Rock Gods II

December 13th, 2008 – Rock Gods II, live at the Gershwin Room, Espy Hotel, St Kilda.

The lineup was enticing – tributes to AC/DC, Kiss, Def Leppard, Van Halen & Skid Row. And with a Sammy Hagar tribute joining the expected David Lee Roth show I was genuinely chomping at the bit to see what quality would be paraded on stage.

I wasn’t disappointed. This was a fantastic night of showmanship, musicianship, and outright 80’s nostalgia, and I loved it!  With only one or two small issues – Def Repplica had an off night, possibly initiated by the fact that their opening track (Let It Go – my favourite!) was marred with no guitars in the house PA – I went home with a smile and 500-odd shots.

Thanks especially to Jason for his professionalism in not only performing with Van Hagar, but also stage managing the entire night and keeping every band to a very strict schedule. I know how difficult that task is.  Kudos to Enzo and Jim for their immense workload.  Jim drummed with X-Halen and played bass with Van Hagar.  Enzo seemed to be everywhere! He played the perfect Eddie Van Halen for both VH tributes, as well as pulling off a most credible Bruce Kulick in the Kiss “all-star” tribute.  The Kiss band was lead by “Paul” from Kisstroyer (well, I’m not sure if he’s still in the band or not) who seemed to be much more comfortable off the leash and without having to think about moves, makeup and a costume that must have been the largest Paul Stanley costume ever made.

After watching Enzo most of the night, I decided he looks more like Brian May on stage. I was also amazed at how far he has come since I first saw him jamming with In-Halen years ago when I was fooling around providing keys for those guys.  The guy plays like a freak, and looks so cool whilst doing it.

Following are a few of my choice images to wet your appetite for the rest of the gallery.

Skid Row Tribute – The lead singer was a female, which was more of a curiosity than anything else. She did a great job and entertained us well, but you can’t replace Sebastian Bach.

AC/DShe – The incomparable Josie Jason, my favourite Australian rock artist, was a surprise guest vocalist, stepping in for their regular female lead for the night.  As always Josie stole the show and had the crowd combining head-banging with hysterics for the entire set.   I knew she was struggling to remember all the lyrics so made sure she could read my lips throughout all my favourites.  Josie told me the following week she actually did just that at times.

Van Hagar - I was most interested in whether “Sammy” could really match the man himself. He could! From the opening electric drill of Poundcake, Enzo powered through the more polished era of VH and “Sammy” effortlessly covered the vocals.  When they finally played Dreams the crowd was in raptures, and I was truly impressed.  I’ll be seeing these guys again!
 
 
  
  

X-Halen – With Enzo still at the Eddie helm, and Jim back on drums, in strutted “Diamond Dave”.  Now that Enzo has mastered the VH chops, this was the best performance from these guys to date. It’s hard not to enjoy music this good when it’s played and performed this well.
 
 

Kiss Tribute – Enzo now shone as Bruce Kulick, and the crowd continued to grow and be satiated with many of the Kiss standards. Not a life-changing performance from these guys, but a helluva lot of fun all the same.
 
 
  

Def Repplica – The final act, and unlike their last gig which went very smoothly, this one was not so good. You win some, you lose some.
 
 

Go straight to the full Rock Gods II gallery here.