The lifespan of a volcano can vary from a few months to millions of years. Contrary to popular belief, older, dormant volcanoes are capable of late-life fulminations, and the amount of deadly lava and pyroclastic rocks they spew into the sky can rival their younger, active counterparts.
So it is, too, with rock bands, as evidenced on VH1’s Rock Honors. Def Leppard, Judas Priest, KISS, and Queen were feted, high-fived, and greeted with raised “devil’s horns” in something akin to a heavy metal-only Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or a four-way Academy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony. The only difference was, unlike, say, the Oscars, where odds makers are usually taking bets as to how long the recipients have left to breathe, the aforementioned bands came to prove just how much magma -- and stadium tours -- they have in them. Judging from their performances, quite a bit.
In what is bound to become tradition, whippersnapper groups paid homage to their heroes before each band being honored appeared. Show openers the Foo Fighters rocked compellingly on Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down. Halfway into the song, however, they were joined by one-half of the original Queen (the latter group is currently touring with singer Paul Rogers filling in for the late Freddie Mercury), guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor that culminated in a crescendo that was raucous, irreverent, and, yes, a wee bit corny. But as a celebration of rock juvenilia, that is to say, the kind of music your parents weren’t supposed to like, it made its point.
Queen and Paul Rogers performed a muscular, impassioned “The Show Must Go On,” by turns mission statement and tribute to Freddie Mercury. Then a triple-drum team of Roger Taylor and the Foos’ Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins pounded out the soccer stadium opener to “We Will Rock You,” which segued (naturally) into “We Are the Champions,” during which the remaining members of the Foo Fighters climbed aboard. Showmanship subtlety was never in Queen’s business model, and one got the feeling that somewhere up there, Freddie was smiling.
Paying their respects to Judas Priest, Boston’s Godsmack (a phenomenally successful Alice In Chains sound-alike) provided a credible version of “Electric Eye,“ but Beantown isn’t Birmingham -- Alabama or England -- and as such, they were no match for the real thing. Priest, who appeared to have raided a Wilson’s House of Leather warehouse, delivered two pile-driving hits from the early 80s: “Breaking The Law” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.” Before the latter song, singer Rob Halford va-roomed out atop a pimped-out Harley -- a trademark of Priest concerts since the late 70s.
The All-American Rejects turned in a note-perfect “Photograph” before the appearance of the night’s youngest honorees, Def Leppard. During the past few years, Leppard have enjoyed something of a career defibrillation in this country, thanks to crafty tour packages, such as last year’s minor-league baseball stadium run in which they were paired with Bryan Adams. Perhaps for this reason, Def Leppard were clearly the audience favorite, and from the opening cowbell of “Rock of Ages,” the crowd was on its feet. Singer Joe Elliot, looking timmer than in recent years, seemed surprised at the strong reaction the band received. For a set closer, Leppard, in a nice turn, chose to acknowledge one of their influences by performing T. Rex's "20th Century Boy." (It doesn't hurt, by the way, that Leppard have just released Yeah!, a covers-only album which Joe Elliot has described as "our attempt at doing what David Bowie did with Pin-Ups." )
Before KISS, there was, of course, the KISS tribute band -- only this one wasn't in makeup, but it did, ironically, feature a living, breathing, original member of the group, guitarist Ace Frehley. Both Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, having taken part in recent reunion tours, are currently jobless, for reasons known only to Gene Simmons and a cadre of attorneys. Criss elected to sit out the night's festivities, but Ace performed gamely with singer Rob Zombie and guitarist Slash on a frenetic "God of Thunder."
And then there was KISS, or rather, there was Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley with two fill-in members playing the parts of Frehley and Criss. Amidst smoke bombs and various and sundry pyrotechnics, the band rolled out two 70s classics, "Love Gun" and "Detroit Rock City." But as is always the case with KISS, the songs ride shotgun to the show, and so we had Paul Stanley proudly showing off his impressive chest hair, and Gene Simmons displaying his snake-like tongue-flashing abilities -- party gags that never get old, kind of like KISS themselves. In this way, they remind me of the late comedian Henny Youngman, who was (luckily, for him) never reliant on new material. All he had to do was say one "Take my wife, please," and it was game, set, match. The crowd roared and went away happy.
My ears are still ringing and I'm lovin' every minute of it! VH1 Rock Honors was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime event.
