By Andrew Bansal
May 21 2013, Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood CA: Hookers & Blow, the LA-based hard rock cover band featuring Dizzy Reed of Guns ‘N Roses on vocals and keyboards along with Quiet Riot’s Alex Grossi on guitar, Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Burning Rain) on drums and Chris Price (The King Mixers) on bass, are currently doing a month-long residency gig at the Whisky A Go Go. Called ‘Toxic Tuesdays’, the residency has brought them to the Whisky once a week, along with new guest musicians for every show. After playing shows on May 7th and 14th, the band was back for the 3rd show last night, and this being my best chance to catch them before the end of the residency, I decided to attend the show and check out how it goes. I arrived at the venue much too early, and after a long wait, all the opening acts were finally over and done with by 11 PM, clearing the stage for the headliners.
First off, I thought they went on a little too late, hitting the stage at 11.20 PM on a Tuesday night. The opening acts did not pull in any sort of crowd whatsoever, and what was left by the time Hookers & Blow started playing was a gathering of 30 people at the most, quite a few of them coming in merely to get a drink or two and taking little to no interest in the musicians on stage. I really think it would be better if they start at 10 or 10.30 instead, and at least for the one remaining residency show they should urge the Whisky to reduce the number of openers so they can go on stage earlier.
Anyhow, regardless of my surroundings, I was curious to see what this band was going to be like, and started observing various different aspects of their on-stage musicianship as soon as they started. The bassist was wearing a sombrero-type hat which made no sense to me at all, given that it absolutely did not fit with the musical style or the theme of the show. Other than him, the rest of the band maintained a graceful stage appearance, thankfully.
Having seen him perform with Guns ‘N Roses, I was pumped to see Dizzy Reed from up-close in such an intimate setting, a total contrast to the bombastic arena shows put on by the still mighty GNR. He took center stage, which is rare for a keyboard player in rock ‘n roll, so that was also a rarity in itself. I was enjoying his performance on the keyboards but honestly, wasn’t able to get into the vocals as much. He definitely sung the slower songs a lot better and expressed himself excellently well, but during the faster-paced parts of the set I could feel that he would be much more at ease just playing the keyboards alone. Nonetheless, this is one of those rock ‘n roll nostalgia things for which I can say, ‘I was there when Dizzy Reed fronted a band and played a bunch of hard rock covers’, specially considering the fact that he will not be part of next week’s show due to touring commitments with Guns ‘N Roses.
Guitarist Alex Grossi was highly impressive on the guitar though, and I thought every aspect of his performance was absolutely spot-on. He did not go over the top, with his guitar playing, appearance or stage moves, and simply focussed on getting the best sound out of his guitar while playing these tunes. It comes as no surprise to me that he’s been part of various projects like Quiet Riot, Hotel Diablo and Adler’s Appetite. On drums, Matt Starr did a fine job, but it was only towards the latter half of the set that the drum kit was set on fire, by the one and only Frankie Banali as they played three fantastic cover renditions of ‘Ziggy Stardust’ by David Bowie, ‘Trampled Under Foot’ by Led Zeppelin and ‘Helter Skelter’ by The Beatles. This was easily the highlight of the show, by a country mile. Banali exited, the band played a few more songs and closed out the night with The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy For The Devil’.
Overall, it was a fun time to be had by those who were in attendance, and more importantly, sober enough to appreciate the music. It must have been a bummer for the band to play in front of such a small crowd, and I just wish they do the marketing and promotion better in the future, if they’re really serious about doing well with this project. Nonetheless, it was an interesting night of rock ‘n roll featuring some talented musicians.
Set List:
Pretty Tied Up
Dust N’ Bones
You’re Crazy
American Girl
Don’t Cry
It’s So Easy w/ Brett Rasmussen (IGNITE)
Used To love Her w/ Brett Rasmussen (IGNITE)
Bad Obsession
Ziggy Stardust w/ Frankie Banali (QUIET RIOT)
Trampled Underfoot w/ Frankie Banali (QUIET RIOT)
Helter Skelter w/ Frankie Banali (QUIET RIOT)
Nice Boys
I Love Rock N Roll w/ Scotty Griffin (ex- Hookers N’ Blow, LA Guns)
Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting
Encore:
Sympathy For The Devil