In the past few years, we have been to Rocklahoma in Pryor, OK, and Rock N America in Oklahoma City, OK. This year we decided on M3 in Columbia, MD. The set up is perfect for the VIP section, the covered pavilion, and vendors. They even had a National Pinball Museum with a Guns N Roses and a Kiss pinball machine. There was also a book signing with Eddie Trunk for this new book 'Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal'. It was great that there was only one side stage, but some of the bands over-lapped. But otherwise, we will definately go back next year!
Friday, May 13 was the kick off party. First up was L.A Guns with Phil Lewis. We love Tracii Guns, but it was nice to see this version as it is the one with the voice. Who else could sing 'Sex Action' and 'Never Enough' like Phil Lewis?
Warrant was up next. It was strange to see them play without Jani Lane. Robert Mason (ex Lynch-Mob) has an amazing voice, but nothing is like the original vocalist. They were promoting their new album 'Rockaholic', but nothing will compare to 'Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich'.
KIX was the final band for Friday night and they were amazing! It was a hometown show for them "Long legged Rosie from Baltimore Took me farther than I've been before" - Girl Money... The crowd went wild. Steve Whiteman is hilarious, and quite the frontman. He has an insane amount of energy! We got to meet them after in the VIP section.
Saturday, May 14 started with Danger Danger at 12 pm. We made it on time, and were so happy to catch them live! They are one of the few bands we haven't seen in the past few years. Ted Poley sounded great, they did all of our favorite songs. We got to meet them after the show in VIP. They said they love the shows and then they just go on with their regular lives for the rest of the year, so it is pretty exciting for them.
Pretty Boy Floyd was next. We love them and have been fortunate to see them the past couple of years. They for some reason can never make it over the border to Canada, so we have to go to the US to see them. They were throwing their cd "Kiss of Death - A Tribute to Kiss" to the audience. It is always great to see Steve Summers and Kristy Majors on stage together.
Firehouse was next. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the entire set with the overlapping of bands. We still heard our favorites songs. C.J. Snare can still hit those incredibly high notes in "Don't Treat Me Bad".
Slaughter was next. We have seen them a few times over the years and they are always great. As usual, Mark Slaughter went deep into the crowd for all the audience to see and they finished with 'Up All Night'.
Next was Great White. The last time we saw Great White was in Rock N America. Jack Russell was not well, he has just had back surgery. They had Jani Lane from Warrant covering for a short time, but now they have Terry Ilous from XYZ is filling in until Jack's return after another major surgery. He was excellent, but it will be great once Jack returns, no one can replace him.
We ran over to the second stage to catch some of Black N' Blue just in time to hear Jaime St. James sing 'Miss Mystery'.
And to see our Edmonton/Calgary friends 'Killinger' on the jumbo-tron.
http://killingerrocks.com/
Next up was Mr. Big. We were pretty excited, we had never seen them play! We never thought we would see Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey on stage together for a reunion! They performed all of our favorites and looked and sounded spectacular!
Faster Pussycat was next. The only original member is Taime Downe. He sang the songs as they sounded originally which was nice, he doesn't always do that. It is unsettling to see him in his goth wear singing glam songs.
Big Noize, the all-star band event was next. What a treat to see Carlos Cavasso from Quiet Riot, Joe Lynn Turner from Rainbow and Deep Purple, Phil Soussan from Ozzy and Jimmy Page and Vinnie Appice from Black Sabbath and Dio on stage together!
Sebastian Bach was next! We had seen him a couple nights earlier on the way to M3 at the famous Crocodile Rock in Allentown, PA. He was very entertaining as usual, he has such an incredible voice. He told the story of how he hit his bassist in the head with his microphone swinging and scarred him. We met him at the after party at Clyde's.
Tesla was next! They always put on such a good powerful show. I remember when they used to open up for almost any show that came to Canada. They still hold that energy and musicianship that they did 20 years ago.
The finale of the night was Whitesnake! They were spectacular. They played all of the old songs and also played alot off the new album 'Forevermore'. The new songs sound alot like Coverdale/Page, sexy and bluesy. David Coverdale is still an astounding frontman, one of the best!
Can't wait for next year!
