Guitar legend George Lynch delivers a face melter in NorCal
Can George Lynch still throw it down?" Yes he can...like a Street Fighting man.
Article and Photo by: Jim Brown
Lynch Mob Brings A Wicked Sensation to Roseville
Alert - Run On Sentences Ahead - Please Be Kind.
Attending the Lynch Mob show this past Friday night was a special event for this music fan. It was just a short time ago that I was introduced to George Lynch and his band Dokken at the 1988 Monsters of Rock Tour stop at Candlestick Park in San Francisco...along with 100,000 other fans, of course. Pause here. Reflect on the fact that Candlestick Park may have been the all-time greatest venue for a concert. It worked well for the Beatles and it served as an easy slide into a lifetime of live music appreciation for myself and all my rowdy high school pals. (shout out to "The Primates" Mike, Tony and Peter) Just wanted to take a second here and appreciate the greatness of those large venues. Hat tip to Candlestick.
Lynch Mob was born at the end of the iconic 80s hair metal reign when George Lynch and Mick Brown got together with a few other metal Mastros to put out their first album “Wicked Sensation” in 1990. It was a hit right from the start. Loud. Tight. Screaming guitars. The album had it all. I played “River of Love” and “Sweet Sister Mercy” on that ol’ Denon CD player in my Z-28 Camaro so many times that it literally wore out (kids...look up a 1988 Chevy Camaro on the google thingy so you understand the rest of this story).
The Lynch Mob sound rode to the top of the playlist of many radio stations with powerful vocals from on-and-off again lead singer Oni Logan. But it was the steady guitar shredding riffs and gymnastic finger hooks that emulated from George Lynch and the ESP Guitars that kept the songs on the album connected. Honestly, how can this man’s hands stretch that far?
His guitar work was unique, and it was clean and correct. It was distinct and could be easily separated from the overcrowded space that was late 80s/early 90s music. In fact, George is considered by Guitar World Magazine as one of the top 50 guitarists of all time so it's not a surprise when I say I was excited to see him play again all these years later.
Goldfields in Roseville is a great space for loud rock and roll shows because it's big enough to handle the volume yet small enough that you can be involved with the show. So close in fact that during the second half of the Lynch Mob set, someone handed George a box of Krispy Kream donuts for him and the band I assumed. Can't do that at Lalapalooza.
The venue filled up and folks mingled around grabbing cocktails and listening to opening band Halfway Inn, cranking out covers of familiar 80s metal hits with a little bit of attitude thrown in. Nice opener actually.
At just about the right time, the house lights dimmed and the Lynch Mob banner lit up full blast behind the drum kit. Anticipating “Mr. Scary’s” arrival, the crowd got loud and welcomed the band onstage. George and the crew plugged in and took stock of the front row, likely filled with soccer moms looking for a one way ticket to the tour bus. Gross. Thats so 80’s.
Lynch Mob tore into the start of the set with “Lightning Stikes Again” from the Dokken days. At that point about half the crowd, looking to be about 40% 80s metal babies, started throwing horns and spilling beer like a bunch of crazy teenagers. George responded immediately with a smile and threw a leg up on the stage monitor, leaned into the front row and started the legendary finger work on that fretboard. Oh boy...that sentence could sound sort of offensive if taken out of context.
Sidenote – George Lynch is older but his is fit as a fiddle (he can probably play that too). I am sure there is a pre-show oiling routine for those guns and watching him from 3 feet away I was suddenly ashamed of myself. The Music Fan Magazine office has a complete set of kettlebells but they haven’t been kettled in a while. George inspired me to fix that immediately!
Back to the show. We are getting deeper into the playlist now and hitting all the George Lynch favorites like “Street Fighting Man” and “Just Got Lucky”. They sound great! Drums are on point, the bass is where it's supposed to be and the lead singer is actually closer to what sounds like the original album “Wicked Sensation” than I expected. George seems to be feeling it and all is ok with the soccer moms.
I suppose the big thrill was seeing someone that was top of his game a long time ago and realizing he still had 90% of the chops. Only thing gone is the long hair and leather pants. Its inspiring to see George Lynch play at this level and maintain it for sooooo long. I doubt he would agree. I’m sure he can point of some inefficacies with his performance. Artists are like that I ‘ve found. Sometimes complaining about the silliest things like “I can’t hit the high octave any longer” or “the humbucker pickup was throwing a negative magnetic pulse of 14%”...Jesus Christ just stop. Most Americans can’t sing the Star-Spangled Banner so your trauma isn’t relatable.
The night concluded with two of my favorites, “It’s Not Love” from the Dokken days and, of course, the title track “Wicked Sensation." It was a great evening filled with reminiscent thoughts of the way things were before AutoTune or Spotify (we like Spotify and hope they advertise with us but it's just not the same as slipping a Lynch Mob CD into your car stereo).
Seeing George Lynch and his band was even better than expected. I don’t care who you are. If you can’t appreciate the talent and longevity demonstrated by George Lynch and his band Lynch Mob...well then, my friend, you are missing out on one of the most rewarding experiences available to each and every one of us. The chance to be in the room when the lights go down, the volume goes up and the 80s come back to life.
Music Fan Meters
Smoke Meter: None really. Again, surprising. The crowd was filled with folks that would sneak out to the parking lot between songs years ago, but nothing really happened on this night. The Goldfields security team kept it tight.
Fight Meter: Well, 30 years ago maybe a different story. Back then there was always some lady named Brittney or Tammy and they would certainly get a fight going when George Lynch hit the stage. I’ve seen it. I’ve watched boyfriends have to phone a friend for a ride home because Tammy just got on the tour bus. Sadness. But no fights tonight.
Sing Along Meter: Ridiculous. I’m sure there were some that couldn’t talk for days after that show. I can only say that at times it sounded like synchronicity and other times it sounded like my Dad did when he stepped on a leftover Lego at 4am. But the crowd tried and that was good enough for Music Fan Magazine to award the Goldfields crowd an eye-popping 87 points on the F’Yeah! scale.