At The Fonda Theatre

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All Photos By Junkman

With two legendary rock bands releasing new material in 2023 and getting ready to wind down for the holidays, I was fortunate enough to catch them together at one of Los Angeles best rooms in the heart of Hollywood. The Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Blvd is a great place to see a show. Originally opened in the 1920's, it's spacious and has a huge stage as well as plenty of room to navigate around, and even has an adjoining private bar. There is also a large balcony and an open upstairs patio with a nice view of the boulevard and hosts a large, charming, indoor cabana.

The building was certainly rocking all evening. After a brief opening set from artist STRETCH that raised a few eyebrows, Los Angeles rockers BUCKCHERRY tore it up with a blazing fast 11 song set. Coming right out of the gates with their first hit, 1999's "Lit Up" gave the crowd the charge it was looking for right from the get-go. Singer Josh Todd is one of the best front men in the business, and has been for a long time. He danced and swayed throughout the set like an old school boxer. He keeps himself as well as his gravelly voice in great shape, and can shift from full on rockers like "Ridin'" to tender ballads like "Sorry" which was a hit from their signature album 15 which was released in 2007.

Guitarists Stevie "D" and Billy Rowe supply the force and bassist Kelly LeMieux the foundation, along with their terrific drummer Francis Ruiz, who is solid as a rock behind the drum kit, and who gives the songs the extra punch which perfectly backs up Todd's already powerful, throaty singing. The single "Let's Get Wild" from their excellent new release Vol. 10 is the consummate party song, and went over well with the crowd who were very much in to it. The band preceded that with a new holiday song entitled "Tell Em It's Christmas" that used its catchy chorus of "Tell em it's Christmas, don't wanna miss this" to entice a couple of "Elves" to appear onstage with the band.

"Gluttony" from their 2013 album Confessions and is one of the titles named after the "seven deadly sins" is a great song, and it's lyrics of "I want it, I want it, I need it, I need It" are totally in tune with today's rampant, compulsive excesses in just about everything. Josh Todd, now shirtless and showing off his impressive collection of full body tattoos, exclaimed "25 Years, 10 f'in records. What song is it that you wanna hear?" The crowd erupted, and the band gave their fans EXACTLY what they came to hear, their huge hit "Crazy Bitch" from the afore-mentioned 15 album.

The band had a lot of fun performing it onstage, as JT, and Stevie, as well as bassist LeMieux slid back and forth in sync with bits of James Browns classic "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" as well as Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" into the mix, and Josh Todd even rapped about it being Saturday night, during the instrumental break in the song. The band expertly added a dash of CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL's "Proud Mary" before seguing back into the home stretch and closing out the song and their sweaty set with a return to "Crazy Bitch" before wishing the cheering crowd a Happy Holiday and a good night. It was a fine way to get the adrenaline pumping.

SKID ROW had not performed in Los Angeles in over 9 years. But, as you greet an old friend after not seeing them for a while, the crowd at the Fonda was alive, welcome, and ready, as were the band members, who stormed on stage with the double-time locomotive beat of "Slave To The Grind", the title track of their second release from 1991.

There has been lots of debate about SKID ROW's vocalists over the years, mostly from long-time fans of former singer Sebastian Bach, who left the band many years ago. There have been others who have been SKID ROW's vocalist, but make no mistake, current singer Erik Gronwall is the real deal. Right from the start, his vocal range put all others to shame. During their huge hit "18 And Life" for instance, his soaring wail in the middle part was like a mix of an opera singer and an air-raid siren. Gronwall has only been in the band less than two years, but his skills as a vocalist are that of legend.

Long time band members, guitarists Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, along with bassist Rachel Bolan, look like they have not aged a minute from their heyday of the late 1980's, and the bands new material, from their latest release The Gangs All Here went over well with the LA audience. The new single "Resurrected" has the classic SKID ROW sound-crunchy guitars, pounding drum beat, "gang" background vocals on the chorus, and all driven by Gronwall's outstanding vocal prowess.

This band has been around long enough to know that their bread and butter are the hits. SKID ROW has had many, and to their audience, they are sacred. So many years of hearing this band on radio and in car stereos have made them bigger than life. I've even seen web sites that dedicate half their articles to this New Jersey based band. Therefore, the hit songs need to be reproduced live and with quality sound. SKID ROW comes up aces in both.

Sabo strummed a stationary acoustic guitar for the intro to the mega-hit power ballad "I Remember You" and drummer Rob Hammersmith's drums brought the song alive, as the entranced audience sang along. I swear, if you closed your eyes, you would swear you were listening to the record, as Gronwall absolutely NAILED Bach's original vocal in key as well as phrasing. Not an easy job to do, but he did it well. The band followed that up by shifting to the bluesy intro that led into the primal scream of 1991's "Monkey Business" that is one of the band's heaviest numbers.

The title track to "The Gangs All Here" was next and went over well. This song just sounds so familiar, due to the fact that it is undoubtedly a SKID ROW song. They have their own sound, part punk, part metal, part classic rock, it's rather unique as opposed to a lot of the music of their genre. I noticed many in the crowd singing along to it, especially when Gronwall jumped off the stage to sing from the barrier, right up close with the fans. Again, he is very impressive.

SKID ROW closed out their show with the way it all began, their first hit from their first album way back in 1989, the rock anthem "Youth Gone Wild" with all five members being the metaphor for that statement. There was tons of energy, great songs, and a very impressive performance indeed. Huge props go out to SKID ROW and BUCKCHERRY for showing the LA crowd a good time, and providing us all with a very satisfying rock show. Their new recordings are terrific, and would be a great Holiday gift to your favorite rock music fan. Thank you to the bands, and those that made it possible for me to attend such an enjoyable evening.

Check out some more photos from the show!
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