Concert Review: Great White & Bang Tango @ Planet Rock

[AndrewAxeman]

Another Saturday night of live rock n' roll might have come and gone already, but I can add it to the list of memories that I will never forget. Saturday, March 26th finally got here... Jani Lane was originally scheduled to headline, but had to cancel. Luckily, they got Great White to fill in and take his place.

 

My friend Jill and I got there pretty early, and were hoping to find another friend of mine, Lynn, there as well. After handing in our tickets by the door, we only got a little bit further in and there she was... Lynn saw me walkin' by! The night was on! Before I go any further, me and Lynn have known each other for quite some time, but it was so great to FINALLY meet her in person. So all 3 of us got some drinks, and hung out for a bit as we awaited the music to start.

 

It was my 2nd time seeing Goodness Gracious (seen them open for L.A. Guns back on January 19th) and they kicked off the night. Based out of Grand Rapids, they are a good pick to get the night started off right... doing covers of our favorite 80's rock/metal anthems, such as; Crue's "Girls Girls Girls", Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", and a few others. Also, adding to their stage show were 3 female backup singers, or as Jill stated later, "They were backup singers? I thought they were trying to be go go dancers?". LOL.

 

Anyway, the next band up (to the best of my memory, haha), was a band called Red Butt Monkey. Yes, you read that correctly, Red Butt Monkey. Didn't know what to expect from this band, but they put on a good performance, led by strong vocals. They did mostly covers... from the likes of Iron Maiden, Skid Row's "Monkey Business", a few others and closed the set off with Pantera's "Cemetary Gates". 

 

Up next was Scrapyard, a band that I was looking forward to, after seeing them open for Slaughter a few weeks ago. These guys rock! They definitely have what it takes and all of the members are talented...taking turns doing lead vocals. They mixed in some originals with some covers and put on a good show throughout. One of the biggest highlights being an original called "Detroit Muscle". The guitarist Ryan Henrickson, came up to me at one point in the night, recognized me from the site and was very cool. 

 

Jill, Lynn and I were all havin' a good time, enjoying the night, aside from them being in pain from wearing heels. That's a lesson for next time ladies! Anyway, the next band up was 8 Foot Grimiss, who I have seen a couple times before and played a short set of their brand of funky/bluesy rock n' roll and got a good response from the crowd. Jill doesn't think much of them though, haha. And by that time, I was just eagerly awaiting Bang Tango & Great White as well. 

 

The the current lineup of Bang Tango... led by Joe Leste on vocals, Scott LaFlamme on guitar, bassist Lance Eric and drummer Trent Anderson are like a well-oiled machine and can really bring it live! They kicked everyone's ass in the audience, building the energy with the opener "Ready To Go", other songs included; "Attack of Life", "Love Injection", "Dancing On Coals", a cover of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", and a new song that I really like called "Suck It Up". And of course they played "Someone Like You" to end the set. It was my 2nd time seeing Bang Tango live and they kicked just as much ass as the first time! 

 

In between the sets, HMM member Scott found me and it was cool meeting him as well.

 

After a little while of waiting.... it was time for Great White! Now, I've seen them before, back in '09 with Dokken and they put on an amazing performance. So even though frontman Jack Russell couldn't be there because he is still recovering, they found the perfect man for the job...enter XYZ's Terry Ilous! I've been a big fan of his for a while and was really excited to be able to see him. While I had high expectations for him going in, he blew them away! Terry is one of THE most charismatic, energetic, fun loving frontmen that I have seen on stage. You can just tell that he (and all the members of Great White for that matter) are having fun and love what they do. Along with Terry, guitarist Mark Kendall, rhythm guitarist Michael Lardie, bassist Scott Snyder & drummer Audie Desbrow rounded out the band.  I loved every second of their set, I can't remember the exact order of the setlist, but they opened with "Desert Moon" and went on to play favorites like; "Lady Red Light", "Rock Me", "Mista Bone", "On Your Knees", "The Big Goodbye", along with newer songs like "All or Nothin" and "Back to the Rhythm" (which Jill was pleasantly surprised to hear). Terry did an amazing job with the ballads as well, "House of Broken Love" and "Save Your Love"... leaving the entire sold-out crowd impressed! Also during the set, Terry mentioned Jack Russell and had everyone shout "Jack We Love You" a few times, which I thought was very cool. Get well soon Jack! 

 

Everyone was going crazy throughout their entire set, and being in-between Lynn and Jill dancing, you aren't going to get any complaints from me there! Great White came back on for an encore, playing "Can't Shake It" and "Once Bitten Twice Shy". 

 

I am tellin' ya folks, Great White and Bang Tango are a couple of the best live bands out there and if they come to your town, go see 'em... you won't be dissapointed!

 

After the show, we stayed for a while...got to talk with Lance, Scott and Trent from Bang Tango a little bit again and they are just great guys. Trent told me that he is also currently working on another project with Desi Rexx from D'Molls. So we will have to keep an eye out for that! 

 

I also wanna give a shout out to another girl that I met, who is also named Lynn as well... what a coincidence that is huh?! 2 Lynn's in one night! lol. We remembered talking with each other over on Mama's Fallen Angels a while back. She didn't think that I recognized or remembered her, but I did and loved her tattoo as well! ;)

 

Every time I write a review for a concert, it always takes me a while, because it is just so hard to sum everything up. It can be hard to put one of the most memorable nights of your life into words, because I am truly grateful to have met both Jill and Lynn now as well. There's nothing better than to be able to enjoy a night of live rock n' roll with great friends right there by your side! 

 

The Planet Live Music Factory is a great club in Battle Creek, that I have been to 4 times now including this one. The staff there are really nice and cool and if you are a rocker in Michigan, you have to make it down sometime! Check out the venue's site at www.planetlivemusic.com.

 

HMM member Scott, who was also there.. took a video of Great White performing "Rock Me" that you can check out below:

 

Between all 3 of our cameras, we managed to get A LOT of photos from the night, enjoy!

 

~Jill, Lynn & I~

 

~Me and Jill~

 

~Lynn & I~

 

~Jill giving me the look~

 

~Lynn and I~

 

 

 

~Lynn & I~

 

~Lynn and I watching the show, didn't know Jill was taking this!~

 

~Great White hits the stage~

 

~Terry Ilous/Great White~

 

~Michael Lardie & Scott Snyder/Great White~

 

~Mark Kendall/Great White~

 

~Terry Ilous pointing right at Lynn!~

 

~Great White~

 

~Terry & Mark/Great White~

 

~Mark Kendall/Great White~

 

~Bang Tango~

 

~Joe Leste/Bang Tango~

 

~Joe Leste/Bang Tango~

 

~Scott LaFlamme/Bang Tango~

 

~Scott tearing it up!~

 

~Scott LaFlamme/Bang Tango~

 

~Lance Eric/Bang Tango~

 

~Trent Anderson/Bang Tango~

 

~Trent Anderson/Bang Tango~

 

~Lance & Joe/Bang Tango~

 

~Joe Leste/Bang Tango~

 

~Lance & Joe/Bang Tango~

 

~Joe Leste/Bang Tango~

 

~Scrapyard~

 

~Scrapyard~

 

~Scrapyard... and dude with a mullet~

 

~8 Foot Grimiss~

 

~8 Foot Grimiss~

 

~Goodness Gracious~

 

~Goodness Gracious guitarist & backup singers/dancers~

 

~Backup singers/dancers for Goodness Gracious~

 

[jillicious]

Great REVIEW!!! Andrew !!!

Yup it all went down pretty much like you remember..

Going to these shows at PlanetLive I ENJOY the Main act...

                         But the opening bands are so worth the experience...

                                                    I LoVe the ROCK they bring to the stage.. \m/

So glad we we went together... you be my newww concert budddiiieeee  :)))))

[BadAssMetalMaiden-Richie'sRosie]

WOW very very good job on the review Andrew ... sounds like a blast ... killer pics too .. yay to all of you glad you had a great night

[Linda]

Awesome, as always, Andrew!  Glad you had a great time!

Can't wait to see them at M3!

[Tracy Matteo]

Andrew, looks like you all definitely had a blast!  Review was awesome, as always, like I was right there with you! Pictures were great, and I didn't know the mullet was back? LOL Glad u and ur friends had a great time, and hope Jack does get well real soon! Thanks for sharing Andrew! :)

[Chad HMM Tattletail]

Very cool Andrew looks & sounds like you had a great night with Jill & the (2) Lynn's! 

Keep enjoying the shows and writing the reviews & taking pix! 

[Michael Byrne]

I agree the gig was great, I think Great White are one of the most under rated bands in the world.

[jillicious]

Bang Tango is very underated too !

[BadAssMetalMaiden-Richie'sRosie]

I agree Jill very much

[Rock On]

Hi Andrew

Great pictures and review! Glad you had a Great time! Sounds like they all rocked.

That was Good that Terry mentioned Jack at the show and did that!

I hope that Jack will be better soon, and it is great that Terry is filling in and doing Great!

Thanks for posting your review and pictures. I will hopefully get to see Terry

and Great White at the M3 Concert in Md in May! \m/

[AndrewAxeman]

Found a couple more fan-filmed videos from the night;

[BadAssMetalMaiden-Richie'sRosie]

Those are awesome Andrew thannks for sharing :D

[Michael Byrne]

thankyou