Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown, and The Factory Theatre, Marrickville.
Saturday, 5th April and Monday, 7th April respectively.
Score: Five out of five skulls.
American hard rock band Winger’s farewell tour with the original line-up, almost didn’t happen a while back, but once details were ironed out, the tour got traction. From there, the musician masterclass was looking all but certain until, on the very night of the Sydney show, a fire alarm set a temporary halt to proceedings. It was looking grim for a good twenty-four hours afterwards, but schedules were altered and with alternative arrangements in place, Sydney, got to enjoy the final tour from the original line up of Winger. In that light, this review spans events at two venues, with the first being for the support band, and the second for Winger, due to the aforementioned disruption.
The last time some of us caught Melbournians, Shotgun Mistress, was at the last and potentially final GlamFest. The band, formed by established death metal lead guitarist Matt Wilcock, has continued to improve in their sound, stage presence and overall delivery of strong hard rock material. Opening with “Save Me from Myself”, the fast groove guitar riffs, backed by David ‘Diamond’ Lee’s grounding drum work, and energetic bassist Ben Curnow, allowed front man Glenn Patrick’s falsetto vocals to soar. The driving funk and slightly Ratt sounding chorus filled “Sweet Woman” included plentiful soloing, and swift drum work, as did the boogie of “Pretty Little Thing”.
Their new single “Jude Judas” combined big chords with cymbal work and unison bends, whilst the fast paced “Shot Down” included scalar guitar solo lines and the song title yelled out as backing vocals, a regular hard rock staple. Pre-bends and muted fast guitar runs featured in “Devil in Disguise”, whilst “Mary Jane” was dedicated by Patrick to late Collegians’ band mate, guitarist Gerry Leigh, also from Invertigo, and Pseudo Echo. Another track from their newer album Kings of the Revolution was aired with the percussive, and pinch harmonic filled “From Hell” before the set was completed with the slicing guitar work of earlier Shotgun Mistress EP vocal driven track “Bleed Me Out” which also made use of fretboard octaves.
Sadly, as the excellent forty-minute warm-up set by Shotgun Mistress ended, the venue fire alarm klaxon suddenly went off, announcing to all and sundry to “please proceed to the nearest exit and evacuate in an orderly manner.” We then all stood outside the Manning Bar, across the road, as fire trucks arrived, firemen went about their business, police appeared, and ironically, fireworks went off somewhere nearby. All of us soon came to the uneasy revelation that we were not going back into the venue to see Winger tonight.
Fast forward to well within forty-eight hours, and Silverback touring and Winger had come up with a solution in the form of a make-up show on a Monday night, at a different venue, with an early start. So, it came to be that most of us who could do so, rocked up to The Factory Theatre to continue our Winger show adventure, sans a support band on this occasion. It really was remarkable and a testament to the dedication of the promoter, band and crew to make this all happen whilst the band were on-ground.
For those who saw Winger in 2007, that prior co-headlining tour with Ratt had some content from Winger’s varied album, IV. Tonight though, the setlist instead dug mostly into the first couple of albums [Winger and In the Heart of the Young], with a couple of tracks each from their third album, Pull and from most recent release Seven, plus a track each from Karma and Better Days Comin’. So, it was a pretty decent and broad set list, bulked up with some solo spots, and a track from co-songwriting lead guitarist Reb Beach’s solo album, A View from the Inside. On paper, it looked promising, live it was better; astoundingly good.
The stage set consisted of a large yellow letter outlined Winger backdrop behind a centrally located riser housing a single kick drum kit, with several cymbals, dual floor toms, and other components, flanked by a backline of two Marshall stacks at stage right, and one Marshall stack and an Ampeg bass head and cabinet at stage left, a keyboard rig at stage right, four microphones across the front of the stage, alongside foldback wedges. So, this was a rock show with old school amplifiers in use, partially combined with some digital gear. Although Beach simply had a few pedals to bolster his guitar direct to amplifier sound.
As introductory marching and keyboard wash sounds filled the venue over the PA, it was time for Winger, who wandered onstage to take up their positions to widespread applause. Kicking off with “Stick the Knife in and Twist” from Seven, frontman, and bassist, Kip Winger’s vocal strength was immediately evident, backed by the strong harmony vocals of Beach, and co-guitarists John Roth, and Paul Taylor. It was a solid hard rock opener, with powerful drumming from Rod Morgenstein. As would be a trend in the show, when one song completed, Winger generally launched straight into the next track, in this case, their MTV dominating hit of the era, “Seventeen”, with Beach to unleashing one of many virtuoso guitar solos on his signature Koa wood Suhr guitar, chock full of finger tapping figures, tremolo picking, and scalar runs. The groove of “Can’t Get Enuff” from In the Heart of the Young, let Taylor take up his keyboard parts, against more backing vocals, Beach’s whammy purrs, and Kip Winger’s vocal projection.
The rhythmic pulse of “Down Incognito” from Pull used chain hitting sounds from Morgenstein, with a heavier guitar approach overall, some howling, blues-tinged soloing from Roth, and Beach briefly on harmonica. Kip alternated between fingerstyle bass and plectrum use with ease, flicking the odd plectrum out into the eager crowd. Beach tended to hand his plectrums to some of the lucky fans, keen for a plastic branded souvenir. The band were so tight that they were able to jump between various song sections and pace changes without missing a beat. Kip then introduced Roth who proceeded to let rip with some impressive Arkansas based chicken picking, combining both hands with speed and precision. Kip subsequently introduced Taylor who wrote “Miles Away” from In the Heart of the Young, and the band performance was the biggest singalong of the night. Harmony vocals and power ballad song construction that resolved to a chorus included the audience singing the chorus back to the band.
In the Heart of the Young material continued with the borderline fusion level musicianship “Rainbow in the Rose”, which also demonstrated Winger’s skilful yet judicious use of key changes that in this case was simply an effective half step lift, with the song concluding with extended and emotive outro soloing from Beach. His facial expressions varied from amusing to fully invested in performance, but his note choices and execution of technique never overshadowed his sense of melody. Even his guitar solo spot, which had elements of guitar athleticism, and a mastery of just about every guitar technique possible, combined melody within the flashiness, where repeated climbing phrases and screaming harmonics and trills effortlessly landed in the next song riff, with a rendition of his own track “Black Magic”, backed up by Roth temporarily borrowing Kip’s bass guitar for the duration of the instrumental guitar masterclass.
Kip returned to discuss some career songwriting anecdotes, and industry truths, before the heavier track, “Pull Me Under” from Karma roared out of the gate, led by Beach with his ferocious riff borne out of songwriting frustrations. The pedalling driving rock had added keyboard melody lines and another face ripping guitar solo from Beach, leading straight into the debut album, chordal riff driven “Time to Surrender”, kicked off with a whammy flutter on a harmonic from Beach. The guitar solo, played by Taylor here, was not strict to the record on this track, with the rhythm figure building the track powerfully. Coming to an abrupt stop, Morgenstein’s drum solo segment was accompanied by some pre-recorded guitar and bass instrumental works, which provided drum accent points to riffs, with various fills following finger tapping passages. Some piano aspects allowed for fusion style cymbal works, drum rolls, and some wacky time signatures.
Sporting a charcoal lacquered Fender Stratocaster for a couple of tracks, Beach gave some higher register guitar lines, and power chords to Better Days Comin’ track “Midnight Driver of a Love Machine”, a largely vocal driven track with chordal stabs, snarling vocals from Kip, and some high tapping passages from Beach before reprising the opening guitar line figure. “Proud Desperado” from Seven had a chant vibe, against the keyboard and guitar linked riff, over a pulsing rhythm section. The song’s melodic chorus, and harmony vocal lines integrated, with the odd sing line from Kip repeated by Beach for song effect.
After some banter and expressions of gratitude, debut album track “Headed for a Heartbreak”, with Beach resuming use of his Suhr guitar, and Kip switching to a headset microphone, gave the latter more mobility for a song performance that was a set highlight. The song’s slow pace opened up for intricate guitar and drum parts, and the power chords got the audience in key, to singalong heartily. Beach’s solo was superb, delving into fusion stylings, and sections with a distinct Steve Vai feel, consisting of speed runs, pulled up notes to wide vibrato, and legato tapping runs. The solid hard rock of “Easy Come Easy Go” let Kip slap hands with audience members across the stage and saw Beach almost trip backwards over his foldback wedge, and laugh at himself, continuing with backing vocals duties.
To complete the main set, drum parts and handclaps with call and response vocals from Kip mirroring part of the song, ushered in “Madalaine”. It’s simple but effective song that utilises a tone and a half key change lift in the chorus, compared to the verses, and also allowed for Beach’s soloing excursions, ranging between more tapping, and blues scale-based soloing, before reprising the introduction riff. Rounding this off was a brief three guitar trade off and harmonising interlude, with Taylor, Roth and Beach standing side by side, with Beach throwing in a dash of finger picking prowess.
Encore time included the added bonus of a rare live performance of Pull track “No Man’s Land” with driving chordal rhythm sections and whip fast pentatonic soloing phrases, with the usual impeccable harmony vocals. The orchestrated keys introduced this evening’s final track of “Hungry” which again, uses pre-chorus builds to the chorus, then employs a bridge to allow Beach’s soloing over the chorus rhythm figure. As the audience sang along, probably oblivious to why Winger’s song constructions work so effectively, the song concluded to a bombastic end, and a sea of happy faces content in finally seeing Winger deliver, better than expected, despite hurdles of getting to this point.
Winger delivered an absolute musician’s masterclass that was accessible to a wide audience, with no sense of musical pretension in their demeanour at all. A totally mesmerising live band well worth observing up close, and in a club environment. A rare treat, which is sadly probably never to be repeated. Brilliant.
Set List:
Stick the Knife in and Twist
Seventeen
Can’t Get Enuff
Down Incognito
Guitar Solo (John Roth)
Miles Away
Rainbow in the Rose
Guitar Solo (Reb Beach)
Black Magic
Pull Me Under
Time to Surrender
Drum Solo
Midnight Driver of a Love Machine
Proud Desperado
Headed for a Heartbreak
Easy Come Easy Go
Madalaine
Saints Solos
Encore:
No Man’s Land
Hungry.