By Andrew Bansal
July 9th 2013, The Roxy, West Hollywood CA: Despite having been a follower and admirer of the band’s music over the past four years or so, I never got a chance to see White Wizzard play their own headline show. It wasn’t completely my fault either, as they never really did a proper LA headline show during this period. But all that was about to change last night, as White Wizzard were set to take the stage as a headline act at West Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre to perform at the release party for their latest album ‘The Devils Cut’. Throughout their six years as a band, they’ve always put out great and memorable music, music that’s criminally underrated and went suspiciously unnoticed for reasons I’m still not able to comprehend. Having come out with a fantastic new release in ‘The Devils Cut, it was high time they got their moment in the spotlight, and it finally happened last night.
To further whet the appetite of the classic metal fans, Death Dealer featuring Ross ‘The Boss’ Friedman on guitar and Kenny Earl “Rhino” Edwards on drums, former members of the mighty Manowar, along with members of Cage and Halford, were also on the bill. But before White Wizzard and Death Dealer could begin the proceedings in earnest, there was a small matter of four local openers. To be honest, I wasn’t at the venue to see these bands so I can’t really state any opinions about them positive or negative.
Death Dealer took the stage at around 10.30, and even by that time the turnout at the venue was only around 50, which was a little sad to see but those in attendance undoubtedly had a great time during Death Dealer’s set. Frontman Sean Peck, also a member of Cage and Empires Of Eden, brought his Halford-esque appearance, vocal delivery and stage mannerisms to the stage and had all the old-school fanatics in the house cheering and singing along. Just like White Wizzard, this was a CD release party for Death Dealer as well, and their set largely consisted of songs from their recently released debut album ‘War Master’. Their simple, catchy style of classic power metal immediately struck the right chord with this audience right from the get go, and the whole set just flew by before we even realized it. The final piece of the set was a treat for all Manowar fans, with a great rendition of the song ‘Hail And Kill’. The crowd was shouting the chorus words out loud with sheer joy. To see Ross The Boss and Rhino play a Manowar cover is indeed something so special that I’m not even able to fully realize the magnitude of it yet. All in all, a killer set by Death Dealer, and I’d recommend readers to check them out.
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Set List:
1. War Master
2. Never To Kneel
3. Curse Of The Heretic
4. Hammer Down
5. Triumph And Victory
6. Rhino Drum Solo
7. Death Dealer
8. Devils Mile
9. Hail And Kill (Manowar cover)
At 11.30, the opening tune ‘Forging The Steel’ from White Wizzard’s new album began playing on the PA. I was a bit surprised by that to be completely honest, because it isn’t a ‘traditional’ album intro by any means, and could have very well been played by the band on stage. With its great guitar riffs, harmonies and solos, it would have been a lot more fun to hear that one actually played live. But nonetheless, the band more than made up for it with the 60-minute set they delivered once they did start playing, following the Forging intro with ‘Strike The Iron’ as per the track sequence on the new album.
The set was extremely well balanced between the four catchiest songs off of The Devils Cut, three tunes from the Over The Top album, two from the ridiculously underrated Flying Tigers, and two from the legendary High Speed GTO EP. I was impressed by how well the set was put together in terms of its material and track ordering, and aside from the Over The Top title track, I can’t think of anything that a White Wizzard fan would consider a glaring omission from the set. Amidst the wizardy of the fast-paced tunes, there was the delightfully slow ‘Starchild’ which provided a welcome breather from the head-banging and turned out to be a great centerpiece, appropriately placed exactly in the middle of the set.
The sound at the Roxy is always great, and that’s one of the main reasons I was stoked about this show right from the time it was announced. It brought out the best of White Wizzard’s live performance in a manner no other venue has done in the past couple of times I’ve seen them as an opening act. Last night there were no issues with the sound whatsoever, and the mix was bang on perfect. They definitely suffered from badly mixed stage sound in the past with the guitars buried deep, but thankfully we got to hear the best of Will Wallner and Jake Dreyer last night, as they nailed their guitar parts on all songs old and new. They focussed on their playing more than anything, but during the set they got their moment in the center of the stage as well and carried themselves excellently.
Bassist Jon Leon laid down those thunderous bass lines as always, and was well backed up by drummer Gio Durst. As for singer Joseph Michael, I was simply astounded by how great of a performance he put in last night. It was truly captivating, and he gave off that unique vibe, a vibe you get from singers who look and sound like they were born to do nothing else but sing. He displayed an incredible range of vocals and gave these songs a new lease of life with his style of delivery. White Wizzard can seriously thank their stars because they’ve unearthed a real gem.
Overall, it’s quite clear to me that this lineup of White Wizzard truly represents the band’s sound and attitude, and equally important is the fact that they seem to be getting along with each other perfectly well. I would hope for this to be the permanent lineup going forward, because the old-school metalhead in me loved every minute of this headline gig of theirs, and was happily compelled to sing along with each and every word.
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Set List:
1. Forging The Steel (on the PA)
2. Strike The Iron
3. 40 Deuces
4. Celestina
5. Iron Goddess Of Vengeance
6. Starchild
7. Kings Of The Highway
8. Torpedo Of Truth
9. Flying Tigers
10.Out Of Control
11.Lightning In My Hands
12.High Speed GTO