Though things have been kinda choppy with cancelations and postponed shows, I managed to make a bunch of shows in the past couple of months:
First up since Alice Cooper was the always fabulous Lucero. The most recent album, When You Found Me is super cool. I love when a band's sound evolves and I want to stick with them because I still like what they're doing. It's such a disappointment when they go in a different direction that's unrelatable and uninteresting. My suggested tracks: Have You Lost Your Way, Coffin Nails, All My Life and City On Fire. They had to postpone their early 2022 UK dates, but they're back out on the road in America right now. You can check out Lucero's tour dates here. I was lucky enough to catch them just before then at Webster Hall and the renovated Asbury Lanes, which I hadn't gotten a chance to check out until that night. Boy did it look different! It looks great, although part of me misses the old school charm of the previous incarnation of that venue.
Next was In This Moment with Black Veil Brides at the Wellmont. Singer Maria Brink is so powerful and amazing. One of the best front women of all time in my opinion. She has a great chemistry with all the guys backing her (drummer Kent Dimmel, guitarist Randy Weitzel, bassist Travis Johnson and guitarist Chris Howarth who was missing that night), and they put on such a great, theatrical show that you don't see a lot of in Rock. I had seen BVB once before at Warped Tour in 2011, but that situation was so chaotic because I was trying to cover multiple bands that I wasn't able to fully get into their set. So I was glad to have the opportunity to fully absorb their performance.
Soon after was a Black Label Society double-header. I made a Sunday night voyage into NYC then returned to the Wellmont a few days later. I had trouble making it on time for the first night, but made sure to show up early for the legendary bands Prong and Obituary. Needless to say this was one of the heaviest bills I've ever witnessed.
Continuing the Jersey band theme, Sebastian Bach (formerly of Skid Row) was up next at Toad's Place. This was a show that got postponed from October til two days before Thanksgiving without any explanation. But it was worth the wait because we got to hear all of Slave To The Grind, including Beggar's Day. Wasted Time is one of the best vocals by any singer ever in any era of any genre in my opinion, so I was the most excited for that one. Even though I've seen most of the Slave songs played over the years, it's different being part of a night that's dedicated to it somehow.
Finally, my last show of 2021 was the awesome duo Man On Man. Roddy Bottum and his adorable boyfriend Joey Holman were the only performers that night (other shows had a full band behind them), but the two still manage to fill the room with soaring Alt-Rock. YouTube banned their first video for innocent physical expressions of love that took place in it, which was disappointing at this point in time. But I hope the scandal gave them a boost because they're a super creative pair who deserve some attention on the music scene.
