Music / Reviews
Review: The Winery Dogs, Marble Factory
There’s never been any shortage of bands like South Wales classic rockers Scarlet Rebels, who had the good fortune to bag the role of tour support for this leg of the Winery Dogs’ UK jaunt. But it seems that there are even more young musicians today who take the view that the world is crying out for the next Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith or Deep Purple. Trouble is that this is the most difficult of genres in which to make your mark, with far too many acts sounding like cheap facsimiles of the greats.
Scarlet Rebels turn out to enjoy a bit of a head start in this crowded field. Brimming with confidence, they look the part and have a batch of strong songs that don’t sound too familiar. These are driven along by powerful vocals and big choruses and go down a treat with this packed crowd.
is needed now More than ever
A few bars of AC/DC’s It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n’ Roll) suggest they’re well aware of the challenges ahead. The only mis-step is some mid-set dicking around in an attempt to drum up audience participation. With just 30 minutes at their disposal, they’d be better off packing it with more songs.
The unexpected return of the Winery Dogs was one of 2023’s more welcome surprises. When they formed a little more than a decade ago, it was easy to be sceptical about this hard rock power trio ‘supergroup’, whose talented members had enjoyed considerable success in other bands. But on release of their successful debut album, it became clear that all three musicians were placing their considerable technical abilities at the service of their songs rather than using the band as a platform for grandstanding.
After an eight year break, during which they all engaged in other projects, the trio got back together for their imaginatively titled third album, III, on which the approach remained unchanged. But would anyone remember them after such a lengthy hiatus? No worries about that as a full house greets them with delirious joy. Xanadu from the new album proves an early highlight before they dip back into Hot Streak for old favourite Captain Love and the title track.
Probably the best song on III, Stars becomes a guitar showcase for Richie Kotzen, hot from his recent collaboration with Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and unquestionably the most talented musician ever to play in Poison. Damaged, meanwhile, highlights his impressively soulful vocals. Bassist Billy Sheehan, of Mr. Big and formerly of David Lee Roth’s band, is the only one to get a solo spot, but nobody here is complaining and you don’t need to be one of the many drooling musos present to appreciate his extraordinary dexterity.
So frequently the centre of attention, musically promiscuous Mike Portnoy is something of a prog-metal Dave Grohl. Take your eyes off him briefly and he’ll have formed, joined or guested with half-a-dozen new bands by the time you return. He seems content to take a literal backseat role (although he actually struggles to remain seated) as the drummer in The Winery Dogs – albeit a supremely talented one, resisting any temptation he may feel to overplay.
In creating such a huge sound for a trio, it helps that all three contribute vocals, but it’s perhaps a little surprising that the set leans so heavily on their debut album rather than the new one.
Kotzen switches to keyboards for the first encore, Regret, which sounds a little like a great lost Journey power ballad, and they leave us literally on a high with the stonking Elevate – the song with which they introduced themselves all those years ago. They’re clearly having the time of their lives up there, so here’s hoping they keep the project going and don’t make us wait quite so long between albums in future.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read More: Metal & Prog Picks: October 2023
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