Jake E. Lee brought his Red Dragon Cartel to the Stafford Palace Theater in Stafford, CT this past Saturday night, and I was lucky enough to be in attendance. By now, everyone has seen and discussed the disastrous first show, where RDC singer Darren Smith performed after a few too many pre-show drinks. He owned up to his mistake and has been working to prove the doubters wrong since that first show. Would he do it in Stafford?
First off, credit must be given where credit is due… the Stafford Palace Theater is the best venue in central Connecticut to see a show. A nice big stage, great lights and sound, clean bathrooms, and the friendliest staff around. They just do it right there every time. Local Connecticut band Vengeance opened the show. They played a solid set that was well received by the crowd. The guitar player is clearly the standout in the band, and the guy can shred.Demon’s Alley, from Worcester, MA, were next, and they put on a show stealing set. Fans of L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat and Hanoi Rocks will get this band. A great mix of sleaze, punk, rock and metal with swagger and attitude and the chops to back it all up. They powered though a great set and won me over as a fan before the first song, Dope City, was over. A high energy cover of KISS’ Rocket Ride didn’t hurt either.
Red Dragon Cartel was the next to take the stage, and Darren quickly put all doubters to shame, as he proved right out of the gate that the guy has the chops to front Jake’s band. Jake himself, was in top form this night, and played like a monster. As expected, Jake’s legacy preceded him, and the front of the stage was packed with fellow guitarists who could not wait to see Jake play, and they got their money’s worth this night. Drummer Jonas Fairley and bassist Ronnie Mancuso held down a nice, solid groove all night, and the rest of the band knew to let Jake’s talent shine. The band played a mix of new RDC songs, and classic Ozzy and Badlands songs (though I was hoping to hear ‘Dreams in the Dark’, which was not present in the set). They closed with a great version of ‘Bark at the Moon’ and crowd erupted with a “Jake, Jake, Jake” chant.
I was lucky enough to make my way backstage and talked with all of the guys in the band, and they are all really nice guys who are just having a great time touring and playing. Jake did appease the crowd by making his way to the merch table and signed autographs for the LONG line of fans who have been waiting years for this opportunity to arise. On a side note, there were a couple of other well-known musicians in the audience that night, who were just there to see Jake, and were not necessarily trying to be recognized. Specifically, Oni Herbert from All That Remains and Frank Novinec from Hatebreed were both in attendance. I was standing near them during the RDC set and again, credit where credit is due, both guys were super friendly and welcoming to the fans that recognized them, and they were taking pictures all night long. I’m not overly familiar with either band, but it is always good to see when band members are actually cool to their fans.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at 12:01AM 