DERRINGER – Report On First Show In 32 Years!
Posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 13:43:17 EST


Special Report by Martin Popoff

History first - Rick Derringer’s spiffy hard rock vehicle of the late ‘70s was called – pertly and appropriately - Derringer. The band consisted of Rick on guitar and vocals, along with drummer Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell), bassist Kenny Aaronson (Dust, Bob Dylan, Billy Idol, HSAS), and second guitarist/vocalist Danny Johnson, later of Alcatrazz as well as many years with Steppenwolf.

The lineup recorded the immense Sweet Evil classic in ‘77 (my fourth-in-the-series book Ye Olde Metal: 1977 will include a long, detailed history of this album), a self-titled debut from ‘76, a live album. Then in ‘78, a third and excellent record called If I Weren’t So Romantic I’d Shoot You was issued with a different set of, er, guns. This one was a bit more playful and poppy, but it is every bit as entertaining as Sweet Evil, an album that, I might add, Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel also believes is one of the greatest dozen or so albums of the ‘70s.

So here we go… last night, April 22, 2008, marked the first show by the classic lineup in 32 years, at The Bear’s Den Showroom in Niagara Falls, New York, with a second show set to go for tonight. A historic event to be sure, the band was nervous before hand, but for no reason, as a scorching set was played to near perfection, covering roughly two-thirds of the first two seminal albums, along with closing numbers ‘Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo’ and encore tune, ‘Hang On Sloopy’.

“A guitar band,” is Johnson’s assessment of Derringer’s mission way back when in 1976. “Rick was the guitar player, and instead of just having a rhythm guitar player, you had someone who could step up to the mic and sing a little - we did that, and you know, just good music. We weren’t really going for the blatant pop hit, and we didn’t get it, and in hindsight, it might not matter that much. Just like John Kay always says: ‘Watch out what you hope for because you might get it.’ Like if ‘Incense And Peppermint’ was your hit (laughs). But Rick having ‘Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo’, and ‘Hang On Sloopy’ and ‘Still Alive And Well’… it’s still a good thing for us. You know, being a guitar band, both of us playing the guitars, we didn’t have the Steven Tyler. I mean, Dave Roth said one time, ‘Yeah, man, one guitar player is bad enough, but two?! Like when you guys start doing those guitar battles, that can really make a singer nervous.’ But we tried to play together as opposed to just compete.”

Indeed guitar duels were a big part of last night’s show, as was a bass solo from Kenny Aaronson, who sported a cool ‘50s throwback look like the Dictators Scott “Top Ten” Kempner, or Eric Ambel from The Del-Lords. Vinny Appice contributed a pounding yet well-reasoned drum solo, and it was cool to see him apply his busy and edgy Dio-style fills to some of these classic tunes, no doubt tempting fate with all four of the guys nervous about remembering parts. And speaking of Dio, Rick sang effortlessly, like Ronnie, age seemingly having no truck with his style, chosen or accidental. Derringer looked young (and actually taller than his reputation as one of the tiny ones), as did the whole band. Rick sang and yelped and whooped like a bird, joked with the crowd, and played the hell out of his guitar – despite, let’s face it, there really being no discernable trademark sound out of the guy like a Brian May or Angus Young or Robin Trower, he’s versatile, inventive, fast, and incredibly musical. Johnson sang some of his signature songs like ‘Driving Sideways’ and ‘One-Eyed Jack’ and also looked inspiringly young and fit for his years, throwing in a few kicks and sidling up to Rick for a massive twin lead war which was the second highlight of the night, after stone metal monster classic ‘Sittin’ By The Pool’.

“The guys in the band? Nothing’s changed. They’re still a bunch of babies,” laughs Danny, asked about his impressions of hanging with these traveled musicians three decades down the line. “Except for Rick. I’m just kidding. You know, we’re all individuals. We’ve grown up. But you know rock ‘n’ rollers have a tendency to grow up and kind of not grow up at the same time. But yeah, what I like about this band… take Kenny Aaronson for instance. He’s very adamant. He doesn’t just come up and play bass and go, ‘OK, whatever, that’s OK.’ If something’s not right, he will say, ‘Hey man, let’s stop.’ You know what I mean? He’s just a good solid bass player. And that’s why he’s ended up in Billy Idol and Dylan and all these bands. You know, we’re all different, but Rick and I are very similar in what we like. When I first met Rick, I said, ‘Who are your favourite guitar players?’ And he said, ‘All the guys who are great.’ And I said, ‘You mean Hendrix, Page, BB King, Clapton, Santana?’ So you know, we clicked like that. But I tend to… Rick can be very fiery and bluesy, and I can do that too, but not as good as him. So I kind of lean a little more on the kind of street-y, Aerosmith-y thing - a little darker. But Vinny being in Sabbath now… man, we’ve all been away from each other and we’ve all had a lot of new experiences and influences.”

A humourous moment in our chat illustrates a classic gap in procedure one maybe would expect when once hard-partying ‘70s legends get back together to rock out. Yet still, I found this surprising. In years leading up to this reunion, there was talk that Rick would want to “Christianize” the old Derringer lyrics, which was a sticking point with moving the reunion forward. Rick in recent years has become quite deeply religious, and in fact, was signing records and CDs and posters last night with his signature, a cross, and the words “Lord Bless.” So I had asked Danny about this, and with a bit of a dazed look (granted, Johnson was very nervous about the gig all afternoon), he said, “Oh, we haven’t got to that,” after a long pause, adding, “I don’t even know. This is our first gig.”

So what happened? No surprise that the band didn’t play the epic and quite sinister title track from Sweet Evil (nor ‘Bright Light Fright’/’Turn It Up’-style proto-speed rocker ‘Let’s Make It’, which I was looking forward to). And as far as the lyrics go, ‘Still Alive And Well’’s chorus lines now allude to Jesus being still alive and well. But that’s it – the other songs, at least to these ears, remained the same. Now, as Rick tore into those words, I’m not sure it was surprise that registered on harmonizing singer Danny Johnson’s face, but he did indeed seem to spontaneously step back from the mic.

Taken aback? I’m not sure, but I’m urging you – judge for yourself TONIGHT at The Bear’s Den at Casino Seneca in Niagara Falls, New York. You will be treated to effortlessly enjoyable hard rock classics played by the rock-solid, studied and storied musicians who wrote them. I mean, it almost seems hyperbolic to say this, but Derringer just might be at the top of their game, here in their… late 50s?

If you can’t be there tonight, trot o’er to http://www.rickderringer.com for additional tour dates, which are unfortunately sporadic in America. The band then hit the UK and Spain in mid June, preceded by a stop at Sweden Rock on June 6th, which is sure to be a highlight as this band hones their already white-hot chops (yeah, yeah, first night… I’m sure they thought they sucked!) into a thing of consummately professional classic rock beauty.