Marco Mendoza — Return of a Soulful Bass Master and a Rock Detonation in Portorož! (2024)
Marco Mendoza
Friday, 14 June 2024
Portorož / Rock’N’Roll Circus / Slovenia
Marco Mendoza is a musician with quite a few stories under his belt. In his career, he’s seen pretty much everything. The last major band we saw him with was The Dead Daisies, but factor in his impressive tightrope act through the ranks of outfits like Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, and Journey, and it’s clear this guy is no joke.
For all the glitz his career has thrown at him, Marco is known as a devotee of the holy simple life. He loves playing clubs. On his own terms, usually with two sidekicks — a drummer and a guitarist. In trio format, where Mendoza handles lead vocals alongside his bass duties. New Direction (2022) is only Mendoza’s fourth solo album, but it followed its predecessor Viva La Rock (2018) in a relatively short space of time.
A new solo tour and another visit to Slovenia. The coastal one. After that May show six years ago when he stopped by Hangar Bar in Izola, this time the road took him to Portorož and its Rock’N’Roll Circus — which our outlet was also visiting for the first time. The man arrived at the venue like a proper gentleman. In a white vintage car that’s been spotted around these parts more than once. Behind the wheel was its owner — the strapping coastal rocker and proprietor of the Rolling Stones museum, Slavko Franca, who through sheer dedication keeps rock’n’roll alive on this end of Slovenia, preventing it from being completely swamped by the rising tide of ‘folk’ and other musical junk that sustains, across its entire output, exactly zero decibels of distorted guitar. After Slavko opened the car door for Marco in full professional-chauffeur style, Marco shot out of the passenger seat like an arrow. It was somewhere around ten in the evening. He gave a quick wave to a few onlookers at the club entrance and swept inside. Less than five minutes later, the snare drum cracked. An express soundcheck — then a direct charge onto the stage with opener Take It To The Limit, taken from Marco’s latest solo album »New Direction« (2022).
A good hour of first-rate hard rock, with Mendoza joined on stage by guitarist Drew Lowe, best known for his work with the superb British hard rockers Inglorious, and drummer Chris Allan (Dan Byrne) — and it ran like a well-oiled machine. Sharp. Riffs that shook the venue’s load-bearing pillars to their core. The turnout could have been a bit bigger, especially given that entry was free — that kind of advertising speaks for itself. But it’s clear the generational gap is impossible to bridge. Outside the club, people were packed in. Young people. Everywhere — just not at a rock concert. That’s just how it goes. The generation that lived this music during their teenage years certainly sees things differently, and is gratefully growing old alongside Mendoza.
A seasoned bassist who once again delivered an excellent show. Loaded with energy, determined, and seriously fired up — especially when you consider that Mendoza is steadily adding years to his tally. Lowe and Allan more than justified their spots in the trio and, as hardened tour soldiers, delivered their craft with authority and top-level class. In perfect professional harmony. Marco held himself to the standards we’ve come to expect from him. The only thing that grated was the poorly audible vocals, which became more and more apparent as the minutes wore on. But the man, with his charisma, his crowd-stoking, his audience-flirting — all part of a battle-hardened arsenal of stage routine — kept the crowd exactly where he wanted them throughout. Riding high. And that made up for it.
Marco dedicated most of the set to showcasing the latest album New Direction (the already-mentioned Take It To The Limit, Scream And Shout, Light It Up, New Direction) and its predecessor »Viva La Rock« (Sue Is On The Run, Sweetest Emotions, Rocket Man), and of course it was interesting to follow the covers — of which there were fewer this time than his solo shows usually contain. Already in the first half of the show, Mendoza tipped his hat to former employer Ted Nugent when the trio ripped through a feisty Hey Baby. Somewhere in the middle, the guys masterfully bought themselves some time with the drawn-out blues-rock dirge Hole In My Pocket, found on the “Piranha Blues” album of its ‘owner’ Neal Schon — cleverly slipping »Give Peace a Chance« into the middle of it, and in doing so wisely conserving energy while the audience took over the singing. In the final stretch, the band also delivered the Thin Lizzy classic Chinatown.
So Marco and his buddies delivered exactly what we came for. Excellent hard rock and a proper rock’n’roll party. Short, sharp. No messing about. A full-frontal assault. The vocal performance remains debatable — regardless of the sound engineer’s frantic activity, leaping between the microphone and the laptop mixer whenever the vocals dropped off, it felt like the man was running out of breath toward the end of the set.
But as mentioned. Charisma and a sovereign surge on the wings of excellent guitar riffs and a tight rhythmic bounce! The ingredients listed in that previous sentence guaranteed a truly wonderful and energetic rock evening. Here’s hoping that Marco Mendoza’s ‘new direction’ is focused first and foremost on his solo career, and that he’ll be back in our neck of the woods soon with the next studio album!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
