The crowd at the Hollywood Alley show was tremendous. We caught up with a lot of old friends, including former bassist Stacy. We also made some new friends and fans, which is way cool. It was a pretty energetic set. Technically, I wouldn’t consider it one of our best performances. But there was a lot of verve and commitment, and that counts for something. Stash was rolling video – with any luck, some of it turned out.
Here’s the set list, along with my performance evaluation for each:
Rampage – Grade A. No question. Set the tone nicely. Awesome opener!
What It Means – B. I heard a flutter or two, but most bits came off nicely.
Little Jeanie – B. Nicely done.
Be a Man – C. Our oldest song, which should make it easy, right? No. We take it for granted a lot, and it can bite us in the butt.
Close the Deal – A.
Seek & Destroy – B. I had a moment of weirdness in the last verse, but I was pleased with the solo.
Rage – B. Newest song, second live performance. A hiccup here and there.
Ill Wind – A. Great enthusiasm, minimal mistakes.
Stick it to the Man – B. Some fumbling, but quick recoveries.
Breakin’ the Law – A. It’s a fun way to end the set … especially when my guitar cable is long enough for me to hop offstage and wander among the crowd.
When we first started out, Todd had this man-crush on The Refreshments. So a lot of the songs were in that vein, with kind of cutesy-pop lyrics welded to my much more hard rock-influenced guitar phrasing and tone. That marriage of sounds made one person say we were “a cross between The Scorpions and The Refreshments.”
