By
Phillip Smith
Saturday evening, I took a
break from the harsh Iowa winter we’ve had this year and headed down to
Riverside, IA to recharge my soul with the music of Tesla. It was an exemplary performance.
Vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarists Frank
Hannon and Dave Rude, along with
bassist Brian Wheat, and drummer Troy Luccketta once again, proved they
can sell out a show all while keeping an audience of dedicated fans on their
feet for two hours.
Tesla took the stage, kicking
things off with the hard driving, “I Wanna Live”, followed by “Hang Tough” and
one of their newer songs, “Taste My Pain”. Hannon switched out guitars, for “Heaven’s
Trail (No Way Out)”, grabbing his Flying V and unleashed what seemed like
everything he had on the song while Jeff Keith nailed it all down in place with
his ‘made for rock’ raspy vocals. Before
switching over to Five Man Acoustical Jam
mode, they finished the first chapter of the show with “Mama’s Fool“, which
featured some really nice swampy bluesy guitar from Hannon, and cool vocal
harmony with him and Keith. I loved the bass
line on this too. Wheat really tied it together. Unexpectedly before the song ended, Hannon’s
guitar whipped behind his back and he finished with an impressive guitar solo.
For the Five Man Acoustical Jam, stools were brought to the front of the
stage for the guys to perch upon, and the electric guitars were replaced with acoustic. Although “Comin’ Atcha Live” was on their Five Man Acoustical Jam album, it’s
still kind of odd to hear played in this format; however it is still cool as
hell. Hannon broke out his resonator
guitar for this, giving the song some bonus twang. And as on the Five Man Acoustical Jam album, they segued into the Grateful Dead
song, “Truckin’”. This put a huge smile
on my face. Before switching back to
their electric instruments, Wheat switches his bass out for keyboard, and the
band performs “Paradise”. This one is
really beautifully played.
With a driving beat provided
by Luccketta, and the opening notes played by Hannon and Rude, “Signs” begins. A brief chill hits me as the crowd begins to
sing along. Bringing this one to an end, huge cheers are released to Hannon presenting
a rather large banner over his head that read, ‘And the Sign Says Tesla Rules’’.
They ruled indeed.
The final third of the show
was chock full of fan favorites. “The Way It Is” closed with a strong finish,
and with the opening notes of “What You Give”, I could feel the excitement in
the air balloon up. Rude and Hannon, back
on acoustic, sublimely play the intro to the power ballad, “Love song”. Once it gets going, Hannon is handed his
double-neck guitar. His playing is so
impressive.
It wouldn’t be a Tesla
concert without a five start performance of Modern Day Cowboy, which is exactly
what it was. For a moment it is thought the show is over, but Tesla, with a
little coaxing from the fans, returned for one last song, “Little Suzi”. This drew not only a ton of applause, but drew
a few folks into the aisles for a little dancing as well. I don’t know how he does it, but Keith can
still hit those high notes. All in all,
it was a stellar show and a damn good time.
SETLIST
I Wanna Live
Hang Tough
Taste My Pain
Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)
Mama’s Fool
Comin’ Atcha Live / Truckin’
A Wonderful World
Paradise
Signs
The Way It Is
What You Give
Love Song
Modern Day Cowboy
(encore)
Little
Suzi
All photographs by Phillip Smith.
