Winger Live August 2024 - Review

Eric and I saw Winger last night, August 30, at a venue called J.D. Legends. It was crazy hot all day - like we're talking 100 degree heat index. It felt pretty good outside by the time the sun went down and we were ready for music! I do think the extreme heat and humidity hurt the crowd size a little. I was surprised that the crowd wasn't bigger, but high school football was also happening so there's that.

The opening band was local and had sound issues. Unfortunately some of those sound and technical issues rolled over into a Winger's set. There was a mic issue and eventually singer Kip Winger went back to his standard face-mic, ditching the stand version. The keyboard went belly-up at one point, so Paul Taylor played guitar more than normal until things go fixed up on the keys. The keyboard issue swirled up the set a little, which was fine with me. I was glad to hear "Junkyard Dog" earlier in the set than normal and relieved it wasn't dropped. Of course, "Down Incognito" was great. During some of the songs Kip and guitarist Reb Beach just openly laughed at each other. I think they were snickering over the sound issues and having to keep moving songs around. Kip also reminded fans that the band was all original members, celebrating 35 years together! (That said, guitarist John Roth was at a different engagement and Howie Simon filled in).

Keyboards fixed, "Miles Away" was awesome and so was "Headed for a Heartbreak." "Seventeen" was up really early in the set during sound issues, but that didn't stop folks from dancing. There were lots of smiling faces in the crowd. The band ended with "Madeline" and we were out, happy to head home and shower off the "concert sticky" as I call it. An extra point for me was "Rainbow in the Rose" and then Reb Beach making dumb facial expressions and trying to think of stuff to talk about while filling time for Kip to get his mic sorted out. Reb let us know that today, August 31, is his birthday - so a happy one to him!

Here's some photos from the show. These are not from me - I saw these on Reddit while at the show, which was kind of a mind bender considering how large and international Reddit is -- and how small of a city I was watching Winger perform in, but hey. Life is wild. 

Winger
byu/contains_almonds inhairmetal

A Long Weekend & Winger Tonight!

I'm seeing Winger tonight at an outdoor show not far from my house. It will be a great way to kick off the long holiday weekend. I am always a little (okay, a lot) sad when Labor Day rolls around becuase it means my beloved hot and sunny days are coming to an end. Ohio is cold and grey all winter long and it sucks.

I have been looking forward to this Winger show for quite awhile - a show report is forthcoming of course!

Louder Than Life Festival Announces Lineup Changes

Louder Than Life will take place September 26 - 29 in Louisville, Kentucky. A few lineup changes have been announced, including the obvious cancellation of Helmet since the band recently scrapped their entire tour. Tickets are still available!

The Dead Daisies New Music Teaser Sounds Cool

The Dead Daisies will release a new album called Light 'Em Up September 6. In advance of that, a single is dropping Friday called "I Wanna Be Your Bitch." I'll post up the whole track when it is available but I think this sounds promising. The band promises the new album has a very 70s rock feel - I hope so!

If Oasis Can Do It...

So Oasis is going to reunite and if they can, surely Skid Row and Sebastian Bach can patch things up. Or Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi. Or not. But this just proves anything can happen and money sure does talk when it comes to rock n' roll. Good luck to those Oasis fans who want to get tickets for the tour next year.

Do These Licks Sound Similiar?

Ok, help me out here - because I know I'm not crazy. Does the guitar bed of Filter's "Take A Picture" and Motley Crue's "Loveshine" sound freakishly similar? Like, it's something I never noticed until today. I just happened to be listening to my "All Time Faves" playlist on shuffle and the songs thus played after each other... a total mind bender.

Of course "Loveshine" came first... the track predates the Filter hit by several years. But both songs have that distinctive 90s rock sound. "Loveshine" is an example of a Motley Song that absolutely needed John Corabi - not just for vocals, but for the more complex and layered guitar parts. Corabi really complemented Mick Mars well when it comes to guitar work and the acoustic bits on "Loveshine" really make that clear.

All that said, Filter has the better song of the two - and maybe frontman and songwriter Richard Patrick took some influence from the Crue release.

Filter - "Take A Picture"

Motley Crue "Loveshine"

'Sometimes Love Is Hell' - New Babylon A.D. Music!

Babylon A.D. is back with a new album called Rome Wasn't Built In A Day. The newest single from that release is "Sometimes Love Is Hell" - ain't that the truth! Yes, this is a power ballad and it is really good! Enjoy this late summer Sunday, friends. It's over 90 degrees in southern Ohio today - I love it!