Richie Kotzen Live At Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville



Richie Kotzen came through Illinois for not 1, not 2, but 3 shows earlier this month. The tour was dubbed Salting Earth, but Salting Illinois is more like it. Richie was kicking off part 2 of his tour which got started in good ‘ol Moline, (almost Iowa “Are we in Heaven”) IL. Then Richie hit Reggie’s Rock Club in South Chicago and for extra rock n’ roll measure Kotzen performed for the Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville, IL, which was a make up show that was canceled last year. 3 nights of Richie made fans really happy in the Chicago-land area.

Kotzen is no stranger to rock n’ roll, with a little over 20 solo albums spanning a 28 year career; 5 years with Mr. Big; 2 years with Poison and now with The Winery Dogs (with Billy Sheehan & Mike Portnoy); Richie is definitely in a class of his own. His vocal style has a smooth raspy edge to it, similar to that of David Coverdale. Richie has a 3 finger fingerpickin’ guitar technique, with a lightning-fast guitar style. He slides his fingers up and down that guitar neck so effortlessly. Richie is a force to be reckoned with.

The very intimate Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville, IL is a slightly different type of venue that may not see a ton of Rock n’ Roll but I’m sure has seen plenty of Orchestras, Plays etc. being a performing arts center, which gave a very clean and crisp acoustical sound. The venue has an oversized stage, and the Kotzen 3 piece band was set front and center so the crowd could be up close and personal with Richie. There was no lighting flare with this show, no crazy visual displays, but what this show did have was great, performed to perfection rock n’ roll. When the 3-piece ensemble hit the stage it was with only one purpose – To deliver pure Rock and Roll. Richie along with Dylan Wilson (bass), and Mike Bennett (drums) slowly took their spots to a slightly somber crowd. Which heated up shortly after the first chord rang out.

 

Richie kicked everything off with a very appropriate song “You’re Entertainer” off the 2009 album Peace Sign then launched right into “Bad Situation” off 2011 album 24 Hours. The evening bounced around through all of the essential Richie Kotzen songs old and new. At one point Richie broke set to fulfill a special request, which he mentioned he doesn’t normally do, but he launched into a very smooth version of “Sara Smile” by Hall & Oates which the crowd just ate up.

Richie lit up the evening with a great selection of music spanning through his lustrous 28-year career. It was a great show in a great little Naperville, IL venue. The fans were very appreciative that Richie came back too. It might’ve even been why he gave a special extended encore, which included, “War Paint” with a little classic “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” a old Elvin Bishop cover, and so did the crowd.

Richie is on tour now until May 23rd in the states then off overseas until July 27th. Check out Richie Kotzen’s web site at: http://richiekotzen.com/tour-dates/ for more details. It was a great show, by a very impressive guitar virtuoso. Catch him while you can.

Set List:

  1. Your Entertainer
  2. Bad Situation
  3. Love Is Blind
  4. High
  5. Go Faster
  6. Fooled Again
  7. Socialite
  8. The Road
  9. Meds
  10. Fear
  11. Sara Smile (Hall & Oates cover)
  12. End of Earth
  13. Help Me

Encore:

  1. War Paint
  2. Fooled Around and Fell in Love (Elvin Bishop cover)

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY RICK TRIANA


On The Road… with The Winery Dogs


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The Winery Dogs just released their new album Hot Streak (Loud and Proud) to critical acclaim and are once again setting off to be road dogs as well. This new album being a natural extension of their début album, the band was eager to hit the road and jam some of these new tracks as well as fan favorites on a headline tour. Performing at The Wilbur Theater in downtown Boston, the feeling in the room was palpable, as Richie Kotzen, Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan have a chemistry between them that is unmistakable. The only comparison to the level of collective talent and simpatico these guys share would be a Led Zeppelin or a Rush in their prime. Unlike their previous tours, they feel like a fully-fledged rock band now, that happens to feature legendary players; as opposed to a cool supergroup of guys. On the contrary, with the humble genius Kotzen at the microphone, the band has reached a new level of cool. The audience reflects this too, now as it is not just dominated by technique nerds and fanboys, but real lovers of their growing repertoire. Evil Robb Photography captured The Winery Dogs on this evening for Ghost Cult, as they being their next chapter.

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

 

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

 

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

 

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

 

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

The Winery Dogs, by Evil Robb Photography

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Rocklahoma Issues Updates On Battle Of The Bands and Miss Rocklahoma Contests


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America’s biggest Memorial Day Weekend Party – better known as Rocklahoma, has announced the first national Reverbnation Rocklahoma Battle of the Bands contest, as well as details for the 2015 Miss Rocklahoma comepetition. The event is presented by Bud Light and returns to “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds in Pryor, OK (45 minutes northeast of Tulsa, OK) for its ninth year on May 22, 23 and 24, 2015.

ReverbNation is hosting the national Rocklahoma Battle Of The Bands contest which will allow one ReverbNation artist the chance to perform at Rocklahoma 2015. For more details and to enter the competition, go here.

Registration for the 2015 Miss Rocklahoma competition begins March 16 here, and continues through April 17, with the top ten entries will be announced on April 22, Fan voting will run from April 22-May 8. Five finalists, named on May 11, will compete on stage at Rocklahoma for the chance to be named Miss Rocklahoma 2015.

rocklahoma 2015

The current band lineup for Rocklahoma 2015 is as follows: Linkin Park, Tesla, Godsmack, Slayer, Volbeat, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Halestorm, Queensrÿche, Candlebox, Anthrax, Ministry, The Pretty Reckless, Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts, Of Mice & Men, In This Moment, Apocalyptica, The Winery Dogs (featuring Billy Sheehan, Mike Portnoy & Richie Kotzen), Motionless In White, In Flames, Aranda, Nonpoint, We Are Harlot, Young Guns, Butcher Babies, Periphery, Jake E. Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel, Starset, Shaman’s Harvest, Upon A Burning Body, Sabaton, Like A Storm, Crobot, Islander, Sons of Texas, Wayland, Gypsy Pistoleros, Nasty Habit, Lynam, Bai Bang, Black Tora, ASKA, Kingdragon, BabyJane, Chaotic Resemblance, Firstryke, Dead Metal Society, Ratchet Dolls, Diamond Lane, Mystery, Ragdoll, Mycah, Delta Rose, Loveblast, Ruff Justice, Warlock Texas, Mach22, Dellacoma, Station, Tempt, Project Terror, London’s Dungeon, Ivy Stone, Lamp Shade Betty, We The Ghost, Well Hung Heart, Nicnos, Even the Dogs, SONS, A Course Of Action, Drek, and Lovebettie, and the festival will be hosted by Eddie Trunk.

Rocklahoma on Facebook
Rocklahoma on Twitter
Rocklahoma on Instagram


Monsters of Rock Cruise 2015 Confirms Lineup


monster of rock cruise 2015

The Monsters of Rock Cruise will be setting sail for the Bahamas this April 18-22 2015 aboard the MSC Divina, the four-day-and-night cruise celebrating the original legendary Castle Donington music festival held in England in 1980, will showcase Heavy Metal and Hard Rock music icons, including artists on the original festival bill.

This year’s cruise itinerary is kicked off by a two-night pre-party event at Miami’s Magic City Casino on April 15, featuring performances by Queensryche and Lillian Axe, and April 17, featuring performances by Stryper, Tyketto, Gabbie Rae and a special surprise guest artist.

The official line-up for the 2015 Monsters of Rock Cruise is as follows:

Tesla
Europe
Night Ranger
Tom Keifer of Cinderella
Extreme
KIX
Queensryche
Krokus
The Winery Dogs
Stryper
Lita Ford
Black Star Riders
Y&T
Zebra
Black ’N Blue
Faster Pussycat
Honeymoon Suite
Tyketto
Keel
John Corabi
Kip Winger
Michael Sweet
Richie Kotzen
Mike Tramp
Joel Hoekstra
Derek St. Holmes
Ron Keel
Leatherwolf
Babylon AD
Bang Tango
Heavens Edge
Frank Hannon Band
Lillian Axe
Rhino Bucket
Pamela Moore
Gabbie Rae
Atomic Punks
AJ’s Bravehearts

In addition, Eddie Trunk, host of VH1’s That Metal Show and “The Trunk Nation” on Sirius XM, is returning this year as Master of Ceremony. Eddie will be assisted by an all-star lineup of personalities including Luc Carl from XM’s Hair Nation, Nikki Blakk from 107.7 FM’s “The Bone,” Keith Roth, host on Sirius XM’s Hair Nation/Boneyard, Don Jamieson, comedian, co-host of VH1’s That Metal Show; Craig Gass, comedian/actor from Howard Stern’s channel on Sirius XM and DJ Will, music supervisor of VH1’s “That Metal Show,” In addition, this year’s cruise will feature a “Monster” version of the world famous Cathouse nightclub, complete with original proprietors Taime Downe of Faster Pussycat and Riki Rachtman of MTV’s Headbangers Ball.

The Monsters of Rock Cruise on Facebook
The Monsters of Rock Cruise on Twitter


The Winery Dogs Begin Recording New Album


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The Winery Dogs will begin working on their sophomore album for release later in the year. The band features drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Adrenaline Mob), bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Talas, David Lee Roth) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (Mr. Big, Poison).


Richie Kotzen Issues Two New Songs via Itunes, Streaming “Cannibals” Video


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Richie Kotzen has released two new songs via iTunes off his forthcoming solo album – “You” and “Cannibals.” He is also streaming the “Cannibals” video here.

“You” was co-written by RICHIE’s daughter, August, who appears in the video posted on RICHIE’s official YouTube page. He explains,

“It must have been four years ago and my daughter, who is now 17, was constantly playing this piece of music on the piano. I finally asked her what it was and she said she just made it up. I set up the microphones and recorded her playing for about seven minutes. Years later, I found this on my hard drive and decided to write lyrics to it over this past summer. The end result is what you see and hear in the video. It is one of my favorite things I’ve done and I’m happy to have been able to collaborate on music with my daughter.”

“Cannibals” made its debut during his recent three-month solo tour, which started in Europe, taking him through Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, and Chile, and concluding with a month-long trek of the U.S.

“I did something I’ve never done before on this tour,” RICHIE explains, “which is performing an original composition that has yet to be released. The only place you could hear the song ‘Cannibals’ was at the show, and it went over quite well with the fans. Rather than wait to release the song as part of the new album next year, I figured it would be cool to share the studio version now while it’s fresh in the people’s minds who attended my shows. I was able to collect live footage that was shot during the tour and compile a live video to go along with the song.”

RICHIE has been touring in support of THE ESSENTIAL RICHIE KOTZEN, which was released September 2 on Loud & Proud Records. It’s a two-CD and DVD career retrospective set that encompasses this iconic talent’s entire career of his most essential work: classic material; acoustic performances; bootleg material; and two brand new songs (“War Paint” and “Walk With Me”). The DVD features music videos, acoustic performances, and bootleg material.

Richie Kotzen on Facebook
Richie Kotzen on Twitter
Richie Kotzen on YouTube


The Winery Dogs – Tony Harnell: Live at BB Kings, New York NY


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Starting off their current tour with not one, but two New York City shows, The Winery Dogs backed up their bite with a huge bark. Their brand of hard rock is so full of energy you couldn’t help but get drawn into the hype Opening the night was an acoustic set from Tony Harnell of TNT and his guitarist Virus, of Device fame. They belted out songs from his solo career as well as Westworld. Singer Rachel Lorin joined them for the final three songs of the set including a cover of the Nazareth song ‘Love Hurts’. Tony did reveal there will be some TNT shows in the US to mark their upcoming anniversary.

Tony,Virus,Rachel2

The Winery Dogs fans are surprisingly vocal. For a band with only one album there was a sing-a-long for almost every song. From opening songs ‘Elevate’ and ‘We are One’ the crowd nearly eclipsed the bands’ harmonies. Maybe it has something to do with the musicians themselves being killer players. It was a pick-less night between the bass behemoth of Billy Sheehan and singer/guitarist, Richie Kotzen they both displayed insane finger playing. Seeing a bassist in rock without a pick is normal, but for a guitarist, rare. During ‘Six Feet Deeper’, they leaped into part of Jimi Hendrix staple ‘Hey Joe’ before diving head first into a dizzying drum solo by the mighty Mike Portnoy. Following that up, Billy blurring goodness filled ‘The Other Side’. With only an hours worth of material on their debut album, they treated the crowd to a brand new song. As they were wrapping up they went into my personal favorite, ‘The Dying’. It is one of those great, moody songs can stay on repeat forever.

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They returned to the stage for the encore, a massive rocking rendition of The Four Tops, ‘Reach Out (I’ll be There)’. Before closing the night off they Richie made his way over to the church organ for rendition of “Regret”. Instead of lighters, there were cell phone lights shining as the ballad carried on. To wrap up the first night of a two night stand, they knocked out ‘Shy Boy’ by Sheehan’s old band Talas. The Winery Dogs are a rocking groove machine of fun that I’d encourage anyone to check out when they hit your area.

Richie1

Set List:

Elevate

Criminal

We are One

Time Machine

Damaged

Six Feet Deeper

Drum Solo

The Other Side

Bass Solo

You Saved Me

Not Hopeless

I’m No Angel

Untilttled New Song

The Dying

Desire

Encore:

Reach Out (I’ll Be There) (The Four Top cover)

Regret

Shy Boy (Talas cover)

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The Winery Dogs on Facebook

Tony Harnell on Facebook

Words and Photos by Omar Cordy


The Funk Soul Brothers – An Interview With The Winery Dogs


winery-dogs-finalWhen word spread about a new band featuring Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) on drums, Billy Sheehan on bass and Richie Kotzen on guitar and vocals, many knew something special was about to happen. Sheehan and Kotzen had previously played together in Mr. Big, and now with Portnoy joining the duo, they pieced together some driving rock music that came together quickly as their debut self-titled release. Sheehan spoke to Ghost Cult about how the band came together, their old school approach at writing and performing music and their upcoming touring plans.Continue reading


The Winery Dogs – The Winery Dogs


winery dogsFormer Dream Theater skinsman Mike Portnoy likes to keep himself occupied with a variety of different projects. His latest musical venture is a power trio called The Winery Dogs, together with Billy Sheenan (Mr Big) and guitarist/singer Richie Kotzen. Let’s see what their debut album has to offer.Continue reading