Day 3 of Rocklahoma…
Day 3 of Rocklahoma and we are still alive with the weather being about 105 degree once again. One thing I will remember about Rocklahoma is these words Eddieeeeee, Eddieeee Trunk, where the fuck is Eddie. I wanna have a drink with Eddie or we are not playing anymore. He must be hiding because only heterosexuals will drink with me. Now that’s some funny shit there!!! We will get to the story during this review of day three. Anyway once again for the second year in a row we friggin missed GYPSY PISTOLEROS and not by choice. We headed out from our hotel early morning an sat in traffic for about an hour so we missed The GYSPSY’s set which I really wanted to check out, but what can we do. So we got to the grounds about 1:30pm got our credentials and headed right out to line-up a spot to see the master of disguise himself LIZZY BORDEN, Once Lizzy hit the stage I was greatly surprise to see our good friend Dario Lorina in the band, Dario is one the best new gun slingers to keep an eye out for. Lizzy had his usual costume changes, first coming out in a black cloak which Lizzy has some problems with due to the wind but still blast the crowd with all the best LIZZY BORDEN tunes “Master Of Disguise”, “Me Against The World”, “American Metal”, etc…) Lizzy, puts on one heluva show with blood and guts. After that we needed to head back to the media tent since we missed The PISTLEREOS live show we caught their press conference. These guys are the true rockers that live the part. These guys stayed in the media tent making sure everyone got pictures and auto until the last person left and that just happen to be The PISTOLEROES themselves.
Next up Mark and I decided to walk around a bit and stopped in The Fun House Stage to check out a band we weren’t familiar with called RITUAL HABITS who I thought played a good set of metal tunes in the vein of JUDAS PRIEST styling duel guitarists. You should check these guys out they were pretty good.
Next up KEEL, you know how they say wine is better aged well KEEL was just unbelievable and I’m not saying that just because I was standing right next to Mrs. Keel doing our photos. KEEL wore a vest with an American flag that got many cheers while he played fan favorites such as “Evil, Wicked, Mean And Nasty” & Patti Smith’s “Because The Night” that kicked ass. We saw Ron Keel last year on a side stage but this year what a difference having Marc Ferrari slamming the string. Great set!!!
As I headed over to listen up to some press conferences in the media tent with KEEL,JACKYL, LILLIAN AXE, HERMAN RAREBELL and STRYPER. Mark decided to catch Kix’s set (Mark you take it here)
After awhile Mark and I met up at The Retrospect Stage to see SILENT RAGE because Mark really wanted to see these guys live. I had a great time, these guys kicked ass. I didn’t even know any of their songs yet after shooting a few songs Mark turns to me and I can just image what was going through his mind as The President and CEO of Retrospect records Sam Cassin and myself were next to each other jumping up and down with our fists raised. I know Sam years now and he did one heluva job getting the artists for the side stage which I might add kicked butt over any year Rocklahoma been in existents. SILENT RAGE really impressed me and I recommend you checking these guys out live and pick up some of their classic releases.
After a short break and the sun gone down, we decided to take in some iced tea and relax on top of a picnic table and catch JACKYL’s set. Now this is why I mentioned Eddie Trunk because that Jesse James Dupree is one bad MF. This guy is funny as hell and kicks some major ass on stage. Not only does he have the pipes, he is a true legend the way he works the crowd. I know people really wanted THIN LIZZY and I don’t blame them. But JACKYL really made a huge impression on fans that never seen them, myself included. Jesse was hilarious in the media tent and funnier live, He kept on called for Eddie Trunk says Eddie don’t want to have a drink with him. Jesse had each member of the band take a drink of Crowd Royal with him, for at least 15 minutes he was calling Eddieeeeeee. Eddieeee Trunk, he even mentioned he didn’t care if the people at Rocklahoma were going to dock (pay) him for their full set, he’s not playing until Eddie Trunk comes out and has a drink with him. Finally after 15 minutes of Jesse screaming Eddieee, Eddieee Trunk he finally came out and had a drink with Jesse and the show went on. I am told up front that Jesse almost took out one of the video camera’s which runs about 35,000, but luckily it was saved, that Jesse is crazier than the motor city madman Ted Nugent.
Ya know Rocklahoma is a pure culture shock, not only do you get those vintage classic rockers of the past, you also get a taste of artists you would have never heard or seen on the side stages. For instants we stopped into The Fun House Stage before we headed over for STRYPER’s set and we saw a band named HALCYON WAY who I thought did a fine job with crowd reaction. They played some great metal tunes that brought in a fairly big crowd. I thought they had good lyrics and excellent catchy choruses, just another band on Nightmare records to check out.
Well it’s 11pm and we’re up in front leaning again the cement stage toasted like a french fry, but the nights cool breeze feels good after that sun beating down on you. STRYPER hits the stage with a great light spectacular and Michael Sweet can that guy sing like angel many times coming right to the edge of the stage shaking fans hands. Michael sure is a trooper after the passing of his wife yet still holding to his obligations which we applaud. Even at the press tent you can see how sincere the band is, and once they got on stage you could see a glow about them that they really enjoy what they do and don’t consider it a job. STRYPER went through fans favorites like (I have no clue) do you know anything Mark. Anyway we didn’t stay for the entire set as we wanted to head back to the god night sleep for the last day of Rocklahoma.
Coming up, Day 4 then wrap up with photo gallery candids.
