Grand Funk Railroad Tour Review: The Palace at Auburn Hills
By Lorie King
Grand Funk Railroad
The Palace at Auburn Hills
3-22-01
Allow me to start this review off by saying that if you have any qualms about Bruce Kulick playing in GFR - put them to rest!!!!! Aren't a Funk fan?? Doesn't matter!! If you like kick-ass rock-n-roll - this show is a MUST see!!!! If you are a fan of Bruce's music, you will be further AMAZED!!!!!!!
My best friend, UNIONJAN, and I decided to make the trek to northern Detroit to show our support for Bruce and to get our first taste of GFR live. We had made arrangements to meet up w/ a large contingent of Funk fans at the Palace. These folks - diehard and life-long GFR fans - have been great in educating us in the History of Funk. Many of these folks are now fans of Bruce's & UNION's!!!
I was very excited about hearing Bruce play in an arena - with thousands of people to witness his wondrous musical abilities. But the fun started before the show!! This show was the closest to bassist Mel Schacher's birthday, so a celebration was planned. What wasn't planned was having Mel's wife, Dena, take a horde of Funkers BACKSTAGE before the show to give give Mel his cake!! About 40 of us got to mingle with the band a bit before going to find our seats.
The opening act, Matt Besey, a native of Michigan, put on a great blues-inspired show to warm things up. There wasn't much of a wait for Grand Funk..............the opening strains of "2001" began and the crowd came to life!!! Here come 'da FUNK!!! The band ripped into "Rock-n-Roll Soul" first. These guys were giving 150% from the first note!! Max Carl is an awesome frontman - great voice, playing guitar and keyboards, all over the stage.......encouraging the crowd to get loud & get down!! (as if we needed it.....!!!! ) Mel Schacher had the bass cranked - I was 8 rows back and could feel every note! Tim Cashion on keyboards and vocals - this guy was having a blast!! (most fans feel Tim needs to be moved closer to the front of the stage so we can see him better). Tim's playing really added an extra punch to the music. Don Brewer is THE hardest working drummer in the world - hands down. And he plays the whole show with a huge smile on his face!! Where he gets the energy from, I'll never know! He never slows down - he is enjoying every single minute And then there's Bruce - or as the majority of the crowd says: BBRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCEE!!!!!!!!! Many fans were curious as to how Bruce was going to play Mark Farner's guitar licks - would they be true to the originals?? Or would Bruce make them his own?? Bruce mentioned at the Indy KISS Fest that he respected Farner's work and would play it respectfully. While remaining faithful to them, Bruce has put his own stamp on the songs. "Inside Looking Out" is noted for the long guitar solo and from previous GFR shows, fans have said that "Bruce riiiiiiiiiiiiips" on it. He has made this song his own. I heartily agree!!
Rock-n-Roll Soul was followed by "Footstompin' Music" (go Tim!) and "Walk Like A Man". Heartbreaker opens w/ one of the most amazing sounds ever to come from a guitar - Bruce had his guitar SCREAMING!! (The lady next to me even screamed back!). Next came "Shinin' On" and "Second Chance" - a song from Max's time in .38 Special. They cranked into "Locomotion" and "Mean Mistreater" which Max gave such heart to!! Then they kicked into what was probably my favorite song of the show - a vocal/percussion number called "Rollin' & Tumblin'". FABULOUS!!! A great song to showcase everyone's varied musical abilities. One of those songs you don't want to end. "Inside Looking Out" was up next. This is an almost 10 minute song and I think everyone was waiting for Bruce's solo. Near center stage, spotlight on............Bruce gave it everything!! The crowd went crazy - fists pumping in the air, the cheers of BRUUUUUCE getting continually louder...............I believe GFR fans now know why we Kulick fans worship him!!
"One More River" was followed by "Some Kind of Wonderful", with Don coming away from his drums to start a capella. Lots of crowd participation on this song. "Bad Time" and "I'm Your Captain" came next. We'd all been watching some action at the back of the stage and had a pretty good idea of what was next - a GFR tradition returning!! Don plops on his "Uncle Sam" hat - and the HUGE AMERICAN FLAG goes up in the background!!!! "We're an American Band" ripped through the Palace!!! The band returned for one encore - a super-charged version of "Rock and Roll Music".( I kept waiting for Bruce to start that Chuck Berry duck-walk across the stage - maybe next time???)
We got to go to the Meet-n-Greet after the show. What an honor meeting these guys!! They are all so nice and down to earth. Their enthusiasm was still in high gear. I'm sure any doubters were converted that night. DO NOT HESITATE - check the concert dates and get your tickets NOW!!! This is one show you must NOT miss!! There is so much talent in this band - they do not disappoint!! As soon as the show is over, you'll be ready for another one!! And by the way - the rest of the world is learning what we already know - BRUCE RULES!!!!!!!
|
 |
|
 |
 |