Ratt, White Lion and Little Caesar – House of Blues Sunset Strip

Once again here in Hollywood, hard rock fans had the chance to be back to the good old times of Sunset Strip. This time it was to celebrate with Ratt – one of the most successful 80’s glam rock bands -- their 25th anniversary. The celebration had a sold out venue and very special guests: White Lion and Little Caesar.

Little Caesar opened the evening and, despite of the short set, had a great performance. Ron Young (vocals) and his powerful voice and stage presence made fans sing along songs like ‘Drive It Home’ and ‘God’s Creation’, and also the ballad ‘In Your Arms’. The band had a lot of energy; however the crowd was really anxious to see the next bands.

White Lion is next with a new line up, the only original member being singer Mike Tramp. The band is releasing their new album -- the first one in 16 years – ‘Return of The Pride’ and starting a worldwide tour going to places like Central and South America, as well as Europe. The 45 minutes set showed that Mike Tramp, Jamie Law (guitars), Troy Patrick Farrell (drums), Claus Langeskov (bass) and Henning Wanner (keyboards) are not joking around.
The tension was obvious in the first few minutes, maybe because this was the first show in LA in a long time, or because the musicians are new, but when they started playing ‘Wait’, there was no question that the musicians are new only to White Lion. Guitar player Jamie Law shows as much technique, energy and stage presence as his predecessor Vito Bratta.

White Lion plays some of their big hits like ‘Radar Love’ and ‘Hungry’. Band and audience relax and ‘Tell Me’ is next with the audience singing along. Mike Tramp makes sure that he talks to the audience and ‘Lady of the Valley’ is next, along with a guitar solo from Jamie Law. The end comes very fast with ‘Little Fighter’ and the curtains close without their biggest hit ‘When the Children Cry’. Maybe a longer set next time?



Ratt closes the evening to a crowded venue made of anxious fans. The band that has three of its original members: Stephen Pearcy (vocals), Bobby Blotzer (drums) and Warren De Martini (guitars), along with Robbie Crane (bass) and John Corabi (guitars), start the show with tons of energy and without the glam look that was one of their trademarks. This show was part of the mini West Coast tour to celebrate 25 years of the Ratt EP in 1983. Since then, Ratt sold millions of albums around the world, split, some of its members followed a solo career, in 2007 toured with Poison in the US and Canada and now they are back with shows scheduled in Europe besides of this mini tour.

The show lasted for about 2 hours, and Stephen Pearcy and his buddies did not show any signs of being tired. Songs like ‘Lay It Down’ and ‘You’re in Love’ made fans ask for more. ‘You Think You’re Tough’ and the band warns that they are just getting started! Warren De Martini is, as usual, a virtuoso performer, giving precise solos and an amazing stage presence. Bobby Blotzer can’t help it but blow kisses to the crowd, and the whole band seems very excited with this new phase. The show ends with Ratt’s biggest hit ‘Lay It Down’ and even though the crowd kept asking for more, the curtain closed and everybody had to be happy with only two hours of Ratt & Roll.

Photo and text: Silvia Mendes
Ratt Footage: Lisa Polisa

What is going on this week on SPIN L.A.!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading my blog. It is very exciting to be able to connect with people from all over the world who have something in common with me: they also love music and everything related to it.

Here are some updates on what is to come next on SPIN L.A.:

Later this week you will be able to read a review of the Ratt, White Lion and Little Caesar concert celebrating the 25th year of the Ratt.

Also, Mike Tramp from White Lion in an exclusive interview talking about the band’s new CD, “Return of The Pride”, available in the US on April 30th. Don’t miss this one because Mike has a lot of great things to say! For those of you who speak or read Portuguese, the interview is already available in Portuguese on the Dynamite Magazine link on the right.

Last, I am thinking about having a session on the blog listing what is going on in town for the week to come, in case you live in LA, or if you are here on vacation, or just curious, you can check it out!

Cheers!

NAMM 2008 – BRINGING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY TOGETHER

The 106th NAMM show took place one more time in Anaheim, California -- from January 17 through the 20th -- bringing over 1,500 manufacturer’s exhibits from all over the world, including Brazil. Each year this event beats its own record of public, retailers and manufacturers. Even though the NAMM show is a trade only show, not open to the general public, it still had 88,000 people registered, including 10,000 from other countries.

NAMM stands for ‘National Association of Music Merchants’, and is a non profit organization that tries to unify the musical instrument industry from all over the world. The organization has about 9,000 participant companies and its activities promote the right of people from all ages to make music. One of these activities is the NAMM show occurring twice a year, in Anaheim, CA in the winter, and in Nashville, TN in the summer. Another activity is the NAMM University that offered, in this show, various seminars in the “Idea Center’, bringing experts in different areas to talk about the new tendencies and practices in the market.

Exhibitors did not seem to be affected by the economic issues the US has been facing, according to exhibitors from Ernie Ball, Fender and Martin Guitars, among others, the 106th NAMM was one of the best shows so far in terms of business.

NAMM had some highlights for 2008: in the drums area Zyldjian presented the ZBT series with 3 new models, and also new models for the already famous Hybrid series. In the entertaining part, Zyldjian had some of the most famous drummers in the world – Eric Singer, Steve Smith (Journey), Pete Escovido, Kenny Aronoff, Bryan Hitt, Russ Miller, Mike Mangini, among others – simultaneously at the booth for an autograph signing session. The Pearl booth had some stars for autograph’s sessions like Morgan Rose (Sevendust), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and Craig Nunenmucher (Black Label Society). Rikki Rockett from Poison was also at the NAMM along with Troy Patrick Farrell (White Lion) promoting Rikki’s Rockett Drum Works.



The guitars, bass guitars and accessories also had many highlights: US Music Corp – includes Washburn Guitars, Randall Amplifiers, Eden Electronics, Parker Guitars and Oscar Schmidt Musical Instruments – showed the Nuno Bettencourt’s Cantonese guitar series, and Paul Stanley’s Preacher series. Paul was at the booth for an autograph session and also to explain how he and Washburn came up with the guitars. The ‘Heavy Metal’ guitar series along with the amplifiers created by Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Randall was another highlight, but not as impressive as the US Washburn Signature Series, a somewhat exclusive line – only 25 units manufactured – that has a unit cost of U$ 10,000.

Billy Sheehan was at the Yamaha booth promoting his bass series. Also Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana and Stevie Wonder doing autographs sessions in different booths. In the Dean Markley booth, Nuno Bettencourt, Yngwie Malmsteen, Rafael Moreira and Nikki Sixx were signing autographs. Nikki – who has now band Sixx A.M. – seemed a little overwhelmed with all the attention from the fans, but was very nice and patient.

The real party really begins when the convention center closes its doors. This is the time when everybody – exhibitors, musicians, fans, press – walk to the nearby hotels to relax.

Every year many parties, shows and jam sessions happen all over Anaheim to celebrate NAMM. One of the biggest “after-show” this year was the Washburn 125th anniversary event at the Hilton Hotel. It started with a fashion show and then ended with the reunion of Extreme. The band played some of their biggest hits like ‘Get the Funk Out’ , ‘Hole Hearted’, and of course the ballad ‘More Than Words’.



The party was not over for the ones who were unable to make it to the shows as there are many jam sessions and friends to catch up with at the bars in the nearby hotels. For the Dynamite staff: great show, see you next time!



Text by Silvia Mendes

Photos: Luciana Mendes e Kevin Long

Winger live in Los Angeles – Are the ‘Hair Bands’ back?

March has been a month full of good surprises in terms of music in LA. Popular bands from the 80’s and 90’s reuniting, touring, and recording new CDs. In this category are included Wasp playing at the Key Club, Black’n’Blue at the Knitting Factory, and Winger at the Crash Mansion in downtown Los Angeles.

One day before the Winger concert, a friend of mine who used to play with the almost forgotten ‘Hair Bands’ warned me that the band was good and the singer, Kip Winger, was an amazing singer, besides of being ‘gorgeous’. Even after his comments I had not a lot of expectations about this show.

Winger reunited last year to record a new CD and for a tour. The band just released a DVD and CD called “Winger Live”, and if you are interested you can buy it at WINGERBAND.COM.

Back to the concert, the band – formed by Kip Winger (bass, keyboards and vocals), Reb Beach and John Roth (guitars), and Rob Morgenstein (drums) – was a good surprise. Winger showed that, besides of the good looks of singer Kip Winger, their success also had to do with their talent as musicians.

The band played most of their biggest hits like “Easy Come, Easy Go”, “Madeleine”, “Seventeen”, “ Headed For a Heartbreak”, “Hungry”, “Miles Away”, “Can’t Get Enough”, "Down Incognito", "In The Heart Of The Young", among others. Kip Winger is also a great entertainer, making sure the crowd was singing and participating during the whole show.

Even though Winger played in a somewhat small venue – it fits about 1,000 people – each band member had the right to a solo act taking the crowd back to the old times. Times when solos were a important part of the big concerts for thousands of people.

In the end, after a loud ovation, Kip Winger makes sure he shakes hands with the fans that were closer to the stage. Is it a comeback for the Hair Bands?

We will see…

Text and photos: Silvia Mendes

Read this article in Portuguese: http://dynamite.terra.com.br/blog/spinla

Welcome to SPIN L.A.!

Hi and welcome to my blog!

My name is Silvia Mendes and for the ones that have never heard of me, I am going to tell you a bit of my story:

I started working in the music industry back in São Paulo, Brazil in the early 90’s and nowadays, I am still involved in this business.

It all started at Espaço Retrô -- a legendary and eclectic club in downtown São Paulo --when I was invited to promote Thursday nights. The project was called ‘Metal Thursdays’ and it had some of the most popular Brazilian hard rock and heavy metal bands playing. From there it was easy to promote other clubs, until I became a full time promoter.

One day I got a phone call from the editor of Dynamite Magazine -- at the time a start up rock publication -- to work for the magazine and for the production company he owned -- Dynamo Productions. At Dynamite I had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the industry and also interview some of the best known musicians and bands in the world like Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from Kiss, Ian Astbury from The Cult, Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi, Robert Plant, Aerosmith, Limp Bizkit, among many others.

I also worked as a public relations for companies like Giannini Guitars (a famous guitar company in Brazil) and Zyldjian working with Kenny Aronoff, Stu Hamm, Dennis Chambers, Rudy Sarzo, Rick Lawson, among others.

In 1999 I decided to move from São Paulo to Los Angeles and I continued writing for Dynamite magazine and Dynamite Online as a US correspondent. The music scene in LA reminds me a lot of the 90’s in São Paulo. Bands playing on Sunset Boulevard and finishing the evening hanging out at the Rainbow or some other spot on the strip, everybody trying to make it. It is interesting that when I lived in Brazil my idea about the music industry in LA was very different from what I found when I moved here: after all is said and done, everybody wants the same thing, even though people speak different languages!

I have many different interests in life, so besides being passionate about music, I went back to school and graduated in Business Economics at UCLA, I just got certified as a yoga instructor and now I am really excited about Spin LA. After almost 10 years in the city of angels, I became a local but without losing the famous ‘Brazilian touch’.

Welcome!

Photos: Luciana Mendes and Kevin Long

Read this article in Portuguese: http://dynamite.terra.com.br/blog/spinla