came along and “reduced” The Cult’s sound (his quote).

OCCG: The album, “Electric”, was initially recorded by Steve Brown, who also did the “Love” record. What was the motivation to release the Steve Brown version now?
BD: I would say a few differing motives depending if you are our old UK label or Ian and myself. The end result is I hope satisfying a demand from the fans for it to be made widely available at last.

OCCG: What was going on at the time that inspired the songwriting both musically and lyrically?
BD: We were touring in North America a lot. Absorbing more and more old and new rock than was around in the post punk UK of the time. That and the rather hedonistic piratical lifestyle that comes with a bunch of 20 something year olds let loose with unlimited booze, drugs, and a tour bus.

OCCG: Is there an interesting or surprising story you can recall and share from any of these recording sessions?
BD: Coming into Electric Ladyland Studios to find all three Beastie Boys jamming on our equipment like little chimps at a mad tea party.

OCCG: It appears there is a lot of touring on the horizon. Is the group also working on new material?
BD: We are always trying to work on new stuff. It’s the lifeblood of The Cult. Sometimes it comes quickly. Sometimes, well, not so quick. But it’s always on our horizon.

OCCG: Who is in the lineup for the tour?
BD: Same band since 2006, Ian (Astbury), me, (John) Tempesta and (Chris) Wyse. Plus an as yet officially, unannounced rhythm guitarist as “Electric” is a total two-guitar attack record.

OCCG: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
BD: Be nice to people. It’s hot out there.

Ted Nugent The Man, The Myth, The Music

July 3, 2013

Outspoken, outlandish, over-the-top, controversial, however one chooses to describe Ted Nugent, he writes some catchy songs and plays a mean guitar. Catch him at the Grove of Anaheim on July 16.

“My killer band of Mick Brown, Greg Smith and Derek St. Holmes is so good
it’s stupid,” Nugent said of his live band. “We are the tightest, highest energy, most intense R&B and R&R band on earth and anybody that doesn’t absolutely love our concerts is weird. We are the last of James Brown’s children.”

His high-octane performances are loud and his stage persona is unique. He is always a clever showman, with his stage often sporting American flags, rifles and an Indian headdress. And of course, a lot of guitars!

The mighty Gibson Byrdland is his favorite guitar to play. It “has a life and voice of its own, feedbacks like an angry, sex starved animal at a minimal volume threshold, and forces me to play a more pummeling, throttling percussive attack just to keep up with its self-driven sonic bombast,” he explains. “This American made guitar is indeed the physics of spirituality personified.”

Ted Nugent has been playing music for five decades and sold over 40 million albums. Needless to say, the urge to create music hit him long ago. “I had a powerful trembling occurring down below at a very early age and knew instinctively that Chuck Berry’s music would be the soundtrack by which I could hope to manage my indefatigable pure animal breeding calling, and cleanse my soul,” Nugent recalls.

For people starting out in bands today, Nugent advises to “stay clean and sober, surround yourself with kind, considerate, conscientious, good, driven people dedicated to a soulful musical dream. Practice till it drives you crazy and never forget that the soulfulness of Chuck Berry, James Brown and the mighty Motown Funk Brothers should constantly drive your creative juices.”

“All the original influences and inspirations from the founding fathers of American R&B are alive and well in my music and all dedicated musicians today. You will feel the soul of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, James Brown, Wilson Picket, Sam and Dave, Booker T, Stax/Volt, Chess records, the mighty Motown Funk Brothers and more in all the best touring bands today.”

When asked if he could be anyone other than himself, living or deceased, Nugent’s uniquely replied, “I would have made the best advance scout and meat procurer for Lewis & Clark the world could ever imagine. God knows Sacajawea would have been better taken care of.”

Crazy, high-energy doesn’t begin to describe a Ted Nugent concert. It’s something that truly needs to be experienced for the full effect. With songs like “Stranglehold” and “Cat Scratch Fever,” it’s difficult not to jump around and shout the choruses out loud.

Latin Alternative Rockers Prepare For OC Debut

June 16, 2013

Panda (aka PXNDX), a Latin band that sings in Spanish, will make their Orange County debut at the House of Blues Anaheim June 28.

With six studio albums, one live record, and a MTV Unplugged session, current band members Jose Madero (guitar and vocals), Arturo Arredondo (guitar), Ricky Trevino (bass) and Jorge “Kro” Kross (drums) are well known throughout Latin America.

OCCG: Will this be your first visit to Orange County, California, or have you played here before?
MADERO: We´ve never actually played in OC, but we have done some shows in Hollywood, which I think is pretty nearby. We always have great response from our Californian fans, and we love the area so much.

OCCG: What can fans look forward to at a Panda concert?
MADERO: Our shows are characterized by screaming and jumping fans. Everybody sings all of the lyrics. It’s a pretty long show, with songs ranging from our first albums throughout the last one released last year.

OCCG: I believe there will be a new album released sometime this year. What is the name? How does it differ from the previous album, or does it?
MADERO: Yes, we´ll be releasing a new album later this year. We have the name but we are saving it as a surprise for our fans for some time to come. It is a much heavier album than the last one, but it’s got the same sensibility. I think it’s a much better record.

OCCG: Will you be playing any new songs on the tour?
MADERO: No. We´d rather play songs that the fans know so they can sing to them. Anyway, we haven’t even practiced the new songs yet so it would be kind of difficult!

OCCG: Going back to the beginning of Panda, what were some of your early musical inspiration?
MADERO: Well, we listened a lot to punk rock bands (I still do) like Rancid, Blink 182, Everclear, Weezer, Lagwagon, NOFX, etc. We wanted to play fast and melodious music, and we had lots of fun doing it. Obviously our musical tastes have broadened with our age but we still rock.

OCCG: What inspires your music today?
MADERO: We do what we do only if we like it and only if it makes us have a good time. If there comes a time when playing a show becomes boring, that´ll be the time to quit. Meanwhile, we are enjoying ourselves, and hoping that our fans enjoy our music as well.

OCCG: What is next for Panda in 2013?
MADERO: We just signed to Universal Music, so we will be releasing our 7th album later this year, and we´ll keep playing songs here in the U.S., Mexico and the rest of Latin America. That’s our plan for this year!