Take a seat

It is rare that I have a desire to go see a local band that I am not familiar with. I say rare because most of these cover bands are the same. They play the same songs by the same artists (I want to scream every time I hear Petty's American Girl) in the same bland fashion. These bands put on stupid hats to show they can be country or hip hop or grunge.

There are only a couple exceptions in my town. I found one of them last night. I am not sure what the story is with Naughty Chair. I recall Rhythm Method mentioning them in the spring at a Drinking for Jesus stop. I had checked their website looking for gig dates and found none. All they had was the history of the band and how they do a Def Leppard tribute. I liked that. Beyond the Leppard the only thing I could glean from the website was that they appeared to play a lot of music that I would like based on the album art posted in the banner.

As it would turn out, my friend knows the bass player in the band. He was at a Rhythm Method show handing out fliers to their gig in Waukesha. Finally I would get the chance to see what the Naughty Chair was all about.

The Naughty Chair

I hadn't been to Rooters in a while. As we waited for the band to hit the stage I was amused at the music that was playing. White Lion. Yeah, I owned a White Lion cassette when I was in college. The words to the songs came back in my head. They played the whole album which seemed weird. Especially when they played a couple Triumph songs next. I wish they would have played that instead.

From the opening sounds I knew I was going to like Naughty Chair. They played the opening on Queensryche's Operation Mindcrme. I Remember Now and Anarchy X. Wow! No one does that. As they finished that they moved seamlessly into Eyes of a Stranger. Nice way to open a show. They had my attention and my mind was racing, wondering what else they would play.

A little Tesla I guess. Comin' Atcha Live. Another song that no one plays. I am enjoying this.

It continued on from there. They got a little more mainstream at points playing Skid Row and Def Leppard. But they also hit up more songs you didn't expect. Van Halen's Somebody Get Me a Doctor, Guns n Roses's Night Train, Winger's Headin for a Heartbreak. They even did a Ratt medley. When they were done with the first set I was floored. Someone filled a gap in Milwaukee's music scene that had been lacking for so long.

The second set was more of the same. More Guns, Night Ranger, Lynch Mob, Hardline, Def Leppard. I could have done without the Nickelback but at least they did something aggressive by them. There was another medley in there but I cannot recall which band it was. I just know it was a damn good show.

The band itself seems pretty unique. Two guitar players that have their craft down. They could match the chops of the guitar gods they were playing. Mad skills being displayed on that stage.

Even more amazing was the singer. Holy shit did this guy have some pipes on him. He could hit the high notes, the screams, the sustained vocals. He did it all and didn't lose any energy. He blasted out the Queensryche like Geoff Tate himself was on stage. Amazing.

As I said, I am not sure what their story is and why don't play the church festivals in the summer. All I know is they play the clubs in the fall and winter and that time of year is here. I look forward to seeing Naughty Chair play again.