Michael Schenker Fest touring USA/Montreal

[Dan Roth]

This looks like a pretty cool tour:

Soon, lucky North American fans will get the chance to experience all eras of MSG, on a nearby concert stage. What makes this tour truly unique is that it is being billed as Michael Schenker Fest, and will be featuring three classic Michael Schenker Group vocalists (Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet, and Robin McAuley), plus the singer of Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock (Doogie White). And in addition to Schenker supplying guitar, he will be joined by second guitarist/keyboardist Steve Mann, bassist Chris Glen, and drummer Ted McKenna.



It also looks like all of these singers contributed to the new Michael Schenker Fest album, Resurrection:

[SteveSly]

That would be a very cool show. Wish they would add a southwest Michigan date in between Detroit and Chicago.

[spellbound]

This would be very cool to see, if I can afford tickets and can make the 400 mile drive to Las Vegas. Last time I saw Michael Schenker was in 1974 when he was in UFO. I have kept up with his music in the meantime, and know he still puts on a hell of a show.

[Jerjo]

Thirty minutes from Osaka show - amazing Michael can bring it after all the ups and downs he's seen

[ronmac]

So, I missed seeing UFO way back in the day after getting busted for underage drinking. (Long story)

I finally got a chance to see him several years ago at a local church that was converted to a night club. The sound was so terrible that you could hear everything EXCEPT the guitar. Major disappointment. Luckily, that shit-hole of a club closed their doors.

So, I'm going to see this one for sure.

[markduff]

ronmac,

Is the Carnegie Music Hall the old Stanley Theater?

Thank you.

[ronmac]

ronmac,

Is the Carnegie Music Hall the old Stanley Theater?

Thank you.

Nope. It's in a different part of town outside of the city limits in Homestead, not far from the Homestead Waterworks. This one is not to be confused with the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.

The Stanley Theater (at one time considered the best concert venue in the country) is now the Benedum Theater.

[notallwhowander]

Thirty minutes from Osaka show - amazing Michael can bring it after all the ups and downs he's seen

You know, I never got into this guy (mainly because I've been out of the loop in regards to MSG), but damn!

[Dan Roth]

Another new song from Schenker's new album - Heart and Soul (feat. Robin McAuley & Kirk Hammett):

[ronmac]

Got my tickets for Pittsburgh!

[ronmac]

Saw the show last night. Man can he play. He was unbelievable. Not real thrilled with all the singers coming in and out. The first two were not very good (old guys still trying to wail). Then there were songs where they all sang, which were hit and miss. He's playing a full 2-1/2 hours. I think if he cut 30 minutes of the mediocre stuff, it would kill.

All that being said, all eyes were on Michael and nobody went home feeling cheated.

[Gruno]

Not real thrilled with all the singers coming in and out. The first two were not very good (old guys still trying to wail).

How was Robin McAuley?

[Jerjo]

How was Michael's tone? Still fab?

[ronmac]

How was Robin McAuley?

He sounded really good. He's a bit too glammy in his getup for my taste, but he hit every note, from what I could tell. Note a huge fan of that period, though.

Doogie White, his current singer, also sounded fantastic.

[ronmac]

How was Michael's tone? Still fab?

Really great. His playing was impeccable.

[Gruno]

He sounded really good. He's a bit too glammy in his getup for my taste, but he hit every note, from what I could tell. Note a huge fan of that period, though.

Doogie White, his current singer, also sounded fantastic.

The only Schenker-era I like is the McAuley era, so I'm glad he was on. I've seen McAuley sing a few years ago and he was good, so I was curious if he could still bring it. Love the glammy look, so that works for me!

I saw Schenker with the UFO Reunion/Walk On Water Tour in the mid 90s (1996?); front row and directly in front of Schenker -- that guy is great!

[ronmac]

From the show I saw on Wednesday:



He really goes to town at about the 3:30 mark onward. We were about 15 feet in front of him.

[JJ88]

Nothing much to add other than I'm glad how much he's turned things around over the last ten years or so. A terrific player when 'on'- Strangers In The Night is full of such moments but I also think of a slightly lesser-known track like 'Try Me' on Lights Out, his playing on the ending of that track is quite something.

[ronmac]

his playing on the ending of that track is quite something.

Anyone who's interested can jump to about the 3:30 mark. He was like that all night and played impeccably.

[profusion]

I had to miss the D.C. show on this tour, and I'm still pissed off about it; I adore the first four MSG albums and would have loved to see both Barden and Bonnett singing with Schenker.

[GuitarGeek]

SPOILER WARNING!!!!


Saw the show last night in Cleveland. It was awesome! I thought all four vocalists sounded great. To be honest, I'm really only familiar with the Gary Barden era, essentially just the songs on One Night At Budokan, the great double live album that followed the second MSG record.

The show I saw was 2 hours, 40 minutes (less a couple minutes, between end of main set and encore).

Each vocalist basically did a half hour, plus coming and backing up the other singers. For instance, during Gary Barden's portion, Robin McAuley came on and sang a bit in the middle of Attack Of The Mad Axe Man. During Graham Bonnett's part of the show, Barden and McCauley sang back up on a couple songs. And so on

BTW, Gary's part of the show basically consisted of side one of Live At Budokan, plus Into The Arena and a new song called Messin' Around.

The last 40 minutes of the show was all UFO songs, with the various singers taking turns sing a verse a piece one each song. The main set ended with a (I think) 15 minute version of Rock Bottom. Then a roadie or stage manager comes on and asks if we want to hear one more song. Then the band came on and do:

Doctor Doctor
Natural Thing
Shoot Shoot
Lights Out

On Lights On, each singer sang one stanza

As for Herr Michael's guitar tone, it sounded great, as much as I could hear up in the balcony of the Agora (the only there was to sit down). Interestingly, he had a pedalboard onstage, with a wah wah pedal, and what appeared to be several Boss pedals, but I don't think I saw him touch any of them even once. And he used, i think, four different guitars, all of them Dean's: a black and white V (similar to the colour scheme on his favorite Gibson, the one he's smashing across the window of the Mercedes on the cover of Built To Destroy), white one with small black lighting bolts, a red and black V, and the fourth one was black with some kind of artwork that I was unable to discern.

I don't think it's the original but, the bass Chris Glen was playing looked like the one he's playing on the cover of One Night At Budokan (as I recall, the Budokan bass had a Gibson style pickup in the neck position, along with P and J style pickups in the middle and bridge positions, but the one he had last night looked like it just had the P and J pickups).

On two songs, Glen played a bass that looked like one pf John Entwistle's Alembic basses with the cobweb inlays, but it looked like a Dean logo on the headstock (interestingly, one of the songs he used it on was Coast To Coast, notable since when Scorpions did that song back in the 80's, Francis Bulcholz also used an Explorer shaped Alembic). Also, I noted Chris had a fan sitting just behind his monitor wedge, so he had the windswept rock star hair thing going on.

Chris and Ted sounded fantastic, very tight rhythm section.

What more can I tell ya?!