By Andrew Bansal
July 19th 2013, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: Jack Russell’s Great White have embarked on a two-month US tour, beginning with the first show at the Whisky A Go Go on July 19th. Even for a Friday night, the place was surprisingly packed, and I had never been to a Great White show before but I heard from trusted sources that it’s been at least two decades since this band got that kind of a turnout. For those who arrived early though, it was going to be a long night as the lineup was stacked with plenty of local openers. It wasn’t until 11:15 PM that these opening bands were finally done with and the stage was cleared for Great White.
At around 11.30, the band appeared on stage and began their 90-minute set with the song ‘All Over Now’, and delivered a solid performance that satisfied this packed venue. People were generally having a great time seeing the band, many even singing along to the lyrics. Jack Russell himself was putting on quite the performance on vocals as he successfully handled the entire range of notes that were required in singing these songs. During the set I did wish he had talked a little lesser though, because at times he just went on and on with his stories between songs. Fans perhaps knew that the monologues are part of the Jack Russell/Great White live experience and comes in the package. But amidst his stories he also introduced bassist Tony Montana, originally in the band from ’87 to ’92, has made a return after more than 20 years. The rest of the band lineup with Robby Lochner and Matthew Johnson on guitars and Derrick Pontier on drums did an excellent job, and aside from momentary technical issues with Robby’s guitar, they sounded great and complimented Jack Russell’s singing perfectly.
Aside from the Great White tunes there was a cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Achilles Last Stand’ in there too, sandwiched within the song ‘On Your Knees’. A couple of The Angels covers were included in the set as well, and Robby Lochner’s guitar solo was interesting even though it could have had a better impact if it was a bit shorter. In general, this was a very simple, barebones show with no flashy over-the-top costumes, stage props or makeup. It was almost like hair metal without the ‘hair’, which was both good and bad. The good thing was, the music truly took center stage and the very reasons why the glam/hair metal genre is ridiculed were done away with. On the flip side, fans of the genre expect and like to see a bit of cheesiness, and it was totally missing from this show. But all in all, it was a fun time for everyone in the crowd and Jack Russell at the age of 52 still delivers the vocals, with an able backing band doing a fine job with the music itself.
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Set List:
1. All Over Now
2. Desert Moon
3. On Your Knees (incl. Achilles Last Stand by Led Zeppelin)
4. Save Your Love
5. Face the Day (The Angels cover)
6. Can of Wupas (Robby Lochner Guitar Solo)
7. House of Broken Love
8. Mista Bone (incl. snippet of Voodoo Child)
9. Once Bitten Twice Shy (Ian Hunter cover)
10.Can’t Shake It (The Angels cover)
Encore:
11.Rock Me