Fozzy with Voodoo Vegas - Queen's Hall, Nuneaton, England (06.29.11)

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 07.12.2011

Wrestling superstar Chris Jericho brings his band to the UK for a near-flawless night of rock and roll mayhem.

Chris Jericho spent years travelling the world as a young man training to become a professional wrestler. His time spent in Canada, the USA, Mexico, Japan and Germany helped him to become one of the best in the world (or if you believe him, the best in the world at what he does). Jericho eventually made it to WWE in 1999 and yet while he was toiling away in mid-card feuds with the likes of Road Dogg and Chyna, he found the time to join up with a cover band called Fozzy Osbourne. His role in the band became more permanent in 2000 when he had to take time off from his real job due to an ankle injury. Jericho was known as Mongoose McQueen, the band's singer. When the group changed its name to simply “Fozzy,” they adopted the satirical back-story that they had signed a 20-year contract to stay in Japan and be huge rock stars, only to discover on their return to America that many famous artists had ripped off their songs. Now they've dropped the back story, began playing their own songs and taking things a little more seriously. Having mastered professional wrestling and Dancing with the Stars, Jericho is now focused on being the best in the world at rocking a microphone onstage rather than in the ring. He travels the world exciting Jerichoholics backed by a live band and not in spandex. And now that the band takes itself more seriously, other people should too.

Chris Jericho is joined in Fozzy by former Stuck Mojo man Rich Ward, Billy Grey, Frank Fontsere and Sean B. Delson.

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The Queen's Hall in Nuneaton isn't the most glamorous of venues. The taxi driver that took me from the train station to the gig didn't even know where it was without having to ask members of the public for directions. It's a very dimly lit bar populated by the most eclectic set of people I've ever seen huddled under one roof. You suspect that many of them may have found out about Fozzy through their love of pro wrestling, because let's be honest, that crowd is a weird bunch as well. Many people are wearing shirts adorned with the phrase “Lady Gaga must be destroyed,” Fozzy's latest slogan (this will be important later) which frankly pales in comparison to “We are HUGE Rockstars!”

The main support band is a group called Voodoo Vegas (9/10) and there's no denying that they fit right in. The British quintet make the most of their time on stage as it only takes them a song or two to really have the Fozzy fanatics in the palm of their hand. Fronted by a long-haired lothario by the name of Lawrence Case, Voodoo Vegas have the right sort of songs to make waves, as they have been doing all around Europe this summer. Case has limited space to work with in a venue such as this, but the energy he and the rest of the band exude stirs the crowd into a mild frenzy, but it's an impressive one for a support band. The gorgeous Merylina Hamilton and Nick Brown share guitar duties, with both displaying impressive technical ability. The rhythm section includes Ash Moulton on bass and Martin Ramsay on drums, and both are integral parts of the band's live show, keeping them grounded when their playing becomes loose, but taking them to new heights when they're at their most rocking.

With cited influences like AC/DC and Guns N' Roses, it's not too difficult to tell what sort of music you're going to get from this band. They're brief support slot can't really be faulted though. Case displays some mighty impressive vocal chops but manages to couple this with the showmanship and charisma required to be a great frontman. And if the rest of the band seem a little stagnant, it's only because they're focused on delivering mind-bending riffs, and because they're in a very tight space. All of their songs seem to be driven by these killer hooks that audiences will latch on to immediately, and even the more down-tempo numbers are absolute belters. While an official studio album has yet to be released, if Voodoo Vegas are half as good on record as they are live, then that's a record to look out for in the future.



“So Unkind” - Voodoo Vegas
And then there was Fozzy. Pretty much from the second the support act leaves the stage, the audience is aburst with chants of “Fozzy! Fozzy!” and one wrestling fans will be familiar with, “Y2J! Y2J!” When the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla made his way onstage after what seemed like an eternity, it was with all the swagger we've been used to seeing from him week in and week out on Raw and SmackDown. In the past the band has come onstage to Queen's “We Will Rock You,” but their traditional entrance was interrupted by Lady Gaga's single “Born This Way” playing via a small CD player onstage. This didn't go down quite as well as Jericho's interruption of the Rock back in '99. The band makes its way onstage, with Jericho bringing up the rear, baseball bat in hand. Jericho put the foreign object to good use, teasing the audience before swinging it repeatedly at the boom-box onstage.

Just when you thought you wouldn't hear a more riotous din of approval all night, the band launches straight into “To Kill a Stranger” from their 2002 album Happenstance It's a hard rock belter that only serves to whet the appetite of the adoring rock and 'rasslin' fans in attendance. Jericho's vocal is barely audible throughout the first few tracks, such is the frenzy that the crowd has been whipped into, but his bravado is perhaps the most important weapon in Y2J's arsenal. Long time fans will know just how charismatic Jericho is, and his days ripping grapplers to shreds on the microphone in the ring seems to have served him. Much like he entertains his Jerichoholics in wrestling arenas worldwide, Jericho has no problem getting a reaction from a few hundred metalheads in Nuneaton, and they're all too willing to appease him.

Thunderous cries of “Fozzy! Fozzy!” ring out after just about every track as Jericho demands more and more from his audience, but the rest of the band is to be equally credited for provoking such a riotous response. Rich Ward, the man behind Stuck Mojo, is a force to be reckoned with on guitar, belting out onslaught after onslaught of vicious riffs and solos that seem to get heavier and heavier as the night goes, through lead “Martyr No More,” “Grail,” and “Enemy,” perhaps the band's biggest track to date. Unsurprisingly the material the band plays from fourth album Chasing the Grail is not only the hardest stuff, but the material the band seems to most enjoy playing. It's a record that has garnered them more mainstream attention than any before and one that some critics have even hailed as a “modern metal classic.”

As the night draws to a close, you're left with the feeling that Fozzy has mastered their craft, becoming the complete metal band. They've always had the fanatical fan base and the charismatic talisman Jericho, and now they have the songs and the confidence to go out there and tear the house down. And as much as I expect Jericho to make a full-time return to pro wrestling in the near future, one has to wonder just how big this band could get if it were Jericho's main focus.



“Let the Madness Begin” - Fozzy

The 411: Professional wrestler, best-selling author, ballroom dancer, TV show presenter, Radio show host, and frontman for one of the best metal bands in the world today - is there anything that Chris Jericho can't do? Of course he's helped by a crew of extremely talented live performers, and on this night the show was propelled to even greater heights thanks to the amazing support of Voodoo Vegas. I don't think Nuneaton has much to brag about, but tonight they were treated to one of the best rock shows I've attended all year courtesy of two phenomenal rock bands. Voodoo Vegas is a band I imagine you'll be hearing a lot more from in the future, while I can only hope Fozzy haven't peaked, because this experience has left me wanting to hear more from this band as soon as possible.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]