As promised, the August newsletter is all about my trip to Pryor, Oklahoma for the first annual ROCKLAHOMA Music Festival. (I say “my” trip as one of us had to stay behind and mind the store during our busiest month of the year…Amy H drew the short straw.)

“IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PARTY!!!”

That is pretty much the theme of the weekend. My friend Leann & I made it into Pryor by early Thursday afternoon so we would have time to get our campsite set up and be at the stage in time for my favorite Kiss tribute band, the KISS ARMY. We got to the venue in time to hook up with our old friend CHAD STEWART, drummer for FASTER PUSSYCAT and LA GUNS as well as Thursday’s MC. With his help we got back stage and saw some more old friends, the boys from BANG TANGO and CHIP Z'NUFF. We caught the KISS ARMY as they were heading to the stage and said some quick hellos, and then we headed back out so that Leann could get the full effect of the show. She has never the seen these guys & was just blown away by them. After a great show, we headed backstage where we hung out with Yio, Doug, Brian & Steve of the ARMY. Thanks guys!

We ran into Steven Adler on his way to the stage to join the all star band currently jamming. It consisted of JOE LESTE, TRACII GUNS, CHIP Z'NUFF, CHAD STEWART, MICHAEL THOMAS, & STEVEN ADLER popped in for a few GNR tunes.

After the show, we all went upstairs for an after party with all the bands that had already arrived for the weekend and at some point EDDIE TRUNK from VH1 arrived. We had an awesome time. Regrettably, I did not get any pictures form the first night except for the KISS ARMY show.

But, on the upside, we had a blast hanging out with the KISS ARMY, BANG TANGO and, of course, CHAD. 

THE HIGHLIGHTS...

Friday dawned early & hot!!! We had some time to kill as the first show we wanted to see was WHITE LION at 4pm, who looked and sounded good, by the way. This was my first WL experience. Made me wish they had managed to stay on the RATT/POISON tour.  Y&T was very enjoyable, playing their most recognizable songs, “Mean Streak”, “Lipstick & Leather” & “Summertime Girls”. SLAUGHTER totally blew me away. MARK SLAUGHTER is HOT and sounded amazing. QUIET RIOT, I have to admit, put on one hell of a show. They had the crowd on there feet. RATT was up next with a nice old school set. I love hearing “Sweet Cheater” and “Back For More”. Friday night conclude with the usual polished set from POISON. Every time I see them, it's a good time. They always sound and look good, and were a great close to a rockin’ first day of the festival.

DAY TWO...

Saturday started off nice and hot once again. With the heat what it was (as in hotter than hell), our daytime routine became: watch a set, head to the VIP tent for air conditioning, food and water, then head to the next show. The best investment of the weekend, aside from the two battery-operated fans, was the 32 oz souvenir mug, which, during the day was filled with water, and when the sun went down, switched to beer. It was also informative as it listed the schedule for the entire weekend! Because of the heat, we did not make it to every show. You just had to be there to understand how hot it really was. Taking breaks was a must.

So, during the day we did a little pickin' & choosin' on the sets to watch. We got up early to catch one of my favorites, BANG TANGO who went on just before noon. They performed an awesome set and STEVEN ADLER jumped in for a few GNR covers. The crowd definitely wanted more of JOE and the boys, but in trying to keep to a very tight schedule, they were told to wrap it up.

We missed seeing BULLET BOYS, but could hear them from inside the tent and they sounded amazing. We ventured back out to catch another favorite of mine, FASTER PUSSYCAT with my friend CHAD on drums. This turned out to be a pretty short set. Someone held up a sign that said something along the lines of "f**k Brent". This led to a bit of a rant on TAIME DOWN’s part over the on going feud between himself and BRENT MUSCAT (former FP guitarist). Contrary to the rumor that there was some kind of an issue between DOWN and another member of the band, the set was actually cut short by the Rocklahoma staff trying to get back on schedule, and an apparent technical difficulty with a blown amp.  Sorry, not the drama everyone was trying to hype up!

I finally got to see E'NUFF Z' NUFF (Chip Znuff is an “old friend”) and really liked it. FIREHOUSE was up next and put on a great show as always. We did skip a couple of bands based on the fact that the original lead singers are no longer with them. So, I kind of napped through WARRANT and SKID ROW. I heard good and bad comments about both. I had to keep my priorities straight, and with the heat and excitement, rest and recuperation were high on the list. I had to rest up for the highly anticipated evening ahead. On deck we had WINGER, DOKKEN and Saturday’s headliner, VINCE NEIL. KIP(Winger) sounded good, nothing real exciting in the set though. It was kind of cute when he sang “she’s only 35" instead of 17. DOKKEN blasted through their set. Hadn't seen them in years and thought it was great. I had been waiting all day for VINCE’S set with excitement mixed with a little anxiety. Anyone who is a fan of Motley Crue and Vince Neil knows that you never know what you are going to get from VINCE on any given night. Well, I have to tell you, ROCKLAHOMA got the awesome Vince! He looks terrific. I am a huge MOTLEY CRUE and loved every minute. I had heard a rumor that NIKKI SIXX was at the show. Well, if he was there, he didn't play. DAMN!!! I was still very happy with Vince's set. Up to that point, I would have to say that he had the biggest, rowdiest crowd.

DAY THREE...

Sunday morning arrived with no relief from the brutal heat in sight. With mixed emotion we pondered the thought…”Rocklahoma is almost over.” As much fun as it was, the thought of sleeping in a bed was becoming more and more inviting. At this point we have packed up our gear, which took a bit longer than anticipated so we missed RHINO BUCKET, who I had really wanted to see. We did get there in time for a really good STEELHEART set. MILJENKO MATIJEVIC (he goes by Mike now) still has incredible pipes. I was able to watch this set from back stage and I could see that the crowd was really into it. Up next was the TRACII GUNS rendition of LA GUNS, with PAUL BLACK on vocals. Unfortunately, I didn't make it thru the whole set. From what I hear, I missed all the big hits. I did enjoy what I heard though.  Sorry Chad!! You know I love you!!!

We also missed GREAT WHITE who featured guest vocalist JANI LANE. Initially the plan was to hit the road after TWISTED SISTER, but due to a scheduling malfunction our plans quickly changed. We made it back in time to watch some of JACKYL. At this point they were behind by an entire band. QUEENSRYCHE was scheduled for 7 PM, but didn't go on until 9pm.  As usual QUEENSRYCHE sounded amazing. They always do. From the first time I saw them back in the mid 80's opening for KISS, I have always thought that they are one of the few bands that sound as technically correct as their albums. Though they sounded tight as ever, I was a bit disappointed in the set list. I had hoped to hear the early (what I consider the best) stuff off of the EP and THE WARNING, but had to settle for only song from either, “Take Hold of the Flame”. The real highlight of the day was TWISTED SISTER. Back in the 80's I had tickets to see them, along with RATT & MAMA'S BOYS, but DEE SNIDER was sick and didn't play. So this was one of the few bands I had never seen. WOW!!!! What a freakin' awesome show. SNIDER has a great sense of humor and they even pulled off a Christmas song in July, which turned out to be one of my favorite performances. They played everything you would want to hear.

I could go on into lots of detail about all of the shows, but my over all opinion of the event is “I can't wait till next year"

THURSDAY JULY 12

GYPSY PISTOLEROS

LILLIAN AXE*

HOLLYWOOD ROSES

KISS ARMY*

ALL STAR JAM*

OFF BEAT ROAD

FRIDAY JULY 13

ZENDOZER

GREG LEON INVASION

WHITE LION*

Y&T*

SLAUGHTER*

QUIET RIOT*

RATT*

POISON*

SATURDAY JULY 14

36 INCHES

BANG TANGO*

BULLET BOYS

FASTER PUSSYCAT*

ENUFF Z'NUFF*

FIREHOUSE*

WARRANT

SKID ROW

WINGER*

DOKKEN*

VINCE NEIL*

SUNDAY JULY 15

SOUL RIDER

PEDAL POINT

BRITNY FOX

STEELHEART*

LA GUNS*

GREAT WHITE

JACKYL*

QUEENSRYCHE*

TWISTED SISTER*

Some time on Friday, I think, DIRTY PENNY played and RHINO BUCKET played on Sunday morning.