To lead off with anything other than a round of applause for Andrew McNiece would be criminal. Andrew put this event together all the way from Australia and I have to ask why a promoter here couldn't arrange something like this. Nevertheless, I am grateful that Andrew did this and I hope it goes a long way toward supporting his website, Melodicrock.com. It was a great event. The vibe was just right for the entire weekend. The venue was outstanding. The bands were outstanding and for the most part, they were bands we don't ordinarily have much opportunity to see and hear in the USA, so it was a real opportunity. The fans and bands came from all over the world. I'm told many of the bands travelled on their own dime and donated their performance for this event, so a big thank you those folks and their record companies for that.

The layout of the club was awesome. I think someone said it used to be a brewery. The place is entirely lined with wood, so the sound is spectacular. They have a few different bars within and one is a restaurant with a full menu as well. That was handy over the course of 3 days. Merch booths were well stocked and I have to give a shout out to the lady from Metal Mayhem records that took real good care of me and shared a great John Corabi story as well.

Friday evening was a VIP ticket event only. The format was quasi acoustic in nature, although some bands got off to an electric start for the weekend. Goodbye Thrill, a return act from MRFest 1, kicked things off. This wasn't the real Goodbye Thrill line-up from the studio records, but lead vocalist and guitarist Marc Ferriera joined by his brother Alex and Gus Monsanto playing acoustic guitar and electric bass. These guys are top notch tallent and spent the entire weekend hanging out with fans and enjoying the fest. Next up, former Riverdog Rob Lamothe played a fabulous set, backed by his son Zander on drums and mystery bass player Doug, who flew in the night before, having never played with Rob before. You would never have guessed this was so. The trio sounded great together. Very briefly, Rock Sugar took the stage to give fans an acoustic preview of Saturday's planned electric show. Rock Sugar is a mash up band that puts a lot of talent and enthusiasm into their show. If you are a fan of 80's pop, hair metal or both, check these guys out. You will have a great time! The two founders of balladiers, Alias played the next set with several tunes from their debut record. Funny, it was difficult to match the faces to the pictures in their CD booklet after so much time. Mecca closed out the night with their first live performance ever. Gone are several familiar faces from the Mecca debut CD, including David Hungate from Toto and vocalist Fergie Fredericksen. Band leader, Jim Vana has assembled a new line-up for the upcoming Mecca second release and together they performed here tonight. After the stage closed for the night, fans were invited to the spacious green room for photos and autographs with the bands. Besides the artists who performed, other notables were on hand such as Steve West from Danger Danger, Eden's Curse, Talon, Far Cry and Thom Griffin, formerly of the band Trillion.

Day one officially kicked off Saturday around noon with Kivel recording artists Far Cry, followed by label mates Talon. Both bands were very impressive, even if I was not completely familiar with their catalog. Talon has a new singer, Dave Friday, and I have to say a massive improvement for the band. I was familiar with a previous Talon CD featuring another singer and felt that record's vocals were pulling the record back a bit. Dave Friday has kind of a Don Dokken like approach and fits in very well with the band. Great set! As promised, Rock Sugar delivered a powerful, electric set and had the whole venue in the palm of their hands. Consumate professionals. Terry Brock was backed by the band Valentine, as he delivered several tracks from his career, spanning a repertoire of Strangeways, Giant, Slamer and Valentine. Eden's Curse made the biggest and loudest splash of the day so far with their set. I'll be the first to say that while none of the 22 bands really sucked, Eden's Curse was outstanding! Elgin is not far outside Chicago so for the sake of this show, let's say hometown music hero, Jim Peterik, brought the house down with his current band, Pride of Lions. Their performance included POL material as well as the massively popular, Eye of The Tiger from Peterick's previous band, Survivor. Jim is such a great guy who seems to love his job, dressed in classic 70's rocker attire, looking at times a bit more John Lennon than an 80's rock icon, Peterik climbed down from the stage and played a guitar while high fiving the audience. The day continued to build with Danger Danger up next. Original rockers Ted Poley, Steve West and Bruno Ravel were joined by lead guitar virtuoso Rob Marcello. DD absolutely kicked everyone's ass with real hairband style. To make the evening more festive, it happened to be Bruno's birthday so shots were served intermittently throughout the set. The audience size seemed to grow with every band throughout the day until finally the house was packed for Y&T. They sounded great and rocked hard, but for me personally, Eden's Curse, Pride of Lions and Danger Danger stole the show.

Sunday, back at it by noon with Strikeforce, Bombay Black and 7th Heaven. Among them, Bombay Black takes honors and what a great group of guys after the set! 7th Heaven is another alum from MelodicRock Fest 1. Once again they were good, but somehow didn't fit the same ilk created by all the other acts, for better or for worse. Crown of Thorns delivered one hell of a set. I managed a guitar pick (yellow Dunlop) from their show. Voices of Rock Radio was a real treat, especially when led off by one of the true great voices of late 70's radio, Derek St Holmes. Derek brought a certain mature credibility to show, like a wise shaman, delivering Ted Nugent classics with style. Of particular note was "Hey Baby" from the first Ted Nugent s/t album, which really got the crowd involved. Also partnered with the Voices act was Wally Palmer of The Romantics, Kevin Chalfant of 707 and The Storm, and Jimi Jamison, former singer for Survivor. Of course with Jamison and Peterik both from Survivor on hand, there had to be a series of songs performed by both and of course that's exactly what happened. After performing with Danger Danger Saturday, Ted Poley brought his solo act to the fest on Sunday, featuring lead guitarist Vic Rivera. Poley was every bit as energetic as he had been the day before and gave yet another great performance. I was particularly amused by Ted's t-shirt which said, "SMILE IF YOU take it in the ass." Trixter and Winger rounded out the night and again the crowd swelled in size, although I'd say not as much as for Y&T the night before. If I learned one thing Sunday night, it was that "Heaven Isn't Too Far Away."

All the artists with very few exceptions hung around to watch other bands play and mingle with fans. Someone said it more of a convention atmosphere than a concert and there was certainly some truth to that. Thinking back, there were probably too many artists to name all, but a few I talked to included the guys from Eden's Curse, Poley, Ravel and Westy from Danger Danger, Terry Brock, Marc Ferreira from Goodbye Thrill, Kevin Chalfant, Jim Peterik, and Bombay Black (those guys rock!), Rob Lamothe and Crown of Thorns.

Set lists? Yeah right. I had my hands full wielding a camera, getting my own drinks and scouting for autographs, of which I managed to get 25+ CD booklets signed over three days, but more importantly I got to hear some great music from some really terrific bands. Amazing. Thank you again Andrew McNiece. I hope it was a huge success for you.

So after a rough start to finding some live music events worth attending in 2010, I finally feel like I've come through the Spring Training of Concert Attendance and ready for a string of Cross Canadian Ragweed related dates to follow.

Meet & Greets: Ted Poley, Danger Danger, Jim Peterik, Bombay Black, Crown of Thorns, Talon, Edens Curse, Terry Brock, Rob LaMothe, Alias, Rock Sugar, Goodbye Thrill, Derek St Holmes, Kevin Chalfant

ALIAS (acoustic)
ROB LaMOTHE (acoustic)
MECCA (acoustic)
ROCK SUGAR (acoustic)
GOODBYE THRILL (acoustic)
Y and T
DANGER DANGER
PRIDE of LIONS
EDENS CURSE
TERRY BROCK
ROCK SUGAR
TALON
FAR CRY
WINGER
TRIXTER
TED POLEY
VOICES of ROCK RADIO
CROWN of THORNS
7th HEAVEN
BOMBAY BLACK

This show was of particular intrerest to me, because I have a collection of songs performed by Cody Canada (solo acoustic) and I've always admired the life he brings to a song in it's most simple and raw form. Prior to the show, I didn't have much familiarity of Chris Knight or Charlie Robison, but by the end of the evening found appreciation for much of their work as well. No opening act, the show kicked right off with the the three amigos seated at barstools on the stage. Each had a table behind him for liquor, beer or cocktails of choice during the show. This of course a staple of any performance contract rider worth it's salt in my book. Seated left to right from the audience point of view was Charlie Robison left, Chris Knight to the right and Cody Canada center stage. The format followed was simple: each man from port to starboard performs a song and then the rotation begins again. Cody seemed to be the glue bonding the three, as he was the one most often heard playing accompaniments for the others. This was one of those shows you could sit and listen to them tell stories and play songs just about all night and never get tired. The longer each played, the more of a personal bond they built with you.

For his part, Cody Canada's set was: Kick In The Head, Flowers, Rosalie, Lonely Girl, Constantly, Dimebag, and Blue Bonnets. As I mentioned I was not as familiar with Chris Knight's catalog, but I think the following songs were played: Enough Rope, Hell Ain't Half Full, Heart of Stone and If I Were You. Likewise, I was even less familiar with Charlie Robison's music, but pretty certain his set at minimum included: My Hometown, Sunset Boulevard, Molly's Blues, and Indianola

Meet & Greet: Cody Canada and Chris Knight

CODY CANADA
CHARLIE ROBISON
CHRIS KNIGHT

Show was originally scheduled, billed and ticketed as Cross Canadian Ragweed. My ticket in fact is a Cross Canadian Ragweed ticket. Unfortunately, the band announced an unexpected and unprecedented "break from the road," resulting in the cancellation of several tour dates. The remaining 2010 schedule has been whittled down to include some festivals like Bonnaroo (Boner-oo) and some of the larger venues. While band members reportedly needed time to spend with family, Canada chose to honor some of the cancelled dates, converting full band cancellations into Cody Canada & Bruce Robison shows. Bloomington, IN was the site of one of these appearances.

Just saw Charlie Robison with Cody Canada a few weeks ago, now it's Charlie's brother's turn. Bruce Robison comes across as a warm and genuine, down-to-earth kind of guy. Despite his towering height, he wore a bright red shirt which created an undeniable stage presence. Cody and Bruce played acoustic guitars, while Jeremy Plato added bass. I don't know that I'd so much call them a trio, since Cody and Bruce took turns delivering songs. For me, this broke any continuity they might have created, because the style and texture of their songs were very different. The encore included Jeremy singing one song, Soul Agent, and a finale with Robison, Plato, Canada and The Rustlanders performing a juiced up version of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower.

CODY CANADA SETLIST:
Hey Hey
Kick In The Head
Flowers
Rosalie
Brooklyn Kid
51 Pieces
Constantly
Blue Bonnets
Number
Damned Old Happy Times
Sick and Tired

Interestingly enough, The Rustlanders are a band that I didn't really think I'd have opportunity to see again. Certainly from one year ago, they have tightened into a must-see live band. They were impressive last year, but fantastic now. I'd like to see the band cut a live CD, because frankly their debut independent studio CD doesn't capture their collective experience and musicianship today.

Meet & Greet: Cody Canada

CODY CANADA and BRUCE ROBISON
THE RUSTLANDERS

With the future of Cross Canadian Ragweed winding down toward the final show in Chicago in October, this show was somewhat bittersweet. The gates were supposed to open at 3:00pm for a 4:00 show start. I think we were allowed in at 4:00 and due to sound and electrical difficulties, the show didn't actually get underway until 6:00 with Chris Knight. Chris was accompanied by Chris Clark for an acoustic due set that was laid back and spectacular.

Paul Thorn and his band were very good as well. Thorn's rural southern Alabama tales paint a unique and often humorous picture of Americana. In support of his brand new CD, Pimps & Preachers, Thorn shared a number of new songs such as the title track and I Don't Like Half The Folks I Love.

Although the fans loved him, Jason Isbell & 400 Unit didn't fit the bill quite as well as the others in my opinion. I don't follow their music and was not familiar with the set, which I found to be most uninteresting and lacking in it's creativity. If that sounds harsh, it's because it was 95 degrees in the shade and they sucked the chrome off a trailer hitch while we awaited the headliner.

Cross Canadian Ragweed got right down to business with a series of four rockers to start their set. From the audience, there appeared to be a little friction within the band and if so, understandable given the impending closure of the band's 16 year run. One very odd occurance was the fact that Cody did not introduce Randy "Pink Floyd" Ragsdale prior to the drum solo, typical of almost every show. Nevertheless, the band blazed through a 15 song set and sounded great every step of the way.

CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED SETLIST:
Cold Hearted Woman
Dimebag
Fighting For
51 Pieces
To Find My Love
Hammer Down
Constantly
Suicide Blues
Anywhere But Here
Oklahoma
Number
New song from Cody
Don't Need You
Boys From Oklahoma

ENCORE: Alabama

CHRIS KNIGHT SETLIST:
Old Man
Rural Route
Becky's Bible
Danville
Another Dollar
Hell Ain't Half Full
Enough Rope
Down The River
Hard Candy
Lord's Highway
It Ain't Easy Bein' Me

Meet & Greet: Chris Knight, Paul Thorn

CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED
JASON ISBELL and 400 UNIT
PAUL THORN BAND
CHRIS KNIGHT

The show was billed as an all-star supergroup, performing the songs from bands they have been associated with/members of. What really happened was an all-star cover band, playing your favorite FM rock classics. Although John Corabi recorded an album and an EP with Motley Crue, the only number played from that association was a rocked up Helter Skelter, a Beatles song which the Crue covered long before they hired John Corabi. He also recorded 2 full length studio discs with Union, of which the band played Love I Don't Need It Anymore. Corabi also played with Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx and Tracii Guns. None of that material surfaced nor did anything from the project John recorded with Bobby Blotzer (Ratt) called Twentyfour-Seven. Don't get me wrong, I love John and he's one helluva musician and singer.

For Eric Dover's part, he was associated with Alice Cooper for two discs, but the band played Eighteen, a track recorded arguably before Dover was born. He also performed That Is Why from his association with Jellyfish and one track from Imperial Drag. However, after an album and tour of duty fronting Slash's Snakepit, nothing from that record was used here.

Despite Muddy's past work with LA Guns and despite Troy Patrick Farrell's past work with Mike Tramps White Lion and Pretty Boy Floyd, none of that material was included either.

So what did they play? An assortment of AOR classic rock hits that you would find any Saturday night at your local live cover band venue, no matter where you live - only performed by 4 quasi-famous musicians instead of Joe, Eddie and Tom from the down the street. The show was entertaining and the banter between members was often humorous. The cover songs were well executed and included: Eighteen, Baba O'Riley, 30 Days In The Hole, Chip Away At The Stone, Sweet Emotion. Under Pressure, That Is Why, All Right Now and Sympathy For The Devil. They may also have done Sweet Child Of Mine and With A Little Help From My Friends, nobody cares to remember for sure.

Traveling all the way from Detroit, The Gelheads were completely disappointing. It is not very clear why they drove the u-haul 285 miles each way to be there, but they did. I think they were Muddy fans. Local favorite, Hogleg performed an impressive short set of Ozzy-era Black Sabbath cover songs.

Meet & Greet: Lost Angels (John Corabi, Muddy, Eric Dover)

LOST ANGELS
THE GELHEADS
HOGLEG

What an evening this was and all for $15.00. I already knew I had my money's worth following John Corabi's killer set, which featured a trio of Union songs, a trio of Motley Crue songs, a duece from The Scream and finally Hooligan's Holiday to wrap things up. And to think this was just the warm-up act. John's band was very capable of pulling off the setlist. I particularly liked Kevin Hunter's slide guitar playing during the Motley Crue songs. But the truth is, JC came to rock the house and was completely atop his game. I've seen him several times before, both with Union and ESP (never with CRue unfortunately) and several of those shows were good, but this was better due to a more career spanning setlist.

Faster Pussycat was a similar show, nearly a year to the day, from last summer. The band was the same albeit one disappointing change in the lead guitar spot. It seems Michael Thomas is on the road with Adler's Appetite, so a young player by the name of Ace Von Johnson (yeah, whatever) is the touring guitarist this time around. I can't really say any of us were two impressed. After all this guy is like a 4th generation fill-in for the original line-up. I'm certain he failed to live up the standard set by Michael Thomas, Brent Muscat and Greg Steele. He's just a punkass with no real accomplishments to his credit, yet a towering ego. Enough about AVJ. Taime looked perhaps a little healthier than last year - hard to tell through the make-up and aviator shades. Danny Nordahl and Chad Stewart were both once again very gracious before the show, hanging out with fans.

FASTER PUSSYCAT SETLIST:
Bathroom Wall
Cathouse
Slip of the Tongue
Number 1 With a Bullet
Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll
House of Pain
Nonstop to Nowhere
Porn Star
Shut Up and Fuck (Betty Blowtorch cover)
Babylon

LA GUNS SETLIST:
Sex Action
Electric Gypsy
Decide
Never Enough
Dreamtime
Ballad of Jane
Over The Edge
California
1 More Reason
Blackout In The Red Room - Love/Hate
No Mercy
Rip & Tear

JOHN CORABI SETLIST:
Do Your Own Thing
Everything's Alright
Who Do You Think You Are
Uncle Jack
Power To The Music
Drift Away
Father Mother
Man In The Moon
Hooligan's Holiday

Meet & Greet with John Corabi

FASTER PUSSYCAT
L.A. GUNS
JOHN CORABI

Red Dirt Fest is a charity event hosted by Randy Wells of the Chicago Cubs. The proceeds benefit Childrens Hospital of Chicago. Both live and silent auctions yielded additional proceeds. Budweiser provided an open bar for Bud products and UV Vodka products from 7:00 to about 8:30. Although a sizable crowd appeared for the Red Dirt music, the event had it's share of Cubs fans and the overtones of a baseball theme that seemed to create an odd pairing with Red Dirt music.

Kicking off the show was Brandon Jenkins, a guy who despite outward appearances, is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet anywhere. Great performer and song writer. Randy Rogers did not play with a full band. Instead he played acoustic along side his fiddle player, Brady Black. Randy had the pleasure and honor of throwing out the first pitch at the Cubs game over at Wrigley Field earlier that afternoon. One particular moment struck an uneasy chord with all of us when Randy said, "I miss Ragweed." I don't know about anybody else, but I think I felt a chill when he said that. Stoney Larue closed the show, but the crowd seemed split over who the favorite really was, between Stoney and Randy. One thing was for sure, Stoney ran out of original material faster - his show wrapped up with a variety of classic rock cover songs including two from Pink Floyd, a little bit of Led Zeppelin, China Cat Sunflower from the Grateful Dead, Spirit in the Sky and even a little Let It Roll from Little Feat. Overall, the show was well worth the $30 ticket. My personal favorite of the evening though was Brandon Jenkins. If I had not heard one more song after his set finished, I still would have felt $30 was a bargain.

Meet & Greet: Stoney LaRue, Brady Black, Brandon Jenkins

STONEY LaRUE
RANDY ROGERS BAND
BRANDON JENKINS

Although the show was billed: Guitar Masters, we found it rather odd then that Eric Johnson played piano for three or four songs and sang along to many. While an accomplished pianist, not so much can be said for his singing and lyrics, which kind of took something away from the idea of an evening of guitar mastery. After the show, I overheard others making similar comments. Speaking of others, the show was very well attended, statement to the fact that Indianapolis fans love guitar music and the fact that the concert scene locally has been extremely dry.

The format wasPeppino d'Agostino first for 20 minutes or so, d'Agostino then introduced Andy McKee, who played about 30 minutes. McKee then welcomed Eric Johnson. Again, Johnson's set was a mystery to me if the evening's agenda was to be about guitar masters. No electric, which I anticpated from the show's advertisements, and certainly no Cliffs of Dover. Once each musician had his moment in the spotlight, the trio played one of Eric's new songs together. End of show. The encore featured the trio again performing one selection each from McKee and d'Agostino.

Overall, I couldn't help but try to draw comparisons to Joe Satriani's G3 tours, at least one of which featured Eric Johnson. While the G3 events are loud, electric guitar driven, this show was acoustic in nature. Also, these three guitarists are less household names than say a Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai or other particpants in the G3 tours. Another comparison I fought making was that of California Guitar Trio. Where the members of CGT work together harmoniously throughout their show, Johnson, d'Agostino and McKee were individual players. Even when combined for the finale and encores, their individual playing styles showed through.

Meet & Greet: Eric Johnson, Andy McKee, Peppino d'Agostino

ERIC JOHNSON
ANDY McKEE
PEPPINO d'AGOSTINO

Experience Hendrix is a project brought together by Janie Hendrix (Jimi's sister) and Billy Cox, former bassist for Jimi Hendrix' Band of Gypsys. The 2010 Fall Tour consists of an all-star guitar tribute, with a core touring line-up and some occasional guest players along the way. The performers for the Indianapolis show were: Billy Cox, Steve Vai, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, Cesar Rosas & David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Living Colour, Chris Layton,, Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers, Mato Nanji of Indigenous, and The Slide Brothers.

Leading off the evening was a short video presentation of Jimi Hendrix, featuring both still photos and movie clips of Jimi in hios own words (narrated by Bootsy Collins). Jimi's sister Janie introduced each collection of performers, kicking off with Chris Layton (D), Billy Cox (B/V), and Ernie Isley (G/V). Certainly one of the keys to the concert's success was the interplay of artists. No one played their scheduled bit and left the show. Everybody came out at one point or another to join someone else, even if only in a background vocal capacity.

So the evening went something like this to the best of my recollection:

Chris Layton of Double Trouble (D), Ernie Isely (G/V) and Billy Cox (B/V) of Band of Gypsies performed: Stone Free (Billy Cox lead vocal), Message Of Love (Ernie Isley lead vocal)

Will Calhoun (D) of Living Colour, Steve Nelson (B), Ernie Isely (G/V) performed: Manic Depression winding up with a guitar instrumental solo of Amazing Grace.

Living Colour as a full band performed: Power Of Soul and Crosstown Traffic.

Eric Johnson (G/V), Steve Nelson (B) and Chris Layton (D) performed: Are You Experienced

Susan Tedeschi (G/V), MatoNanji (G) of Indigenous, Brad Whitford (G) of Aerosmith, Steve Nelson (B), Chris Layton (D) and Doug Wimbish (B) of Living Colour performed: If 6 Was 9 and Spanish Castle Magic

Eric Johnson (G), Susan Tedeschi (V), Steve Nelson (B) and Chris Layton (D) performed: One Rainy Wish

Cesar Rosas (G/V) & David Hidalgo (G/V) both of Los Lobos, Steve Nelson (B) and Chris Layton (D) performed: Can You See Me

Cesar Rosas (G/V) & David Hidalgo (G/V), Susan Tedeschi (V), Steve Nelson (B) and Chris Layton (D) performed: Little Wing

Cesar Rosas (G/V) & David Hidalgo (G/V), Mato (G), Steve Nelson (B), The Slide Brothers (Lap Steel) and Chris Layton (D) performed: Hey Joe

Robert Randolph (Lap Steel/V), Will Calhoun (D), Steve Nelson (B) , The Slide Brothers (Lap Steel) and Chris Layton (D) performed: Purple Haze

Robert Randolph (Lap Steel/V) , Will Calhoun & Corey Glover (V) of Living Colour, Steve Nelson (B), The Slide Brothers (Lap Steel) and Chris Layton (D) performed: Them Changes

Jonny Lang (G/V), Chris Layton (D), Brad Whitford (G), Steve Nelson (B), The Slide Brothers (Lap Steel), and Mato (G) performed: All Along The Watchtower

Jonny Lang (G/V), Chris Layton (D), Brad Whitford (G), Steve Nelson (B), Janie Hendrix (bv), Susan Tedeschi (bv), and Doug Wimbish (bv) performed: The Wind Cries Mary and Fire

Kenny Wayne Shepherd (G), Chris Layton (D), Steve Nelson (B) and Noah Hunt (V) performed: I Don't Live Today and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

Steve Vai (G), Will Calhoun (D) and Doug Wimbish (B) performed: Midnight and May This Be Love

Steve Vai (G), Will Calhoun (D) and Doug Wimbish (B) Corey Glover (V), Vernon Reid (G) and Robert Randolph (Lap Steel) performed: Foxey Lady

Steve Vai (G), Billy Cox (V), Will Calhoun (D) and Doug Wimbish (B) Corey Glover (V), Vernon Reid (G) and Robert Randolph (Lap Steel) performed: Red House

One thing interesting about the evening was that everybody seemed to be playing Fender guitars, despite the fact that Jimi Hendrix was also well known for playing the Gibson Flying V.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX