Upon arriving at The Merriweather Post Pavillion for day two of the 13th annual M3 Rock Festival, it was still rainy and cold. Concert goers trickled in slower today as there was an after-show party at one of the hotels. Last night there was a DJ playing music and lots of socializing. Doors opened on time, and the fans entered and went right over to the merch booth to check out what new shirts they had for today’s bands.
With a last-minute surprise, due to several covid cases in the Extreme camp, we were lucky to have Enuff Z’nuff fill in for them. With the recent release of their album, Hardrock Nite, a Beatles cover album, they hit the stage with “Magical Mystery Tour”. Tony Fennell has been filling in for Alex Kane on guitar since covid, but it seems to me, like he might be back in the band again. Chip is always a favorite on stage with his seventy’s vibe outfit. His oversized glasses, red jacket with silk ruffles, and tight snakeskin pants let you know he is a rock star. He plays a well-worn Fender bass, with rainbow-colored strings, adorned with stickers including one on the back that says, “Don’t do drugs”. The set ends with their 2 biggest hits, “New Thing”, and “Fly High Michelle”. Enuff Z’nuff is always a crowd favorite.
Saturday May 7
12:00PM-12:40PM
Enuff Z’Nuff is:
Chip Z’Nuff – Lead Vocals, Bass
Tory Stoffergen – Lead Guitar
Daniel B. Hill – Drums
Tony Fennell – Guitar
Setlist:
1. Magical Mystery Tour (Beatles cover)
2. Kiss the Clown
3. Eleanor Rigby (Beatles cover)
4. Jet (Wings cover)
5. In the Groove
6. Fly High Michelle
7. New Thing
Lillian Axe was a surprise for me, as I’ve never really listened to them or seen them live. Even though they have been around for 39 years and were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010 and Steve Blaze was inducted a second time for his contributions as a musician, these guys deserve way more credit. They sounded well-rehearsed and put on an awesome 45-minute set. As a new fan, standouts for me were “Misery Loves Company”, “True Believer”, and ” Show a Little Love”. With the release of their new album on May 6, Psalms for Eternity, I think I’ll head on over to the local record store and pick up a copy to start my Lillian Axe collection. (or Amazon, I-tunes, or wherever we buy music this year)
Saturday May 7
12:50PM-1:35PM
Lillian Axe is:
Steve Blaze – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, Keyboards
Brent Graham – Lead Vocals
Sam Poitevent – Guitar, Vocals
Michael “Maxx” Darby – Bass Guitar
Wayne Stokely – Drums
Setlist:
2. All’s Fair in Love and War
3. Deep Freeze
4. True Believer
5. Ghost of Winter
7. Death Comes Tomorrow
8. Show a Little Love
My daughter has been a huge fan of Vain for a few years now, so, in turn I have gotten to know a bunch of their songs. My favorites from yesterday’s performance were “Icy”, “Secrets”, “No Respect”, and “Beat the Bullet”. With founding member Davy Vain running back and forth about the stage barefoot while belting out the vocals, this mostly original band lineup still brings its glam metal sound to its fans. Dylana rips it up on guitar with the looks of a rock star.
Saturday May 7
2:00PM-2:50PM
Vain is:
Davy Vain – Lead Vocals, Additional Guitars
Ashley “Ash” Mitchell – Bass
Dylana “D.N.” Nova Scott – Lead Guitar
Tommy “Tom” Rickard – Drums
Joel Proto – Rhythm Guitar
Setlist:
7. Push Me Over
8. No Respect
9. Breakdown
Next up was Heaven’s Edge. With the rain still coming down and the wind blowing it into the venue, these guys still performed their best. Original members Mark Evans, Reggie Wu, and Steve Parry, along with Dave Rath on Drums have what it takes to keep the crowd excited for the entire set. Mark Evans has a total rockstar look with his long curly hair, studded jacket and kicks just as high as Reggie’s! Half way through the set, they played a new song “Had Enough” to which I heard one fan say that is sounded true to their roots. After running through a setlist of their most popular songs, Ted Poley came out to help with the vocals on “Find Another Way” They recently got signed by Frontiers Music and when they were told “You know this is a 3-record deal, right?” they replied, “You know we are old, right?”. At the end of their set, Mark announced that Paul Gargano from Metal Edge lost a bet and needs to wear a thong on stage at next year’s M3 Rock Festival.
Saturday May 7
3:10PM-4:10PM
Heaven’s Edge is:
Reggie Wu – Guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals
Mark Evans – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano
David “Dave” Rath – Drums
Jaron Gulino – Bass
Steven “Steve” Parry – Guitar
Setlist:
1. Rock Steady
2. Up Against the Wall
3. Skin to Skin
4. Daddy’s Little Girl
5. Jacky
6. Don’t Stop, Don’t Go
7. Had Enough
8. Is That All You Want?
9. Play Dirty
I was so excited to see Tony Harnell perform. I was a big fan of TNT back in the 1980’s and haven’t gotten to see them since. The emcee said that Tony is said to still be able to hit all the notes of his 4-octave range, and I believe it. Starting off the set with “As Far as the Eye Can See”, Tony proved that he can still hit the notes. About 1/2 way through the set, the music was halted, and Tony was inducted into the 2022 Metal Hall of Fame. The set continued on with all of my favorite TNT songs, including “10,000 Lovers”, “Everyone’s a Star”, and “Tell No Tales”. Tony’s melodic 4-octave range made this day worth the price of admission!
Saturday May 7
4:25PM-5:35PM
Tony Harnell (The Voice of TNT) is:
Tony Harnell – Lead Vocals
Luis Espaillat – Bass
Dan Douchette – Drums
Gaurav Bali – Guitar
Setlist:
1. Intro – (A Nation Free)
2. As Far as The Eye Can See
3. Desperate Night
4. She Needs Me
5. Seven Seas
6. Downhill Racer
7. Northern Lights
8. MHOF Introduction
9. Forever Shine On
10. Tonight I’m Falling
11. Listen to You’re Heart
12. 10,000 Lovers (In One)
13. Intuition
14. Everyone’s a Star
15. Tell No Tales
As you all know, Stephen Pearcy is the singer from Ratt, and as a solo band, he still performs all the Ratt hits that we know and love to sing along to. Opening the set with “Sweet Cheater”, this was one of only 3 songs that I didn’t know. Stephen and his band really kept the crowd on their feet and singing along. After playing 1983’s “You Got It”, Steve said he was going to play us the ugly three. Now we know when he refers to this, it’s “You’re in Love”, “Lay It Down”, and “Lack of Communication”. Probably one of my favorite Ratt songs is “Way Cool Jr.”, so I was psyched to hear this in tonight’s set. The band played well and Stephen held his own on vocals, though not hitting all the high notes of the original recordings.
Saturday May 7
5:55PM-7:10PM
Stephen Pearcy is:
Stephen Pearcy – lead vocals, guitar, writer
Erik Ferentinos – lead guitar, backing vocals
Jerry Montano – bass, keyboards, backing vocals
Juaquin Revuelta – drums
Johnny Monaco – guitar, backing vocals
Setlist:
1. Sweet Cheater
2. Wanted Man
3. You Think You’re Tough
4. Slip of the Lip
5. U Got It
6. You’re in Love
7. Lay It Down
8. Lack of Communication
9. Way Cool Jr.
10. Lovin’ You’s a Dirty Job
11. I’m Insane
12. Body Talk
13. Back for More
14. Round and Round
I was looking forward to Blue Oyster Cult as I had never seen them before. I grew up in the 1980’s and was more into hair metal and heavy metal than classic rock, but since I knew most of their radio friendly songs, I figured I would enjoy them. Blue Oyster Cult’s performance was fantastic, just a little outside my genre. Now, that being said, they did sound great, and I saw many fans singing along and enjoying themselves. This year is BOC’s 50th anniversary! BOC released their The Symbol Remains album during covid and from what many people say, it didn’t get the recognition it deserved.
Saturday May 7
7:30PM-8:45PM
Blue Oyster Cult is:
Buck Dharma – lead guitar, lead vocals and backing vocals
Eric Bloom – lead vocals and backing vocals, “stun guitar”, keyboards, synthesizers
Danny Miranda – bass, backing vocals
Richie Castellano – keyboards, rhythm guitar, additional lead guitar, backing vocals, additional lead vocals, bass
Jules Radino – drums, percussion
Setlist:
1. Dr. Music
2. Before the Kiss, a Redcap
3. Golden Age of Leather
4. That Was Me
5. Burnin’ for You
6. Harvest Moon
7. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
8. ME 262
9. Then Came the Last Days of May
10. Buck’s Boogie
11. Godzilla
12. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
13. Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll
With how phenomenal Tom Keifer and his band sounded and performed tonight, you would never know their last show was March 12, 2020. These guys definitely stole the night. It is always nice to see Tom and Savannah on stage singing and playing the piano together. After ” Shelter Me”, and on an already cold and rainy night where everyone had on winter coats along with ponchos, Tom announced that it was about to get colder in here. This was the lead in to the song “Long Cold Winter”. Everyone, I mean, Everyone was on their feet for Tom Keifer’s entire performance. I would say that their performance was the best of the event so far.
Saturday May 7
9:15PM-10:45PM
Tom Keifer Band is:
Tom Keifer – vocals
Savannah Keifer – keyboards, vocals
Tony Higbee – lead guitars, vocals
Billy Mercer – bass guitar
Kendra Chantelle – vocals, percussionist
Jarred Pope – drums
Kory Myers – keyboards, vocals
Setlist:
1. Touching the Divine
2. Night Songs
3. Coming Home
4. It’s Not Enough
5. Somebody Save Me
6. Rise
7. Nobody’s Fool
8. Solid Ground
9. Fallin’ Apart at the Seams
10. Last Mile
11. Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)
12. Shake Me
13. Shelter Me
14. Long Cold Winter
15. The Death of Me
16. Gypsy Road
M3 Day 1 coverage HERE!
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Music photography is my passion! Live in the moment, Capture the moment.
