The Crane Pool Forum

I'm reallllly itching to get the concert season started. Down here in TN, you usually start seeing sporadic days of warmth by now, but outside of a week of 60-70 degree weather, it's actually felt like winter all the way through winter...so this winter feels like it is taking forever to end.

That hasn't deterred me, however. After missing my last three shows of 2024* I decided to start 2025 off with a small concert in Asheville, an easy 1.5 hour drive down I-26. The band was a Canadian indy folk band called The Strumbellas, whose primary hit in the US was "Spirits", though my favorite song is "Salvation." It was as SMALL venue, maybe a few hundred people were there. Pretty much no matter where you stood, you were near the stage. The temperature the whole drive down was about 15; it was about 85 in the building—so it all evened out in the long run. They were very good and the crowd had solid energy. They were opened by a fairly no-name band called Wildermiss, who I'd vaguely heard of due to random YouTube music video recommendations. In addition, they too were also solid, as well.

*Electric Light Orchestra because I didn't want to drive 4.5 hours to Nashville to see what was mostly a cover band at that point; Billie Eilish because I didn't feel like driving to Nashville (again)**; Bush because the water pump in my car died
**Ignorance is bliss when it comes to Nashville traffic—once you've done it a few times, it's hard to find good excuses to want to keep doing it over and over

Last night I went to Johnson City, TN to see a hair metal extravaganza, comprised of Molly Hatchet, Lita Ford, Dee Snider, Winger and Warrant. Technically, it was a mess from the start—the show was supposed to begin at 7, but we didn't get into the building until after 7 and we didn't get going until 7:30 due to technical difficulties. All the bands did rushed sound checks, if at all.

It was a decent show, nevertheless. Molly Hatchet is just a cover band at this point, as their longest-tenured member has only been with them since 1983 (Molly Hatchet has been around since 1971), so they have no one left from the "Flirtin' With Disaster" (released 1979) days. Their lead singer is a young whipper-snapper who's only been with them since 2023. For what they were, they were solid.

Lita Ford came next. I was never a huge fan, because the era already had one rocker chick in Joan Jett and I see the two as synonymous, but she was a lot better than I could have imagined. Still, "Cherry Bomb" is a dumb song and I don't know why it ever became popular. Also, her mic and music randomly kept cutting out. Still, she was okay.

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame came on stage while she was performing and he did "We're Not Going to Take It," "I Wanna Rock" (of course referencing "Goofy Goober Rock," the Spongebob version of the song) and, with Lita Ford, "Close My Eyes Forever." He was the first one that still really had the old energy and didn't seem like he'd lost any of the metal spark. 69 years old and running all over the stage—he was very impressive. Also did a good cover of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell."

Then Winger came aboard. I went mostly for Winger, as they're one of my favorite bands. They were far and away the absolute best. They haven't lost it at all. They didn't do any sort of sound check, so they had to stop a moment into their second song (the hit "Seventeen") to get the sound guy to do some work on the mics, but after that it was mostly smooth sailing. Winger is a great example of the difference between bands that still have all their original members and those that don't. They had real cohesion and chemistry. After a while, it became impossible not to just stop, focus and watch them perform. They nailed every song. Kip Winger still has the voice (mostly) and the band still rocks. They ended the show with a bit of a jam session and it was almost hypnotic. They were a 10/10 and basically saved the concert.

Warrant was pretty rough. Not sure if the lead singer was drunk or just having a bad day, but as he was picking up the mic stand and walking around with it and twirling it he straight-up dropped it on the ground and had to pick it up. Multiple times. At least three, I lost count. Same thing with his mic. He did a toss with the mic and tried to catch it—and missed. So it hit the ground with an audible thud. The band didn't really seem to know what they were doing in terms of coordination and the lead singer was trying to direct them as they were going along. Anyway, they finished with "Cherry Pie," but by that point I had kind of tuned out. The show ended at 12:30 a.m. with about half the arena having already departed.

Winger really should have been the grand finale. Because of their performance (and, to a lesser degree, Dee Snider's and Lita Ford's), however, I give the concert a 6/10 overall, rather than a more-than-likely 4/10, and I will have fond memories when I look back. I'm so glad Winger nailed it as they were what I really went to see. They'd been on my list since at least my early 20s, but I hadn't been able to see them until now.

Next up is likely Neon Trees in Asheville next month, though I still need to buy the ticket. I also have Saint Motel (also in Asheville; known mostly for this song) on tap in April. Also down the line are Katy Perry Nashville—I'm actually going this time, I swear!—the Lumineers (hopefully) and Papa Roach. I'd like to see Marilyn Manson in Charlotte, but the tickets are already only available on the secondary market and are pretty expensive. There will be more beyond what I've listed here, inevitably.

Anywho, post your 2025 concert experiences here.

Christ ,that Hair Metal fest sounds like a nightmare, I saw Warrent in thr late 90s in Danbury CT ,Jani Lane was hammered, I guess the current singer was carrying on the tradition

Friday night we saw Vivaldi by Candlelight Concerts at a beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, have to say it was a really great show

Inspired by recently listening to the Live and Budokan version of "I Want You to Want Me," I bought tickets to see Cheap Trick later this month in the vain hope that some 75-year-olds will be able to perform the song with the same energy they did 40+ years ago. Growing up, I was a huge classic rock/70s/80s music fan, and saw quite a few bands and singers in the late 2000s and early-mid 2010s that were 'older,' but could still bring it (Def Leppard, for example). But those bands have gone from 'older' to 'geriatric,' and it's kind of a bummer because 99% of the time, they just don't have it anymore live. I still go to see them from time to time, because occasionally you'll find that unicorn, but mostly they're just so ... blah. The first two that really drove that point home were Steve Miller and KISS. Steve Miller didn't even sound like Steve Miller—at all—and KISS was just embarrassing, watching a bunch of fellas who should be in a retirement home still trying to do the same get up and schtick they did when they were 30 years old. Anywho, I've actually had Cheap Trick on my list for a while, but seeing them has never been pressingly urgent, so I've put it off. Thought I might as well get it out of the way.

Heart is actually the main act, and though I'm not a huge fan of Heart, I still know a lot of their songs, so I won't be totally bored.

Cheap Trick is no cheap trick. Maybe they lost some off the fastball but they're still.pros. they will give you a solid hour of rock and lots of guitar picks

I think Rick is really old now though.

Rick is 76, Robin is 72

Heart and Cheap Trick both found new life in the late eighties by signing on with nu management who really knew how to spread the payola around and got them some unlikely #1s with some pretty bad professional-hackwritten songs.

Cheap Trick should have long since dropped the grossly uncharacteristic song from their setlist, but they have stayed loyal to the managers and to Heart who first recommended them to their managemeent team, and I guess that means keeping the money flowing as the managers probably have a piece of the publishing on that song.

Cheap Trick even reworked 'I Want You to Want Me' into a REEEEEALLY CHEESY 'I Want You For Christmas' because Xmas tunes reliably generate a steady cash flow via royalties paid by store sound systems, as well as those auto-pilot type radio stations, starting the day after T'giving, or, in some cases, as soon as November 1st.

I'm still trying to unlisten Live At Budokan. Gonna be fifty
years soon. I'm begging you to beg me.

Lol, really...

I don' get to as many shows as I'd like, but Grand Rapids is adding a "shed" so we'll be getting a lot more bands in the near future. We have a nice large arena and some large-ish clubs.

I did see Kiss on the End of the Road tour, and I thought they were fantastic. Probably the biggest spectacle show since I saw Roger Waters with the full Wall production. I saw Ace Frehley in a solo show in December and he was good!

I'm glad Dee is touring again. Jay Jay French on his podcast said he didn't expect any more Twisted shows, but didn't rule it out, either.

Cheap Trick is one of those bands I've always wanted to see, but never had the opportunity.

So I intended to go to Cheap Trick/Heart, but it was a cluster. I usually try to get there an hour before the show so I have time to park and get in. I left a little later but should still have had 35-40 minutes to spare—if this was normal. But it wasn't. I could not have foreseen the total cluster the traffic and parking situation would be, so by the time I even got near the main parking garage it was past 8 o'clock, when the show was set to start. In addition to that, I've never had to pre-pay for parking before, but it looked like the only parking that was left was for those who prepaid. WTF? Whodathunk a couple washed up 50 year old bands would bring such a huge crowd? Certainly not I.

So I eventually decide to just drive on down to another garage located near another venue I go to, but that's a 1.9 mile walk from where I wanted to be. By the time I completed the walk and got to my seat, it would have been past 9 o' clock, Cheap Trick—who I was really going for—would've been done and I would have had to sit through Heart, who I don't even like that much. But, another consideration was I'd also have to walk two miles back to my car at 11-12 at night, in Knoxville, which is a reasonably sized city, and—though it was near the school (University of Tennessee) and one of the hubs (Broadway/Gay St. etc) I still didn't feel comfortable doing that.

So, since the ticket purchase was spur-of the-moment and this was more a show to see just to see a show rather than one I truly, deeply wanted to go to, I decided just to turn around and go home. I drove 16 hours for nothing! (Just kidding, it's only 1.5 hours away from home).

I like the drive, especially at night, and I'm not too bummed about not seeing the show, but that's $70-$80 I won't be getting back.

Also this is probably the last time I'm going to try to do the get out of work-head out to a show method...I've done it multiple times, but it's never as enjoyable as going to a show on one of my days off.

And now I'm probably going to skip Neon Trees on Monday and just wait for actual concert season to start seeing concerts. I'm sure they'd be fun, but one adventure to see a band I don't even have a huge love for—even if it didn't end the way I wanted—is enough for one weekend.