The Kids Are Back
Monday, July 16, 2007 at 10:48AM Time for another Rocklahoma wrap, glam fans. I had several interviews back to back, so the first band I saw perform live was Great White.
Between noon and four, I interviewed Britny Fox, Miijenko Matijevic of Steelheart and Great White. Later in the evening, I caught up with Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister. All my Rocklahoma interviews will be posted online throughout the week.
When it was time for Great White to hit the stage, I was ready to stop work and rock. Jani Lane made a surprise visit to the media tent and announced he would sing with Great White. Jani came out toward the end of the set and sang one song with the boys. During their set, Great White sang "Rock Me," "Save Your Love" and "Once Bitten Twice Shy." The band was very sweet during their interview and I've decided I have a small crush on guitarist Michael Lardie.
One drawback: before the official Great White press conference, a worker with Event Marketing Group jumped on stage and told the media to not ask any questions about the "past." Of course, she was referring to the Station Nightclub fire. You don't tell journalists what they can and cannot ask, and this really rubbed me the wrong way. I highly doubt anyone was even planning a question about Rhode Island, still, it's not the place of a marketing firm to dictate rules to the press.
Moving on, it was time for Jackyl. I missed the very beginning of the set for the aforementioned Eddie Ojeda interview, but I made it back in time to hear "Down on Me," "I Stand Alone" and "When Will It Rain" all right in a row. I've never seen Jackyl live, so the end of the set was really something to behold. The band closed with "The Lumberjack" and the show-ender involved a chainsaw, wooden stool, booze...and Jesse James Dupree's naked butt. Yes, he mooned the crowd while Neil Zlozower captured the moment on film. Jesse also played the "Star Spangled Banner" on his guitar...with his teeth. This really excited the crowd. At the end of the set, Dupree said he was inviting the band back for Rocklahoma 2008. 
Geoff Tate's voice sounded pretty good when Queensryche hit the stage. I've heard a lot of people say his voice is shot, but it didn't seem weak to me. They closed with "Jet City Woman" which is my all-time favorite Queensryche song. During their set, I was amazed at the level of their musicianship. Note: Queensryche did not play "Silent Lucidity." This was as surprising to me as Vince Neil not singing "Shout at the Devil" and Faster Pussycat skipping "Bathroom Wall." I know at least one person in the crowd was disappointed with Queensryche, because Heather talked about hearing "Silent Lucidity" live all day long. 
Between changes and longer sets, the Rocklahoma schedule was about 45 minutes behind by the time Twisted Sister took the stage.
Twisted Sister had the honor of closing the historic music festival. The set list looked something like this:
What You Don't Know Sure Can Hurt You/
The Kids Are Back/
Stay Hungry/
Captain Howdy/
Shoot 'Em Down/
Can't Stop Rock n' Roll/
American Idol diatribe/Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame diatribe performed by Jay Jay French/
Fire Still Burns/
We're Not Gonna Take It (extended version)/
Burn in Hell/
Drum Solo/
Silver Bells/
I Wanna Rock/
What You Don't Know Sure Can Hurt You (reprise)/
S.M.F.
During "Silver Bells" the band strung Christmas lights on their Marshal stack and Dee wore a Santa hat. They also dropped "snow" on the crowd and Dee handed out "toys" from his sack of presents.
I was very impressed with Dee and the rest of Twisted Sister. They put on a high energy show and really kept the (tired) crowd awake. Dee said he had knee surgery just four weeks ago, but you couldn't tell by the way he was jumping on stage.
Tomorrow, more Rocklahoma coverage including interviews and photos. Today, I journey back to Ohio.
Reader Comments (13)
I'm sorry, I didn't have time to get the entire GW set list...I made a point of keeping the headliners songs, but that's it. You are correct that "On Your Knees" seemed long, though.
Allyson
Face the day
Can't shake it
House of broken love
On your knees
Save your love
Rock me
It's only rock n roll ( with Jani Lane )
Once bitten twice shy
I was disappointed that they did four covers ( those first two songs are by the *great* Aussie band The Angels a.k.a. Angel City ), and didn't do 'Old Rose Motel, but it was great to see them, and to see Jani on stage for a moment, looking and sounding great.
L.A. Guns were the second worst band I saw there, although Faster Pussycat was definately the worst. I have a cool photo of a guy who made a 'Faster Pussycat sucks' t-shirt to wear on the last day.
Actually. Enuff Z-Nuff wasn't much, but I also didn't expect it to be.