By: William Clark
Rockaholics unite!
Last month, hard rock and heavy metal fans all across Florida manically rampaged their way to The Lakeland Center to witness the Cherry Pie Tour with three of the biggest names in rock and roll: Trixter, Firehouse, and Warrant.
Each of these bands are musical powerhouses in their own right, but to have all three acts in one setting was almost a sensory overload!
With a four hour set list jam packed with deep cuts, greatest hits, and a few new additions, we were all about to witness a music experience unlike any other.
Eager to kick off the show first was Trixter, who immediately began to pummel the audience with the wall shaking bass lines and thunderous drum kicks of their 1990 hit “Heart of Steel”.
The rock and roll intensity refused to dim throughout the band’s 90-minute set, as they continued to rule the stage while digging out such fan favorites as “One In A Million”, “My Machine”, and the chart shattering “Give To Me Good”.
The boys of Trixter even pulled out the lead single off their latest album New Audio Machine, “Tattoos and Misery”, which wielded enough power and energy to help the new tune sit comfortably alongside the band’s earlier hits in the setlist.
While lead vocalist Peter Loran was busy romancing the crowd to the power ballad “Road Of 1000 Dreams”, Steve Brown was owning the stage with his wild mid-air kicks and jumps ,while simultaneously cranking out the wild guitar riffs and solos that have helped etch Trixter into rock and roll fame.
As soon as Trixter’s set ended, the stage crew frantically began to set up the stage props and equipment for the next rock and roll act, FireHouse. Perhaps, a little too quickly. These iconic musicians began to dominate while tearing into their opening song, and just as CJ Snare stepped up to the microphone and began to sing… nothing.
There was a technical issue with the microphone, and almost could’ve ended up spelling doom for the rest of Firehouse’s show.
I mean, there’s nothing worse for a band than to lose your microphone privileges on the opening song! But, this crowd ate it up, and we all began cheering them on and jamming out to the deafening amplifiers.
“Man, if you could only hear how good I sang that song”, CJ said to the crowd’s delight, his microphone back up and running, just before kicking into “Shake And Tumble” off the band’s debut album.
For the rest of their set, FireHouse left no musical stone unturned as they rocked the house with their performances of such songs as “Reach For The Sky”, “Love Of A Lifetime”, and my personal favorite, “Baby, Don’t Treat Me Bad”.
Bill Leverty was harnessed to a brand new axe for this show, appropriately sporting a raging fire paint job, and even gave a masterfully executed solo that was only masked by the roars of the audience.
FireHouse truly left The Lakeland Center in flames!
Last but not least was Warrant. A lot has to be said for all of the bands who showed up that night, but none more so than Warrant.
After losing main songwriter and lead vocalist, Jani Lane, last year, nearly everyone thought that his death would also mean the end of Warrant. But the band persevered, discovered a new powerhouse singer, made a new studio album, and have continued to bring the house down each and every night since.
That night at The Lakeland Center was no different. Robert Mason triumphantly manned lead vocals as the band rip roared through such iconic songs as “Mr. Rainmaker”, “Down Boys”, “Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich”, and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.
Following Trixter’s lead, Warrant pulled out “Sex Ain’t Love” off their newest album, Rockaholic, which rocked easily as their earlier tunes continue to do today.
Now, this year has proven to have had some pretty spectacular co-headlining tours, such as Kiss and Motley Crue, and Aerosmith and Cheap Trick, and every time I’ve secretly wished that at the end of each show that each of the performing acts would get together and perform a song together.
However, I’ve always been left a little disappointed. And just when I thought that this show would end up the same way, Warrant pulled out the megahit “Cherry Pie”, to the screaming delight of the female audience members.
And suddenly walking onstage are the members of Trixter and Firehouse, who all manned their guitars and microphones, and performed alongside one another!
My wish had been granted! It was the perfect ending to an absolutely stunning concert. Trixter, FireHouse, and Warrant – who could ask for more?
GALLERY
