 | Written by Alex Stojanovic Photographed by Rob Singh (C) 2019 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com LEE AARON w/ HEAVENS FIRE, BARSTOOL CONFESSION and JADED EDGE @ Rockpile Toronto, ON, Canada February 15, 2019 Interview with Lee Aaron here I think everybody can agree on the fact that the weekends are always the best time of the week to go see a show, especially at a club. With that said, on a very cold Friday night on February 15th, Toronto was in for a real treat when Canada's rock queen Lee Aaron returned to the Rockpile to play a show. The show was sold out, and drew in fans of all ages, from the fans that were there from the beginning of Lee's career, to the ones that came in at the halfway point, and a bunch of younger people who came in during the last few years. We also had a great interview with Lee earlier in the evening. In the meantime, let's get into the night's festivities. |
| What kind of took me by surprise was the fact that two of the three opening bands were cover bands. I'm not saying this in a negative sense, but it wasn't something I was expecting. Kicking off the night were Jaded Edge, who treated us to the first round of covers. Their set featured songs like Bad Company's "Rock n Roll Fantasy", Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and "Living After Midnight", Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son", and they even treated us to a more up-tempo, revved up version of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff". Monique Richardson had some decent vocals. I wouldn't say they were the best, but they got the job done. Up next were Barstool Confession, who treated us to the second round of covers. This was also the first band I've seen where the drummer played strictly on an electronic kit. The covers they treated us to included ZZ Top's "Tush", Tragically Hip's "Three Pistols", R.E.M.'s "The One I Love", Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World", Northern Pikes' "She Ain't Pretty", The Cult's "Wild Flower", Black Crowes' "Jealous" and Collective Soul's "December". The band were about to head into the last song, which was going to be Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", but they were told to wrap it up. BARSTOOL CONFESSION Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com Lee and the band treated fans to some of the signature fan-favourites like "Hands On", "Sweet Talk", "Sex With Love", "Metal Queen" and "Whatcha Do To My Body", all of which fans were singing along to. They also treated us to some of the recent material from the Fire & Gasoline and Diamond Baby Blues albums, like "Fire & Gasoline", "Diamond Baby" and "American High". The covers that were performed include Janet Jackson's "Black Cat", Stevie Wright's "Hard Road", Koko Taylor's "I'm A Woman" and Montrose's "Rock Candy" just to name a few. The encore consisted of her cover of Little Walter's "My Babe", and a song that was unidentifiable. I obviously wasn't born yet when Lee came on the rock scene in the 80s and released all her signature hits and albums, but that's irrelevant. What matters is the music and the live performance, and it always makes me feel good when I see bands from the 70s and the 80s, that are still going today, still putting out quality music and putting on quality shows. That deserves all the applause and respect in the world, and the Rockpile show was proof that Lee still sounds fantastic, and also looks fantastic. It was my first time seeing Lee play live, and it certainly won't be the last. I look forward to seeing Lee and her band again in the future. | JADED EDGE Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com Coming up next were hometown favourites Heavens Fire, whose sound was more in the vein of pure classic metal, and they were the best of all the opening bands. Not just because they played original music (and I have nothing against the two cover bands playing prior to them), but mostly in terms of overall performance. Frontman Maxel Black sort of reminded me of Ronnie James Dio, both in appearance and vocals. Guitarist and leader JT Harris also looked like a cross between Oz Fox from Stryper and Dave "Snake" Sabo from Skid Row. Drummer Alexis Von Kraven even wore a reaper mask while on stage. Overall, the band was really tight and their music included elements of Judas Priest, Saxon and Dio, at least that's what I was hearing. Right from note 1, all the way to the end, the band had the crowd in the palm of their hand, and gave the crowd an awesome show. It was now time for Lee Aaron to take the stage. Her set consisted of both a bunch of original material, and a handful of covers that she has recorded throughout her career. In addition to her impeccable vocals, she has an impressive backing band with Sean Kelly on guitar, David Reimer on bass, and her husband John Cody on drums. HEAVENS FIRE Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| LEE AARON Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | JADED EDGE Monique Richardson - Vocals Andy William - Guitars & vocals Wally Norton - Bass Barry Vesh - Drums Label: Unsigned Website: www.facebook.com/jadededgerox BARSTOOL CONFESSION Paul Sadlon Jr. - Lead guitars & vocals Buck Goodbrand - Lead vocals & rhythm guitars Jeff "Biscuit" Hamilton - Drums Brian Flidall - Bass Label: Unsigned Website: www.facebook.com/barstoolconfession |
| HEAVENS FIRE Maxel Black - Lead vocals JT Harris - Guitars & vocals RC Ricci - Bass & vocals Alexis Von Kraven - Drums & vocals Label: JT Music Website: www.heavensfire.com | LEE AARON Lee Aaron - Vocals Sean Kelly - Guitars David Reimer - Bass John Cody - Drums Label: Metalville Records Website: www.leeaaron.com |
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