Thursday, 2nd June, 2011
Holy feckin rock n roll !!! I knew Cinderella would rock it, but honestly this has got to be one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to! I’ve not screamed like that since I was 15 or 16.
Let’s back up a bit to the start of the night: The opening act, Hurtsmile, were amazing – They were pumped up and full of energy, just what you need to get a crowd going! A lot of the lyrics were politically-oriented, and the music was nice and heavy. I was standing there wondering who these guys were and why the singer was such a phenomenal performer when it dawned on me this guy was Gary fucking Cherone! You might know him better as the frontman for Extreme (and also Van Halen, for a bit). WOW!! Hurtsmile even did covers of “Without You” (Van Halen) and “Hole Hearted” (Extreme), and finished the show with an absolutely electric rendition of their own “Jesus Would You Meet Me.”
So after a short wait, Cinderella took the stage, and the rest of the night was a blur of utter heavy metal ecstasy! No I am joking, but it’s not far from the truth… Tom Keifer and Jeff LaBar are both in tip top shape, and there was no shortage of duelling guitar solos! Tom’s voice is sounding better than ever!
They jumped right into “Once Around the Ride” first thing, just to get us all warmed up for “Shake Me” up next! Oh man, I can’t believe I waited so long to see them! A highlight of the night was definitely “Night Songs” – When that intro came in everybody knew what was coming, and soon there was a forest of hands in the air throwing devil horns up to the beat! YEAH MAN! Tom played at least 6 different guitars throughout the night, also played the saxophone, sat down at the piano for “Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone”, and finally, the lads bid us farewell with the classic heavy ballad “Nobody’s Fool”… a gem of a tune – Surely some of us could’ve broken a vocal chord singing along so passionately!
The band sounded incredible, the crowd was loving it, everyone was singing along – I have absolutely no complaints! It was the kind of show that reminds you why you go to shows in the first place. I didn’t want it to end!
Nice one, Cinderella! See you next time for sure!! \m/
Here’s a great video from the night that I found on youtube:
And just for fun, here’s “Hole Hearted” by Extreme:
Cinderella website: http://www.cinderella.net
Hurtsmile website: http://www.hurtsmile.com
