ABORT Magazine™

Live Review: Chickenfoot with Black Stone Cherry, June 6th 2012 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver B.C.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE | Photos – Scott Alexander)
(Top L-R: Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony – Bottom: Joe Satriani)

Chickenfoot with Blackstone Cherry
Tuesday, June 6th 2012
Queen Elizabeth Theatre

At 64 years old, Sammy Hagar has entered his fifth decade of dirty rock, raspy wails, and frizzy hair. Long known for his vocal performance chops and laid back demeanor, he’s managed to maintain a considerable amount of respect and credibility over the years; even despite penning and singing some of the most dated sounding, dipped in cheese “rock” hits of the 80′s. Between founding his own brand of tequila and running a chain of nightclubs, he’s kept pretty busy in recent years; but joined by accomplished guitarist Joe Satriani, former band mate Michael Anthony, and sometimes Red Hot Chilli Pepper Chad Smith as Chickenfoot, does he still rock? Buzzing with anticipation, the mostly middle-aged crowd in attendance at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre sure seemed to think so.

Opening up for Sammy and the gang were Black Stone Cherry. At it’s core, a high energy rock quartet with a bit of southern twang; and when I say “a bit” I’m just using that as an average. You really didn’t know if the next song was going to be a la Pantera or “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”, but it worked. Keeping the crowd guessing, they threw in everything from rockabilly infused alternative, to harmonized euro-metal guitar, to crushing riffs and even a little funk. Most in attendance came around a few songs in, and really started to dig on these guys. By the time they got into a cover of Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” they had the full attention of all in attendance. Did I mention that they closed out their set with a piece called “30 Seconds of Fucking Death Metal”? It’s exactly as it sounds, ’nuff said. A solid performance, and they were rewarded with a standing ovation from the seasoned crowd.

After a brief set change -barley long enough to purchase a beer and down it (as is tradition at the ol’ civic theatre, where drinks are not allowed in the theatre itself), the lights dimmed. From within the dark, smokey stage a bald head and pair of sunglasses appeared, and the show was on. Playing through almost the entirety of their two albums over a two hour set, it was clear the band was not interested in the nostalgia of tunes from former projects -save for a brilliantly placed cover of Montrose’ “Rock Candy” as the last encore, in tribute to the late Ronnie Montrose. Their own tunes, save for a handful, are nothing to write home about. But really, if you’re paying to see Chickenfoot, you’re really paying to see the members of Chickenfoot. Most impressive of the bunch was Satriani: a shiny, hairless entity sent from the cosmos to prove to us mortals that, in the right hands, an electric guitar can have a more diverse sonic landscape than your average fully-loaded keyboard. Transcending time and space, It’s like he tries to condense the entire history of the guitar, future included, into each solo. His feats were certainly not lost to this crowd, a generation that still believes in rock gods and the art of the virtuoso. Still the authority on pristine, mulleted high vocal harmonies; bassist Michael Anthony was in top form as well. Just the right amount of sauced, and he even played a bass solo. A REAL bass solo that didn’t consist solely of him bashing on a guitar shaped like a bottle of whiskey. He’s really stepped up his game. With Chad Smith fulfilling his other obligations at the time, career smiling-stand-in drummer Kenny Aronoff brought a lot of power and finesse to the group -virtually flawless in his playing. Unfortunately, his drumming style is nothing like that of Chad’s, and for a band that was supposedly built on a foundation of that simple, high-energy Chilli Pepper groove you couldn’t help but feel that there was a missing piece to the whole package without Smith in tow.

Sammy Hagar floated around the stage behind a pair of shades and gave the impression that he was ever so slightly disconnected from his surroundings. Was he tired? Drunk? Old? Let’s go with option B. And you know what? It didn’t take away from the experience at all. His voice sounded great, he spent half of the last tune signing memorabilia from the front rows without missing a beat, and he interacted hilariously with his band-mates. You know when you see a group of friends at the bar, and there’s that one guy who actually seems to have his shit together? He’s quiet, reserved, keeps to himself, but confident; and then his overtly drunk friend stumbles over, breaking all the unspoken rules of personal space and boundaries and spouts “YOU KNOW THIS GUY!? Jooeee man! This is THE GUY! LOOK AT THAT FUCKING GUITAR!” That’s Joe Satriani and Sammy Hagar; and they’re both stoked. Everyone is fucking stoked to be up there. Joe’s pumped to be playing the odd care-free rhythm guitar part, Sammy’s pumped to be signing panties on stage at age 64, and Michael is stoked as hell to be in a band with nary a member’s name ending in Van Halen. This is the key to why this “supergroup” made a second album, will probably make a third, and who knows after that. You can tell, from start to finish, that they genuinely just love to play rock n’ roll.

http://www.chickenfoot.us/

By: Justin Sarris

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