A big part of this review covers the opening band, Fire And Water, a three-piece acoustic outfit from Ireland that absolutely dazzled us with a high-energy, incredibly skilled set. This isn’t our show, but this is what we got and more in this clip. You can join their Patreon here.

Once again, Geoff Tate had a wildly talented band backing him and the arsenal of the Queensryche catalog at his disposal to deliver a crowd-pleasing performance. From “Empire” to “I Don’t Believe In Love” to “Walk In The Shadows” to “Queen Of The Ryche” and beyond, Geoff showcased his elite voice and whipped the packed house into a frenzy. A gonzo cover of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome To The Machine” was a guitar extravaganza.

Great, great show. Feels like my live events are slowing down a bit. I’m not holding any tickets at the moment. But this show made it clear that nothing has changed with our elites. Top shelf performance all around.

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Of course, Diamond Dave was great and the show featured a heavy dose of the Van Halen catalog along with his new stuff. The opening band was Cinderella and they were completely unknown to me walking into the arena. They were an absolutely fantastic live band and the sound made a huge impression on me. I got Nightsongs the very next day and have been a huge fan ever since.

So here’s my look back on another great San Diego concert, another great night of DLR live and some memories from 37 years back:

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They started out with “S.O.S. (Too Bad)” from Aerosmith and then blasted “Modern Day Cowboy.” Nothing could go wrong after that grand entrance. “Rock Me To The Top” was the rarity that was added this time around, and they finished like all of the prior shows with “Signs.”

I believe I have seen Tesla more times than any other band. I got a late start, not seeing them live for the first time until the Psychotic Supper tour, but I’ve made up for it in the 2000s. This is one band that hasn’t lost anything as far as putting on a live show. The catalog of songs they have to draw from is amazing enough, but they back it up every time with an entertaining show that whips the audience into a frenzy.

Here’s my video recap:

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For most of the 1980s, 38 Special was one of the heavyweights in rock music and it seemed like everybody I knew liked them. Their three-album run of Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, Special Forces and Tour De Force were all platinum sellers and they had enough for a greatest-hits album just off of that stretch.

The Marshall Tucker Band was an unknown for me other than their big hits. I knew it was a talented group but I was still surprised with how good their set was.

Molly Hatchet stole the show for me. When I was playing their greatest hits compilation as the show drew near, I remembered what a strong group they were. Clearly Southern rock, but a little stronger and heavier. The originals are all long-gone but the guys in the current lineup carried the torch brilliantly.

Here’s a vlog I did a few days after the show. My guess was correct that it was very enjoyable and a great trip back through a bunch of songs I used to hear all the time. All three bands were great live acts and the crowd was very engaged.

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Here’s a look back at a string of records in a band’s career that came out back-to-back where the band was on a roll in one way or another. I’m starting this regular feature off with the Scorpions and their 1979 – 1984 run from Lovedrive to Love At First Sting. Oddly enough, I use the 1985 live record World Wide Live to make my point here as this masterpiece of a live album came from the Love At First Sting tour and consisted of songs from the four albums in that stretch.

Lovedrive was a step up from 1977’s Taken By Force and the sound of the band began to evolve. 1980’s Animal Magnetism continued the move toward a more polished sound while not losing much of the hard-rock sting the Scorpions were known for.

The seas parted in 1982 when the German superpower came out with Blackout. One of the great records in the history of hard rock and heavy metal, the Scorpions showed the speed and heaviness they were capable of while also being melodic. Heavy riffs, lightning-fast solos, Klaus’ pristine voice, versatile songwriting…it’s all on Blackout, one of the records that sits firmly in my close-to-perfect category.

1984’s Love At First Sting capped off this incredible run with seemingly everything falling into place. The record was more of this band operating at an elite level while also being a little more radio-friendly and the Scorpions reaped the rewards with a triple-platinum certification.

This is my look at this stretch of one of my favorite bands. I’ve got no problems with the five records that came before Lovedrive. The band grew along the way and the pieces of this era’s lineup came together. But these four records are the Scorpions in all their glory and they would never do any better, despite making more great music in the years after.

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With this latest song, there’s a video and the band is performing it live on their current monster-size stadium tour. For me, “Perhaps” is a miss, but it does nothing to tarnish the great history of the band. More importantly, the live versions I watched showed Axl Rose struggling mightily. Yep, a common subject of discussion these days.

A lot of our beloved singers are struggling in the live setting these days, and how could they not? The kind of music I love calls for fire-breathing, glass-shattering vocals and you can’t expect that to hold up over the long haul.

Well, here we are. Axl’s on the list now, so I’m looking back nostalgically over the storied history of Guns N’ Roses. Great success, lots of controversy and never a dull moment, even when they have years and years of downtime.

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I, myself, have no good excuse for why it didn’t hit me at the time. When it came out, I bought it immediately, and I played the first half of the record quite a bit. After a couple of months, I bailed on this record and only had a couple of spots strong in my memory.

That was a huge mistake.

Here’s a video where I explain what I thought then, what I think now, and what a doofus I am for not catching on in 2012. The lead single, “Tattoo”, was something I didn’t care for at all from the first time I heard it, but that isn’t any excuse. There is enough good songwriting and brilliant guitar from the master himself to enjoy this record.

There’s plenty of clever, silly David Lee Roth commentary throughout and it was still a big deal that he was back again, even after all of the back-and-forth that went on between the band and its lead singers.

But this is a great, great, great guitar record. Riffs, hooks, leads, the great Edward Van Halen gave us a treasure trove on this album. It doesn’t sound that much like the first six records with Roth and it is quite a bit longer than any of those at 50:12. It is different, indeed. But it’s a great look at what Edward Van Halen was up to at that point, with Roth on vocals and his son in the band on bass.

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Setlist.fm shows a 13-song set that ended with “The Ballad Of Jayne” and “Rip n’ Tear.”

Here’s a video where I run through my extensive history with L.A. Guns and how the show went from my second-row seat on Tracii’s side of the stage:

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