Rock N AmericaRock N America Music Festival, OKC Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, Ok
July 22nd, 2010 – Day One

Rock N America, the Oklahoma City rock festival boasting 30 bands in 3 days on 3 stages, captures the novelty of a certain other Oklahoma based rock festival that brought together an outstanding line-up of some of the biggest rockers of Heavy Metal’s glory days and all the fans, both young and old, who truly appreciate this brand of music. That festival, which I personally felt was incredible, unique and a chance for my wife and I to experience and meet some of our music heroes, unfortunately decided to make some major changes this year bringing in entirely too many of today’s new acts, only a handful of old school rockers and basically fed the attendees the same bands you can see at any radio station concert in the nation. Needless to say, we failed to make the trip to that event this year.
So, when Rock N America was announced, I felt that my Metal prayers had been answered! This is the kind of line-up that I had wanted to see and hear and this was the same uniqueness that had brought thousands to Oklahoma for that other festival in years past.
Rock N America delivers with the legendary Scorpions (supporting Sting In The Tail, their latest and last album and who are on their final outing as they celebrate 40+ years in music), Twisted Sister (whose entire Atlantic Records catalog will soon be re-released in deluxe editions), and Ratt (in support of Infestation, their first new album in 10 years) as the headliners this year. But many more legends and new rockers of the same vein are in town as well. As for some of the legends : Dokken, Lita Ford, Cinderella, Warrant, Slaughter, Great White, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat, Bulletboys, Enuff Z Nuff, Sweet, Lizzy Borden and a lot more. As for some of the new rockers: Texas Hippie Coalition, Dirty Penny, Crooked X, Urostep, 36 Inches, Rising Wind, etc.
Rock N America added a fourth day with free admission and having arrived in town later than expected, we didn’t catch all the bands but I would like to report on 2 bands that we did catch.
Coweta, Oklahoma’s Crooked X, who had recently lost original lead vocalist Forest French and bassist Josh McDowell and who had also been part of tours with heavyweights Disturbed, Kiss, Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper, proved that they had what it takes to hang with the big boys with solids tunes and the stage presence. Lead guitarist Jesse Cooper and his Dimebag Darrell solos provided the flash while vocalist Kevin Currie brought the crowd together. The boys finished the night with a tight rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall”. Check them out at www.myspace.com/crooked x or www.crookedx.com.
Dirty Penny out of Santa Cruz, CA took the stage and strutted, posed and slammed out sleeze Metal like it was 1987 on the Sunset Strip! Guitarist Jonny Prynce , vocalist Binge Daniels, bassist Tyno Vincent and drummer Spanky Savage ripped through such anthems as “Hot & Heavy”, “Sleeze Disease”, “Running Wild” and “Scream & Shout” from their debut release Take It Sleezy and the catchy new tune “If I Were You I’d Hate Me Too” from new disc Young And Reckless. Dirty Penny is the real deal: great music, a wealth of talent, an energetic show and a sense of humor. The band plays a few more times through out the 4 days and I hope to see them again. Check out www.dirtypennysucks.com for the whole nine.
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Rock N America Music Festival, OKC Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, Ok
July 23rd, 2010 – Day Two

This day promised a break from the summer heat as skies were overcast when festivities began on Day Two of the 2010 edition of Rock N America but, soon enough, the clouds dispersed and it was back on as the sound of Metal filled the air!
Following sets by Lizzy Borden and The Sweet, which we unfortunately had to miss, New Jersey’s Trixter, with the original line up of vocalist Pete Loran, guitarist Steve Brown, bassist P.J. Farley and drummer Mark “Gus” Scott, took to the stage and rocked through hits “One In A Million”, “Surrender” and “Give It To Me Good”, among others.
Following a sweaty performance by Marq Torien and his Bulletboys that rocked hard but was cut short (Marq was generous enough to step to the back of the side stage to talk to fans and sign autographs afterwards), the side stage brought us the infamous Faster Pussycat led by black haired Taime Downe. After pumping out old school classics like “Bathroom Wall”, “Slip Of The Tongue” and newer track “The Power And The Glory Hole”, they slowed things down for a sing-along of their ballad “House Of Pain”. They also included a cover of Betty Blowtorch’s “Shut Up & F**k”, which prompted rumors that Taime and the band would be fined and arrested for the obscenities. Whether any punishment was enforced in reality doesn’t really matter as it just adds to their legend! Faster Pussycat still rock.
Southern California’s Great White took the main stage and put on a no frills show of solid tunes that included rockers “On Your Knees”, “Rollin’ Stoned”, “Rock Me” and ballads “House Of Broken Love” and “Save Your Love”. Vocalist Jack Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall were all smiles as they finished the night with their famous cover of Ian Hunter’s “Once Bitten Twice Shy”. Great White always put on a good show and tonight was no exception.
And now for the main event: Twisted Sister!
New York’s Twisted Sister is one of the few bands of the ‘80s who have reunited with all original members: Dee Snider (lead vocals), Jay Jay French (guitar), Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda (guitar), Mark “The Animal” Mendoza (bass) and A.J. Pero (drums). And they were in town to deliver the songs you wanted to hear, not to throw any new songs at you. Jay Jay stated during a pre-show press conference that there were no intentions of recording a new Twisted album because he claims that when a band says “This one’s off the new album” everyone goes to the bathroom or for a beer but he did comment on the band re-releasing their entire Atlantic Record catalog with bonus DVD extras. So, with that said, we knew for the most part what to expect musically – the hits! Additionally, this year, the guys traded in the make up and glam outfits for denim and leather which, for me, was a change for the better. Twisted Sister’s music has withstood the test of time and influenced thousands of bands and it was the music that got my attention years ago, not the look. And, so, the band takes the stage.
In top form, they rip through the classics which included “Come Out And Play”, “The Kids Are Back”, “Stay Hungry”, “Shoot ‘Em Down”, “You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll” and, of course, the anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. After the mid-paced ballad “The Price”, Dee Snider crawled to the front of the stage and rose slowly above a red flood light for the intro to my favorite tune, “Burn In Hell”. Nice. With the crowd screaming it out, “I Wanna Rock” sent the boys backstage for an encore break. Upon their return, they played a tribute to a recent fallen Metal Legend, Mr. Ronnie James Dio, by covering Rainbow’s “Long Live Rock And Roll” and prompting the audience to throw the horns in his honor. To finish it all off, the mighty Twisted Sister, plowed through an edited version of “S.M.F.”. Thanks go out to Twisted for making Rock N America one of their few stops of the year. And by the way, I for one would like to hear what new Twisted music would sound like. Sorry, Jay Jay.
Day Two in the books.
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Rock N America Music Festival, OKC Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, Ok
July 24th, 2010 – Day Three

Day Three…and we’re still alive. And so is Firehouse, who, believe it or not, beat out Alice In Chains and Nirvana at the 1991 American Music Awards for Best New Hard Rock / Metal Band! Talk about some bragging rights! Firehouse played the catchy stuff - “All She Wrote”, “When I Look Into Your Eyes” & “Love Of A Lifetime” – then sealed the deal with their 1990 debut smash “Don’t Treat Me Bad”. Vocalist C.J. Snare can still belt it out! Nice job, boys!
Next up were the leather clad, Hollywood, CA based Pretty Boy Floyd with singer Steve Summers taking us back to 1989 with heavy renditions of “Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz”, “Rock And Roll Outlaws”, the excellent “Forty-Eight Hours” and finishing up with “Rock And Roll (Is Gonna Set The Night On Fire)”. They put on a solid show and had the songs to back it up, one of my favorite bands of the weekend! And, Steve was cool enough to meet with fans and autograph CD’s for the fans! Very cool and I hope to see them again soon.
The Michael Schenker Group, featuring guitar legend Michael Schenker, brother of Scorpions guitarist Rudolph Schenker, celebrating their 30th anniversary and touring with guest drummer Carmine Appice, took the main stage and just jammed! Kicking things off with “Armed And Ready” & “Cry For The Nations”, they also allowed Carmine his chance to show off a bit with a wicked solo mid set before they guys covered a few classics by one of Michael’s former bands, UFO. The first, “Lights Out”, saw ex-Scorpion Herman Rarebell, sporting a cowboy hat, come out and take a seat behind the kit, leaving afterwards to applause and smiles. Then came “Doctor Doctor” and finally “Rock Bottom”. UFO, who should have been at this show with all the ties to the Scorpions/Schenker Brothers, etc, recently recorded their 20th (wow) studio album with guitar virtuoso Vinnie Moore. MSG is touring the world and promise to bring out even more surprise guest along the way.
The side stage presented yet another one of my favorites, L.A. Guns. This was the Tracii Guns’ version of L.A. Guns (former singers of Tracii’s version have also included Paul Black and Marty Casey), which is not to be confused with vocalist Phil Lewis’ version which also records and tours as L.A. Guns. I’m not sure what the deal is there but I’ve seen both versions and Tracii’s version with at least 3 different singers and they have rocked every time. Got to give it up to drummer Chad Stewart, who played with the L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat and Motochrist, and the dude can play! Anyways, it was a short set but packed with classics like “Sex Action”, “Electric Gypsy”, “Never Enough”, “One More Reason”, “Rip And Tear” and their monster “The Ballad Of Jayne”. All crowd pleasers and right to the point, just like rock and roll.
The daylight was almost behind us as Philadelphia blues masters Cinderella, with all original members Tom Keifer (vocals/guitar), Jeff LaBar (lead guitar), Eric Brittingham (bass) and Fred Coury (drums), charged out with 3 tracks from their phenomenal 1986 debut: “Somebody Save Me”, “Push Push” and that debut record’s title track “Night Songs”. Tom sounded amazing and the band apparently just grew tighter over the years! Every song was a hit and included “Heartbreak Station”, “Gypsy Road” and their first single, “Nobody’s Fool”. Tom took to the piano for the encore of “Don’t Know What You Got (‘Till It’s Gone)” and threw his guitar around all sides of the stage during closer “Shake Me”. Pretty impressive and packed with energy!
Rock N America’s main attraction, Scorpions definitely had the biggest stage props, screens, video enhancements and light show of any artist of the whole event but it’s the Scorpions, man! You expect the theatrics from the headliner, right? After a short intro, vocalist Klaus Meine leads us through “Sting In The Tail” from the new album of the same name to set things into motion. Chasing that with, among others, “Make It Real”, “Bad Boys”, “The Zoo”, “Loving You Sunday Morning” and “Holiday” before the first surprise guest of the night made his appearance. Scorp axeman Rudolph Schenker was joined by his brother, Michael, for classic “Another Piece Of Meat”! Following it up, drum machine James Kottak ripped through an extensive solo display, known as the “Kottak Attack”, from his elevated podium in which he showed the audience the back of his shirt that read “Rock & Roll Forever”. He loses the shirt revealing his “Rock & Roll Forever” tattoo! Pretty cool! Rudolph, who kept his shades on all night, appeared dressed with the head bandage and bent forks over the eyes reincarnating the cover character and performing the title track of Black Out! Lead guitarist Matthias Jabs grabbed the spotlight for his “Six String Sting” solo before breaking into “Big City Nights” and heading backstage for the encore break. Upon their return, the next surprise guest – ex-Scorpion drummer Herman Rarebell – provided the back beat for an amazing run through of “No One Like You”. And what else could the boys end the night with but masterpiece “Rock You Like A Hurricane”? These Germans proved why they get the respect they demand and, if this really is the last tour, they went out with a bang! The Scorpions will always remain a favorite in our hearts!
Day Three is done!
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Rock N America Festival, OKC Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, OK
Day Four – July 25th, 2010

So, after having the Scorpions blow us away Saturday night, the Heavy Dreams team decided to check out the Garden Of Evil After party at the Stone Garden Hotel afterwards. The lobby was packed and several stars were hanging out and kicking back. Just past the entrance, were double doors that led into a mid-sized hall with a stage and an amazingly loud PA system at one end and two bars at the front and sides to refresh the crowd.
On that stage, we got our first taste of Down & Dirty, a very young (around 16 years of age) and very talented band that belted out both covers and originals. During a cool cover of the Rock Star soundtrack tune “Stand Up”, Steelheart singer Miljenko Matijavic joined the guys, sharing vocal duties with Down & Dirty’s charismatic leader Majyk. Lead guitarist L.A., bassist 9 Volt and drummer Trik held their own before a crowd littered with their peers. Great job, and a great show – hope to see them again soon.
The Saturday night closers were my favorite new rockers, Dirty Penny. These guys have the songs, the power and all the over the top energy that propelled ‘80s legends like Guns N’ Roses, L.A. Guns and Motley Crue into the spotlight. The performance was loud and in your face despite a few technical problems from the aforementioned PA system, which forced the band to stop and start over a time or two. Dirty Penny’s second disc, Young & Reckless, is out with lead single “If I Were You, I’d Hate Me Too” and is a stellar record, in my opinion. I’m keeping an eye on these guys and I hope to see great things come from them in the future.
And so, after a trip back to our hotel in the rain and just a few hours of sleep, we entered the last day of Rock N America to catch, who else, but Dirty Penny! These boys are non-stop having played somewhere every day of the event! Their putting in the work, man.
First up on the main stage were ‘80s icons Warrant with new lead singer Robert Mason, formerly of Lynch Mob, along with original members Joey Allen and Erik Turner (guitars), Jerry Dixon (bass) and Steven Sweet (drums). They turned in an outstanding set with Robert taking control through “Down Boys”, “So Damn Pretty (Should Be Against The Law)”, ”Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich”, “Big Talk”, the mega-hit “Heaven” and closer “Cherry Pie”, among others. This newest version of Warrant captures the excitement of the Warrant we remember! Nice job!
Up next, Denison, TX natives Texas Hippie Coalition introduced their brand of Red Dirt Metal to the side stage. THC were easily the heaviest band of the weekend with Pantera crunch, Dimebag guitar theatrics and truckload of energy! Axemen Randy Cooper and Crawfish, throat “Big Dad” Ritch, bassist John Exall and drummer Cody Bailey kept the audience head banging as they were all over the smaller side stage! Give both THC discs a spin, debut Pride Of Texas and new effort Rollin’, and see what you think.
Former Vinnie Vincent Invasion members Dana Strum and Mark Slaughter took to the stage with their far more successful band Slaughter and rolled through the melodic rockers that included “Burnin’ Bridges”, “Spend My Life”, the monster “Fly To The Angels” and the even bigger monster “Up All Night”, which prompted Motley Crue’s Vince Neil to make a cameo vocal appearance. Good set from a great band.
Lillian Axe came out and delivered a quick but memorable handful of songs highlighted by the talents of lead singer Derrick LeFevre and lead guitarist Steve Blaze. I wasn’t too familiar with their music but they had some catchy songs, which included the one hit that I knew “Show A Little Love” as the closer. They put on an impressive show and sparked our interest to did into their catalog to see what their all about!
Former Runaway and, hands down, my favorite female rocker of all time, Lita Ford, made her appearance kicking things off with “Larger Than Life” and continued to play her older material that included “Can’t Catch Me”, “Gotta Let Go”, an Ozzy-less, solo version of duet “Close My Eyes Forever” (why couldn’t Robert Mason, Mark Slaughter or Stephen Pearcy have stepped in to lend a voice? It’s not that she needed help but there where a couple of cool combinations that would have been nice to witness) and Lita’s signature tune “Kiss Me Deadly”. An awesome performance but nothing from the latest album Wicked Wonderland or from her last album before the 14 year break, 1994’s Black. Either way, Lita rocked out and we’re all glad to have her back on the scene.
We missed Gilby Clarke’s slot, but made it back in time for Dokken, who put on a good show with Don Dokken leading us through great old school hits that included “Just Got Lucky”, “Kiss Of Death”, “Dream Warriors”, “Breaking The Chains”, “Alone Again” and “In My Dreams”. Don talked to the audience between songs to keep the momentum going while guitarist Jon Levin stood his ground, ripping through solos and comfortably filling the shoes left behind by former Dokken guitar virtuoso George Lynch whose group Lynch Mob was slated to finish out the side stage right after Dokken. Who knows if there was any bitterness there but Mr. Lynch didn’t make any surprise appearance during his former band’s set, and Dokken left with smiles and gestures.
Lynch Mob, on the other hand, just hit the side stage and shredded. Vocalist Oni Logan was back in the fold and sounded amazing. It was a very short set and there wasn’t much to say, I guess, as they rolled through “She’s So Evil But She’s Mine”, “River Of Love” and “Wicked Sensation”, along with 2 others and disappeared backstage. George Lynch can shred and proved it yet again tonight. This line-up has recorded a new album entitled Smoke And Mirrors, which was released to critical acclaim. I would like to see what this band would do with a headlining spot and much more time.
And finally, Ratt attack. With a brand new album, Infestation, and a heavy weight band configuration which consists of Stephen Pearcy on vocals, Warren DeMartini and former Quiet Riot hero Carlos Cavazo on guitars, Robbie Crane on bass and Bobby “The Blotz” Blotzer on drums, Ratt would officially bring this beer soaked weekend to a close! Carlos and Warren highlighted such songs as “Lay It Down”, “Lack Of Communication”, “Slip Of The Lip” and the bluesy “Way Cool, Jr.”. Stephen sounded good and the band rocked there way into their catalog with “Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job”, “Back For More”, “Nobody Rides For Free”, “Wanted Man” and pre-encore closer “Round And Round”. The Ratt Pack also played new track “Eat Me Up Alive” (as an encore) and “Walkin’ The Dog” from their debut. All in all, a great show but, personally, we were drained from the lack of sleep and glad to give it up.
Heavy Dreams, which includes Randy, Misty and Jason Tarver, and Chad P. King, would like to thank the house crew and staff of Rock N America, Rob Miller & Lindsey for all the access and generosity, the cool security and all of the bands that performed and got to meet. We truly hope that this event continues for years to come and that the future brings you fortune, peace and good health,
Stay Metal,
Randy Tarver, Heavy Dreams
the crowd