The late 1980s: An era dominated by big hair and big riffs. That’s exactly what was in store for the hard rock hungry crowd at the Arcada Theatre this past Friday night, as Steelheart and Jack Russell’s Great White delivered a double bill for the ages. Both bands are representative of a simpler, happier time in rock n’ roll: A time when MTV actually played music, rock radio actually played rock, and Tawny Kitaen (R.I.P.) was the “it girl”. Yes, for a few brief hours, you would’ve thought grunge and nu metal had never happened. Here’s the pictures and review to prove it.
Jack Russell’s Great White
Shockingly, the evening began with Jack Russell’s Great White. I say “shockingly” because if we’re looking at hits, record sales, and raw statistics, Great White was much bigger than Steelheart. They were one of the flagship bands of glam metal’s second wave, with 10 million albums sold and a slew of rock radio hits. In fact, the band has so many hits, I couldn’t help but overhear audience members asking in between sets, “Why didn’t they play *insert classic song here*?” The reason was because their set was limited to an hour. Although they played all too briefly, the band killed it. The star of the night was their namesake, Jack Russell. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Of all the 80s glam metal singers, none have held up better vocally than Russell. This is a guy who, despite facing demons and health woes, goes onstage every night and gives it his all. Tonight was no exception. Russell sang his heart and soul out on “Save Your Love”, “Lady Red Light”, and “Rock Me”, just to name a few. For Steelheart, this was going to be a tough act to follow.
Setlist
- “Call It Rock N’ Roll”
- “Heart the Hunter”
- “Lady Red Light”
- “Mista Bone”
- “Save Your Love”
- “Desert Moon”
- “All Over Now”
- “Rock Me”
- “Can’t Shake It” (The Angels cover)
- “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” (Ian Hunter cover)
Steelheart
Roughly 30 minutes after Jack Russell’s Great White wrapped up, Steelheart took the stage to an audience that had grown from hungry to rabid. Lucky for them, Steelheart’s brand of industrial strength pop metal would appease their appetite and then some. With an arsenal of anthemic choruses, shredding solos, and vocal acrobatics that’d make King Diamond blush at their disposal, Steelheart unleashed a fiery 75 minute set. Although it touched on nearly every facet of their 30+ year career, the set drew heavily from their 1990 self titled debut (their best selling album), as well as songs from their “Marky” Mark Wahlberg fronted friends, Steel Dragon. That’s right folks. In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, Steelheart is responsible for the music heard in the 2001 cult classic, Rock Star. This movie has a strong following among the 80s hard rock crowd, as evidenced by the group singalong that was “We All Die Young”. Hell, that was probably the only song of the set we could singalong to without suffering an aneurysm or some other fatal injury. How frontman Miljenko Matijevic is still able to hit those high notes all these years later is beyond me. Mr. Matijevic, if you’re reading this, hit us up at defendersofthefaithmetal@gmail.com and tell us your secret!
Setlist
- “Blood Pollution”
- “Livin’ the Life”
- “My Dirty Girl”
- “Gimmie Gimmie”
- “Cabernet”
- “She’s Gone”
- “Everybody Loves Eileen”
- “I’ll Never Let You Go”
- “We All Die Young”
Do you sell your pictures
I have yet to, but it’s an option. Hit me up at defendersofthefaithmetal@gmail.com.