John5/Jared James Nichols- Live @ Crocks(March 26th/2019)

 

 

Pretty wicked show that Local Promoter Frank Loffredo brought to Thunder Bay  on a Tuesday Night that being Opening Act Jared James Nichols and Headliner John5!

What a  great concert and when It was announced a few months back I was onboard and I made sure my pal Tbone was as well!

GuitarArmageddon this Tour should be called…

John5 many people know his six string work with Marilyn Manson and currently Rob Zombie whereas for myself and Tbone its John5’s superb axemanship on David Lee Roth’s 1998 release DLR band which unfortunately didn’t burn up the charts but to the faithful Roth fans back than the DLR record was a return to Dave’s straight ahead rock sound and that’s thanks to John5 who not only played guitar on that Dave album but also co wrote seven tracks.

Just this past week I read an interview where John5 stated that there is a another DLR band album  completely finished that is in the can but it’s up to Dave to release it. Let’s all hope it will see the light of the day!

Not only that but John’s resume with whom he has co written or played guitar with is a who’s whose of Music! A bunch of Rock stuff for sure but John has also played or written and recorded with KD Lang/Ricky Martin/Rod Stewart and most recently Steve Perry and Motley Crue! A very diverse player which I was sure to find out about Live!

Anyways back to the task at hand as what a real cool treat it was to catch this show…

Opening the show was from Los Angeles  a 5 piece band calling themselves  Dead Girls Academy.  We arrived too late and missed there set. Perhaps next time through town guys…

Opener Jared James Nichols lays down a  heavy hand of great guitar rock and fronting this 3 piece these  are phenomenal musicians! Frank told me a few months back that when Nichols opened for Fozzy a few months back Jared stole the show and I can see why! JJ is a serious player has the  guitar chops and the songs as well as the voice to go with it. To get an idea of his style of Rock just listen to Mountains ‘Mississippi Queen’ and yep these guys play it live as the set ending cover! Super cool bunch of guys as well! Met them afterwards and they hung out at the merch table and mingled with the crowd! Signed my disc and had a bit of a chat! Super Friendly! Down to earth these chaps are. Met the Bass player Elvis and of course Jared! Great guy’s!

Frank bring these guys back sooner than later!

Jared and Dekes

Elvis and Dekes

Pics by Tbone ‘Blinded By The Light Photography Inc’

Now onto the Main Event!

Pretty cool that John5 blows into Thunder Bay with a complete stage show that has a bunch of props that looks like a cross between a Psycho Circus and a Haunted Halloween Castle!

In other words….

Impressive that John5 and his band The Creatures just don’t show up with a basic bare bones stage but there going to give  you an arena like show in a club!

Salute!

From the opening huge crunch of a riff in the opening song  Season of the Witch these guys mean business by putting on a show yet playing like the pros they are! John5 is no slouch and you can see that in just under 90 minute set where  John takes his playing all over the  musical map! From the  straight ahead Rock of Crank It to the one of my fav’s of the night the real cool amped up slick picking country  Hell Haw is just brilliant!

(Video by Tbone…)

In all my years of going to shows I have never ever attended a guitar only headliner show meaning no lead vocals and John and his talented band of Bassist Ian Ross and Drummer Logan Miles Nix hold down the rhythm fort superbly to let John go to town on the guitar!

All styles of music were performed. Industrial/Metal/Jazz/Blues/Country/Blue Grass. No genre was forgotten  by John5! Plus it was played at a loud volume. (Kudos to the in-house Sound Fella that mixed all the instruments clearly and kept it crisp n loud for both acts!)

John5 and the Creatures really  ramp up the chops on the 10 minute jam song that features snippets of Rush/Nirvana/Led Zeppelin/Sabbath/Van Halen/The Knack/Megadeth/Manson/Soundgarden/Queen/The Police/Pantera/KISS! Basically  a huge ball of rock going from one tune to the other like no one’s business!  Check out the video below!

(Thanks to Steve Robinson for filming this clip!)

The night ends with Beat It! Yup that Beat it by Micheal Jackson and to close it all out  I am John5!

What a Brilliant show and I would like to thank of course the acts themselves for showing up to Thunder Bay on a Tuesday Night and of course to Frank who booked John and Jared…

Have to add that this was a great double bill of two Power Trio Acts with each act having their own identity and style. Jared James is a monster on the guitar with an airtight rhythm section slamming out hard blues rock while John5 and his band were stellar! John5 is a smart performer as all of us aren’t guitarists so in between the musical spectre of the musicianship you had robots/angry clowns a ton of video going on in the background. A well thought out show to keep the audience engaged!

Thunder Bay really needs to wake up when acts of this caliber come through town and even though its technically a work night for many including myself. The show ended by 11:30pm. No excuses folk’s!

Hell..these tickets were only $25 bucks! What a steal!

Get out and support Live Music!

(check out the clip below at the 3 minute 50 second mark!)