Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Guns N’ Roses have been hailed and assailed as everything from rock ‘n’ roll’s messiahs to self-indulgent spoiled brats living out a hedonistic fantasy. They are musicians whose musical justification always has packed a stronger punch than the convoluted interviews they don’t readily grant anymore.
Creating a euphoric version of rock ‘n’ roll that relied on equal parts acid house, hard rock and Beatlesque melodies, Jesus Jones’ performance Saturday night at the Vic Theatre embodied what rock music once was all about. Foregoing the hackneyed formats of its sample-crazed colleagues, Jesus Jones – a five-man band from London – deftly demonstrated that with a little ingenuity, artists can borrow from the past without committing an artistic crime. Jesus Jones is not the savior of contemporary rock ‘n’ roll, but the group has proven that using the musical past is no sin if it’s the way to a better future.
After six years of playing to seemingly the same small group of fans, Chris Isaak made a triumphant return to Chicago, this time as a bonafide pop star. The Junk Monkeys also performed a show over the weekend that made up with power what it lacked in polish. The Junk Monkeys concert at the Avalon on Saturday night proved that while they have “speed pop” down to an art form, the young Detroit musicians would benefit from varying their sets to showcase some of their non-thrash-style songs earlier in their gigs.
Everyone knew Chris Isaak would become a star. No one knew that it would take this long. Six years after being touted as the proverbial next big thing in rock ‘n’ roll, Isaak has fulfilled the prophecy of music critics and fans. With the release of his debut LP “Silvertone” in 1985, Isaak was pronounced as this generation’s answer to Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, all rolled into one neat, Brylcreemed package.
Despite a more than two hour delay in its concert, the absence of one of its members and some early mixing trouble, Deee-Lite performed a fun, musically diverse concert Sunday night at the Riviera that showed it has a lot more to offer than a stylishly retro look.
Is it an oxymoron to call a music video politically correct? Perhaps, but more rock bands are diversifying from the babes-in-bondage theme and opting for vignettes that might be (mis)interpreted as art. Following in the same vein as Van Halen’s “Right Now,” which superimposed socio-political phrases throughout its video, INXS is serving up “Beautiful Girl,” which the Australian band says is a tribute to women.
A few days before my 17th birthday in 1983, INXS was scheduled to play a 21-and-older show at the Park West, which left me in a quandary. On the one hand, I really wanted to check out this new band that had a sound like nothing I’d heard before. But I also was cowed by the fact that the only fake ID I had said I was 32. INXS won out.
The Kids in the Hall are comedy’s answer to matinee idols. In their native Canada, the young, smart and cute Kids attract groupies who would look at home at a Winger rock concert.
The Goo Goo Dolls make music loud enough to get a headache over, but melodic enough to dance to. But for all the noise the three-man Goos make onstage, their harmonies save them from being just another angry young group.
The Replacements made brilliant noise Saturday night at the Aragon Ballroom, performing a concert that was inspired in its unabashed celebration of music and unusual in its uncharacteristic professionalism. Their latest album, “All Shook Down,” may be a product of vocalist Paul Westerberg’s musical tastes, but at the Replacements’ concert, each member had his turn in the spotlight. The Aragon’s muddled acoustics make most artists sound foreign, and Westerberg’s raspy vocals at times fell victim to the venue.