Tag Archives: Bon Jovi

A NIGHT OF ROCK LEGENDS PRESENTED BY BEST TRIBUTE BANDS IN CANADA

Rockers, and bluesmen and guitarists, oh my! What an amazing line-up of talented musicians I witnessed this past Saturday out in Oshawa for the first annual Durham Rock Tribute Band Festival presented by Sunrise Concerts and sponsored by local radio station CKDO-FM.

The roster included some of the best musicians I’ve seen play live, let alone their tribute material performed to perfection. The fans showed their appreciation with loud applause, screams and the occasional rebel yell after each hit and the bands gave back even more energy. So, now please meet my newest fave bands….

First on stage was SOUTHERN FRIED who performed the hits of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band.

Then we had THE SRV EXPERIENCE with Dave Ryan out front channeling the virtuoso guitar playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan…

Then Gator James and his band BAD TO THE BONE brought George Thorogood to the festival stage….

One of my fave 80’s bands, Bon Jovi, was manifested by BON JOVI FOREVER and lots of ladies quickly hit the dancefloor…

To close the evening, AC/DC’s best interpreters THUNDERSTRUCK hit the stage and blew the roof off. For me, my Aussie connection to AC/DC made this a very special performance [Angus Young’s brother, George, was a founding member of legendary 60’s Oz band, The Easybeats…and I still have my 45’s from back them].

Big thanks to MC for the night KENNY ROBINSON (pictured below) who did a heroic job of keeping the show flowing – so tough for a comedian to work to a crowd seated waaaay back behind the dancefloor, but Kenny was in good humour all night (and got me home to Toronto by 3am!)20170916_190158Congratulations to local promoter George Kotsopoulos (pictured below left, with Kenny in the lobby of Gen’l Sikorski Hall) for staging this festival.20170916_191905And a nice thank-you to the lovely ladies from TicketPro.ca who started everyone’s night off with big smiles and a friendly welcome!20170916_205100(0)Thanks again to all the great musicians who contributed to a successful first-time festival…see you all next year!20170916_181643 20170916_181649 20170916_193826 20170916_210044 20170916_232550 20170917_001501

 

MEET THE BAND WHO BRINGS BON JOVI TO LIFE ON STAGE! SEE/HEAR THEM LIVE SEPT. 16TH IN OSHAWA

“Living on a Prayer”, “Dead or Alive”, “Blaze of Glory”…I can still hear Bon Jovi’s greatest hits playing in my head. And I still remember being within spittin’ distance of Jon when he commanded the concert stage in Toronto so many years ago.  Fortunately we can re-live those glory days thanks to an Ontario group who pays tribute to the band with an uncanny resemblance (both looks and sound) – Bon Jovi Forever.  The band is part of a 5-group concert performing on September 16th in Oshawa when Sunrise Concerts presents the 1st Annual Durham Rock Tribute Festival (see below for details & tkt info).14595581_569365786583802_3383937147522332532_nI recently spoke with Bon Jovi Forever frontman Baz Littlerock who shared his thoughts on performing for fans as the original legendary band.

What first inspired you to sing and perform like Bon Jovi?   I have been a Bon Jovi fan since the Slippery When Wet album came out. It was never my goal to sound like Bon Jovi or do a Bon Jovi tribute band, but as years went on, I constantly would get compared to him vocally even though we did no Bon Jovi songs. In fact, we were doing Maiden, Ozzy, White Zombie (LOL) and people would say “Do you know who you sound like?” So when my son was born, I wanted to be a part of his life and not tour the world so I thought I would start a tribute band and since everyone said I sounded like Bon Jovi it was an easy decision.21244753_10159200736795361_85784443_nWhat has been the weirdest, wildest or most memorable gig you’ve played?  Since 2000, there have been many Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, James Bay, Quebec and New Brunswick tours – so many, but the one that sticks out was in the summer of 2016 when we performed at Q107’s Canada Day festival picnic in Toronto and it was an amazing night!  The whole crowd – I’m guessing 10,000 or maybe more – were all into it and we had such a great night!  But there have been so many great shows over the years that it’s hard to pick just one.

Was rock your first passion or were you a closet disco lover?  Umm, well my dad was all about The Beatles and my mom loved Elvis and Kenny Rogers so I heard a lot of that. The first album I ever bought was Michael Jackson’s Thriller then Huey Lewis’ Sports. I was asked to do a Motley Crue lip-sync band (with all the big hair) where we could pretend to play all the instruments so we made our costumes and instruments – it was awesome. I was hooked so I bought a real guitar and all the Motley albums and have been a rocker ever since.

What keeps you (and the band) on the road and performing for the fans?  The fans mostly. The only time you’re thinking about money is when you booking the show. Once you’re on stage playing there is a “love making” that happens between the band and the audience when you get both parties ready to have a good time, there is honestly – nothing feels better. Its probably a lot like golf – it’s not always your best game every time but when you do have that great shot, you always want that feeling again so you’re constantly chasing that experience.Bon Jovi ForeverHave you ever met any of the Bon Jovi band members, and if so, what was your first comment/question to them?  No, but I have met their new guitarist Phil X – just none of the original line up. If I did meet them I would just say thanks for all the great music they’ve given us – different genres like country to pop to metal and beautiful ballads because as a singer, it allows for a good vocal work out: one minute you’re belting out “Living on a Prayer” and the next you can lay back and sing a song like “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”.

Apart from the September 16th gig in Oshawa, what other shows have you booked in the coming months…any Christmas or NYE concerts we should mark in our calendars? We have a ton of great shows coming up including Belleville for New Years. You can check our upcoming dates by logging on to www.bonjoviforever.ca  or our Facebook (just type in Bon Jovi Forever Tribute Band to find us).

Let’s meet the band….Top left Roscoe Stewart, top right Darryl Coleman, bottom left John E. Keys, bottom right Paul Mathur and centre Baz Littlerock 

If you’re a fan of great rock or blues, you’ll love the line-up: Thunderstruck (AC/DC), Southern Fried (Skynyrd & Allmans), Bad to the Bone (Thorogood), the SRV Experience (Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Bon Jovi Forever. MC is the incomparable, award-winning comedian Kenny Robinson.

 

Durham’s 1st Annual Rock Tribute Festival 
Saturday Sept, 16th (doors open 5pm)
General Sikorski Hall, 1551 Stevenson Rd N, Oshawa
Tickets are available from: www.ticketpro.ca  $45 pp (valid until Sept.5) then $65 pp

Thanks to our media sponsor…..CKDO logo