The Dead Daisies (plus: Mike Tramp, Beasto Blanco)
sobota, 16. 11. 2024, od 19.45 h do 23.10 h
Dunaj (Wien) / Simm City / Avstrija
(For an English version, please scroll down the bar)
Težko se je ogniti turneji, ki združi imena The Dead Daisies, Beasto Blanco in Mike Tramp v en paket. V bistvu je greh, če se takšni turneji ogneš, ko se ta odvija v Evropi. Lani smo The Dead Daisies gledali celo v nabito polni ljubljanski Cvetličarni, predlani pa pa prav tako v Ljubljani, ko so odprli za Judas Priest. Bend, ki vselej dostavi vrhunsko rock’n’roll predstavo in popolno žurko.
Ura je petnajst do osme zvečer, Simm City na Dunaju je še precej prazen, v dvorani je komaj kakih 250 ljudi. Mike Tramp v kompaniji s kitaristom Markusom Nandom je krenil na oder, da nam v pol ure zaigra nekaj White Lion klasik, s katerimi se je zapisal nekoč davno tega med nesmrtne heroje glam metala. Tramp ni skrival dejstva, da je njegov budžet na turneji skromen. Bobni, bas kitare, klaviature in spremljevalni vokali so bili nasneti. V živo sta odvzanjali le obe kitari in seveda Trampov vokal. Tramp se je izkazal kot možakar izjemne vokalne ohranjenosti. Ostro oblečeni vokalist dobro ve kako podžgati publiko. Tega večera so znane White Lion klasike to storile kar same. V prvih vrstah je bilo nekaj res nabritih privržencev in poznavalcev skupine White Lion, ki so obvladovali do potankosti verze. Svoje je dostavil odlični Markus Nand, ki je po videzu mimobežno spomnil na Stevena Perryja (Aerosmith). Nand je v piko poštudiral solaže za katere je bil pri White Lion nekoč zadolžen nepozabni Vitto Bratta in vsa reč je, navkljub temu, da smo na odru gledali le duo, delovala zelo posrečeno. Drugih petnajst minut s tremi Pride hiti: Tell Me, When The Children Cry in Wait. Ufffff….. Kurja polt. Upajmo, da se Trump spravi na evropsko klubsko turnejo s kvartetom, kot se je to zgodilo davnega novembra 2006, ko smo ga uspeli prestreči v Miljah pri Trstu.
Beasto Blanco so relativno nova skupina, ki pa jo zastopajo izkušeni glasbeniki. Skupina vzdržuje vez z Alice Cooperjem in to zlasti zavoljo dveh članov. Prva je vokalistka Calico Cooper, ki je hčer slovitega glasbenika, drugi pa je kar njegov dolgoletni basist Chuck Garric, ki pri Beasto Blanco skrbi za vodilni vokal in igra ritem kitaro. Ni treba mnogo ugibanja, da je skupina z nastopaško grotesknimi predstavami, ki vzbujajo seveda tudi malo horror shock teatra, marsikaj prenesla v svojo usmeritev prav iz vsega po čemer je zaslovel Alice, še posebej pa je v zadnjih nekaj letih nadgradila vse skupaj. Calico je na odru prava podivjana amazonka, medtem ko Garric ne potrebuje mnogo, da ga razglasiš za drugo pošast na odru – dovolj sta njegov strašljiv nasmeh in diastema. Bend je stasito grmel v razpoložljive tričetrt ure in strogo zabaval sicer zahtevno publiko, ki pa jo je kmalu pridobil na svojo stran, da je ta konkretno sodelovala z vsako odrsko traparijo, ki sta jo ušpičila Calico in Chuck. Kvintet je obredel material svojih štirih izdanih albumov ter prilil olja na ogenj z Alice Cooperjevo Feed My Frankenstein, s katero je predstava dosegla svoj vrhunec. Splet skrajno zabavnega razvrata, nebrzdanih norčij, na meji polnokrvnega provociranja, je v vsem navdušil.
The Dead Daisies pa so bili tega večera s strani večine obiskovalcev najtežje pričakovani izvajalec. Zanimivo je to, da se je prizorišče, ki je še ob pol deveti uri sevalo relativno skromno obiskanost, do njihovega prihoda konkretno zapolnilo. V času, ko je krenil na oder Mike Tramp je bila dvorana še več kot pol prazna. The Dead Daisies so tista skupina, ki danes hvaležno zapolnjuje vrzeli hard rocka, ki nastajajo s ‘popuščanjem’ prav tistih zasedb, ki so pustile na sceni trajno sled. Samo EMŠO letnike rojstva članov preveriš, pa postane takoj jasno od koga so se učili. A ne bi bilo nič brez srčnosti velikega entuziazma in finančnih injekcij avstralskega finančnega mogotca Davida Lowyja, lastnika letalske družbe, strastnega pilota in kar je za nas najpomembneje kitarista in šefa skupine The Dead Daisies.
Pri naših dosedanjih obiskih koncertov te skupine je zanimivo to, da se bi težko našla dva zaporedna koncerta, ki smo si ju ogledali, pa da bi pri tem postava skupine, na obeh tih koncertih, ostala nespremenjena. Enaka. Tudi tokrat je bilo tako. The Dead Daisies so v obdobju zadnjih enajstih mesecev menjali najprej bobnarja. Novi je Tommy Clufetos, prej je bobnal Brian Tichy. Druga menjava se je zgodila pred kratkim. Skupina je bila namreč proti svoji volji pahnjena v situacijo, ko se je morala prisilno adaptirati, da reši napovedano “Light ‘Em Up” turnejo. To turnejo je namreč resno ogrozila novica, da boleha kitarist skupine Douglas Aldrich za rakom na grlu. Na pomoč je skupini tako priskočil za “Light ‘Em Up” turnejo nihče drug kot Aldrichev pajdaš iz Whitesnake časov, to je izjemni Winger kitarist Reb Beach. Videti torej v Evropi Reba Beacha igrati na Aldrichev zlati Les Paul s črno plato? Neprecenljivo. Lahko rečemo, da boljše rešitve The Dead Daisies niso mogli najti. Reb se je sicer skozi oktober letos tako ali drugače potikal po Evropi s svojo spremljevalno skupino na samostojnih koncertih, zato je bil na Evropo že kar dobro adaptiran.
Poleg Davida Lowyja sta ostala dva v ekipi vokalist John Corabi in basist Michael Devin! Na svojih standardnih pozicijah. Bend je krenil na oder ob pol deseti zvečer in dostavil natanko to po kar smo tega večera tudi prišli. Perfektno, brezmadežno kanonado prešernih rock’n’roll norčij in brezmejne zabave. Vse to je spremljala vrhunska, v dlako uigrana eksekucija. Tommy Clufetos z več kot pol manjšim setom bobnov od predhodnika Briana Tichyja, se je izkazal za pravo pošast ko je klofutal in ‘klofetal’ ter maličil opne ter činele, medtem ko so iz palčk frčali zobotrebci. Michael Devin katerega brada skozi leta vse bolj in bolj spominja na čebelje gnezdo, je imponiral z izjemno muzikalno rožljavostjo, ko je divje kopal po bas kitari, oba kitarista, zlasti Lowy, ki je imel več kot pol manj dela od Beacha, pa sta aktivneje izkoriščala razpoložljiv odrski prostor. Kar ga je ostalo prostega, saj je bil tu še sila agilni jezični doktor, ki je tega večera svoj jezik izdatneje nabrusil. To je vrhunski frontman John Corabi, ki je v premorih vseskozi stresal neslane šale in tudi na tak način skrbel za malho vedrine in dobrega razpoloženja. The Dead Daisies delujejo zares naoljen stroj! Lowy je ob sebi izbral le najboljše. In to velja tudi za začasno menjavo na poziciji ene od obeh kitar (najboljši za najboljšega). Zakaj? Ker lahko.
Nastop je tekel z veliko hitrostjo. Zvok zelo dober. Vse jasno slišno. Bend je vključil v repertoar prav vse svoje albume, pri čemer je po pričakovanju dobil rahlo pobudo zadnji med njimi – “Light ‘Em Up” (RockLine recenzija). Skupina je v svoj juriš krenila kar z naslovno skladbo novega albuma, ki sta jo nasledili “Burn It Down” točki Rise Up ter Dead And Gone. Priljubljena Make Some Noise je prilila olja na ogenj in s skupino je tako rekoč rajala prav vsa dvorana. Nabito polna, a ne povsem razprodana. Corabi se je zelo, zelo dobro držal. Seveda pa je reinterpretacija klasik posnetih z Glennom Hughesom na vokalu zgodba zase in te niso ‘prijele’ s takšno intenziteto, kot jo lahko pričara na odrih in studiu le znameniti ‘Voice Of Rock’. V tej nalogi pogrne pač vsak, še tako kvaliteten vokalist.
Sledi bobnarski solo in tri zaporedne zaušnice: Lock’N’Load, I’m Gonna Ride ter Born To Fly, kjer je moral Corabi znova natelovaditi glasilke. A je že v naslednji točki znova prišel do sape. Skupina si je namreč na sredini šova privoščila daljšo točko predstavitve članov, ki še zdaleč ni bila tako dolga kot v Ljubljani pred slabim letom dni. Potem pa je sledil drugi del, obtežen s priredbami, nasploh je zbodla v uho Muddy Watersova I’m Ready. Uvodoma je Corabi povedal, da med zadnjim snemanjem niso posneli le albuma “Light Em Up”, pač pa je nastalo toliko materiala, da ima skupina pripravljen že nov album. In to bo po Corabijevih besedah blues album. Komaj čakamo seveda. Sledi vrhunski finale! Sprva je to Fortunate Son, kjer prepeva s Corabijem refren cela dvorana, potem težko pričakovana in sila zabavna Mexico ter za njo tornado s še eno težko pričakovano priredbo, ki na repertoarju skupine ne sme manjkati – to je Midnight Moses, pri čemer se je Alex Harvey veselo muzal iz rock’n’roll nebes. Za veliki finale je ostala seveda Long Way To Go, kar se je dobro poklopilo z dejstvom da je bil Dunajski koncert predzadnji na celi evropski turneji in da sledi temu dolg medcelinski letalski let. Helter Skelter – z njo ne moreš zgrešiti. Nikdar. Sploh v The Dead Daisies režiji. ‘Na vrat na nos’ s tem The Beatles proto-metalskim ‘načrtom’, so The Dead Daisies sklenili svoj uro in 40 minut dolg koncertni šov na najvišji izvedbeni ravni! Simm City je razganjalo od vse naelektrenosti visoko oktanskega izgorevanja, ki ga je zanetil kvintet!
Naravnost in brez zavojev! S presunljivo vehemenco in izvedbenim karakterjem, ki vzame sapo. Ko se tak koncert sklene se samo še vprašaš: “Kdaj in kje bo naslednji?” Brez skrbi. Kot je skupina namignila, ima nov album že v žepu. Torej? Polagoma se že lahko pričnemo ozirati proti datumom pozne jeseni prihodnjega leta.
Avtorja: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Fotografije: Aleš Podbrežnik
English version:
It’s hard to resist a tour that combines the names The Dead Daisies, Beasto Blanco and Mike Tramp in one package. In fact it’s a sin to turn your back on such a tour when it’s taking place in Europe. Last year we even saw The Dead Daisies in a packed Cvetličarna in Ljubljana and the year before that they opened for Judas Priest in Ljubljana as well. The band always delivers a top-notch rock’n’roll show and a complete party.
It’s 5.30 p.m. and Simm City in Vienna is still quite empty with only about 250 people in the hall. Mike Tramp accompanied by guitarist Marcus Nand takes the stage to play us a few White Lion classics in half an hour with whom he made his name among the immortal heroes of glam metal long ago. Tramp has made no secret of the fact that his budget for the tour is modest. The drums, bass guitars, keyboards and backing vocals were prerecorded. Live were both bguitars and of course Tramp’s voice. Mike proved to be a man of exceptional vocal preservation. The sharply dressed vocalist knows well how to fire up the crowd. On this night, the well-known White Lion classic tunes did it all by themselves. In the front rows there were some really tight White Lion followers and connoisseurs who knew the verses to perfection. The excellent Marcus Nand who looked vaguely reminiscent of Steven Perry (Aerosmith), delivered his part. He did the spot-on solos that the unforgettable Vitto Bratta was once in charge of at White Lion. The whole thing worked very well despite the fact that we were only watching a duo on stage. Another fifteen minutes with three Pride hits: Tell Me, When The Children Cry and Wait. Goosebumps! Let’s hope Trump gets a European club tour with a quartet like he did back in November 2006 when we managed to intercept him in Muggia near Trieste.
Beasto Blanco is a relatively new group consisting of experienced musicians. The group maintains a link with Alice Cooper in particular because of two of its members. The first is vocalist Calico Cooper who is the daughter of the famous musician and the second is his long-time bassist Chuck Garric who provides lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar for Beasto Blanco. It doesn’t take much guessing to say that the band with its grotesquely grotesque performances that naturally evoke a bit of horror shock theatre has taken a lot of its direction right from everything Alice was famous for and especially in the last few years has built on it all. Calico is a freaky amazon on stage while Garric doesn’t need much to get you to declare him the second monster on stage – his creepy smile and diastema are enough. The band thundered into the available three quarters of an hour rigorously entertaining the otherwise demanding crowd who was soon won over to their side to concretely engage with every onstage antics Calico and Chuck pulled off. The quintet covered material from their four released albums and added fuel to the fire with Alice Cooper’s Feed My Frankenstein, which brought the show to its climax. A combination of utterly entertaining debauchery, unbridled antics, bordering on full-blooded provocation, it was a delight all round.
The Dead Daisies were the most anticipated act of the night by most of the visitors. Interestingly, the venue which still radiated a relatively modest attendance at half past nine, had filled up by the time they arrived. The Dead Daisies are the band that today gratefully fills the gaps in hard rock created by the ‘letting go’ of the very bands that have left a lasting mark on the scene. Just check the members’ birth years and it becomes immediately clear who they learned from. But it would be nothing without the heartfelt enthusiasm and financial injections of Australian financial mogul David Lowy, airline owner, passionate pilot and most importantly for us, guitarist and boss of The Dead Daisies.
What is interesting about our visits to the group’s concerts so far is that it would be difficult to find two concerts in a row that we have seen, and yet the line-up of the group on both of those concerts remained unchanged. This time it was the same. The Dead Daisies have changed drummers over the last eleven months. Tommy Clufetos is the new drummer preceeded bi Brian Tichy. The second change happened recently. The band was thrown into a situation where they had to adapt against their will in order to save the announced “Light ‘Em Up” tour. This tour was seriously jeopardised by the news that the band’s guitarist Douglas Aldrich was suffering from throat cancer. So the band has enlisted the help of none other than Aldrich’s Whitesnake sidekick the great Winger guitarist Reb Beach for the “Light ‘Em Up” tour. To see Reb Beach in Europe playing Aldrich’s gold Les Paul with a black plateau? Priceless. It’s safe to say that The Dead Daisies couldn’t have found a better solution. Reb has been roaming Europe with his backing band on solo gigs in one way or another throughout October this year so he was already pretty well adapted to Europe.
In addition to David Lowy the other two members of the team are vocalist John Corabi and bassist Michael Devin in their standard positions. The band took the stage at half past ten in the evening and delivered exactly what we came for. A perfect and immaculate cannonade of outrageous rock’n’roll antics and boundless fun. All of this was accompanied by a top-notch, hair-brained execution. Tommy Clufetos, with a drum kit more than half the size of predecessor Brian Tichy, proved to be a monster as he slapped and ‘clapped’ and idolised brass and cymbals while toothpicks whizzed out of drumsticks. Michael Devin, whose beard has become more and more like a bee’s nest over the years, impressed with a remarkable musical rasp as he dug wildly at the bass guitar. Both guitarists, especially Lowy, who had less than half the work as Beach, made more active use of the available stage space. What was left of it was free as there was also the forcefully agile tongue doctor, who sharpened his tongue more abundantly that evening. This is the superb frontman John Corabi who was always shaking off unsalty jokes during the breaks and in this way also kept the atmosphere cheerful and good humoured. The Dead Daisies are a well-oiled machine! Lowy has chosen only the best to be at his side. And this also applies to the temporary change in the position of one of the two guitars (the best for the best). Why? Because they can.
The performance was very fast-paced. The sound was very good. Everything clearly audible. The band included all of their albums in the repertoire with the last one – “Light ‘Em Up” (RockLine review) – taking the lead, as expected. The band went on the offensive with the title track of the new album, followed by “Burn It Down”, “Rise Up” and “Dead And Gone”. The popular “Make Some Noise” added fuel to the fire and practically the whole room was rocking with the band. Packed, but not completely sold out. Corabi held on very, very well. Of course, the reinterpretation of classics recorded with Glenn Hughes on vocals is a story in itself and they didn’t ‘grip’ with the intensity that only the famous ‘Voice Of Rock’ can conjure up on stage and in the studio. Any vocalist, no matter how good, will fail in this task.
A drum solo and three consecutive Lock ‘n’ Load, I’m Gonna Ride and Born To Fly followed. Corabi had to retune his vocal cords but came up for air again at the very next point. The band had the luxury of a longer member introduction in the middle of the show, which was not nearly as long as in Ljubljana less than a year ago. Then came the second part, heavy with covers, and in general Muddy Waters’ I’m Ready stung the ear. Corabi opened by saying that during the last recording session not only did they record “Light Em Up” but there was so much material that the band already has a new album ready to go. And according to him it will be a blues album. We can’t wait, of course. A superb finale to follow! First the Fortunate Son with the whole hall singing the chorus with Corabi, then the much-anticipated and hugely entertaining Mexico, followed by Tornado with another much-anticipated cover that shouldn’t be missing from the band’s repertoire. It was Midnight Moses with Alex Harvey happily mooing his way out of rock’n’roll heaven.
For the grand finale, of course, there was Long Way To Go, which worked well with the fact that the Vienna gig was the penultimate one of the whole European tour and that it was followed by a long intercontinental flight. Helter Skelter – you can’t miss it. Never. With this Beatles proto-metal ‘plan’, The Dead Daisies concluded their hour and forty minutes concert show at the highest performance level! Simm City was ablaze with all the electrifying high-octane combustion ignited by the quintet.
Straight and without turns! With breathtaking verve and a performance character that takes your breath away. When such a concert comes to an end, you just have to ask: “When and where will the next one be?” Don’t worry. As the band hinted, they already have a new album in their pocket. So? Slowly, we can already start looking towards dates in late autumn next year.
Authors: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Mike Tramp – setlist:
1. Living On The Edge
2. Broken Heart
3. Little Fighter
4. Tell Me
5. When The Children Cry
6. Wait
Beast Blanco – setlist:
1. Il Nostro Spirito (taped intro)
2. Run for Your Life
3. Freak
4. Grind
5. Nobody Move
6. Feed My Frankenstein (orig. Alice Cooper)
7. Machine Girl
8. Honey
9. Lowlands
10. Blind Drive
11. Breakdown
The Dead Daisies – setlist:
1. Bitch (orig. The Rolling Stones, taped intro)
2. Rock and Roll (orig. Led Zeppelin, taped intro)
3. Light ‘Em Up
4. Rise Up
5. Dead and Gone
6. Make Some Noise
7. I Wanna Be Your Bitch
8- Unspoken
9. Bustle and Flow
10. Drum Solo
11. Lock ‘n’ Load
12. I’m Gonna Ride
13. Born to Fly
14. Take a Long Line (orig. The Angels)
15. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap / Seven Nation Army / Children of the Grave / Living After Midnight / Join Together (Band Introduction)
16. I’m Ready (orig. Muddy Waters)
17. Fortunate Son (orig. Creedence Clearwater Revival)
18. Mexico
19. Midnight Moses (orig. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band)
—dodatek—
20. Long Way to Go
21. Helter Skelter (orig. The Beatles)
