Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Tesla

Details: Written by: Katrin Renner; Published: 10 July 2009

Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany
07th July 2009
Tesla, Heaven’s Basement

Concerning its naming, the Californian formation TESLA was inspired by the discoverer of the alternating current, Nikola Tesla. Therefore, the band represents the straight electronic guitar sound in more than one way. Starting in the Hair Metal era of the 1980s, TESLA reached its breakthrough by releasing the single `Modern Day Cowboy´ taken from the debut album `Mechanical Resonance´ (1986). After the meteoric rise, world tours with ALICE COOPER or DEF LEPPARD were crowned with success as well as the record `The Great Radio Controversy´ (1989).

The long-player `Five Men Acoustical Jam´ (1990) gave a special point to the TESLA band history, as it can be seen as a standards setting recording that should unleash a wave of many other artists´ acoustic concerts. Besides the album `Psychotic Supper´, the 1990s were marked by internal problems that finally led to a band crisis and the split-up. Fortunately, the band members overcame their differences and started a comeback. The recent album `Forever More´ has been available since November 2008 and was followed up by a tour of the same title. Within the scope of that, Jeff Keith (vocals), Frank Hannon (guitar), Brian Wheat (bass), Troy Luccketta (drums) and Dave Rude (guitar) came to Aschaffenburg’s music club Colos-Saal on 7th July 2009. http://www.teslatheband.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/teslatheband

After a relaxed admission, I entered the heated up hall and watched the listeners pouring into the venue. Most of the band shirt wearing fans were about 40 years old and must have experienced the music of TESLA as a part of their young days. However, I also saw some very young people who either joined their parents or had arrived on their own. Soon, the club was crowded and it was very hot inside. Nevertheless, the crowd’s mood was good and everyone seemed to be excited. It was about 8pm when the support band HEAVEN´S BASEMENT walked on stage and started an acoustic and visual firework.

Heaven’s Basement

So far, the year 2009 has been a busy one for Richie (vocals), Jonny (guitar), Sid (guitar), Chris (drums) and Rob (bass): Besides being the support act for TESLA, HEAVEN´s BASEMENT will also play at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth and will go on tour with D-A-D and BUCKCHERRY. The young Britains gained a lot of attention by releasing the EP `Heaven’s Basement´ and attracted a respectable number of followers in Europe. http://www.heavensbasement.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/heavensbasementofficial

Music & Performance
I haven’t known the band and due to this fact, I didn’t have any expectations on the performance. When the quintet went on stage and its front man Richie started to intonate the opener `Tear your Heart out´, I didn’t believe my eyes and ears at first. The guys were that good - so why I haven’t noticed the band up to now? Within some minutes, the musicians animated all the people to clap the hand, to sing along and to enjoy the show. All in all, they presented eight energetic and catchy Glam Rock songs which were additionally influenced by Hard Rock and Punk Rock resulting in a soundscape similar to the young GUNS`N´ROSES and MÖTLEY CRÜE. If there was a tutorial how to act like natural born rock stars, HEAVEN´s BASEMENT would be the perfect example. Obviously, the guys enjoyed the atmosphere and offered a kick-ass performance including some picture-book poses. Furthermore, they involved the audience again and again. The emotional ballad `Mirrors´ invited to have a short rest, whereas seven forceful up-tempo songs came like a real bombshell.

At this point, I would like to highlight the Colos-Saal´s light engineer who created an appropriate and generous light show accompanying the performance.
According to the schedule of HEAVEN´s BASEMENT, I decided to attend at least another concert on German territory. The recent recording has already found its way to my MP3 player. If you ever have the chance to see HEAVEN´s BASEMENT live on stage, don’t miss it, as you won’t regret it!

Setlist
01. Tear your Heart out
02. Can’t let go
03. Misunderstood
04. Life of me
05. Mirrors
06. Reign on my Parade
07. 10 Minutes
08. Executioner’s Day

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 9.2 / 10

Tesla

The change over took about 45 minutes - a great opportunity to buy a drink at the bar, as it had even become hotter than before. Meanwhile, the venue was filled to capacity. Although, it was that tightly packed, the fans weren’t bothered about that. When the staff had finished, they left a pretty simple stage with no frills. There was a blue-glittering drum set right next to an enormous collection of guitars. I was very impressed by a pink coloured guitar that could have travelled through time - a great symbol for the entire TESLA show that finally started at half past 9pm.

Music & Performance
The lights went off and a bombastic intro prepared everyone for the Hard Rock veterans who marched in with their arms extended and receiving ear-deafening applause. The first song was the title track of their recent long-player `Forever More´. If you know the new stuff, you will also know that the guys stuck to their principles of Blues-influenced Hard Rock, pithy guitar riffs and catchy tunes. The raspy voice of singer Jeff Keith hasn’t changed over the years. Wearing a paisley shirt, the front man showed some poses and smiled a lot. Every now and then, he announced the upcoming song and was pleased by the rapturous applause he and his band mates received.

The older anthems, for example `Modern Day Cowboy´, `Heaven’s Trail´ or `Love Song´ were celebrated in particular, as the crowd was singing along each and every line and cherished the feeling of 80s nostalgia at its best. Frank Hannon and Dave Rude gave their best while they were playing the guitars as well as Troy Luccketta who put his heart and soul in his drum playing. The fans were perfectly satisfied due to the fact that they got what they had expected. Thus, they left the club in a very good mood and totally exhausted. Though I’m not a TESLA diehard and had almost sweltered, I got my jollies too.

Setlist
01. Forever More
02. I wanna live
03. Modern Day Cowboy
04. Breakin´ free
05. Hang tough
06. Heaven’s Trail
07. So what
08. What a Shame
09. Shine away
10. Love Song
11. What you give
12. Signs
13. Heaven 9/11
14. Cumin´ atcha live
---
15. Edison’s Medicine

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 7.9 / 10