Slaughter and Great White

Great White - Brett Carlisle - lead vocals, Mark Kendall - lead guitar, backing vocals, Michael Lardie - guitar, keyboards, vocals, Scott Snyder - bass, backing vocals, Audie Desbrow - drums, percussion. Pic by M.C.
Great White – Brett Carlisle – lead vocals, Mark Kendall – lead guitar, backing vocals, Michael Lardie – guitar, keyboards, vocals, Scott Snyder – bass, backing vocals, Audie Desbrow – drums, percussion. Pic by M.C.

I really wanted to go to a show of any kind. Heavy metal was the answer. I went to see Slaughter and Great White at a tribal casino even though I wasn’t their number one fan back in the day. I do love their ballads, but I grew up listening to KISS, Ozzy, Dio, Dokken, Triumph, Stryper, and so many more. And there were women like Lita Ford and Vixen and I’ll throw in Joan Jett even though she wasn’t heavy metal. Slaughter and Great White were hair bands so I didn’t buy their albums which were then on cassette.

Slaughter – Mark Slaughter – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, Dana Strum – bass guitar, backing vocals, Jeff “Blando” Bland – lead guitar, backing vocals, Blas Elias – drums, percussion. Pics by M.C.

Slaughter’s debut album Stick It to Ya didn’t come out until 1990 with hits like “Up All Night” and “Fly to the Angels”.  They formed in Las Vegas in 1988.

Great White formed in Los Angeles in 1977, but I don’t recall hits until much later. They are known for “Save Your Love” and “Rock Me” from the 1987 Once Bitten album. In 1989, they did a cover song by Ian Hunter “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and another hit they are known for has a bluesy feel is “House of Broken Love” on the … Twice Shy album. I forgot about all the blues music that they incorporated.

On the way to the concert, I saw a cloud I like to call the spaceship cloud. I never thought I’d see one!

Nice ride Slaughter! Pic by M.C.

Remember I wasn’t a big fan of either group, but I wasn’t not a fan. I just love heavy metal in general. So, for some reason I got it in my head we were going to see Slaughter and Whitesnake. Renaissance Man looked up the concert just before we were to take off and said it’s Great White not Whitesnake. For three weeks I had been listening to Whitesnake, getting ready for the concert. Ugh. So, on the drive there I had to quickly look up Great White to remember what songs they played.

Walking into the concert was like walking back into high school—well not my high school. The kids who followed hair bands were “wannabes.” So, it wasn’t my crowd, but I really wanted to hear some music. It was funny because women were checking out other women to see if they aged well. Ha!

The music was better than I remembered. Both bands were awesome. Slaughter performed first. Mark Slaughter can sing and he is still doing those rocker screams. The guitarist was posing with the neck of the guitar in the air. The drummer was on fire! He reminded me of Animal from the Muppets. He would bang the drums with each stick alternately and move his head in figure eights to get his hair flying. This guy is not slowing down. He even stood, I think on his drums, and motioned for all us old folks to get off our asses and rock out. They performed, “Fly to the Angels” which I loved, but they dragged it out instead of doing it like the original. All the other songs came out perfect. I can’t say enough about how awesome they were.

Then Great White comes out and they have a new singer, Brett Carlisle. He is fantastic! I didn’t know who he was. I thought wow he’s so skinny and has aged well. Okay I was in back and my eyesight gets a little sloppy after being on Twitter. Brett is so sweet. He does air high fives, waves, and I love Rock n’ Roll signs to peeps in the crowd all while making eye contact. And he sings so beautifully. He loves the music and the band. You can tell how important the music is too him. He has no ego and seems appreciative of the gig. He just turned 25 this April and I hope he can keep this band going for 25 more years. I think the band sounds better than before. Well musicians do get better with age if they take care of themselves. I am now a fan of Great White because of this guy. I want to hear all the old songs with his voice. I hope they record him with the old songs.

Renaissance Man leans over and asks in his snarky voice, “Is it all you expected it to be?” He was into punk music growing up. He came to the concert for me and even he liked it. The venue wasn’t great. The casino didn’t have a theatre. They stuck the bands in the bingo room. It wasn’t even as good as my high school gym. The sound guy had the bass up too loud for Slaughter. Even with the issues I still thought the bands were awesome. They are killing it out there.

Now that there is a young guy in Great White, I hope he attracts new fans to heavy metal. I saw maybe a few young people there. Young peeps got to go to heavy metal concerts and rock out with those cane waving ladies. Really someone was wavy their American flag inspired cane. This music will keep you alive and kicking! It’s about being rebellious and living life on your terms!

Happy Vegan!

Copyright 2023 Melissa Crismon

Checkout my MerSea series books about an ordinary woman who becomes a mermaid.

Aboard a conservation ship, Sarah Sumner has an identity crisis while morphing into a mermaid and fighting whalers at fellow deckhand Gunner’s side. She seeks answers to her mutation, but through her journey, she finds deeper meaning in helping the whales. The MerSea series is an urban fantasy romance filled with action, adventure, and an inspirational, transforming tale.

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Olivia Newton-John

You know I’ve been feeling nostalgic after watching Stranger Things. I just saw Olivia Newton-John died from cancer at the age of 73 in her Southern California home on Monday, August 8, 2022.

Olivia Newton-John was a pop singer and huge animal lover who spent more money on her menagerie of animals than herself, her accountant pointed out, in the Ladies Home Journal of August 1977.

I don’t put stars on a pedestal, but Olivia Newton-John was someone who made an impression on me. I loved the movie Xanadu. Olivia is probably the reason why I roller skated as a kid in my backyard with the music blasted.

When it came to making a book cover for Superfreak I was inspired by the colors in Xanadu and a little bit by Donna Summer’s fan letter with purples and blues and clouds. Yes, I wrote Donna Summer three times. I wish I had kept her letters in response.

And the merman series I am writing now is a tiny bit inspired by Xanadu. I looked at all my favorite movies trying to find something like the current story I am writing. I couldn’t find anything, but Xanadu has that urban fantasy romance vibe I like to write about.

One of my favorite songs she sang besides “Xanadu” was “Magic.” Here are the lyrics to “Magic.” It’s so mystical.

Come take my hand
You should know me
I’ve always been in your mind
You know I will be kind
I’ll be guiding you

Building your dream has to start now
There’s no other road to take
You won’t make a mistake
I’ll be guiding you
You have to believe we are magic

Nothin’ can stand in our way
You have to believe we are magic
Don’t let your aim ever stray
And if all your hopes survive
Destiny will arrive
I’ll bring all your dreams alive
For you
I’ll bring all your dreams alive

For you
From where I stand, you are home free
The planets align so rare
There’s promise in the air
And I’m guiding you

Through every turn I’ll be near you
I’ll come anytime you call
I’ll catch you when you fall
I’ll be guiding you

You have to believe we are magic
Nothin’ can stand in our way
You have to believe we are magic
Don’t let your aim ever stray
And if all your hopes survive
Destiny will arrive
I’ll bring all your dreams alive
For you
I’ll bring all your dreams alive
For you
You have to believe we are magic
Nothin’ can stand in our way
You have to believe we are magic
Don’t let your aim ever stray
And if all your hopes survive
Destiny will arrive
I’ll bring all your dreams alive
For you
I’ll bring all your dreams alive
For you

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriter: John Farrar
Magic lyrics © John Farrar Music

Happy Vegan!

From blog of melissacrismon.com

Copyright 2022 Melissa Crismon