Winger - Glasgow - O2 ABC2 - Tuesday 17 June 2014
I have a guilty secret. I am an avid fan of '80’s Hair Metal'!
To the uninitiated, '80,s Hair Metal' arose from the 70,s glam rock scene , borrowing heavily from the aesthetic and combining hard rock riffs with catchy hooks and a pop sensibility. It mainly centred around 'Sunset Strip' in Los Angeles and its pioneers included Poison, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Cinderella and (early) Guns n Roses.
Although hugely popular at the time, the 90,s brought the Seattle based 'grunge' scene, headed by 'Nirvana' and their stripped down aesthetic and darker sound made the excesses of the 'hair metal' scene seem redundant overnight. Bands who had been playing stadium gigs to tens of thousands of fans quickly disappeared into obscurity and have only recently resurfaced , post rehab , back playing small club and theatre gigs, thanks in part, to the success of 'spoof' hair metal bands such as (the awesome) Steel Panther.
Rock history has not been kind to 'hair metal' and it is probably the most derided of all the rock genres. It is also fair to say that within this genre, 'Winger' is one of the most derided bands made infamous in the MTV series Beavis and Butt-head through douche-bag neighbour Stewart wearing his Winger T-shirt. Even 'back in the day', I was not a huge Winger fan however I was a fan of their guitar player. Reb Beach was cool as fuck. All of the things I liked in a guitar player - a 'two handed tapping' demon, a whammy bar abusing maniac, a fast legato playing, cool looking bastard. So it was with this in mind, that I rocked up to the O2 ABC in Glasgow to see Winger (or should I say Reb), not really expecting too much, but looking forward to witnessing some guitar histrionics. I have to say, I was impressed!
First of all, they, thankfully, sport a more grown up look these days. Not a sign of a perm and not even a hint of eye liner. On this hot night in Glasgow sweat seems to drip from the ceiling and following the support sets by Blackwolf and JettBlack most of the crowd are pumped by the time Winger take to the stage. Unfortunately, I only caught the end of Blackwolf but was more than impressed with the energy, versatility and songs of Jettblack.
I have a guilty secret. I am an avid fan of '80’s Hair Metal'!
To the uninitiated, '80,s Hair Metal' arose from the 70,s glam rock scene , borrowing heavily from the aesthetic and combining hard rock riffs with catchy hooks and a pop sensibility. It mainly centred around 'Sunset Strip' in Los Angeles and its pioneers included Poison, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Cinderella and (early) Guns n Roses.
Although hugely popular at the time, the 90,s brought the Seattle based 'grunge' scene, headed by 'Nirvana' and their stripped down aesthetic and darker sound made the excesses of the 'hair metal' scene seem redundant overnight. Bands who had been playing stadium gigs to tens of thousands of fans quickly disappeared into obscurity and have only recently resurfaced , post rehab , back playing small club and theatre gigs, thanks in part, to the success of 'spoof' hair metal bands such as (the awesome) Steel Panther.
Rock history has not been kind to 'hair metal' and it is probably the most derided of all the rock genres. It is also fair to say that within this genre, 'Winger' is one of the most derided bands made infamous in the MTV series Beavis and Butt-head through douche-bag neighbour Stewart wearing his Winger T-shirt. Even 'back in the day', I was not a huge Winger fan however I was a fan of their guitar player. Reb Beach was cool as fuck. All of the things I liked in a guitar player - a 'two handed tapping' demon, a whammy bar abusing maniac, a fast legato playing, cool looking bastard. So it was with this in mind, that I rocked up to the O2 ABC in Glasgow to see Winger (or should I say Reb), not really expecting too much, but looking forward to witnessing some guitar histrionics. I have to say, I was impressed!
First of all, they, thankfully, sport a more grown up look these days. Not a sign of a perm and not even a hint of eye liner. On this hot night in Glasgow sweat seems to drip from the ceiling and following the support sets by Blackwolf and JettBlack most of the crowd are pumped by the time Winger take to the stage. Unfortunately, I only caught the end of Blackwolf but was more than impressed with the energy, versatility and songs of Jettblack.
Winger opened with 'Midnight Driver',
quickly followed by two of their staples - 'EZ Come' and 'Hungry' and first
impressions were that this was a well oiled rock machine. The band, excellent musicians
in their own right, sound extremely good together. As the sweat continues to
drip, Winger continue to belt out the fan favourites with ‘Stone Cold Killer’, ‘Miles
Away’ and ‘Can’t Get Enough’ all appearing to please the crowd immensely.
As the set progresses, Kip introduces new single ‘Rat Race’ and shouts out something along the lines of ‘where is the light in this place…I can’t even see my guitar’. Between songs Kip enjoys banter with the crowd informing us he loves the Scottish accent but can’t understand a word of what we are saying. A reveler down the front shouts for ‘Madalaine’ and the band oblige. With the song demands continuing through the night, Kip tears up the set list and introduces another song to the delight of those requesting it. After a couple of solos and crowd members joining the band on-stage, ‘Seventeen’ brings the sweaty set to an end. This is a band who knows how to please a crowd!
Winger sounded dynamite, and repeating something which I have seen at gigs similar to this, they still 'look' like a big band onstage. They have that comfortable swagger which hints that they have played in front of audiences hundreds of times bigger than this one (their recent Download appearance being an example of this).
Reb Beach still has his chops and has a vast array of orgasm/constipation' faces to accompany his solos whilst Rod Morgenstein (drums) and John Roth (guitar) are excellent technicians with both displaying their skills in their solo spots. The biggest surprise for me though, was Kip Winger. The eponymous front man/bassist was a revelation. I always thought that he was a bit of a 'doofus' and a pretty boy front man. In truth, he was excellent! A top notch front man with a quality rock voice and a real talent for making at least a dozen people leave that night having had their 'moment with him'
Starting with simple things such as passing the mic to some people at the front to allow them to sing a chorus, to bringing a girl onstage to dance with him and culminating in bringing a local lad Paul Logue up to play his bass on a song. All the while with an attitude and smile that suggested that this was the best audience and the best venue he had ever played. He ended the night high fiving most of the audience, signing autographs and passing out his spare picks as treasured momemtos. Reb, on the otherhand, who I had been hovering near all night with the hope of getting a pick for my collection, disappeared at the end holding onto his pick as if it was made of gold. The crowd, made up from mostly 'fortysomethings' loved them.
It would be fair to say that everyone is probably about 25 pounds heavier from when Winger first entertained us back in the 80s, with some men losing their hair and some women appearing to have gained some. That said, on this hot sweaty night in Glasgow, those in attendance were able to relive the ‘old days’ and perhaps forget they now had kids and mortgages.
In a nutshell, I am glad to get the chance to see all of my favourite rock bands again, this time in smaller, more intimate, club settings and will be keeping an eye out for Winger returning to our shores, but next time I am going to see Kip!
Words: Des Ross (with Bazza Mills)
As the set progresses, Kip introduces new single ‘Rat Race’ and shouts out something along the lines of ‘where is the light in this place…I can’t even see my guitar’. Between songs Kip enjoys banter with the crowd informing us he loves the Scottish accent but can’t understand a word of what we are saying. A reveler down the front shouts for ‘Madalaine’ and the band oblige. With the song demands continuing through the night, Kip tears up the set list and introduces another song to the delight of those requesting it. After a couple of solos and crowd members joining the band on-stage, ‘Seventeen’ brings the sweaty set to an end. This is a band who knows how to please a crowd!
Winger sounded dynamite, and repeating something which I have seen at gigs similar to this, they still 'look' like a big band onstage. They have that comfortable swagger which hints that they have played in front of audiences hundreds of times bigger than this one (their recent Download appearance being an example of this).
Reb Beach still has his chops and has a vast array of orgasm/constipation' faces to accompany his solos whilst Rod Morgenstein (drums) and John Roth (guitar) are excellent technicians with both displaying their skills in their solo spots. The biggest surprise for me though, was Kip Winger. The eponymous front man/bassist was a revelation. I always thought that he was a bit of a 'doofus' and a pretty boy front man. In truth, he was excellent! A top notch front man with a quality rock voice and a real talent for making at least a dozen people leave that night having had their 'moment with him'
Starting with simple things such as passing the mic to some people at the front to allow them to sing a chorus, to bringing a girl onstage to dance with him and culminating in bringing a local lad Paul Logue up to play his bass on a song. All the while with an attitude and smile that suggested that this was the best audience and the best venue he had ever played. He ended the night high fiving most of the audience, signing autographs and passing out his spare picks as treasured momemtos. Reb, on the otherhand, who I had been hovering near all night with the hope of getting a pick for my collection, disappeared at the end holding onto his pick as if it was made of gold. The crowd, made up from mostly 'fortysomethings' loved them.
It would be fair to say that everyone is probably about 25 pounds heavier from when Winger first entertained us back in the 80s, with some men losing their hair and some women appearing to have gained some. That said, on this hot sweaty night in Glasgow, those in attendance were able to relive the ‘old days’ and perhaps forget they now had kids and mortgages.
In a nutshell, I am glad to get the chance to see all of my favourite rock bands again, this time in smaller, more intimate, club settings and will be keeping an eye out for Winger returning to our shores, but next time I am going to see Kip!
Words: Des Ross (with Bazza Mills)