This past Sunday, Nov. 8, Average Joes brought in two killer rockers which complemented each other perfectly.
I was tempted to take a night off until I heard Kelowna born rockers the Wild! were opening the show.
They hit hard from the start like a set of brass knuckles to the ears as they gave Los Angeles rockers BuckCherry a run for their money right from the start with a solid version of their first single “Roadhouse,” and tore things up from there like the bastard children of AC DC and Motley Crüe with a touch of Sammy Hagar.
That meant there were plenty of snarling Gibson guitars, blues tinged riffs, gritty solos, gang vocals and lots of energy.
The Wild!, who looked like an outlaw biker gang wielding guitars instead of guns, blasted their way through their debut CD “GxDxWxB.”
They crashed into “ Slow Burn,” another one of their singles which had a lot of the enthusiastic audience singing along, the new single “What about You,” and added a few new ones, while saving some of the heavier tracks from their CD like “Banger” until the end of their hot set.
“If you don’t like the blues, you shouldn’t be at a rock and roll show,” Villain shouted, before launching into one of the band's more bluesy numbers.
They were called back for an encore, for which frontman Dylan Villain crowed “You all know the words to this song” before ending the set with a hot version of the Beastie Boys’ ’80s hit “Fight For Your Right to Party,” which pretty much encapsulated what the Wild! were all about.
Buckcherry were not to be outdone, beginning their set with one of their many hits “ Lit Up,” which encapsulated what they are all about — unapologetic hedonism — sex drugs and lots of loud rock and roll.
They also added a little blues into their set, bringing a baritone saxophone player on stage to jam on a newer song with the band.
Their new single “Bring it All Back,” came early in the set. Their music featured plenty of dirty riffs and hot solos and lots of big loud singalong choruses which the audience was happy to sing along with like the “I Want It, I Need It,” chorus of “Gluttony,” one of many hits in the set. They played a couple of their big power ballads like ‘Sorry,” before cranking it up again.
But they showed they were a lot more than a loud and sleazy rock band and their biggest hit “Crazy Bitch” which they saved to the end of the show, playing a few bars of the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” which segued into a funky jam on “Crazy Bitch” which ended the show around 10:30 p.m.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
