Tributes have become almost de rigueur whenever the NAMM Show comes to Anaheim. Many of our musical heroes have fallen, but thanks to tributes, the music lives on. Tribute bands are certainly one way to pay homage, but all-star concerts that salute a band or individual can sometimes resonate as profoundly and historically as the unseen guest of honor. After all, who doesn’t want to see one famous guitarist play a lick by another famous guitarist. That’s the magic of Ronnie Montrose Remembered.
For the fourth consecutive year, singer Keith St. John is behind the night that brings some of rock’s heaviest players together to jam on the music of Ronnie Montrose, who died in 2012. The week before the big night, St. John, who spent nearly 14 years singing, writing and performing with Montrose, filled me in as best he could on what was in store for Friday, January 25, 2019 at the M3 Live Anaheim Event Center.
“We always do new stuff, it’s never the same,” he said before slyly adding, “I can’t really tell you what the surprises are in the show. You’ll have to come…”
Having attended two previous Ronnie Montrose Remembered shows, I have little doubt that what ever mysteries lurk behind the curtain will blow minds. I remember the night Bob James, Sammy Hagar’s replacement in Montrose in the mid 70s, showed up and sang a couple songs. That was totally unexpected. Secrets of special guests and songs to be played is one element that draws them in. The other, of course, is the announced roster, which for 2019, features a slew of luminaries and lots of new faces.
The virtual smorgasbord of bands and musicians for 2019 includes Jack Russell’s Great White, George Lynch (Dokken / Lynch Mob), Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake/Dio), Tracii Guns (LA Guns), Frank Hannon (Tesla), Dave Amato (REO Speedwagon), Derek St Holmes (Ted Nugent), Paul Shortino (Quiet Riot/Rough Cutt/Spinal Tap), James Kottak (Scorpions), Robert Mason (Warrant), Randy Jackson (Zebra), Phil Demmel (Machinehead/Slayer), Mick Mahan (Pat Benatar), Andrew Freeman (Last in Line/Offspring), Mitch Perry (Edgar Winter Band), Brent Woods (Sebastian Bach), Brad Lang (Y & T), Sean McNabb (Dokken/Quiet Riot), Jeff Kathan (Paul Rodgers Band), Marc Bonilla (Keith Emerson Band), Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks/Dixie Chicks), Jimmy Degrasso (Ozzy Osbourne/Ratt), Jim Wheeler (Loggins and Messina), and Ed Roth (Annie Lennox).
“This year, I’m really happy George Lynch can make it,” St. John told me. “George was a significant guy for me, guitar playing wise. I got to introduce those two guys (Lynch and Montrose) many years ago at a guitar players’ ball that I was singing at and hosting. I was hoping he could make it out before, but this is his first time. He’s excited and I’m excited. Without saying which songs we’re doing, I got to say these versions we have worked up are pretty cool.
“We’re going to do a special guitar battle between George and Doug Aldrich on a particular song. Those guys are going to trade back and fourth on the leads for a while and kind of battle to the death. That’s going to be interesting. Ronnie wasn’t really a shredder guy. My friends are really cool bluesy rock guys, but they also have these wicked technical abilities. George and Doug are some of those guys.”
Randy Jackson of Zebra, a personal hero from Long Island where St. John grew up, is also on deck for the first time.
“Randy was always like this iconic and God-like to me, and I just got to meet him for the first time less than a year ago,” the singer recalled. “It’s such an honor to have Randy come and do this. This always means so much to me because this is a big part of my life. To have Randy come and share this with me and do another really significant song that I love — it puts me over the wall.”
Other newcomers include guitarist Dave Amato and bassist Mick Mahan, who started out with Pat Benatar and played for a spell with Montrose and St. John in the early 2000s. Old hands Phil Demmel and Derek St. Holmes who missed the 2018 RMR show are back for 2019.
Though he wouldn’t share any setlist specifics, St. John did reveal, without elaborating much further, that Gamma fans would hear some Gamma music previous RMR shows haven’t featured. He explained that with a couple dozen players on the bill and Montrose’s vast catalog, there’s only so much time to cover so much ground.
“Sometimes, the show is three and half to four hours long,” the singer stated emphatically. “Believe it or not, that’s how long it takes to do like, 25 to 28 songs. There’s only so much room. So, we have to do the Grade A, the whole first record (1973’s self-titled debut from Montrose). We have to do a significant part of the second album (1974’s Paper Money). We have to do the significant solo instrumental songs. There’s a lot of stuff we have to do.”
I asked St. John about the music he wrote with Montrose, and if there is a possibility of him rolling any of it out at a Ronnie Montrose Remembered show. He mentioned that he’s going to be talking to Leighsa Montrose, Ronnie’s widow, at the show about the music they wrote together. “We want to get it out there,” he said. “We’re not going to do anything that Ronnie and I wrote this year, but if we release it next year, I promise we will.”
Before we ended the call, St. John told me he’ll be busy with two bands in 2019. There’s a couple dates he’s doing with Kingdom Come, whom he sang with in 2018, including appearances at the Monster of Rock pre-show party in February, and the M3 Rock Festival in May. And his band Burning Rain with Doug Aldrich will release their fourth album, Face The Music, in March and follow up with a European tour later in the year. All this, and an ongoing love for Ronnie Montrose that sees no end in sight.
VintageRock.com 2011 Interview with Ronnie Montrose
