Richie Kotzen and John 5
Iridium, NYC 11 7 25
Richie Kotzen and John 5 brought their blend of finger picking guitar rock, metal, jazz, blues and a lot of soul to the Iridium Friday night. Richie Kotzen opened the night with his 3 piece band featuring Dylan Wilson on bass and Matt Lesser on drums. As they walked out on stage they looked like your average bunch of guys until they started to play. Right away you knew they were more than ordinary.
The band spent the night amazing the crowed with their incredible musical abilities as they kicked the night off with “War Paint”. They rolled thru classics like “Fooled Again”, “Doing What The Devil Says To Do”, “Fear”, “Love Is Blind” and mixed with incredible jams on songs like “Peace Sign”.
Richie has been performing for over 35 years in bands like The Winery Dogs, Mr Big and Poison, but I believe is mainly known for his solo work that features over 20 albums! He touched on a few of the albums as he played maybe two songs from any one album during the night.
You can see the passion on Richie’s face while he’s performing digging deep within as his soulful voice rings out thru the crowd. He looked for the most part all business when on stage but every so often you can see him crack a smile knowing the warm reception from the Iridium crowd often displayed their joy for what they were witnessing. Kotzen often shared the spotlight with his fellow bandmates as Lesser pounded away on the drums and Wilson wizzed thru some bass solos with ease as complicated as they were. You can’t help but sing along, play a little air guitar and smile yourself as the energy and vibe from the band resonates thru you.
John 5 walked out on stage with glam, glitz and exceptional guitar riffs. All black leather with black sunglasses with his signature jagged lines across his cheeks, he wasted no time ripping up and down his guitar faster than I could comprehend what was happening. John 5 with Alejandro Mercado on drums was all he needed to fill the Iridium with more sound than I could have imagined for a two piece band. At one point he said with a laugh, “Let me introduce my band” as Mercado pounded away in impressive style as he did all night.
The songs bounced back and forth between heavy metal with a fusion of jazz, blues, country and rock and roll. His finger picking style along with Richie Kotzen is simply superb and leaves you questioning how something so complicated can be executed with so much style and ease.
John 5 who only spoke to the crowd two or three times all night, spoke about a night in the past after an Ozzfest show when he was at the Iridium and he joined Les Paul on stage. He said it was after his father had passed away, he ended up at the club and found himself onstage not sure of what would come of it but it ended up being one of the greatest nights of his life as he left Les Paul in awe. After watching John 5 perform, it was simple to understand why. I left the show feeling the same way. I would say I was speechless but in needed to come up with words to express my encounter.
During the performance John 5 would wear various masks as he changed his style of play. Everything from a mask of himself with his signature jagged line across his cheeks to a red zombie look while shredding, to an old man mask when he slowed down the tempo with a little country twang. Entertaining along with amazing talent to create a perfect blend. You couldn’t help but notice the masks off to the side of the stage on top of the EVH amplifier along with what looked like either a Hulk Hogan action figure or some kind of alien as well as an original Mego Gene Simmons doll. Also across the front of the stage were 4 large lit up pumpkin heads adding to the overall ambiance.
John 5 dedicated “The Black Glass Plague” to Ace Frehley before closing out the set with his guitar tech, David Vela who came out to play bass as the band ripped thru a medley of Motley Crue songs that included “Live Wire”, “Shout At The Devil”, “Home Sweet Home”, “Wild Side”, “Kickstart My Heart”…
All in all the night was fantastic with a well orchestrated blend of incredible musicianship with a splash of captivating visual design.
