National Concerts Return To Texas After A Year Absence

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

Concerts are back! Well, okay, at least for Texas anyway. A couple of months after the Governor lifted nearly all Covid restrictions that had been in place for a year, concerts have returned to the Loan Star State! Other than an acoustic show by Phil Lewis of L.A. GUNS late last year the shows that have played here since the restrictions had been lifted amounted to mostly tribute band gigs, that is until the weekend of May 7-8 when National acts returned for not one but two nights back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. The first show to take place was the return of WINGER and JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE who played at Warehouse Live in downtown Houston. And judging from the attendance, fans were more than ready for things to return to some sense of normalcy.

Opening the night was local Houston band HINDSIGHT, who performed a rousing set to kick things off and even though there was nothing wrong with their performance, I felt that their style of music was a bit harder than the bands they were supporting and didn't mesh with the musical theme of the night.

Next up was former GREAT WHITE vocalist Jack Russell and his band of brothers collectively known as JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, featuring long time guitarist Robby Lochner and former GREAT WHITE bandmate Tony Montana, who played bass for his tenure in GREAT WHITE but has since switched to guitar in his capacity in Jack's version of the band.

Having seen the band on several occasions now what always amazes me is how Jack, at 60 years of age now, uses a cane while walking around when he's not onstage but once he gets up there the cane is gone and he's rocking out as if he'd never needed one, even if a step slower than days gone by. Such was the case on this night as the band launched into their 10 song set with "Call It Rock N Roll". The band, which also included bassist Dan McNay and drummer Dicki Fliszar, was firing on all cylinders and seemed to be enjoying themselves every bit as the near capacity crowd as they rolled through such GREAT WHITE staples as "Lady Red Light", "Mista Bone", "Save Your Love", and set closer "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". And though the band didn't perform any of the new material that they have recorded (probably because of time restraints), the crowd ate up every bit of it as did I when they played some of my personal favorites like "Desert Moon", "Can't Shake It" (which wasn't on the setlist taped to the stage) and "It's All Over Now". What a great way to get live concerts started again in Houston!

Setlist:

• "Call It Rock N Roll"
• "Heart The Hunter"
• "Lady Red Light"
• "Mista Bone"
• "Save Your Love"
• ”Desert Moon”
• "All Over Now"
• "Rock Me"
• "Can't Shake It"
• "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"