Photos and Review by: Chris Besaw
Last Saturday night fans packed it in at the Vine showroom at del Lago Casino and Resort to rock out for the incredibly talented and heavy shredding female powerhouse, Lita Ford!
The stage goes dark and the intro which is Accepts “Balls to the Wall” start pumping through the speakers, an interesting and bold choice to set the tone for the show ahead. Lita and the band hit the stage with her signature cherry red Warlock guitar and black leather black widow outfit wasting no time getting the party started with “Gotta Let Go.” Make no mistake, she has been killing it on guitar and stage for close to 5o years now, but you wouldn’t guess it once she hits the stage!
Supporting her on stage is her long time guitarist, Patrick Kennison, drummer Bobby Rock who is a beast on the skins, along with new addition, bassist Marten Anderson makes bringing the low end to the mix making it look effortlessly.
It was very clear that Ford and the band came to rock hard and she was very conversational stating that she was hoping to get a little snowed in Waterloo because well it would be a great place to hang out and play all night. Some of my favorite moments from the night was a very incredible jamming and extended version of her song “Back to the Cave.” Some things you don’t see too often at rock shows anymore is the element of ripping guitar and drum solos. Patrick’s solo during “Back to the Cave,” was amazing and let’s not forget Bobby Rock’s thunderous and heavy drum solo which got the fans on their feet screaming. I for one was very happy to see Lita and the band incorporate that element into the show to showcase the bands talent.
One of the best moments from the evening was when Lita took a step back to her roots cranking out a fiery version of “Cherry Bomb,” which was originally performed by her first band, the Runaways. Even though the times have changed since the late 70’s that song still kills! Lita and the band saved the best for last, coming out onto the stage with her iconic double neck guitar she went into her version of the Alice Cooper hit “Only Women Bleed,” pausing for a moment saving her biggest hits for last, including “Close my Eyes Forever,” with Patrick Kennison singing Ozzy’s part and her monster hit, “Kiss Me Deadly.”
With all said and done, an incredible and amazing show by one of the best women pioneers of hard rock, although the Waterloo show was the last stop on this leg of the tour for the 2022 tour, her tour picks back up in late January. Her show is one you don’t want miss.
Thank you and please check out my photos from the show.
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