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DailyBoom Your Old School Music Authority

Features

Exclusive Concert Review: Loverboy & Trooper at Casino Rama Resort

Loverboy/Trooper  
Casino Rama Resort Saturday, Jan 11th, 2020 
Review & Photos by Chris Preston


Two legendary Canadian classic rock bands performed at one of my favorite venues on a cold wintery Saturday nightThe 5,000 capacity Casino Rama Event Center features outstanding sound, perfect sightlines, and always attracts great acts.   


Trooper (formed in 1975) has been rocking audiences all over Canada for over 45 years! Founding members RA McGuire (lead vocals) and Brian Smith (lead guitar) along with Paul Roland Gogo (keyboards), Clayton Hill (drums) and Scott Brown (bass) brought their iconic brand of party rock to an enthusiastic and energetic crowd at Casino Rama Resort.  

Trooper kicked off the night with their classic song (and perfect opener!) “Here For A Good Time (Not a Long Time)” which got the crowd up on its feet, singing along with every word. The set continued, covering all of the band's biggest hits from the ’70s including "3 Dressed Up as a 9", "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" and the ballad "Two For The Show",  for which the audience loudly sang along.   Keep Reading...

Exclusive: 'K-12' Empowerment + Creativity = Melanie Martinez's Show at The Fillmore in Philadelphia

(Article & All Photos by Cassidy Clark)

Do you ever want to vent your feelings and feel empowered? The K-12 Tour lets its audience do just that, with songs that are relatable to all humans ages 10-110. The newest album from Melanie Martinez birthed a bunch of plush punk fans at The Fillmore in Philadelphia for a sold-out show. earlier this week and I was thrilled to be a part of the fun. 


A strong feminist opener, Lauren Ruth Ward, first pumped up the crowd and made the stage her own with a stripped-down set that included just a guitarist, and a drummer. Fans traveled from as far as Ohio just to see her perform and with a huge voice that has the grit of Stevie Nicks and the stage presence of Janis Joplin, this Philly native is one to watch.   Keep Reading...

Toto Leaves Everything That They've Got on Stage at The Met in Philadelphia for Final Performance for Foreseeable Future


I can't remember a moment in my life when music wasn't somehow playing in the backdrop binding together those things that would become real memories while helping the less important things to just sort of drift away into oblivion. When I was a kid, if my dad wasn't at the studio, then he was most definitely locked away in his home studio. He first sucked me in the door to that room with disco and a lot of my homework was eventually done on the floor next to one of his huge speakers. The deal was that once my homework was finished then I could pick any song and listen to it in his chair, with his headphones on. That was a huge thing to me and dad was smart because as my musical taste expanded, so did my time in his favorite chair. What started as one song while looking at cover art turned into dad leaving me with entire albums and loads of liner notes to dissect.

In the late '70s rock was just rock and there was no need to categorize it or throw it into some sort of sub-category. Good music was just that, good music. Toto's eponymous debut, followed by Hydra a year later, were two of my favorites and I spent a lot of time with headphones on soaking up every note played. I didn't know exactly what "shredding" was, but I believed my dad when he said that Steve Lukather was already one of the best and I also believed him when he said that David Paich was writing songs that were going to "stick". Keep Reading...

Foreigner's Double Vision: Then & Now Reunites Original Band Members Mick Jones, Rick Wills, Ian McDonald & Al Greenwood with Current Lineup for an Unforgettable Night in Atlantic City

(Foreigner Original Band & Current Lineup
All Photos: Cate Meighan)

When Mick Jones, Ian McDonald, and Lou Gramm first joined forces in New York City back in 1976 to form Foreigner, they never in a million years would have predicted that four decades later their music would still live on in regular radio rotation across the world. Health issues, growing pains, lineup changes, and internal strife have all played a part in the bands' evolution and temporary disintegration, but the music has always been much more powerful than all of those things combined. The music has weathered every storm that the band has faced, always waiting for them on the other side, ready to be played once the temporary diversions have been settled.

Foreigner's catalog is an overabundance of riches for any musician fortunate enough to be able to do it any sort of justice and no one understands this better than the band's original lineup, Mick Jones (lead guitar), Lou Gramm (vocals), Ian McDonald (guitar/sax), Dennis Elliott (drums), Rick Wills (bass) and Al Greenwood (keyboard). After the success of a handful of reunion shows last year, Jones, McDonald, Wills and Greenwood have once again decided to share the stage and recapture a bit of that rock and roll spotlight. 

Gramm had originally been scheduled to join them but had to bow out a few days beforehand on doctors' orders, after a temporary illness flared up.

 The Hard Rock in Atlantic City was one of only four shows slated for this year's Double Vision: Then & Now reunion and what transpired on stage really was a perfect balance of the original Foreigner members, with the current lineup. So far, this is the only rock band that has managed to successfully meld two different lineups and the end result is an incredible gift for everyone in attendance.

The first part of the show featured Foreigner's current powerhouse lineup led by Kelly Hansen on vocals. He absolutely shows off his range on hits like "Cold As Ice" and "Head Gamesbefore sucking the crowd in with an emotional intensity on "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and "That Was Yesterday". Hansen often seems to get lost in the shuffle of frontmen, but he is truly one of the best around and there's no doubt that he leaves everything that he has got on the stage night after night. Keep Reading...

Foreigner-  Double Vision: Then & Now Reunion Show Review  (Atlantic City)

Double Vision Then & Now- Foreigner Reunion
(All Photos- Cate Meighan)

When Mick Jones, Ian McDonald, and Lou Gramm first teamed up in New York City back in 1976 to form Foreigner, I'm pretty sure that they never would have imagined still sharing a stage some 40+ years later. Serious health issues, growing pains, lineup changes, and internal strife have all played a part in the bands' evolution and temporary disintegration, but the music has always been much more powerful than all of those things combined. Foreigner's catalog is an overabundance of riches for any musician fortunate enough to be able to do it any sort of justice and no one understands this better than the band's original lineup. Seeing Mick Jones (lead guitar), Lou Gramm (vocals), Ian McDonald (guitar/sax), Dennis Elliott (drums), Rick Wills (bass) and Al Greenwood (keyboard) reunite for a select few shows this year has been a rare gift for classic rock fans young and old alike.

The Hard Rock in Atlantic City was one of only four shows slated for this year's Double Vision: Then & Now reunion and it really was a perfect balance of the original Foreigner members, with the current lineup. The first part of the show featured the latter with Kelly Hansen absolutely showing off his vocal range on hits like "Cold As Ice" and "Head Games" before pulling the sold-out crowd in with his intensity on "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and "That Was Yesterday". Keep Reading... 

Currently Booming: 'Juke Box Heroes Tour' Review (6-23-18 Camden, NJ)



If you're a classic rock fan then the summer of 2018's concert circuit is really designed just for you. Rather than heading out to see a show with a lukewarm opener followed by a great headlining act, music fans are being handed 3+ straight hours of music that they were raised on. Music by supergroups like Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers or Def Leppard and Journey is woven into the fabric of an entire generation or twos' life and that's why they are still more than capable of selling out the biggest of venues. The 'Juke Box Heroes Tour' is undoubtedly one of the very best things to hit the stage (any stage) this summer and when Foreigner, Whitesnake and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening stopped into Camden, NJ's BB&T Pavillion this past weekend the fans were out in full force.  

Camden is technically considered a Philadelphia venue and Philly audiences are notoriously loud when showing their love for the music that is still part of their daily lives, even if it's decades old. June 23rd was no exception and as the audience settled in for a long night together Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening was first up to set the tone. Jason is, of course, the son of the legendary John Bonham, Zeppelin's late drummer and it's pretty unlikely that anyone else could reimagine the band's classic catalog better than he can. Keep Reading...

Currently Booming: Journey and Def Leppard Bring Classic Rock 'Hysteria' to Philly Tour Stop (6-11-18 Review)

(Photos: Cate Meighan)

Philadelphia audiences are always something special. If you are an artist rolling into a local venue then you can pretty much count on having a great gig. I was reminded of this last night as two monsters of rock, Journey, and Def Leppard played a three-hour show that kept the near-capacity crowd on their feet in the Wells Fargo Center. More than 16,000 people showed up to relive a bit of their youth and both bands delivered.

Journey was up first and I really wish that people would back up off of Arnel Pineda. I understand that Steve Perry fans will always rally for him to come back but clearly, he has no interest. Pineda has been slaying on lead vocals for more than a decade.

More than ten years.

I've seen him likened to a Steve Perry impersonator which is crazy to me because nothing that he does will ever be right for a particular group of people. If he nails the lyrics like Perry then he is copying him, but if he were to totally switch it up those same people would say that he ruined the songs. So, let's stick with the solids. Pineda is fantastic. The range of his voice is amazing for tracks like "Separate Ways" and then he has just enough emotion to hit those warm and fuzzy nerves in songs like "Faithfully".


I've also seen some critics question whether or not the band should hang it up already and I have to wonder if they've ever actually seen Journey play because not only do they sound fantastic, but they are clearly enjoying themselves. Neal Schon's TWO guitar solos show why he was considered to be a prodigy by age 15, Jonathan Cain's work on the keys can literally break your heart and Steve Smith with his 70's butterfly collar and yellow Converse will remind you that the drums are absolutely everything in a rock band. Keep Reading...

Daily Boom Exclusive: 'The Rage and Rapture Tour' Review- Garbage


A certain kind of magic is almost inevitable when you take two legendary bands, each fronted by iconic female rockers and you have them hit the road together for a 27- city North American tour. The Rage and Rapture Tour, co-headlined by Garbage and Blondie seems to have only picked up momentum as it rolled into a series of East coast dates. The Aug. 2nd tour stop in Philadelphia at The Mann Center, a beautiful outdoor venue nestled in Fairmount Park, was absolutely everything that I had hoped it would be. You know how sometimes you see a show that's so fantastic that when you wake the next day you're still carrying it with you? This was one of those for me. I left the venue a little bit changed. I'm not exactly sure how or why, but I do know that it's a good thing. Keep reading...

Daily Boom Exclusive: 'The Rage and Rapture Tour' Review: Blondie


Monday morning. It's like a curse if you work as an entertainment reporter. Deadlines never feel more pressing and the close of another weekend inevitably opens up to a day full of catching up on who is fighting, dating, divorcing and dropping new music while trying to curtail a potential scandal. From my perspective, life for celebs would be a whole lot easier if they took a page from the life playbook of an average Joe and kept their clothes on, paid their bills and remembered that the Cloud makes everything accessible. Monday morning and here I sit buried beneath work and unsure of where to start. While I figure it out I decide to go back in time and listen to a few old tracks that will prepare me for a show that I'll be reviewing tomorrow night. The Rage and Rapture Tour which is co-headlined by Garbage and BlondieKeep reading...

Whitesnake's 2016 Greatest Hits Tour


(This review of Whitesnake's Greatest Hits Tour originally ran in June 2016. Here it is again in case you missed it!)

In theory, this is supposed to be just another fairly normal night in the life of an entertainment reporter. Show up at an event, gather info, grab photos and then make a quick getaway. The same thing that I've done for better than twenty years. But on this particular evening the job itself is familiar, but the emotions attached to it, well they're larger than any high pitched screech that David Coverdale can hit. As Whitesnake's band members went through their own personal rituals to prepare for their recent show at The Fillmore Theater, a venue just outside of Washington, DC I found myself unexpectedly revisiting my own bit of history. Keep reading...