Glam Festival with Pretty Boy Floyd, or Rediscovering the Vast Expanses of Underground Sleaze/Glam Rock (20

Location: Ke Me Meo klub / Argelato (Bologna) / Italy
Concert date: 04.10.2008
Attendance: 300
Ticket price: 20.00€

On Sunday, 05.10.2008, after three days of metal for me in Kranj and an equally three-day concert marathon at various venues, Poba and I decided to squeeze in one more trip, this time to Bologna, or more precisely nearby Argelato. Together with eleven other glam maniacs from Slovenia, we checked out an event called Glam Festival. So what was really hiding behind those two words? Let’s take it from the top.

With six bands on the bill and some kind of “Mister & Miss Glam” contest (whatever that was supposed to be), the show kicked off really early. So even though we got to the venue at 6:00 PM, we missed the first opener, Jolly Roxx, and most of the set by the Germans Hollywood Teazse, whose Hollywood/bubblegum/punk (that’s how someone in the know later described their look and style to me) was not my cup of tea at all. Dressed in what looked like pajamas, they gave off the vibe of heading to bed rather than onto the stage.

SNAKEZ:
But a turnaround on stage was coming right up! Out came the wildest-dressed band I’ve ever seen in my life – Snakez. The frontman is a copy of the earliest Lizzy Borden, both vocally and (above all) visually, and the music isn’t too far from those legendary Americans either. Sharp glam/heavy (comparisons with Shout at the Devil by Mötley Crüe are spot on) with raspy vocals and roaring guitars was a real treat for the ears, and after Skid Row a year ago, this was the second time I was caught off guard by the quality of an Italian hard’n’heavy band. It would be nice if, in the near future, bands like Snakez knocked those tedious groups like Rhapsody of Fire and the like off their pedestal in our neighbors’ country…

After Snakez came another feast for the eyes! Three cute glam girls took the stage dressed as bunnies and danced for about fifteen minutes to the music of Warrant. The views were especially pleasant for the male part of the crowd, though, as always, it was over way too soon. Clearly the festival’s organizer, Bologna Rock City, thought of every little detail, no doubt about it!

BRITNY FOX:
Next up were Britny Fox, or rather the original bassist of this Philadelphia band, Billy Childs, plus three guys of lesser pedigree, which was exactly why there were worries that we wouldn’t get what we came for. I had a hunch that the Britney Fox show wouldn’t meet the quality standards needed to carry a band’s unique studio magic (in this case, Britny Fox’s) onto the live stage. But the guys quickly proved me wrong and delivered an excellent show, where Jamie Flectcher especially shone, the short, round singer/rhythm guitarist who squeezed out vocals worthy of the legendary Dean Davison, the band’s original singer. However, to actually hear those vocals you had to be really into it and paying full attention, because Britny Fox had a downright awful sound. The PA was set way too loud (above all, Greg Polcari’s totally buzzing guitar echoed all over the club). Adding to the thoroughly muddy sound was Billy, who kept demanding that the guy in charge of the mixing desk knobs turn up his backing vocals, which are sadly a lot weaker than his bass playing is solid. As a result, Henry’s drums and especially the vocals got almost completely lost in the mix, no matter where in the hall you stood (in a slightly milder form, the same sound blunders plagued all the bands that followed). Still, we got a well-played show with all the must-have classics: Dream On, Long Way to Love, Standing in the Shadows, Livin’ On a Dream, Hair of the Dog (originally by Nazareth) and of course the closing Girlschool classic. A very decent show, then, but with no real highlights, mostly because of the bad sound.

BULLETBOYS:
Second in line were BulletBoys, fronted by Marc Torquien, who personally are the least familiar and therefore least interesting band of the three headliners for me. Still, there was nothing to fear, and all doubts vanished in an instant, because the quartet put on an incredibly energetic show, with guitarist Michael Thomas and singer/guitarist Marc constantly pumping up the crowd to join in, jumping around and posing on stage, while also pulling off enviable, bluesy tricks on their Les Pauls. I have to point out that Marc looks amazingly well preserved for his age. Two decades have passed since the band’s most famous days, and when you look for a comparison to his sleaze/glam colleagues for this lean fellow without an ounce of extra fat, probably only some strapping Dachau athlete tops Marc, though bassist Billy Childs (Britny Fox) came very close at the festival, with his Duff McKagan “heroin look”. BulletBoys wrapped up their hour-long set, of course, with the obligatory pair of songs that practically every glam fan knows well, Smooth Up in Ya and THC Groove, which they spiced up with lines from the legendary Zeppelin classic Whole Lotta Love. The rhythm section of the revamped BulletBoys lineup was rounded out by bassist Rob Lane and drummer Ryche Green.

PRETTY BOY FLOYD:
For the grand finale, a party with the kings of “underground sleaze” was waiting for us, namely Pretty Boy Floyd. Here you can’t help but think about how strange the paths of the music industry can be. In 1989, Britny Fox were one of the hottest bands around, touring America with Bon Jovi, while Pretty Boy Floyd were local “underground” kings playing for a few hundred people in small clubs. Today the situation for Pretty Boy Floyd hasn’t changed, while Britny Fox can only afford a European tour as their opening act, which is just one more proof of how loyal underground fans are, since they stay faithful to a band forever. Pretty Boy Floyd hit the stage with three quarters of the original lineup, and the missing bassist Vinnie Chas was decently replaced by young gun JK Famous. The opener Leather Boys With Electric Toys signaled the inevitable! We witnessed their debut album played in full, which over all the years since its release has become a real cult classic among sleaze fans. Of course the legendary Crue classic Toast of the Town couldn’t be missing, sending the crowd into delirium, and Pretty Boy Floyd also didn’t forget to add Shy Diane from the album Pornstars in, plus one of their Joan Jett covers. The performance itself was (especially instrumentally) top-notch, with Kristy Majors and Kari Kane having thoroughly mastered their instruments over twenty years, while Steve Summers clearly had trouble with his vocals, which the other three members rescued very confidently with their above-average backing vocals. Still, Steve didn’t forget his classic posing, stage jumping and leaps into the fans! His former role models, Vince Neil first among them, could learn a thing or two from him today.

It was a damn good rock’n’roll night. Bands that were once in the upper half of the more famous rock acts can, even in a totally nameless “underground” spot, still offer fans the charm of “glam/sleaze” metal and conjure it up, and that’s really the whole point of this tour.

Finally, I’d like to thank the event’s organizer, Emiliano from Bologna Rock City, who approved two press accreditations for the concert for a foreign outlet at the drop of a hat in less than 24 hours, something quite a few Slovenian concert organizers could take a lesson from.

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