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