Riders On The Storm August 11, 2007 Costa Mesa by Brad Welcher It was with great anticipation of experiencing the mystical magic of Riders On The Storm with new front man & former Fuel vocalist, Brett Scallions, that I drove down from West Hollywood to The Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, California. The Pacific Amphitheater is a nice, outdoor venue in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. It has a smallish, but still decent size stage with several sections of seats & a grassy area in the back, which has been closed down. Total capacity is 8,500. The worst thing about the venue is that there is a very strict 10pm curfew (due to the venue being close to large swaths of residential housing), most times limiting the act's playing time, unfortunately, as was the case tonight. For this show, featuring Pat Travers, Riders On The Storm, & Paul Rodgers of Free, Bad Company, & most recently Queen fame, it looked like approximately 75% of capacity was filled, and this is a conservative estimate. The crowd was mostly older people well into their late 40s, 50s, & 60s. It was nice to see many young people there, however. It seemed approximately half the crowd came to see ROTS, & the other half, Paul Rodgers. Finally, the time arrived, and with the sun setting on the horizon on an absolutely beautiful California day, and with just the perfect breeze flowing, out walked Jim Ladd, legendary DJ of Los Angeles rock station 95.5 KLOS, who promptly and aggresively asked the crowd, "Is everybody IIINNN???" The crowd roared back, "YEEEAAAHHH". Again, he asked even more loudly "Excuse me! Is everybody IIIINNNN!!!!" The crowd roared back ferociously this time, "YEEEAAAAHHH!!!!", to which Mr. Ladd responded, "The CEREMONY is ABOUT to BEGIN!!!!". All of a sudden, the ever familiar symphonic piece of Carmina Burana blasted out of the sound system. And out walked to massive crowd cheers drummer Ty Dennis, then bassist Phil Chen, then guitarist Robby Krieger, wearing a bright blue LA Dodgers jersey, then co-founding member and organist Ray Manzarek, impeccably dressed as always. All of a sudden, Robby Krieger started the incredible, razor edge guitar riff of "Love Me Two Times", and out from the back aggressively stormed Brett Scallions, dressed in tight black leather pants and a long sleeve black shirt buttoned at the top button only. It is also worth noting that on the side of the stage was Brett's very gorgeous and pregnant wife, Abbey (Hi Abbey! Good luck with the impending little one!), along with several incredibly sexy female friends, who seductively danced throughout the entire show. The sound was very good, but could have been just a bit louder. Regardless, the opening was just awesome and when finished, the crowd gave an incredible roar. Brett thanked the crowd and introduced the band as Riders On The Storm to just as loud of a roar. Right then, Ray played a very small introduction on his keyboard, and then the familiar intro of "When The Music's Over" began, much to my incredible joy. "WTMO" was played absolutely impeccably, with the band hitting every note perfectly, starting and stopping on a dime. I was absolutely stunned at Brett's command of the stage, including his dramatic stating of the famous lines, "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection...send my credentials to the house of detention...I've got some friends insiiiide!!!!" Once finished, the crowd jumped to it's feet, roared, and it was game on. Ray then talked to the crowd, imploring everyone to bring more peace to the world. Brett then stated that they were going to bring some peace, and the band immediately delved into "Peace Frog". If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't have been able to tell that what you were hearing was live. At the sudden end of Peace Frog, to my great surprise, the band continued into "Blue Sunday". It was on these slow songs that require an amazing voice that Brett really shined. He really is a great singer, vocal wise, and as I stated, his presence was commanding & one could tell the whole band was having a lot of fun with this. After "Blue Sunday", a blistering version of "Break On Through" was just torched through, with Robby's solo being absolutely incredible. It was then that I experienced what I thought I would never, ever experience in my life. Suddenly the lights went black except for a lone spotlight on Brett, who commandingly stood on the front stage speakers. He then yelled very clearly and very loudly, "WHEN I WAS BACK THERE IN SEMINARY SCHOOL, THERE WAS A PERSON THERE WHO PUT FORTH THE PROPOSITION, THAT YOU CAN PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER...PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER...PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER...YOU CANNOT PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER!!!!!" And with that, ladies and gentlemen, myself and the rest of the crowd experienced a heavenly, angelic, soul moving, complete from beginning to end, version of "The Soft Parade". Incredible, people...absolutely incredible...that's all I have to say. And the crowd gave their approval with a standing ovation at the conclusion. After the crowd calmed down, Brett stated that things were sure strange, and a very good, amped up version of "Strange Days' was just blistered through. All of the time through the show, mind you, the crowd was on their feet just screaming. In fact, I'd say this was probably one of the best California concert crowds I've experienced. After "Strange Days", Brett & Ray bantered back & forth about love and The Summer of Love and loving each other and that they were going to bring us some love, and then the familiar, aggressive keyboard intro of "Touch Me" started. I'll tell you, I've always liked "Touch Me", but never loved it, but the band just torched through this song and at the end, people, the crowd just gave a deafening roar of approval. After the crowd calmed down, Ray introduced the members of the band, with Robby then introducing Ray. Brett then talked about how many pretty women were in the crowd, and the familiar, opening guitar strums of "L.A. Woman" were struck by Robby and off the band went on a mystical musical journey through the City of Angels, with as usual, the band hitting every nuance perfectly, and Brett's voice & stage command being excellent, to say the least. Once concluded, the band thanked the roaring crowd and left the stage. The crowd roared for more and then one of the managers came out and stated, "Are you kidding me!!! Do you want MORE people!!!! Do you want MORE!!!" The crowd roared back in delight and out walked the band again. Ray took the lead and talked about the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love and the most popular song during the fabled Summer of Love, and the band led into a top notch version of "Light My Fire", another song that I like, but always hear, so it's no big deal, but live with this lineup, this version was just out of this world, especially Ray's keyboard solo, during which he was at one time playing keyboards with both hands along with one of his feet all at the same time....just incredible...and Robby's solo and playing throughout was just pinpoint precision. He is just awesome, no other way to describe it. Upon conclusion, the crowd gave a standing ovation, the band took a cumulative bow at the front of the stage, and a one and one quarter hour, ten song journey was complete. "Wow!!!" is all I can say at this point. Thank you Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Robby Krieger, Brett Scallions, Phil Chen, and Ty Dennis. Riders On The Storm August 11, 2007 Costa Mesa, CA set list: Carmina Burana intro (O Fortuna) Love Me Two Times When The Music's Over Peace Frog Blue Sunday Break On Through (To The Other Side) The Soft Parade (complete version with all three sections) Strange Days Touch Me L.A. Woman Light My Fire LONG LIVE RIDERS ON THE STORM...