By Petra Leusmann, Rock At Night Germany Correspondent
Venue: The Bastard Club-Osnabrück , Germany–August 2, 2016
Due to my work as a rock music photographer, I already had the opportunity to listen to the brand-new Dead Daisies album a few days before it’s worldwide release. Genius record, which is no wonder with this heavyweight-allstar band.
And as chance would have it the Dead Daisies are touring Europe right now, big festivals as well, and small, tiny and sweaty clubs (before non-smokers protection law, smoke was another word to be added).
I guess you can imagine how I reacted when my RAN boss Chyrisse asked me, if I’d like to cover the Dead Dasies. Yes, yes, yes, pleaaaase.
Second goodie to the Dead Daisies was the support band, The New Roses. The New Roses are a German band from the Rheingau area and they play kind of sleazy rock. They are constantly conquering more and more fans all over the continent. I saw them in Spring for the first time and so I had another thing to look forward to.
On the way to the venue I already listened to the albums of both bands to get into the mood-and later found out at the venue The New Roses had to cancel the show due to illness.
Damn. Get well soon, Timmy.
On one hand a bit of disappointment but I saw the advantage which meant the Daisies would start earlier. Great, so I hadn’t to wait too long.
Because I was in front row I couldn’t tell how crowded the club really was, but when I turned around, I couldn’t see even one square inch of space left.
The intro started, the band walked on stage and started with “Midnight Moses”. I had difficulty taking the photos because it was so crowded.
In the beginning it felt a bit weird to be only 4 ft away from the band and the stage is almost at level height. But aren’t intimate gigs in clubs like this the best gigs anyway? The band didn’t seem to have reservations or fear of contact so why should we? It was like a big family and friends at a rock ’n’ roll party. I forgot a bit about taking photos and was just having fun.
A quick “hello” and the third song “Make Some Noise” was like a call everyone followed. Even though it’s on the brand-new album, people were clapping and singing along loudly. The song title was taken absolutely literally and it felt as if it the whole venue was trembling a bit. Yes, we all made some noise!
“Long Way To Go” is one of my personal favourites and it’s so cool how the band interacted with the audience. John Corabi is a bad ass cool singer and never afraid to get almost into the crowd. He always stands really, really close to the edge of the stage, even bending over. When he is singing you can feel and touch. I’m absolutely fascinated by his charisma!
Unfortunately “new-entry” guitarist Doug Aldrich was at the other side of the stage and so I could only watch him from the side. During a little song break some guy from the crowd shouts: “Doug f***ing Aldrich, yeah!” That says everything doesn’t it. Nothing left to add. Hell yes, Doug F. Aldrich.
But I was having loads of fun standing face-to-face with bassist Marco Mendoza and band founder and guitarist David Lowey. Marco is having fun all the time, he flirts with the girls in the audience, he poses for cameras, he plays the hell off his bass and you can see he is enjoying every single second, same as David. This mood transfers to everybody in the room – not as there is any need of transferring. It was a party all over!
It’s was pure pleasure to see those excellent musicians. When half of the set was finished Brian Tichy played his well deserved drum solo. I have always been a big guitar fan and could listen to guitar solos for ages. But lately I appreciate brilliant drum solos more and more. What can I say, Brian is top class. I wont much more–just have a quick look at the drum master yourself.
I’m sorry it’s just a small part of Brian’s solo, but I simply forgot to push the button in time because I was so fascinated by his skills. If you want to see more, search YouTube or better, just go and see the Dead Daisies live yourself.
Meanwhile condensation water was dripping down the ceiling. But nobody gave a f**k about it as everyone was soaking wet anyway–a sauna is nothing compared to this show–but was worth every single bead of sweat. It was hot, by any means.
The second half of the gig passed much too fast and The Daisies closed their set with a furious “Helter Skelter” Beatles song.
The set list was lying right in front of me so I could see, still another 3 songs as encore to come. And the show ended with a final “Hush”.
I needed a few minutes to get back to reality. What had just happened?
Well, simply pure and true Rock’n’Roll as it’s best. Exactly as it has to be to stay forever in your mind.
Later the band took photos with their fans, answered patiently all questions, signed everything people wanted to have signed, and if there was no material to sign it could also be cleavage. They were nice and friendly and had a word for anybody.
This is also something we love about bands over here. Rockstars that behave like friends. Incredible.
Usually I have to wait ages to see a band like that again, but I’m damn lucky that the Dead Daisies are back in November/December.
It’s compulsory attendance, can’t wait.
Make some noise!
Read and listen to Rock At Night’s interview with John Corabi
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I've always been into rock music and over the years hard, heavy and Metal have been added. Today it's a wide and wild mix from classic rock over to glam and powermetal from NWOBHM to melodic hard rock and blues.
As I was not very successful becoming a guitarist myself, but always wanted to be closer to the business, I started with rock music photography. I think I found my passion here. When taking photos at rock and Metal gigs I'm definitely enjoying every second.
Being German makes it sometimes hard to write in a language which is not my mother tongue.
But I find it cracking that rock music is an international language and is understood all over the planet.
- The Dead Daisies in Osnabrück: like a party with friends - April 29, 2018
- The Dead Daisies make some noise in Osnabrück, Germany - August 6, 2016
- Bang Your Head Festival in Germany: classic rock and metal in a relaxed atmosphere - July 23, 2016
