Friday 11th June
Cinderella - Festival Stage (4/5)
Cinderella were, just like Y&T in 2003 and Tesla in 2008, a band that I have always loved but never got to see, before their concerts at SRF. And just like with them, my expectations were high because of the bands talent and musical strength. And while both Y&T and Tesla really rose to the occasion I was praying that Cinderella would do just that as well.......
On paper, Cinderella’s hybrid of rhythm and blues, hard rock with poppy undertones should work extremely well on a festival like this. But knowing the fact that frontman, lead guitarist, songwriter and singer Tom Keifer have had some serious problems with his voice being practically gone for many years, this could end up a disaster just as well as fantastic. And when they hit the stage with “Second Wind”, it looked just like we had a disaster on our hands. First of all, the sound was a catastrophe that made Keifer sound like Donald Duck on helium, second “Second Wind” is not a live opener. The fact is, in my opinion it doesn’t even belong in their set because it is weak song - Hey guys, you wrote “The More Things Change”, the ultimate opening song!!!
But the sound guy worked his ass off and the sound was adjusted throughout the song and by the second track “Somebody Save Me” everything sounded great and we could be happy to report that Keifer’s voice sounded just fine. Except for the mishappenings of the opener (with a song that was a mishappening itself) the only downside to the gig was that only two songs (“Heartbreak Station” and “Shelter Me”) were played from their best album Heartbrak Station, but other than that, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.
The guys played a killer gig and grooved so hard that there were no way you could stand still for even a second. Hell, through their 90 minute set they actually managed to play no less than three ballads, “HS”, “Nobodys Fool” and “Don’t Know What You Got”, which is a bit much at a festival, but not even that could slow things down. And with killer grooves like “Push Push”, “Gypsy Road”, “Night Songs” and “Falling Apart At The Seems”, the guys could do no wrong.
So I just tip my hat off and say welcome back, guys. Next stop, new album and world tour, please.
Check them out :
http://www.cinderella.net
Review : Jon Wilmenius
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