At The Key Club 1/28/06

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Everybody has his or her own idea of a good time. For me nothing beats a great rock show at a sold out club on a Saturday night. Just the vibe, the energy, and of course the girls and the music. Recently I got it all at the Key Club in Hollywood with a band that will show ya how its done right.

Buckcherry is a band fronted by who I consider the ultimate rock singer in the business, none other than Josh Todd. Tattooed, cut, wild man on stage, he’s the full image of what a rock star is supposed to look like. The bonus is this dude, can really sing. And scream. He’ll knock you on your ass with a blood curdling wail one song and the next song blow you away with his sensitivity. In other words, one minute your moshin’ around in the pit, and the next minute you are slow dancing with your girl. Not a lot of bands can pull that off. Buckcherry does EVERY SHOW!

Complimented by Josh Todd’s long time partner, guitarist Keith Nelson, Buckcherry has been tearing it up lately by playing a lot of shows in the southern California area. A full-on residency at the Whiskey A Go-Go on Tuesdays, and The Malibu Inn on Fridays this past December has given L.A. what it has been missing for awhile: a resident rock show that you can tell your friends about seeing, then not have to wait 6 months to see it again. Truly there has been a buzz on the streets about these guys lately, and rightly so.

The buzz continued on Saturday as I walked in off the Sunset Strip and found my spot, shoulder to shoulder with a group of rock fans awaiting the arrival of Buckcherry onstage. A nice mix of people, too: lots of hot looking girls, along with plenty of musician type guys as well as a few curious industry people. One thing for sure, this crowd was ready!

Opening with “Sunshine” off their soon to be released third CD “Fifteen”, the band, Todd, Nelson, guitarist Stevie D, bassist Jimmy Ashurst, and drummer Xavier Muriel, gave the crowd exactly what it wanted with a great mix of tunes from all 3 Buckcherry releases. 2 tunes off of “Fifteen”, “Crazy Bitch” and “Next to You” are soon to be classics, and even though the record is not even out in the US until April, the crowd seemed to know all the words and screamed their approval.

The dual guitar riffs of Keith Nelson and Stevie D were impressive to me. These guys have gotten really tight since I saw them last, and its great to see young people witness guitar solos again. The rhythm section of Xavier Muriel and Jimmy Ashurst kept the club throbbing from start to finish, but clearly the focus was on Josh Todd, and extreme ball of energy who really didn’t stop moving around like a wild man, with the exception of slower tempo tunes like “You” or “For the Movies” (the ballad from their self titled debut cd).

Closing the show with an encore of “Lit up”, the song that got them on the map, the crowd went ballistic, as did the band, sending everyone out onto the Strip looking and feeling very satisfied. This is the way you are SUPPOSED to feel after a great rock show on a Saturday night at a packed rock club. I can’t tell you how many times I have left a show disappointed, but tonight was not one of them.

Buckcherry will be on the road in support of their new CD “Fifteen” which will be released in the US in April. Check out www.buckcherry.com for more info. They also have a MySpace page. Check them out when they come to your town. You WONT be disappointed.

Setlist: