Michael Schenker, Armored Saint (plus Aftershock)
- Bleeding Priest
- Oct 8
- 5 min read
Before I get into the Schenker gig I’d like to give a quick rundown of my gig with Death Angel at Aftershock on Fri. It fucking RULED! We went on early (2:10 to be exact) but it didn’t seem to matter. The crowd was there in force. And the sun came out for us. Our brothers in Forbidden had to play in the rain just an hour earlier. We lucked out I guess.
We did a quick, 5 song, half hour set that seemed to blur right by. We got a chance to play our latest tune “Wrath (Bring Fire)” which was received very well. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to check out anyone else. Shortly after our set I was thrown into almost 2 hours of interviews with various radio stations (The Bone being one of them) and webzines. I got plenty of opportunities to shamelessly plug Dave and mine’s record label venture.
Between all that and the open, full cocktail bar AND the amazing catering I just couldn’t tear myself away to check anybody else out. We also hit the road back home around 6 so there really wasn’t much time to see any other band quite frankly. There was a tv monitor in the artist lounge area where I caught the tail end of the Kerry King set. For a guy doing back to back sets Mark sounded great.
Now for my Schenker review…
A sold out, packed Sunday night at one of the nicest venues in The Bay, The Great American Music Hall. I heard folks say it was “the most crowded they’ve ever seen this place”. Whenever it’s that full it always feels like “the most crowded it’s ever been”. Whether it was or not I have no idea but yes, it was PACKED!!
What was all the hubbub? Michael Schenker bitches!! I can’t believe this was my first time seeing the man live. I saw UFO at The Independent maybe 15 years ago but Vinnie Moore was the guitarist. In all honesty I went to that show to see Vicious Rumors (who opened) more than that version of UFO. Speaking of opening bands, let's talk about the one for this gig shall we?
Opening were my longtime friends and amazing American Heavy Metal champions Armored Saint. I’ve seen these guys more times than I can remember and they’re always tight as all hell and put on a high quality, high energy performance. This time was no exception however what was not normally dialed in was their sound.
Being the opening band has many drawbacks such as not getting a proper sound check or limited access to the sound system…in some cases. I don’t know what the reason was but The Saint usually have a perfectly blended sound live. It was not the case this time around. By no means did it sound bad but it just wasn’t the perfection I’m used to. There was an overbearing mid range tone at times that just cancelled out everything else. When that happened it robbed the guitars of their bite and clarity. It only happened periodically but when it did it was very noticeable.
But that didn’t take away from the killer setlist which featured 4 songs from my sometimes favorite Armored Saint album Delirious Nomad. They’re celebrating its 40th anniversary. My brother used to always say the guy on the cover looked like Paul Newman. For some reason that’s always stuck with me. Anyhoo, the highlight of their set was “For The Sake” from the aforementioned album. That’s a pretty deep cut they don’t often play. Someone told me when they headline they do the entire record. I would kill (gladly) to hear “You’re Never Alone” live. One can dream.
Another memorable moment was when John Bush appeared upstairs in the balcony directly facing the stage. It took me a minute to figure out where the hell he’d gone off to. Sound shortcomings aside, Armored Saint ripped it up like they always do.
Now to the man of the hour, MICHAEL SCHENKER! The excitement in the room was palpable. It was well advertised that he’s doing a full set of UFO tracks so everybody knew what they were in for. It was basically seeing Strangers In The Night with a couple of hidden gems. Those two deep cuts being “Can You Roll Her” and “Reasons Love” from No Heavy Petting. I’ll be completely honest I had a hard time remembering that second one but the die-hards were losing their shit.
The sound was immaculate and the band was tight and perfectly in the pocket. The drummer especially caught my attention. I’ll probably get shot for saying this but I always thought UFO drummer Andy Parker was not on par with his fellow musicians in the band but the guy they have on this tour added so much snap and power to the songs. It was great hearing these classics with a crisp drum sound.
I will say his drum solo was technically impressive but it really lost the crowd. It’s already hard to hold a room full of drunken Rockers attention during a solo, especially when you’re doing jazzy type of stuff that requires one’s full attention to fully appreciate it. He’d be wise to add some big, dumb and loud double bass beats and fills to his solo for maximum effect. Again, I thought his solo was sick but it seemed to go over most people’s heads.
The vocalist did a pretty spot on Phil Mogg. If you closed your eyes you’d think it was the genuine article which worked out great being that he had such a cheesy look. And Schenker? Nothing short of brilliant. It was a masterclass on how to perform memorable, catchy and technically outstanding solos.
You could tell the crowd were anticipating every single solo break and Schenker didn’t miss a fucking note. Before the show a few folks told me they had seen him the night before and that “he’s sober and playing better than ever” and boy were they not lying. It was a pretty magical evening with a roomful of dear friends. It was one of the best Sunday eve’s I’ve had in recent memory.
–Bleeding Priest
