Tag: nycconcerts

April 18, 2023 – Webster Hall, NYC

Review by Chris Yates // Photography by Estelle Massry

Icons unite as The Joe Perry Project pays a visit to the Big Apple’s intimate, long standing iconic venue, Webster Hall.

The 2023 Joe Perry Project lineup features Extreme’s Gary Cherone on lead vocals, Aerosmith backing singer Buck Johnson on keyboards and vocals, veteran drummer Jason Sutter (Cher, Chris Cornell) and longtime Perry associate David Hull on bass.

Opening for Perry were Robin Taylor Zander (son of Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander) who played songs from his first album due to be released later this month. RTZ delivered a solid set of folksy, melodic rock with good guitar riffs that the crowd enjoyed. He’s not surprisingly similarly phonic to his father as you can hear some Cheap Trick styling to his voice. He and his band performed a good, solid, diverse music set.

Following RTZ was Micky James whose front man style can rival any of your favorites. Reminiscent of a Freddy Mercury, Mick Jagger, Chris Robinson blend, his stage presence was explosive and elevated the crowd as an opening act should for any headliner. He possessed a throwback feel to the golden age of rock which was refreshing to see. The band played some classic style original rock and roll which I thoroughly enjoyed.

What I love about seeing a show in NYC at smaller venues is you never know who you might see in the crowd. Webster Hall has an open floor plan where there’s room to find your spot and stand, and view the performance. Visible to me on this night where many industry execs in suits, an editor I used to work with at Rolling Stone, and the drummer and co-founder of Extreme, Paul Geary, not to mention a few handfuls of rockers who were there supporting The Joe Perry Project and witnessing an icon of Rock & Roll up close and personal. When you see folks like this in the crowd you know you’re about to experience something special and The Joe Perry Project didn’t disappoint.

As many of you know Joe Perry and Aerosmith hail from Boston. What you might not know is that Gary Cherone does as well so it makes sense these two rock stars joined forces. In true rock star form, Joe Perry came on stage donned in an oversized winter skully hat with his signature silver streak peeping out with multiple sterling chains and rings, and a cool suit jacket with a metallic silver shirt underneath. He had almost as many style changes throughout the show than he did guitar swaps, as if changing his vibe to mirror each song.

I found myself rotating my eyes back and forth between the two as Joe Perry was absolutely ripping on guitar while Gary’s strong voice and active, acrobatic stage presence was captivating. Gary always had a good voice but it was cool to see his vocal style expand with the demand of the Joe Perry Project style of music. Gary is a strong frontman with a powerful voice and really engages with the audience.

Complementing the intimate atmosphere, Joe Perry was welcoming, opening up to the crowd and introducing each song – from the most recent, to stories behind the meaning of those from decades ago. It felt like a version of the old VH1 Unplugged where things were imperfectly, perfect. Meaning, a quick “hold on a minute” into the mic while he retuned, to forgetting how a song started where he had to stop and take it again from the top, to playing a song twice in a row just because he liked it. When you have nothing more to prove and you just love what you do, sometimes the imperfect happenings turn out to be perfectly placed. At 71 years of age, Joe was as cool and comfortable as can be as he played new (or current) songs, some older blues tunes with some riffs inspired from the 50’s, to a few Aerosmith favorites like “Walk This Way”. It was a special night and a great experience seeing a rock superstar up close and personal.

“Sweetzerland Manifesto MKII“, Joe’s new solo album, comes out on May 26th and features performances by Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Gary Cherone (Extreme), Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes) & Robert DeLeo (STP). This tour will be followed by Mr. Perry joining his Hollywood Vampires bandmates Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp & Tommy Henriksen kicking off in Manchester, NH May 30th. Joe Perry will then be back with Aerosmith celebrating their 50th Anniversary tour later this year.

For more info please visit: http://www.joeperry.com

Setlist

I’ve Got the Rock n’ Rolls Again
Somebody
East Coast, West Coast
S.O.S (Too Bad)
Aye, Aye, Aye
Lick and a Promise
Fortunate One
Steppin’ Out
Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll
Reefer Head Woman
Quake
Chip Away the Stone
Beck’s Bolero
Spanish Sushi
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory
Let the Music Do the Talking
Rockin’ Train
The Train Kept A-Rollin’
Lightning Strikes (Encore)
Walk This Way (Encore)

August 9, 2022 – Madison Square Garden, NYC

Review by Chris Yates // Photography by Estelle Massry

One of the most anticipated tours finally arrived at MSG Tuesday night, August 9th. For the first time in eleven years Rage Against The Machine (RATM) blessed the Big Apple with a mission… to absolutely blow the roof off of “The Garden”. Mission Accomplished!

Tuesdays show was the second night of a five night sold out stay at the “World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden. Frontman Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk delivered in spades with an explosive performance. The night was electric, loud and as high energy as any concert I’ve been to. The pure energy of Rage Against The Machine is truly unmatched. They are one of the most riveting live acts in rock history, mashing together rap and rock into a completely unique blend.

This is a band with tremendous longevity, who have lasted over 30 years with facets of both rap and rock. They have uniquely created their own genre while remaining current with their loyal fans who have been waiting to see them live again. Joining Rage Against The Machine on this tour is rap group Run The Jewels. The duo consisting of Killer Mike and El-P ignited the night with a comparable, high energy performance.

The tour has been sold out all over the country, which is understandable as fans have been waiting for over 11 years, and the scheduled tour 2 years ago was put on hold due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, however, after the MSG run, they have officially cancelled the European leg of their tour scheduled for October so that Zack can fully heal his leg which he injured performing only a couple songs into his set on July 11th in Chicago.

The night started with a “Public Service Announcement” intro as RATM took the stage, which was illuminated and blanketed in red. De la Rocha was carried in by security due to his injured knee. However, the injury did not stop him from delivering a stellar performance, filled with so much energy and conviction. His voice still has so much power and a sense of explosive urgency, kicking his one good leg and throwing his hands up throughout the entire show as he sat in what seemed to be one of the bands equipment trunks. Contrary to de la Rocha’s normal stage presence of jumping, and moving around a lot as he performs, I felt this to be a unique experience as there seemed to be a more intimate feel as I observed each band member remaining closer to Zack than they normally would. It was cool to read into the personality and closeness of the band as they seemed thoroughly engaged with each other and not missing a beat.

While Rage Against The Machine is a very political band, their music speaks for itself – they didn’t do much talking or preaching during their set. Rather the group emphasized their convictions with text and video, including chilling images on the screen. For instance, the screen behind the band flashed information about poverty, riots and lack of universal health care during “Freedom”. There were also videos of a police van engulfed in flames, a snarling police dog chasing after a suspect and a helicopter hovering over a boat full of migrants. No need for extra speech when the meticulously crafted presentation was clearly present in all the music and visuals.

A must see live show that many have been waiting to see for some time, including myself! One can sense the electrifying performance in the photo gallery here. It’s clear when ones connection to the experience of this show is brought to life through the images they capture. And this is the case with Estelle’s photo’s of RATM.

“Not only was this one I’ve been wanting to see but what an extra special treat to be able to photograph them at MSG, the World’s most famous arena.” – Estelle {Photographer}

Enjoy!

For more info please visit http://www.ratm.com