In the midnight hour, she cried

Tesla concert. Last night. Showbox SODO. Crappy venue. Opening band Cinder Road. Mostly bland. Kickass cover of Rebel Yell.

Watch it:



Not much to say about Tesla, except that they suffer from the same problem as Def Leppard. Years of hard partying have really taken their toll on singer Jeff Keith's voice. He sounded awful and hoarse, and butchered most of the songs. He said he was getting over a bad flu. If the flu was the cause of his horrid voice they should have postponed the show. But my guess is that the band just wanted to recapture their 80s glory and make some money for their retirement and figured that the 80s fans would hear the songs in their head the way they were supposed to sound. And somehow he and Lily Tomlin have morphed into the same person. Very strange.

On a bright note, the guitarists were pretty incredible, yet again. They have honed their skills to perfection and played a variety of songs to prove it: country, rock, metal, and even a little Spanish-sounding stuff a la Gipsy Kings that segued nicely into my favorite Tesla song, "Love Song". But the illusion was shattered when Jeff started singing. Blech.

Did I miss the memo about metal bands jumping on the flag-waving "support the troops" bandwagon? I'm all for quietly respecting the sacrifices our military makes for our country but it makes me slightly nauseous when my entertainment waves its politics at me. And then performs awful songs about it. Each band had its own new crappy song about a soldier at war.

If you want a good political statement song, try "Deja Vu (All Over Again)" by John Fogerty. Now that's a good war song.