SHRIEK ATTACK!

SHRIEK ATTACK!

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

EUROPE Wilfern Theater Los Angeles, CA

April 24, 1987

by Phyllis Pollack

Expectations ran high: this was to be Europe's first performance ever in Los Angeles. Despite having no past record of U.S. concert dates to acquire a live reputation, tickets for this show were sold out.

L.A.’s Wiltern Theater, just south of Hollywood, was built by Warner Brothers Pictures in 1931 to show their film premieres of the day. And though the glory of that Hollywood is long gone, this night saw a capacity crowd turn out to witness a premiere performance in rock 'n' roll.

Europe had started their first U.S. concert tour the week before this show. Hailing from Yngwie-land (otherwise known to heavy metallers as Sweden, birthplace of Yngwie Malmsteen), the band has received much critical acclaim from European concert audiences. Their single, “The Final Countdown,” has been in the Top 20 both here and in Europe. And it showed, as fans milled around outside the theater hoping to somehow be able to buy a ticket. Finally, the show began and the audience enthusiastically rose to its feet.

On the stage, a backdrop displaying planets was presented. This isn’t surprising if you’ve seen the cover of their latest album, their third so far. Surprisingly, after a smoke effect, the show opened with “The Final Countdown.” It is somewhat rare for a band to open with their biggest hit to date—that’s usually saved for last. The result, though, was not anticlimatic.

Something was different about this show from other heavy metal/hard rock concerts. Even the greatest censormonger concerned about “excesses in lyrical content” would have a hard time finding something to complain about or throw a Senate hearing over. There were none of the hard rock theatrics or fun profanities often found at concerts. Even the regular heavy metal slogans weren’t there. The music was what was important to the audience as well as to the band, and that was made quite obvious. Just a bunch of guys wanting to play their tunes.

Throughout the show, guitarist John Norum offered expressive, melodic, often staccato solos. Harder-edged, yet melodic chordal riffs and progressions worked well using the combination of the guitarwork together with the keyboards, often reminiscent.of Deep Purple.

The repertoire’s pace jumped between rockers and thoughtfully-written ballads. Europe took the appreciative audience to Yngwie-land for a hard rock classical tarantella piece, then straight into a heavy metal blues jam.

Was the audience confused? Not at all—except, perhaps, during an a capella number, barbershop quartet style. A few songs later, the band played Sweden’s national anthem. Actually, it fit quite well. Some real tasty stuff.

Despite the fact that the band played quite a bit of harder-edged rock, Europe probably won’t draw the harder-core metal fans, who would rather pledge allegiance to Metallica. With the solid singles they played, though—“Rock The Night” and “Love Chaser”—Europe will still have a large audience of hard rock fans. After spending an evening watching Europe, one definitely gets the feeling that, if they were in the mood, they’d rip into some speedmetal that would conquer anyone’s territory. Attentive members of the audience stood on their feet throughout the entire concert, mesmerized by all the different musical places Europe could take them.

Toward the end of the show, a loud telephone ring was sounded throughout the concert hall. With the “caller’s” voice clearly miked, the band was informed that they were making too much noise and if they were to continue playing, she would have to call the police. The band resumed playing. A section of girls in the audience held up a large Swedish flag to let Europe know they were on their side, regardless of possible criticism. The band’s Bon oovi style (in looks) seemed to have most of the females in the audience in a trance. The male onlookers offered homage to the creative Norum, and the perfection of lead vocalist Joey Tempest’s voice. Everyone was having a great time. The music was a form of departure, with Europe offering its original signature to the genre of hard rock.

At the end of the show, the enthusiastic audience demanded an encore—and received a long one in return for their restless excitement. The show ended as it began with “The Final Countdown.” If they can continue with the hits, Europe is destined to stick around for a long time. Not many hard rock bands have been able to crack mainstream radio as well as these guys.

After the show—when leaving—a group of five Europe fans tried to interrogate me for information on where the band was staying and if they were still in the building. I have a feeling Europe will be back soon.

THE MONSTER THAT ATE CLEVELAND

CJSS Shadows Cleveland, OH

March 28-29, 1987

by Angle Lang

There’s a long, narrow pit of a bar in Cleveland that’s really happening. In fact, it’s the premier HM club in town. And if you go there on just about any given night, you’ll catch some of the best on the local and national circuits who haven’t quite made it but are a half step away.

One such prodigy is CJSS, a monogram of its illustrious musicians: guitarist extraordinaire David T. Chastain; stilettovoiced Russell Jinkens; throttling bassist Mike Skimmerhorn; and heavy-handed drummer Les Sharp. Based in Cincinnati, these HM artistes (that’s right—artistes) aren't exactly local and not quite national, as their touring wings are still sprouting feathers. But where they come from, their fans repeatedly break their own attendance records. And believe me, it ain’t for nuthin’. You oughta hear these guys crank Led Zep’s “Communication Breakdown.” It’s better than sex.. .

CJSS recently played a double soiree of gigs at Shadows, where they devoured the stage with an incomparable G-force that’s predestined to take you with it. Don’t get me wrong: CJSS isn’t a thrash band; they’ve too much quality and control for that. And they’re not a glam band; they pride themselves too much on their genuine abilities to lean on old-hat cliches.

But if you’ve been paying attention to METAL, there's gotta be a lightbulb over yer head about CJSS—and more specifically, about David T. Chastain.

“Oh yeah,” you say. “Isn’t he the one who’s like Yngwie?”

Like Yngwie? Ha ha. Although it’s chic and (dare I say) trendy to make such a glib comparison (and yes, I was once guilty of the same offense), the only common denominator between Yngwie J. and David T. is their Guitar Hero Greatness. Beyond that, their differences are vast. Yngwie draws his stylistic influences from the depths of the 16th century and usually ends up lame in the songwriting department. Mr. Chastain, as you’ll note, is equally brilliant in technical style and final execution (sort of musically ambidextrous, if you will.)

And so it went with CJSS at Shadows. Their stuff was of purely epic proportions with Chastain leads that sliced into the expanse like a graceful fencer going in for the kill, while Sharp’s drums held a rapidfire and often spontaneous line that drew heavy response. Skimmerhorn’s bass riffs showed a large set of jagged fangs too often to typify his approach as anything but killer.

Pulling together all this heavy artillery and turning it into a weapon of reckoning was Jinkens on the mike, exercising a respectable range on selections from the band’s latest masterpiece, Praise The Loud. What worked particularly well was the vocal duel between Jinkens and Skimmerhorn during “When The Battle’s Over,” an aurally exciting and physically stimulating composition that revealed their true flexibility.

CJSS burned down the road with the fast, furious, and infamous “Out Of Control,” but showed exquisite sensitivity on “Destiny,” a luminous piece from the band’s first release, World Gone Mad. The song’s guitar work and melody line were staggeringly powerful.

The band’s encore was a fiery blaze of “Thunder And Lightning” and “The Bargain,” noteworthy for their unmitigated wickedness. The entire set was their best to date in Cleveland, although CJSS, hyper-perfectionists that they are, took an ultra-critical approach to their performance.

David T. calls it “searching for the impossible perfection,” while Sharp says, “No matter how good it is, it can always be better.” Be that as it may, CJSS is forever the HM orgasm. Their only missing elements are a major record deal and beaucoup bucks. But that’s another story.. .

In the meantime, if you happen by Clevo some fine evening, make Shadows an absolute Gotta Go: you’ll have the opportunity to wallow in mass quantities of decibels. And if your timing is precise, you may luck out and experience HM primos, CJSS, in action.