Review by Jordan West
Photos by Josh Hearn – My Broadway Lens
Two of rock’s most exciting guitarists, touring together to support their respective new releases, touched down in downtown Nashville recently, on a cool, rainy evening to wow their fans with some serious guitar stylings. The Fogg Street Lawn Club, a funky Irish pub that features lawn bowling and axe-throwing, as well as lots of beer and food, was the scene for the event. There’s a rooftop concert stage, that, on this night, welcomed not only the cold and rain, but a little thunder too — in the form of guitarists John 5 and Richie Kotzen.
John 5 and his touring drummer Alejandro Mercado appeared onstage together as a duet and got the wet crowd rolling with selections from his brand-new album “The Ghost” as well as plenty of music from his catalogue of previous releases and from his long career. As per his usual, the blonde John 5 appeared onstage in his unique makeup, a jagged line across his face, and sported a fuzzy black coat and black leather pants. He got right to work in wowing the crowd, as his incredible technique on his assortment of Fender Telecasters made jaws drop.
The title tracks to 2017’s Season Of The Witch as well as his new recording Ghost got things off to a blazing start, as his shredding kept the wet crowd banging their heads, as John 5 shook his from side-to side. His finger-picking style was on display all set, and during “Howdy” the country style that he is so fond of, blended right into the electric shred that he has become famous for. “I love Nashville so much” he exclaimed enthusiastically, and his version of the Les Paul and Mary Ford hit “How High The Moon” really took things in a new direction, which featured him switching to a gold four-string small guitar, mid-song.
His finger picking was challenged by the weather all during the set, as he spoke about how difficult it could be to play his style in this particular element. He did thank the people who ran the venue for being so accommodating to him, in spite of the obvious weather-related obstacles. Always one for theatrics, John 5 also donned a series of spooky masks during his set. His heavily sampled “Crank It- Living with Ghosts” from his 2019 Invasion album featured him in a particularly scary rubber mask.
After a rockabilly influenced version of Queen’s classic “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” got the crowd screaming, John 5 exclaimed “I LOVE Halloween” and started to strum some vintage jazz style chords on his guitar, while his guitar tech David tossed out Halloween candy to the crowd. John 5 also spoke about how much he loves playing pedal-steel guitar (“Since I’m in Nashville”) and that got a rise out of the locals. He then took another left turn and went back to the Season of the Witch record for the blistering shred of “Black Grass Plague” that showed off his speed and dexterity around the higher strings of his guitar, as well as the crunchy, lower note chords. He again switched to another small four-string guitar, mid-song, before finishing with a banjo, which brought screams from the now soaked audience.
After introducing Mercado and bringing on his tech David Vela to play bass, John 5 finished his set with a medley of songs by the band he has been touring with the last few years, the infamous Motley Crue. One can tell by his skills and tone why he was the legit choice to replace Motley founding member Mick Mars on guitar. The crowd reacted by singing the words to “Home Sweet Home” and chanting the “Shout, Shout” part of “Shout at the Devil” as John 5 smiled and egged them on. After finishing the medley with the blazing “Kickstart My Heart” the band smiled and waved to their wet, cheering fans and posed for a picture, onstage in front of them.
Richie Kotzen, like John 5, is a well-known finger picker who plays a multitude of styles. And, like his tour-mate John 5, is promoting his latest album release, in this case, 2024’s “Nomad.” What was interesting to me, was that he didn’t play any songs from it on this evening. He came out blazing with “Losing My Mind” a rocker from his 2004 Get Up release. His fans that braved the rain, were up and jumping from the get-go, singing along, and banging their collective heads in unison.
“It is cold and WET” he said, and rubbed his hands together as his band, Dylan Wilson on bass, and Matt Lesser on drums laid the foundation for some funky, bass driven songs such as “Bad Situation” and, also from the same album, 2011’s 24 Hours, the almost gospel-like delivery of “Love is Blind” that spotlights Kotzen’s wonderful, soulful vocals. Kotzen, as a singer is just as talented as he is a guitarist, and his long catalogue of work includes many styles that show how wide the boundaries of his talents are.
Tonight, the long bass intro to “Doin’ What the Devil Says to Do” had the crowd swaying as Kotzen sang his heart out, his crooning, bluesy vocals balanced out on numerous extended tasty guitar runs that seemed to flow effortlessly from his hands. Kotzen explained that he and the band were not playing with a dedicated playlist, and they again dipped into 24 hours with the pleading “Help Me” a song as driving as tonight’s Tennessee rain. Slapping bass and thumping drums were right in the pocket and made this number a real to-tapper.
For the first time, Kotzen grabbed a guitar pick, and, after a brief pause in which the rain wreaked havoc on his tube amplifier, Kotzen and Wilson gathered center stage in front of Lesser and rocked the title track to his 2009 album Peace Sign. This one really had the band jamming and having a blast onstage, but it was also the last song of the night. Kotzen, obviously frustrated with the rain, but enjoying the receptive energy that the crowd gave back, gave his all in that song, much to the delight of his fans. As he left the stage, Richie Kotzen had a huge smile on his face, as did just about everyone in attendance. I give big props to the band as well as the production crew for a great show that, in spite of “mother nature” made for a splendid, rocking evening on a rooftop in downtown Music City.
