Journey Cover Band and AC/DC Tribute!

A couple weeks ago I saw that a Journey Cover Band, DSB, was playing at Canyon Club in Agoura Hills.  I keep an eye on the Canyon Club Calendar because Pat Benatar has played there and I'd love to see her Live!  That same night of the Journey Cover Band, (which tours nation-wine) Bonfire, which is an AC/DC Tribute Band, was playing at Paladino's in Tarzana.  Neil and Chris had asked me about going to see Bonfire initially, but when I told them about the Journey Cover Band, we decided to check out DSB since we were all Journey fans and had never seen them play before!

"Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" Cover

We got a bite to eat just down the street at Ladyface, (yes, that really was the name of the restaurant) and then got to Canyon Club around 10 pm just as the band was starting and there was a guy standing outside who gave us two tickets that were already paid for, so it certainly started our evening off with a bang!  We bought one more ticket, grabbed some drinks, and made our way to the dance floor.  There was a Billy Idol Tribute before DSB which we missed, thinking that was supposed to start at 10 pm.  I was bummed because I would have loved to have seen that too, but apparently, that's my concert luck.  The singer of DSB was great and sounded just like Steve Perry.  The rest of the band was fantastic as well, and I felt like I was at an actual Journey concert (probably the closest to the real thing, even though I hope to see the current Journey Band play at some point).  The band played all of Journey's hits including some singles of Steve Perry's, like 'Oh Sherrie.'  Of course, we expected to hear 'Faithfully,' 'Anyway You Want It,' and 'Don't Stop Believing,' but it was songs like 'Lights,' 'Send Her My Love,' and 'Separate Ways,' that made me so happy to sing-along and dance to them!  Neil and I saw an 80's Cover Band at Canyon Club last year and it was mostly women in their 50's dancing, so I thought the crowd would be a little younger since it was a weekend night, but we were definitely the youngest people there.  I enjoyed hearing 'Escape,' 'Who's Crying Now,' and 'Stone In Love.'  I made my way towards the stage a couple times to get some pictures and sing along to my favorite songs and even had a little moment with the singer and guitar player during 'Don't Stop Believing.'  I was so happy we got to see them perform as it was an awesome time!

That's me, hand in the air, rocking out to DSB!

Since the show ended around 11:30 pm we actually went straight to Paladino's (which was a 15 minute drive from Agoura Hills) to catch the end of Bonfire's show which actually went until almost 1:30 am!  I'm glad I called to check ;)  Neil and I had seen them before at The Viper Room this past Winter and Chris and Neil had also seen them before that, so we knew a couple of the band members.  These guys have so much energy and they played for nearly three hours which was crazy!  After a night of dancing and singing along, which I did some of also at Paladino's, I was ready to relax and sit for a little bit.  I got to hear 'Highway To Hell' and 'You Shook Me All Night Long' so I was happy.  This was more Neil's scene since he knows a ton of AC/DC songs.  Plus, my 5-inch heels decided it was break-time so while the boys rocked out with the band, I grabbed a drink at the bar and chatted with the female Bartender about cocktails and music.

It was definitely a night of fun and I love getting to hear cover bands especially one that plays one of my favorite bands of all-time's music!  I'm really happy that I didn't have work or rehearsal that night so I was able to enjoy some music and time with friends :)

A 'Lyndsey Squeeze' with Neil & Chris watching the Journey Cover Band at Canyon Club

An 80's Cover Band and 90's Karaoke

A couple Thursday's ago was a surprise trip to The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills with Neil.  I had never been there but I know that all sorts of bands play there including Pat Benatar who I will definitely see there the next time she's in town because the venue was perfect.  

We went to Canyon Club to see an 80's Cover Band, that was a mix of Steel Panther and The Spazmatics.  One guy was dressed like Nikki Sixx, while another was Slash, then the guy from Devo, and the lead singer was dressed like some singing actor in a movie.  The show started out really good, everyone was singing along and dancing to the music, and they were playing songs that everyone knew and could have fun dancing to.  The problem was, everyone was drunk, a good 20 years older than us, and dressing pretty scandalous, but this was my first time at Canyon Club and I was warned before arrival.  They switched things around half-way through their set, and started to play a Gun's & Rose's song and all of a sudden, something was off.  We couldn't tell if it was the lead guitarist, or the lead singer who picked up a guitar, but because the guitar was off, the singing went off-key.  They had also switched drummer's and while the new drummer came on was actually pretty awesome, you could tell he loved to play and was having such a good time, in his excitement, tossing his sticks was causing the rhythm to be off.  It was kind of a mess and the problem was, the band never recovered, and the next few songs were totally off.  It was a shame because you could tell the bassist was trying to figure out where it was coming from and knew things weren't right but there was nothing he could do at this point.  I love hearing 80's Music and I think Cover Bands are super fun, and I love the cheese factor of the synchronized dance moves, costumes, and vocals, I just wish they had been able to keep it together for the whole show.  I'd definitely go see them again but hopefully they'll have practiced a little more and be prepared to rock out, in tune.

Then this past week at Karaoke it was a really quiet night and people got to sing a bunch since it was so slow.  I set myself to a 90's Women Musical Theme, and since I'm still building my History with our new computer, it couldn't be anything that was already on my list.  My first song was 'Who Will Save Your Soul' by Jewel which was followed by 'Head Over Feet' by Alanis Morissette; two women who made their biggest hits in the 90's but still continue to create music today!  My new song of the night, which I'm surprised I've never sang before was Ace Of Base's, 'All That She Wants,' and a song that isn't one of my favorites after singing it; I prefer to do 'Don't Turn Around' or 'The Sign' because it's such a crowd favorite.  Next up I did 'Here Comes The Rain Again' by The Eurythmics and I did some new harmonies on it and after letting everyone else sing a few more times I closed out the night with Natalie Merchant's 'Wonder' which is just a fun and happy song.  I'm always happy when people get to sing a bunch and since it was a slow night, I got to go home a little bit early and get some sleep before my crazy work weekend ahead!

I think it's time for an 80's Theme Karaoke night soon :)