Fastback

Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
August 17th, 2005

Fastback at Dingbatz will be a day to remember for me. I finally had the chance to meet long-time friend Michael Thomas. The internet is a great venue to talk to the stars, but until you actually meet them, you won’t get their true essence. The first two bands were very good, one being the Billy Morris band, who mixed eighties pop music with melodic vocals. The songs were catchy and had a good vibe.

The second band was Cleveland’s all-girl band Sugar. They just drove ten hours from the Cleveland show the night before but still put on an energetic show. I think that most of the guys were fixated on the shirtless vocalist Lil’ D who started with a shirt ending with just a bra and pants. Sugar also mentioned to me they will be adding a new member named Missy who will play rhythm guitar and whom we met later on.

Fastback hit the stage at 11:45 to a fairly good size crowd playing a 45-minute set of pumping and electrifying music. I have been photographing bands since the mid seventies and let me tell you, if you ever have a chance to see Fastback, do it! They could be the next big thing. Michael Thomas is a spark plug; I had the same feeling watching him as I did when I saw motley CRUË on the “Shout at the Devil” tour. He could make chills run up and down your arms with goose bumps around your neck. I really can’t say enough about fastback.

At the start of the show, the band was standing on the stage minus Thomas with their backs to the crowd. The lights were dim as an intro started piping through the sound system and BAM! - fireworks hit like they never hit before. Electricity just oozed from FASTBACK as Thomas ran onstage and together they kept assaulting the crowd during their full set. They played more then half of their latest CD “The Pain of Beauty.” Each member of the band had their game face on as the girls in the front were saying which guy they wanted that night… Damn I wish I was in fastback.

If you think Vince Neil or Steven Tyler is a good front man, then you haven’t seen anything yet until you check out Thomas. The man is an asset to the music world. The guitar work by Brian Saunders was amazing sounding as if it came right off the CD but at a higher level. Thomas and Saunders wanted to show that they are the new kids on the block and want to take over the world. Fastback has stardom written all over them not just by the amazing show but also by the way, each member of the band made sure everyone goes home happy. The stage presence had a glow, the image of tattoos, stage cloths of studs, buckles and eyeliner with an aura will set fastback on the fast track. So if you have chance, see them next time they come to your town. If you like energy rock in the vein of early Motley CruË, get the Fastback CD “The Pain of Beauty.” After the show we met up with Thomas and Saunders who were thanking each person in the crowd letting people know they are some down home boys from Cali.