Now That's What I Call A Chicken!

Chickenfoot in De Waerdse Tempel Heerhugowaard, 26 June 2009 (Ronald says 4 out of 5)

Before their record was even out I decided it was probably worthwhile checking out the new band Chickenfoot. I didn't find their album disappointing at all so I was looking forward to this gig a lot. You don't get to see musicians like Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony all on the same stage every day!


So we went out of the big city and headed north to the Waerdse Tempel in Heerhugowaard (what the f**k!?). After we waited in the car for the pouring rain to stop, waited in line to get in, waited in line to buy coins and waited in line to get our first beer it didn't take long for the support act "Real Men Don't Dance" to warm us up. Although the three guys try their best it's the tropical temperature in the concert hall that warms up the most. Time for them to make way for the real stuff!

Right from the start it's clear the guys from Chickenfoot are here to have fun. The band's sign is present on every instrument that all look brand new. Time to put some marks on it! They start out by playing the first three songs of the album and that means full force from the start. It looks like they're definitely enjoying themselves. Constantly looking for eye-contact with the other band members, big smiles and small encounters with fans in the crowd. Joe Satriani is playing his riffs very convincing (what would you expect) and Chad Smith is beating the crap out of his shiny new set (according to Sammy Hagar he literally beat it to pieces the other night). Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are singing together and being best friends. Especially Chad Smith and Joe Satriani are challenging each other and get out the best this way. The guys are joking a lot among each other and Chad is making funny faces and throwing drum sticks in the crowd. Some people must have caught more sticks than I have in my sticks bag! After around five or six songs I'm actually getting the feeling the whole thing may even get a bit too cheesy.

But then they knock out some more killer riffs and power grooves to make me feel all well again. Some songs sound as if they're jamming and Hagar explains one of the songs (I think it was "Turnin' Left") originally was a 45 minute jam. The better songs of the album like "Soap on a Rope" and "Sexy Little Thing" (as I wrote in my album review) also stick out live. They're just songs with more balls. At times I hear Aerosmith and there are there are even some moments that remind me of Led Zeppelin. Hagar mentioned at the start that they would play songs from their record the first half of the show. After a short break they return and they start playing the first ever song he wrote when he was playing with Montrose. Their last song is Deep Purple's "Highway Star" to end the show in style.

This leaves me happy since I just have seen a solid rock show with great musicians having lots of fun. So what if it's all a bit old and cheesy. So what if it's a bit too much 80s and nothing world shocking. It was fun and it felt good!