{"id":37915,"date":"2014-02-25T19:28:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T00:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=37915"},"modified":"2014-02-26T13:26:49","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T18:26:49","slug":"live-jack-russell-great-white-firehouse-lita-ford-warrant-concert-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/live-jack-russell-great-white-firehouse-lita-ford-warrant-concert-review\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE! | Jack Russell’s Great White, Firehouse, Lita Ford & Warrant"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller<\/span>
\n– Managing Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

February 22nd, 2014 at Mitchell Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. —<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve never been to the great state of South Dakota, you may be unaware that there is a one of a kind structure found only in South Dakota\u2014Mount Rushmore. Sure, that\u2019s true, but there\u2019s also a Corn Palace, the only one in the world. (Check it out: www.cornpalace.org<\/a>.) On the cold winter eve of Feb. 22, four of the best bands to come out of the \u201880s\u2014Jack Russell’s Great White, Firehouse, Lita Ford and Warrant\u2014played the historical Corn Palace, and time stood still for a few hours as each of those bands proved that that are as good today, maybe even better, than any other decade past, respectively. They tore it up. <\/p>\n

\"JackFor some reason, Jack Russell’s Great White opened up the show, but someone had to go first. As the second best all-time selling band on the bill, just behind Warrant, it seemed strange but it didn\u2019t matter. As you are aware, there are two Great White\u2019s out there, and this was Jack Russell\u2019s version. You know, the guy who is and has been one of the best hard rock vocalists on the planet for over 30 years. Jack announced recently that he is hitting the studio with former Great White bassist Tony Montana, lead guitarist Robby Locher along with drummer Dicki Fliszar. If this show is any indication, you have to almost feel bad for the other version of Great White\u2014the one that doesn’t have Jack. <\/p>\n

They hit the stage and it was the Jack everyone knew before his physical struggles derailed him, ultimately ending up with him being replaced in the other version. Jack’s voice was perfect, effortless, even on the highest notes. It shouldn’t look so damn easy, but for him, it is. Songs like \u201cDesert Moon,\u201d \u201cRock Me,\u201d the of-course \u201cOnce Bitten Twice Shy,\u201d \u201cSave Your Love\u201d and even more classics were high-energy, all rock and with Jack singing them, everything old was new again. It’s going to take some time for this version of Great White to nail down the bluesy swagger Mark Kendall brings to the table, but that’s far more likely to happen than anyone on earth ever sounding like Jack Russell. Knowing there’s a new Jack-led Great White release coming out should have every longtime fan drooling, and not just in their sleep. <\/p>\n

\"CJFirehouse. What can you say about this polished, professional group of uber-talented Hair Metal stars? There seemed to be a running theme; all of the fans are aging and growing wider, but the bands look and sound the same as they did decades ago. Firehouse was no different. In fact, the biggest \u201cWTF just happened\u201d moment of the night is when lead singer CJ Snare hit that painfully high note at the end of \u201cDon’t Treat Me Bad.\u201d Instead of just hitting it, he slayed it \u2026 and then somehow went higher. Women in the crowd looked around like \u201cI can’t even do that, nor do I want to.\u201d This wasn’t Tony Harnell or Mark Boals \u2026 this was CJ Snare! He was a monster. Probably the most surprising facet of the show was Bill Leverty’s guitar playing. Say what you want about Firehouse\u2014they are a pop hard rock band, and Leverty plays within those confines. But Leverty played a solo that made everyone in attendance put down the three or four beers they were holding and just watch in awe. Leverty needs some props, and hopefully they begin here at Hardrock Haven and then start raining on him. All the hits were played; \u201cLove of a Lifetime\u201d made some cynical black-souled SOBs wish they still believed in love (but the song ended so it all went desolate again) and \u201cAll She Wrote\u201d is one of those songs you forgot is one of the best hits recorded in this genre. Firehouse put on a clinic; they need to keep doing so, and more often. <\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/p>\n

\"LitaWhen Jim Croce wrote \u201cTime in a Bottle,\u201d he should have dedicated it to Lita Ford. Sure, he didn’t know her and unfortunately died before he had a chance to see her leave The Runaways and embark on her incredible solo success \u2026 but still. Lita is somehow trapped in time, looking and sounding as great as the dudes before and after her hit and left the stage. Lita has played the area a few times, the most notable recent time opening for Bret Michaels at Dakota Rock Fest in Sioux Fall, S.D. and getting somewhat snarky because they asked her to hit the stage before the ensuing tornado tore the stage apart. (She did, with a little menace in the show, and then the tornado appropriately wrecked the stage minutes after Michaels was done.) This time, it was a happy, somewhat recently-divorced Lita smiling and crushing every note she played and every note she sang. Do you know how great of a song \u201cBack to the Cave\u201d is? Did you forget? Well go remember damn it all \u2026 it’s got an insatiable sexual groove that will hurt your hair (if you still have any on your head, gents.) Yes, Lita is forever stuck playing \u201cKiss Me Deadly,\u201d and she proudly filled the auditorium with thousands of people doing their best (albeit horrible) personal Karaoke version of it, but \u201cClose My Eyes Forever\u201d was as haunting and eternal as any other song played this night. <\/p>\n

\"Lita<\/p>\n

\"warrant\"The last act of the night was Warrant. Now, for those of you who somehow didn’t know vocalist Robert Mason before Warrant\u2014Cry of Love, Lynch Mob, Big Cock anyone?\u2014you were in for a treat. Mason is a madman, there’s no other way to put it. When the band started playing and Mason tore out like someone injected a gallon of cocaine-laced Red Bull directly into his heart, it was a spectacle. Not only is he perhaps the most underrated singer out there today, he’s also one of the best frontmen you are going to find. Warrant is a well-honed machine, and even though Jani Lane passed away and Jaime St. James only joined their party for one studio release, Mason OWNS the stage. Hell, he owns the songs. Yes, the long-time and founding member of Jerry Dixon, Erik Turner, Joey Allen and Steven Sweet were their normal somewhat subdued yet energetic selves, but it seems they have come to realize a live show is Mason’s playground, and they just need to play their songs with their usual greatness \u2026 and Mason will take care of the rest. It was an animalistic fervor that Mason entertained the masses with. <\/p>\n

Now, everyone knows Jani Lane had his problems, but he was one of the best vocalists to come out of the ’80s. Not just anyone can hit those notes he sang. Mason doesn’t just manhandle those notes; he celebrates them. It’s a passion and fury and just sheer exuberance of Warrant’s past and honestly, their present, because Mason sings on their latest release and he’s a studio stallion as well. \u201cCherry Pie\u201d didn’t even sound as gauche as it used to, \u201cUncle Tom’s Cabin\u201d was somehow heavier and more searing, \u201cHeaven\u201d was freaking stunning \u2026 how are all these bands getting better with age? And why did the night have to end? <\/p>\n

Say what you want about the ’80s\u2014and everyone has\u2014but these four bands are a testament to the talent and zeitgeist of the time that somehow still translates to 2014. It didn’t sound like \u201cclassic rock\u201d because it wasn’t played like classic rock. It sounds like they wrote these songs last week. Jack Russell’s Great White, Firehouse, Lita and Warrant put on one of the best live concerts celebrating the ’80s that has been played in years. That it happened at the little-known, somewhat quirky Corn Palace makes sense, in a way. No one expects a palace of corn to bring the rock, and no one expects these bands to be as damn solid as they are. Guess the joke’s on everyone but the maybe 2,500 audience members who witnessed what a rock concert should really be about. <\/p>\n

If this foursome lands in your area (or just one of them) and you don’t go, that’s called self-flagellation. <\/p>\n

Photo credits to Derric Miller and Amy Bourne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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