STREET OF DREAMS
Joe Lynn Turner at Whisky and LA Rock Review party at Viper Room
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., USA — It was a big Friday night on the Sunset Strip, as Joe Lynn Turner headlined at the Whisky on May 28, while across the street at the Viper Room, old fanzine L.A. Rock Review magazine was celebrating its first-ever reunion as Inger Lorre of the Nymphs, Motorcycle Boy, the Hangmen and Knucklehead all performed.
Turner is going to be 65 this coming August, and the old guy still has it. Best known for his successful stint in prog rock champions Rainbow, the shaggy-haired singer was spot-on for most of the Rainbow classics like “Street of Dreams,” “Stone Cold” and of course “Man On The Silver Mountain.”
Turner is also known for being in Deep Purple and Yngwie Malsteem’s Rising Force, so we got those songs, too, and the Deep Purple selections worked particularly well. Then again, how can “Smoke On The Water” NOT go well? The riff remains amazingly catchy to this day, some 44 years since the song’s release in 1972.
There was a nice crowd on hand, especially when you consider Mr. Turner did not go on until about midnight, and the Whisky contingent was treated to an exceptional group of backing musicians with Steve Brown (Trixter/Def Leppard) on guitar, Sean McNabb (Quiet Riot/Dokken) on bass, Matt Starr (Ace Frehley/Mr. Big) on drums, and Eric Ragno (The Babys/London) on keys.
Brown has always been underrated, though his brief stint helping out Def Leppard surely raised his star. He showed good feel and good technique, and it’s no easy task playing the part of Ritchie Blackmore.
The ever-versatile McNabb always fits in well, and he was locked in well with hard-hitting (and aptly named) Starr, who was keeping the beat and playing on volume 10.
Heaven & Earth guitarist Stuart Smith was enjoying the proceedings — so much so that he got caught up in the moment on “Smoke On The Water” and strapped on a guitar to join in, as did Heaven & Earth singer Joe Retta.
“Jealous Lover,” “Highway Star,” “Burn.” Nearly every song was familiar, and at our age, that’s just the way it should be.
Or as Turner put it: “It’s all the songs people want to hear.”
Promoter Jake Perry was holding court backstage with assorted celebs.
“I haven’t been here in Los Angeles for a long time, so I enjoyed this a hell of a lot,” Turner said. “Especially doing the Rainbow stuff. I haven’t done this in years.”
The support act was The Hard Way, led by singer Eric Jeffreys, who as usual brought along a couple of stripper-style dancers who served to give the performance an extra dimension.
Some of the songs The Hard Way played were “I Can See You Lying,” “All I Have” and “That Ain’t Love.”
Meanwhile, there were a lot of old-time rock scribes at the L.A. Rock Review fest, notably founder Kelly Q and fellow ex-staffers A.J. Hunter, Janet Dominick and “Sweet Polly Purebred,” in addition to ex-Rock City News columnist Marky De Sade and ex-Rip magazine reporter Bruce Duff.
“What a great night. After 28 years, this brought back a lot of memories,” Dominick said. “We definitely lived a wild and crazy life, and L.A. Rock Review was such a great newspaper.”
Gerry G with Kelly Q from L.A. Rock Review
Chas West practices sign language backstage
Knucklehead
Gerry Gittelson can be reached at gerryg123@hotmail.com
