Artist: Winger
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: n/a
Date: 6/20/2010
Label: Frontiers Records
I probably said this before but I’ve always been more of a casual fan of what Winger does in the Hard Rock sense even though I owned their debut album when it was first released. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t until the bands 2008 performance at this very venue that I finally caught them in concert. That was certainly an enjoyable show and the band was at the time supporting their newest album “IV”. The record did not seem to get the reception that was hoped and I myself viewed it as “ok at best” when compared to the musicians first and second offerings. Fortunately for all of the bands fans, Kip and company would follow up “IV” with an album entitled “Karma” and this was quite the release with a number of exciting tunes. The last time that Winger performed there was a band opening up but tonight this would not be the case. All we had was the music spinning over the PA and the eventual Winger set. To be honest, I feel that this is a little cheap for the fans with the ticket prices being what they are these days and at least a cover band of some kind would have brought some additional tunes and maybe people into the venue. After seeing so many shows in sequence with some being four to six band affairs I admit I am getting a little spoiled. Moving on.
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Artist: Winger
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Sonic Bliss
Date: 2/20/2008
Label: Shrapnel Records
In the heyday of the big eighties Kip Winger always managed to have some catchy material and the singing bassist was a staple on the MTV network with songs like “Headed For A Heartbreak”, “Miles Away”, Madalaine” and of course his blockbuster number “17”. I liked the music he did back then but was never more than the casual fan so when a show was announced at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, I was determined to get myself down there to bring the Hard Rock community the inside scoop. The show would be an early one and I didn’t even make note of the opening act Sonic Bliss because for this particular show it would be all about listening for the hits that I fondly remembered and enjoying some of the bands latest album “Winger IV” as well. The venue had set up their usual tables are various sections but the floor was open so the Winger fans could convene and get really close to the stage. The typical photo pit barrier was not set up tonight and instead a small cordoned off section allowed those who needed to take photos do their thing for a couple of numbers while the rest of the audience rocked and rolled. Winger would open up with a heavy intro from the album “Pull” in “Blind Revolution Mad”, and you could tell by the reaction on the audience in attendance faces that they were quite eager to be there. While “Pull” is considered a strong album from the band it is also the one that performed the least in the market so it was interesting to find one of its tunes kicking off the set. Joining Kip in the band would be original members Reb Beach on guitar, Rod Morgenstein on drums and newcomer John Roth who worked on the bands latest album with them on second guitar. The playing was tight this evening and I expected this right away from players such as Beach and Morgenstein most specifically. I don’t say this with a slight to Kip or John in any sense of the imagination but Morgenstein is a machine on the drums and proved his technical ability with The Dixie Dregs night after night and as far as Beach was concerned, a lot of his Winger downtime had been spent in a rebuilt Whitesnake who toured regularly and one does not lose their chops very easily given this circumstance.
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