What I Like (Learning) About You

It's late and I'm exhausted...and also getting sick. I've been sitting, staring at the computer for about an hour. Often the words come easy, sometimes they are a struggle. Other days, topics are in between. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily struggling with this piece - it's more an issue of fighting fatigue.

It dawned on me yesterday - sometime after breakfast and before my second cup of overpriced coffee - that you know way more about me than I know about you. The single best part of Rocklahoma for me was meeting those of you who stopped by to say hello. Truly a blessing. Reflecting on those meetings lead to the realization that I pepper a lot of random facts about my life in what I write here.

Thanks to this website, you know my favorite bands are Aerosmith and Motley Crue. You know I'm married, I live in Ohio and that I'm an only child. I had a good childhood, with laid back parents and my mom really likes rock music. 

Sometimes I learn things about you, especially if you're a regular reader. I mean, I now know Christian personally - he traveled from Australia so we could go to Rocklahoma together. There are others I know personally too, and I count among my friends.

Some people like to read and never comment. I respect that - in fact, that's what I mainly do on a lot of websites. Still, I think just once in awhile it's good to let your presence be known.

I guess the easiest way for me to learn more about you - and the bands you want covered - is to simply ask.

Here's a few questions:

1. What is your favorite band?
2. What was your very first CD/album/cassette?
3. What bands do you want to read about more here on Bring Back Glam!?

I'll tell you that I have a laundry list of features planned for the coming weeks, including interviews and reviews of about 78 new CDs I have (and no, that number is not exaggerated!)

In case you're wondering, I do remember my first actual CD - it was Mariah Carey's self-titled debut, and I got it with a small CD player for a Christmas gift about a million years ago. I don't remember my first cassette - but I'm pretty sure it was Glam.

Here's Poison's cover of "What I Like About You"

Applause for Broken Teeth?

We all know Jason McMaster can sing and that Dangerous Toys are great...but what about Broken Teeth?

McMaster fronts both Dangerous Toys and Broken Teeth, and I'll be seeing both bands at Houston's Rock the Bayou festival later this summer. I've never seen either band and I'm really looking forward to the experience.

Broken Teeth sound a lot like AC/DC and that's good in my book.

I think Rock the Bayou is smart in having both bands because it stretches their travel budget and gives fans a taste of native Texas rock.

Broken Teeth were formed in Austin, Texas just before 2000 and have released quite a few discs. Electric came out not so long ago, but it's not a disc of all new tracks.  

The band has had some lineup changes, and these days Dave Beeson and Jared Tuten play guitar, Brett McCormick plays bass and Bruce Rivers plays drums. Of course many - including myself - consider McMaster's signature voice the cornerstone of Broken Teeth.

I can't help but wonder if Dangerous Toys/Broken Teeth shows are much different. At any case, I'm down for the experience and I want to meet and/or interview Jason McMaster for this website.

Here's the video for "Roll Over"

Hear more at the official Broken Teeth Myspace.

Kix Must Tour!

Kix must tour! Now that Rocklahoma is over and I'm at home, I've had time to reflect on all the bands. The two best were easily Tesla and Kix. Tesla tour all the time, but Kix never leave the east coast and only play a couple shows a year.

According to the band's official website, there are a few shows coming up, mostly during September in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. I'd love to go, but my husband would divorce me for spending more money on all these shows.

If Rock the Bayou promoters were smart, they'd try very, very hard to get Kix added to the bill.  I'm going to Rock the Bayou in Houston, but now I almost wish I was heading to Baltimore for the upcoming Kix show instead.

Saturday at Rocklahoma was pretty miserable after the bad weather, but Kix came on stage and got the job done and did their best to make good out of a bad situation. I really wanted to meet the band in person, but the storm stopped that from happening too.

Steve Whiteman is damn amazing when it comes to stage presence. He really does hop, skip and jump all over the place -- he gives people a show!

Glam musicians were often slagged by those who consider themselves more "serious" metallers, especially when they used choreographed stage moves and the like. Personally, I want to see a little thought put into a show for my money. Ticket prices basically start at fifty bucks these days, so I expect to see a little action. Actually, I demand a lot of action. I hate it when band members just stand in one spot and sing or play with a deer-in-the headlights look.

I got a fancy new camera to shoot Rocklahoma, and one of the bands I was most interested in capturing for you was Kix. Heavy rains ruined that goal, but I'm so glad I personally got to witness the band's marvelous performance.

Brian Forsythe really impresses me when it comes to guitar. No, he's not the world's best player -- but seriously, who is? Music is an art, and all art is subjective. Guitar playing comes from emotion -- and Brian plays with emotion. Match his emotion with Steve's enthusiasm and you've got a recipe for success my friends.

Kix now rank in my list of favorites -- right up there with Aerosmith and Motley Crue.

Brave souls risked it all and used camcorders during the rain at Rocklahoma. Here's a couple clips from the show - the audio was cutting a little in and out because of electrical issues, nevertheless, Kix still rocked the house.

Here's "Don't Close Your Eyes"

Here's "Cold Shower"

Too Long?

How long is too long for a music festival? Last year, Rocklahoma started as a three day event and then promoters added an extra "party" day in advance. Those extra bands were mostly cover acts, and the show was sparsely attended. VIP ticket holders were the only ones allowed in the gates.

This year, Rocklahoma once again had the fourth "pre-party" day, this time featuring name acts like Bret Michaels and Sebastian Bach. Once again, Thursday was only open to VIP ticket holders but the line-up for the "free" day was so strong, most made travel plans to allow for Thursday.

A few months before Rocklahoma, promoters announced an extra fifth day that would be free to VIP ticket holders and just 25 dollars at the gate general admission for all others. This "pre-pre" party featured RATT and Jackyl among others. Since I didn't arrive until Thursday, I've had to rely on second-hand accounts about the "pre-pre" show, but it seems just about every band that performed on this day was amazing.

Now, to the question: how long is too long for a music festival?

In theory, I think an extra day makes sense - but in reality, five days is a really long time to endure July heat. I've already read rumors (and I am sure these are 100% conjecture) that Rocklahoma hopes to expand to seven full days! This seems odd to me since one of the ticket agents said Rocklahoma was back to four days next year...but who knows. Since they don't have any acts booked, I guess they can expand to as many days as they wish.

My thought is that it is better to condense the best bands into three days instead of dragging acts out. When people stand in the heat for long periods of time, they get crabby. I can only imagine a tense crowd on the seventh day of a festival in July or August.

What do you think: how long is too long for a rock festival? 

Rocklahoma 2008 - Sunday

Rocklahoma 2008 is in the history books, and this remains true: Kix were the best band at the festival...but Tesla gave them a run for their "funny" money.

Bands set to perform on the final day of Rocklahoma included Axe, Zebra, UFO, Steelheart, Ace Frehley, Tesla and Queensryche. Lynam also got to play in a makeshift side stage.

I didn't see Axe and only half saw Zebra, so I can't really pass judgement there. UFO was a band I was least interested in watching, but I have to admit they were quite good. UFO performed "Mother Mary," "When Daylight Goes to Town," "Hard Being Me," "This Kids," "Only You Can Rock Me," "Baby Blue," "Too Hot to Handle," "Lights Out," "Love to Love" and "Rock Bottom." Christian was riled that UFO didn't play "Doctor, Doctor" but the band probably ran out of time: "Rock Bottom" seemed to go on forever and a day. Phil Mogg's stage banter was actually funny and provided a nice detraction from the heat. Happily, the band sounded tight.

Steelheart were great - and the crowd was quite sizable for them. Lead singer Milli road in on a motorcycle and then proceeded to wail the entire set. During "I'll Never Let You Go,"  Milli went into the crowd to sing and take photos with fans. The band closed with "Blood Pollution" from the movie Rock Star. Steelheart was out of time by this point but fans kept chanting "One more song!" It was definitely a few minutes before anyone could tell if the band would be allowed back on stage. In the end, they were not.

I had no desire to watch Ace Frehley because I don't like Frehley's Comet but it turns out Ace did mostly KISS songs during his set. He and his band performed "Shout It Out Loud," "Duece" and "Cold Gin." The crowd reaction was very good for Ace and it seemed like most people were happily singing along to the KISS tunes. I'm not sure who the members of Ace's backing band are, but it should be noted that they handle a lot of the singing duties.

Lynam was able to perform on a *tiny* make-shift side stage in one of the beer tents. The band made the best of things, and a small crowd of die hards stood in a mud pit to support the southern band. Lynam's set wasn't very long because they were trying to get done before Tesla, but they did perform "Tanis," "Better" and a cover of "We're Not Gonna Take It." I'm very happy they were allowed to perform in spite of the storm. Now, more people know of one of my favorite bands.

Now, Tesla. I think the crowd was at its largest all weekend in preparation for Tesla. The lawn seemed heavily populated, and many of the seats seemed crammed. Tesla performed "Comin' At You Live," "Into the Now," "Gettin' Better," "Hang Tough," "Mama's Fool," "Heaven's Trail," "Love Song," "Little Suzi," "Signs," "Man Out of Time" and "Modern Day Cowboy."  From the second the band hit the stage, Tesla gave an over-the-top, high energy performance. Moreover, the crowd actually seem excited. This isn't to say that other bands failed to excite, rather, Tesla impressed. Rocklahoma was my first time seeing Tesla live, and I didn't know what to expect. I'd heard that Jeff Keith's voice was shot - but this is not the case! By the time Tesla was done, people were demanding more songs. I heard people around me say "Tesla should have closed." I agree.

Queensryche had the responsibility of closing the festival. Last year, Queensryche were a late add and they performed a greatest hits set. This year, they performed Operation: Mindcrime in full. This was my first time seeing the stage production of "Mindcrime" and I'll admit it was very good and interesting - but totally not the right fit for a rock festival. When it's time for Mary to shoot herself, people behind me were screaming "Do it!" "Do it!" That's never a good thing. Still, the band sounded good and Geoff Tate seems to really love musical theatre. I'm not sure how many people followed the story to the conclusion, but the reward was a few of Queensryche's best known songs including "Empire," "Jet City Woman" and "Silent Lucidity."

I'll note here that I was impressed Rocklahoma officials cleaned up the VIP tent so quickly. By Sunday morning, all the water was gone from Saturday's storm and it seemed like the massive amounts of mud on the concrete floor had been washed away. Also, props to the person who quickly erected the small side stages so all the bands could play. The conditions were not ideal, but the show continued as scheduled.  

Rocklahoma 2008 - Saturday

Please believe when I say this was a long and bizarre day. It started out innocently enough, but it seemed like things just kept going downhill all day long.

Bands scheduled for the main stage included Pretty Boy Floyd, Every Mother's Nightmare, Tora Tora, Black n' Blue, Trixter, Lynch Mob, Kix, Lita Ford and Warrant. I was also very excited to see Lynam on the Blastzone stage -- in fact, they were one of the bands I cared about most on the 2008 lineup. They didn't get to play because of a severe storm - and their gear was either badly damaged or destroyed.

It was already unbearably hot during Pretty Boy Floyd. The crowd was sparse, but this set was fun for me because I watched with one of my new friends, thanks to this website. Pretty Boy Floyd performed "Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz," "Toast of the Town," "Rock n' Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)," "Your Momma Won't Know," "Wanna Be With You," and "Rock n' Roll Outlaws."

Steve Summers and Kristy Majors seemed excited enough and the show was actually pretty good, especially for 11 a.m. Steve kept stopping the music to throw out Pretty Boy Floyd merch, but I have to give them credit: I don't remember other bands throwing stuff to fans. Pretty Boy Floyd gets mocked quite a lot, but the show was honestly good. The band kept pimping their meet and greet, but since I've met Steve before, I was good. I left the grounds to eat and buy more sunblock instead.

Since I left to actually eat I missed Every Mother's Nightmare. I've not talked to anyone that personally saw the band, so I can pass no fair judgement.

Tora Tora were amazingly good  great. They naturally ended their set with "Walkin' Shoes" and most other songs from the album Surprise Attack. Being a yankee, I always get a kick out of southern accents, so this was a definite plus. It's too bad the heat was so physically oppressive at this time - I didn't even write the set, I was seriously concentrating on not melting.

Last year, Jamie St. James played Rocklahoma with Warrant. This year, he played with his band Black n' Blue. "Wicked Bitch" and "Hold on to 18" were the highlights of their show. Toward the very end of the set, Jamie St. James had to stall because the band's bassist needed oxygen from paramedics. Please believe when I say it was dangerously hot and basically all out miserable  to sit outside. My travel partners and I started leaving sets early to visit the air conditioned tent. Right after Black n' Blue's set, radio DJ and Rocklahoma host Eddie Trunk came onto the main stage and warned everyone to drink lots of water, calm down on the beer consumption and to try and get some shade. I thought at the time this meant something bad had happened and I was right. Apparently, a woman died right around when Every Mother's Nightmare was performing. She had pre-existing medical conditions and the paramedics couldn't save her. I can only imagine the heat didn't help matters.

After Eddie Trunk's warning, Trixter took the stage. When their set began at 5 p.m. the sun was beating down and basically awful. A few songs in and dark clouds rolled in...and it was clear all hell was about to break loose. To be fair to Trixter, I was only half paying attention to their set by this time. I was too busy digging through my bag, hunting down ponchos and passing them to my husband and traveling friend. When the lightning got close and nasty, we left for the tent. We were lucky to get seats before the sky opened up and created havoc. 

I'm from Ohio, so I know that weather can change on a dime. I will be the first person to say that Rocklahoma officials had no control over the storm. Just because you can't control the weather doesn't mean you shouldn't have a plan of attack if things get nasty. Last night was nasty.

Rocklahoma, along with Country Fever and Bikelahoma use a "flag system" to warn concert attendees about dangerous weather. I noticed the flag on the sound booth was changed to yellow - but no one knows what that means. If you are going to go with a color coded system, then people need some sort of explanation as to what the colors mean, and what to do if the system is rolled into action. One tiny flag for ten thousand people isn't going to cut it when the going gets rough. Security guards were checking for wrist bands at the VIP tent - that's fine on any given day and time, but what about when people desperately need some shelter? People without VIP passes were wandering around outside, looking for unstable tents - most of which blew over - and running for cars. Meanwhile, lightning is striking close to the ground, there is metal and electric lines everywhere at a music fest...and no one from Rocklahoma is saying anything to brief the crowd.

I was sitting in the VIP when the winds really picked up and the tent flaps were blown apart. Portions of the giant tent buckled under the massive amount of rain, allowing water to flood the tent. The power kept flickering, so the logical option would be to cut the lights and choose safety over electricity. At one point, a festival worker walked around and said the power was being cut. Everyone waited and went to a seat, but nothing happened. For the most part, everyone at Rocklahoma is an adult - so we've all been through storms before. Still, people were on edge because a tent isn't the best place to be when you're stuck in tornado alley. Again, I place no blame on Rocklahoma for the weather -- I do, however, blame them for not telling fans what to do, how to stay safe, or if the show would continue. 

At one point, my friend Christian and I went to take a peek at the collapsed side stages from the main entrance of the VIP tent. I was expecting to be told I couldn't leave -- instead, a security guard said "Unblock the entrance, either you're in or you're out." I'm in or I'm out? What about "I'm safe?" That statement alone proved that every fan was on their own safety-wise. Not good.

When the weather cleared, I took shots of the storm damage and went back to my hotel to post online. I had friends still at the show that texted me when it resumed. I tried desperately to get an answer as to whether the show would continue last night, and I was either ignored or heard "media are not allowed here now!" 25 security guards milling about the main stage, not a one knew what was going on.

Since I was updating Bring Back Glam! with storm damage information, I missed Lynch Mob. I did, however, make it back for the best band of the day -- Kix!

Kix blew everyone else out of the water (pun intended). During their set, it was a torrential downpour. It was hard to walk and see, it was raining so hard, but faithful rock fans threw on a poncho and braved the storm. Thanks to the terrible rain, I don't have any pictures of the Kix set, and that's a shame. No other band - all weekend - had the energy to match Kix. The band played "Hot Wire," "Sex," "Yeah,Yeah,Yeah," "Cold Shower, "Don't Close Your Eyes" and more. I couldn't keep a set because it was raining so hard. You know a band is damn good when they can excite fans, even in terrible conditions. During Kix, it was pretty clear no one seemed to care it was pouring. I didn't -- in fact, I didn't notice so much that I was soaked to the bone because I was entertained. Steve Whiteman is a mad man on stage. The band has some choreography -- they know what the hell is going on. No worthless stage banter, no long breaks between songs, they just wailed. Exactly as it should be at a festival - especially in inclement weather. As I write this, it is early Sunday, but I will venture to say that Kix will win the award as the best band at Rocklahoma 2008. They should have headlined.

Did I mention it was raining? Glam goodness, I was shivering at this point. I went from feeling sick from the heat, to feeling sick from cold. Between sets, I went back to the VIP tent to get a little dry. Turns out, that's not easy while wearing a soaked poncho.

Lita Ford was one of the most hyped acts at Rocklahoma 2008. Her set had some pyro and she certainly looked beautiful. The storm was causing power problems and her microphone didn't work for a few bars of her first song. She sang "Hungry" and I found it odd that her kids were watching just off stage since the lyrics are pretty raunchy. I missed when Lita sang her big hits like "Kiss Me Deadly" and "Close My Eyes Forever" because I had to go back into the tent. My husband is sick, and he was feeling miserable by this point.

So, we sat and watched wet people drink. After what felt like an eternity, Warrant finally took the stage. They played "I Saw Red," "32 Pennies," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Down Boys," "Big Talk," "Heaven" and yes - "Cherry Pie."  This isn't the order or a complete set because I didn't have a notebook thanks to the weather. The good news is that the weather calmed down toward the beginning of Warrant, so everything was just damp. Jani Lane sounded good enough singing, but his odd stange banter made the show drag. I think if the stage banter was eliminated or condensed, the show would have been a lot tighter. Still, I was excited to see Warrant with Jani -- and push come to shove, the Cherry Pie Guy really can still sing.    

Video of Rocklahoma Side Stage Collapse

Here is video of the Rocklahoma side stages just a few minutes after they collapsed due to a severe thunderstorm.