T
hru the Noise, with local Houston musicians Kirk Mckim – Guitar and lead vocals (10 years with Pat Travers and also currently plays with Billy Bob Thorton’s Boxmasters), Mike Meade – Bass and vocals (Also plays with Rivers and Rust based in Nashville) and Walter Cross – Drums (Played with Pam Tillis.) warmed up the audience with a southern Texas bluesy rock n’ roll style set. The Winery Dogs from New York City then hit the stage with unique rock n roll electricity that can only come from a combination of great talent. In case you don’t know,they are really a super group consisting of Mike Portnoy – Drums/Vocals, Richie Kotzen – Guitar/Vocals, Billy Sheehan – Bass/Vocals. Mike Portnoy was the co-founder of progressive metal superstars Dream Theater and was the original drummer for Adrenaline Mob. Vocalist and guitarist Richie Kotzen played with Poison and Mr. Big no less and bassist Billy Sheehan is a veteran player with a history of Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, and Mr. Big under his belt. This is not just a super group -The Winery Dogs have already toured extensively, have a self titled album, the DVD Unleashed in Japan 2013: “ The Winery Dogs” and the second, “ Hot Streaks (Loud and Proud)” was released September 2015.That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk, who suggested the refreshing and bluesy Kotzen as vocalist in 2011 to Sheehan, made a guest appearance, introduction and met with the fans. The set list from the band for the night (since nothing was “small” in this band) was: “Atomic Dog” (George Clinton song), the fast paced almost metal sounding “ Oblivion” , “ Captain Love” (check out the killer lyrics on this song), “ We Are One “, “Hot Streak” ,(the title track for their sophomore album) “How Long” , “Time Machine”, “Empire , Fire”, “Over”, Mike’s killer Drum Solo, “The Other Side”, Billy’s amazing Bass Solo, “Ghost Town”, “I’m No Angel”, “Elevate” and for Encore, “Regret” , a ballad, and “Desire” This was an over two hour set of badassery, Kotzen is also a guitarist and keyboardist in his own right, so everywhere you looked from the audience you were pretty much mesmerized by so much talent packed into a trio of seasoned musicians that in such a short time have such strong fan base. Of note, Mike Portnoy dedicating a song to a fan who had just lost his father and was present in the audience that night, was just one of the many special and personable touches that came with this authentic and dynamic rock band. Can’t wait to see more!
