Authored by Frankie J

To start things off,  The Greg Golden Band as the support act pretty much delivered to his fans and gained quite a few more by the time their set was over.  New vocals by Joe Retta filled the slot perfectly with a range of chops that fit the bill.  Hailing from Reno Nevada, Greg Golden has developed a long time following of loyal subjects.  The band is put together carefully with seasoned musicians Joe Retta (vocals) Jeff Montgomery (rhythm guitar), David Strels (bass man) Boris Travcar (drums) and of course Greg Golden himself on lead guitar.  Greg, the principal writer and creative genius of the band, brands his sound with guitar tones that are remarkably unforgettable. Add this to the overall dynamics of what the other artists bring to the table, along with the originality in writing / arrangement, and you have a rock concert that leaves you in awe.  So much so, that if you haven’t witnessed The Greg Golden Band live as of yet, I suggest you get your ticket t the next show … There’s a few coming up!!

OK, now for Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel; So I want to put a different spin on this and write more about what he stands for today as opposed to that he’s already done.  We already know who he is, and Jake is still signed to Frontiers Records.  However, to quickly recap, we mostly know Jack E Lee as he amazing guitarist playing with Ozzy Osbourne … and later in Badlands with Ray Gillen. He the formed the Red Dragon Cartel in 2013, where shortly after their first self titled album was released in January 2014 and entered at No. 69 on Billboard’s Album Charts.

With the tour kicking off at the Nugget Casino in Sparks Nevada, I definitely made a point to cover this concert for a couple reasons.  For one, I am a huge fan of Jake E Lee and two I’ve never seen him perform live!!  So my opportunity spills through my veins and I finally get my chance to nt only witness the stage assault, but photograph this amazing band through the entire set.

Starting off with Wasted seemed appropriate and really got the blood pumping right off.  The reminiscent sound of the band brought back instant memories of what hard rock is all about!  Going into the new video release Havana pretty much sealed the deal on how freakin amazing the rest of the concert would be.  Super hard guitar crunches and riffs, bass lines heavy and heart pounding along with drums and vocals that one would expect to see and hear.

Of course other tasty samples of the Red Dragon Cartel ripped off the stage in typical fashion with at least one track from Ozzy “Spiders In The Night” and ‘Three Day Funk and High Wire” from Badlands were brought forth as a reminder that yes, it’s still relevant!! I mean to make things short, the Jake E Lee purists came, they saw and they got what they wanted.  For the new fans, they scored in seeing a kick ass stage show without the bells and whistles of lasers and explosions and for their kick off date, I’d have to say it went off without complications and it was evident the band was serious about what they do … Old Fashioned Rock n Roll.

Authored by Frankie J

Anyone got ear plugs?