Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Velden am Wörthersee (Vrba na Koroškem) / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
Concert date: September 4, 2014
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: €36.00 / €40.00
Steamroller are three killer musicians who’ve left a lasting mark on modern rock. The lowest-profile of the bunch is Michael Devin, current bassist of Whitesnake, who doesn’t have much going on outside of that, while the other two, guitarist Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, DIO, Burning Rain, Bad Moon RIsing, Hurricane,..) and drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner, Billy Idol, Lynch Mob,..), are already established, internationally acclaimed players. Brian Tichy is actually a returnee to Steamroller. He was part of the original, founding lineup, but commitments to other musical projects kept him off Steamroller tours until this year. Third time’s the charm, and Aldrich and Devin finally managed to get their buddy not only on the road, but into the most lovable blues rock club in the world. Bluesiana, of course!
With their return to Bluesiana, Steamroller kicked off the European leg of their new tour. Two consecutive shows were confirmed at Bluesiana, with two different set lists promised. Some 70 heads showed up at the club. Even so, the crew of true believers in the magic of rock ‘n’ roll cooked up a great vibe together with the red-hot trio. Interestingly, Steamroller had no special surprises in store on the set list. It was a mix of last year’s and the year before’s visits. The repertoire ran a theatrical two and a half hours! Doug Aldrich confirmed his huge love for Led Zeppelin and their work. His guitar sounded phenomenal when the band tore into Heartbreaker, and again in the encore with the legendary Stairway to Heaven. Only the opening Imigrant Song suffered from some serious sonic distortion, but the techs quickly adjusted to the demands of the club’s »soft spot«. Truth be told, it’s hard to squeeze a band of this caliber onto a club stage. It always sounds too loud. And once again they blew Bluesiana apart, unbeatably. Up and down and all over. In Tichy, Devin and Aldrich had a partner in crime who’s truly ready for any prank. Tichy was the target of their theatrical ribbing the whole night, with Michael Devin especially going after him in the breaks between songs, but of course Brian didn’t stay in debt to either Douglas or Michael and dunked them right back a few times in front of the crowd, who were having an absolute blast.
The band shaped the opening part of the show much like a year ago. After Immigrant Song came the furiously crunchy Mountain classic Never In My Life, and then the first novelty of the set list: Whipping Post, which originally belongs to The Allman Brothers Band. The band also brought back Stevie Wonder’s I Wish, where Stevie’s sophistication was replaced by the sharp edge of a generously pissed-off rock sound. Devin’s vocals work especially well when imitating Robert Plant, whom he gets incredibly close to in the parts that don’t call for frenzied vocal outbursts. In one of the breaks, the trio heartily paid tribute to probably the best employer they’ve had to this day. That would be the great David Coverdale (Whitesnake), of course. Before Crying in the Rain (Whitesnake), Aldrich dedicated his intro to David and called on everyone present to raise their glasses and beer bottles in a toast to the best hard rock vocalist of all time!
After a cheeky take on Eric Clapton’s evergreen Cocaine, the band carried on with its show with Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff. The reggae rhythms were stretched out for another five minutes, as the band then switched to an even more laid-back tune, Walking in the Moon, originally by The Police. In this one you could really feel three men on stage brimming with excess testosterone, itching to grab at that carefree roaring rock distortion, because every trace of the sophistication this song strictly demands simply vanished in Steamroller’s hands. Devin tore it up on vocals in the flinty Deep Purple classic Space Truckin’, and the band closed out the regular set by tackling (how predictable!) Smoke on the Water once more, with Douglas calling on the fired-up crowd to take over lead vocals on the verses. In that song, the sound of Aldrich’s guitar in the solo was a real distraction, not remotely recalling the soft, wailing quality of Blackmore’s original. »Strat« is »Strat«, after all. Aldrich had a sound dialed in for Led Zeppelin that night. So a Gibson LP beyond all limits! The tone was chunky, fat, predatory. Uncompromisingly pissed-off rock!
The band also played the classic Statesboro Blues, nodding to The Allman Brothers Band version of the original, which was written by Blind Willie McTell.
Douglas Aldrich feels more than comfortable in the Bluesiana club and said so out loud, and Michael Devin joined his buddy with a big thank-you to Bluesiana’s boss lady, the unshakable Gudrun Kofler. During one of the jams, packed with plenty of thrilling solo spots from Tichy’s one-of-a-kind drumming as well as Aldrich’s outstanding guitar acrobatics, one of Tichy’s drumsticks flew out of his hand onto the front of the stage. Doug calmly bent down, picked it up and put it back in his buddy’s hand, even though it looked like Tichy could have played without any trouble using just one hand. That the band felt truly superior was shown above all by the show continuing with a full half-hour encore. After the aforementioned Stairway to Heaven, Steamroller predictably dug into one of the mightiest riffs in the Whitesnake treasure chest with Still of the Night, and then Doug pointed a raised right index finger at the sound tech behind the mixing desk, which meant »One more song!« The band kicked into a blues rock jam, working in Love Me Two Times (The Doors) and salting it with a short snippet of Light My Fire. The party showed no sign of ending.
A great show, theatrics and all. The crowd satisfied and delighted. Considering the band played Bluesiana for the third time, three years in a row, they’ll have to seriously freshen up the live repertoire if they plan to keep sticking strictly to playing rock classics. Let’s hope an original song or two gets born, too. That would be the cherry on top for this wildly entertaining trio, who, despite extremely rich experience, seasoned savvy and know-how, are still full of youthful bite and top-notch performance perfection, which, in the heartfelt spirit of authentic hard rock, steamrolled Bluesiana. Heads up! There was one more day to go, but more on that in the next dispatch from Bluesiana!
The RockLine report from Steamroller’s second concert at Bluesiana, on September 5, 2014, can be read HERE!
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