A Night Of Female Metal Levels Rise Rooftop On December 3rd

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

I pride myself on getting concert reviews done in a timely fashion, mostly done within a week of the show, sometimes within 72 hours if a PR company requires it. In fact I lead by example as I require my writers to do the same when reviewing a show they've asked for. However, this time around, keeping up with the KNAC.COM site with regards to posting news, combined with the receipt of 4 or 5 long overdue show reviews and the recap of the 2023 Bowl For Ronnie, a trip out of town and the Christmas holidays all joined forces to create the perfect storm of delay and for that I extend my apologies to the MAIDENS, WITCHES and ROZY for the lateness of this article. It certainly was not because of the quality of show that we in Houston witnessed; on the contrary, we were treated to one awesome show to help finish off the 2023 concert calendar for myself!

Local rockers ROZY opened the show and if you've kept up with my show reviews then you know how long I've followed them and how much potential they have. Sisters Zoe (vocals, guitar) and Molly Flores (drums, vocals), along with guitarist Brandon Martinez have been playing together for years now but the bassist position has always seemed to be a revolving door. With the recent addition of Aris Weathersby it appears that this group has solidified and is ready to take it to the next level. The band always puts on a great show but something was different on this night. Right from the start ROZY kicked things off with two brand new songs, "Drive" and "Welcome To The Show" and the energy level was cranked to 11. Even though I have seen them numerous times I was completely blown away with the 'new and improved' attitude. The band played an 8 song set and for the first time since I've started seeing them they did not play a cover song, it was straight up wall to wall original rock, culminating with "One For All". As I exited the barricade after the first three songs the only thing I could say to Zoe was 'Holy Shit!', what a performance! The band just released a new video for the song "Pretty Lonely" and you can check it out on KNAC.COM HERE.

Setlist:

• "Drive"
• "Welcome To The Show"
• "Crybaby"
• "Kiss Me (Like Ya Miss Me)"
• "Pretty Lonely"
• "In The Middle"
• "Sweetheart"
• "One For All"

Now even though I've seen ROZY and THE IRON MAIDENS before and was certainly looking forward to their performances, the one band that piqued my interest the most was Swiss/Dutch female metallers BURNING WITCHES. This quintet of talented ladies released their 4th full length studio album The Dark Tower this past year and it is one solid slab of scorching heavy power metal, as evidenced by the number of KNAC.COM staff writers that included the album in their Top Ten lists for 2023. Led by the beautiful and talented Laura Guldemond the band unleashed their furious, ten song set with, what else, "Unleash The Beast" from the aforementioned new album. What followed was a full out assault on the subservient masses with tracks that included "Wings Of Steel", "Dance With The Devil", "World On Fire", "Flight Of The Valkyries" and capped off with the band's namesake song, "Burning Witches". The band was tight and Guldemond was full of energy, consistently engaging the crowd throughout the show and throwing the horns up. Bassist Jeanine Grob and drummer Lala Frischknecht held things down on the low end while guitarists Romana Kalkuhl and newest addition, former IRON MAIDENS axe slinger Courtney Cox, played their parts with expert precision. And though Guldemond is not the band's original vocalist she is more than up to the task and I found myself wondering by the end of their set exactly how she could keep up the literal screaming intensity for the entire show night after night and not lose her voice. Astounding is what it is. This is definitely a band to watch and if they come near you it's safe to say you won't be disappointed! Check out the live videos I posted on the KNAC.COM Facebook Page if you don't believe me. ;)

Setlist:

• "Unleash The Beast"
• "Wings Of Steel"
• "Sea Of Lies"
• "Dance With The Devil"
• "Hexenhammer"
• "Lucid Nightmare"
• "World On Fire"
• "Flight Of The Valkyries"
• "The Dark Tower"
• "Burning Witches"

After a brief intermission and stage changeover it was time for THE IRON MAIDENS. The only all-female tribute to the metal icons that are IRON MAIDEN always bring their 'A-game' when performing and tonight was no exception. Opening with the one-two punch of "The Ides Of March" and "Wrathchild" the band was off and running. Each time out the group changes up their setlist a bit as to not perform the same songs time after time and on this night we got a few surprises such as a pair from the Somewhere In Time album, Sea Of Madness" and "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner", the latter of which guitarist Nikki Stringfield would tell me before the show was being performed for the first time in quite awhile and the first time ever with her in the band's lineup and a killer rendition of "Remember Tomorrow". Also included were "Killers", the song that got me into IRON MAIDEN in the first place, "Wasted Years" and "Murders In The Rue Morgue".

Prior to the show I had also asked Stringfield if former guitarist Courtney Cox would be making an appearance with the band for a song or two. She indicated that she probably wouldn't as it had not been discussed nor had Cox asked about the possibility. Imagine my mild surprise when Cox DID make an appearance, albeit not as a guest guitarist. During "The Trooper" while frontwoman Kirsten Rosenberg stood out front singing and waving the Union Jack flag Cox joined the group onstage while waving the American flag. From my vantage point further back in the crowd I looked toward Nikki and had she seen me she would have seen me mouth the words 'I knew it!'. That was a nice moment for those of us in attendance! Also of note is that since Cox left the MAIDENS they had recruited new guitarist Alyssa Day as her replacement and this show was her very first with the band and she performed quite well considering the circumstances. It was announced in the days after this show that the band had also announced Shani Kimelman as a guitarist and that the two would be alternating in the lineup as needed.

The band finished up the night with a three-song encore consisting of "Aces High", "Fear Of The Dark" and "Run To The Hills". While there may be some out there that want to criticize THE IRON MAIDENS' performances I look at it from a different angle.....While we wait for the real IRON MAIDEN to once again grace our cities and stages this is the next best thing and one can never have too much IRON MAIDEN music in our live settings!

Setlist:

• "Ides Of March"/"Wrathchild"
• "Killer"
• "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
• "Number Of The Beast"
• "Remember Tomorrow"
• "Sea Of Madness"
• "Wasted Years"
• "The Trooper"
• "Murders In The Rue Morgue"
• "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner"
• "Powerslave"

Encore:

• "Aces High"
• "Fear Of The Dark"
• "Run To The Hills"

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography