According to an article in USA Today, the annual Oktoberfest held in La Crosse, Wisconsin “has earned a reputation as one of the best Old World folk festivals in the U. S.” For 44 years, the nine day event has offered an array of events and activities, including parades, a carnival, food, contests, displays, and, of course beer and music. The festival has prided itself on the fact that during the event, many different types of music are offered including polka/German, folk, country, rock and blues.
On my maiden visit to the La Crosse Oktoberfest, I traveled from the Twin Cities for “Classic Rock Night,” featuring two artists who were prominent in their heyday, both proving that good musicians and good music can easily withstand the test of time. After experiencing the time tested and versatile talents of rock/blues/jazz/Christian music icon Rick Derringer and the timeless 70’s-80’s sound of Head East, it is safe to say that their collective talent still abounds.
The musical evening opened at about 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night with local guitar talent Dave Rogers. Rogers is the owner of Dave Rogers Guitar Shop, a vintage guitar store in La Crosse that sells to a number of international stars. He is also known to be one of the fine guitar talents in the area. In warming up the growing Oktoberfest audience, Rogers and his tight three-piece outfit dazzled everyone with some fiery guitar and exceptional renditions of work by Clapton, Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others. As the night progressed, Rogers filled in the time before, between and after the headliners with his musicianship and talented guitar.
After Rogers initial “short set,” the Rick Derringer Band took residence on the main stage. Beginning with his first big hit in 1965, “Hang On Sloopy,” with Ohio band known as The McCoys, Derringer has maintained a position in the music business as a songwriter, guitarist and producer. During his 40 years (hard to believe) in the music business Derringer has performed as a major solo artist, as well as working (playing and/or producing) with the likes of Johnny and Edgar Winter, Alice Cooper, Steely Dan, Weird Al Yancovic, Kiss, Cyndy Lauper, Richie Havens, Todd Rundgren and even Barbara Streisand. Now living in Florida, Derringer has remained active in the music business, recently releasing two Christian music recording and an excellent smooth jazz effort entitled Free Ride.
Backed by two fine musicians, Charlie Torres on bass and Tom Curiale on drums, Derringer opened with “Don’t Stop Loving Me” and a hint of the powerful show that was yet to come. After two well known Derringer tunes, “Guitars and Women” and “Still Alive and Well,” Derringer did a very nice cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride & Joy,” a song he dedicated to SRV and that he performed on the compilation recording entitled Hats Off To Stevie Ray (1993).
Derringer dedicated his next songs to the men and women serving in the military, protecting the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Following an exceptional, non-Hendrix-like version of the “Star Spangled Banner,” Derringer performed another “patriotic” song originally written for wrestler Hulk Hogan, entitled “Real American.” With each song, the audience in front of the Main Stage grew with people pressing against the barriers to watch and listen to the band.
Following two songs best described as “Christian hard rock,” “Let Peace Rain Down” and “Listen To The Lord,” Derringer exclaimed, “That’s what I call church!” Dressed predominantly in white with many crosses around his neck, hanging from his belt and out of his pockets, Derringer cast an interesting religious aura as he performed. In a unusual act, Derringer even thanked the audience for coming out and supporting his music, followed by a toast to the audience (with water) and Tom Curiale taken a couple of pictures of the audience for the Rick Derringer website (www.rickderringer.com).
Continuing to demonstrate his versatility, Derringer offered a sample from his recent smooth jazz release, Free Ride, performing a very powerful instrumental entitled “Rhapsody in Red.” On the song, Derringer’s guitar work was magnificent, dazzling the audience with his substantial talent and clearly gaining a new appreciation of his musical endeavors.
As the set rolled towards its close, Derringer proudly boasted to the audience that he was the writer/performer of the only declared “State Rock Song.” After running through several songs that tried and failed to meet the legislative test to become a “State Rock Song” (including Springsteen’s “Born To Run” in New Jersey), Derringer and the band broke into a nice extended version of the Ohio State Rock Song, “Hang On Sloopy,” complete with what Derringer revealed as the “missing second verse,” deleted from the original by his “radio friendly” producers in 1965. The main set then concluded with one of Derringer’s best known songs, “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo,” the rock and roll version. Derringer fans who want to hear the song from another angle should pick up a copy of Free Ride to hear the jazzy cool version of the song. Derringer finished with a two+ song encore that concluded with another Derringer classic, “I Play Guitar.” After t he band grudgingly left the stage, Derringer, Torres and Curiale graciously singed autographs for many appreciative fans.
Following another abbreviated set by Dave Rogers at the other end of the building, the St. Louis-based band Head East (www.head-east.com) took their positions on the Main Stage. I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about what I was going to hear from the band that I had followed back in the 70’s and 80’s, particularly given the fact that the only original member of the band remaining from the high profile period of the band was keyboard player and vocalist Roger Boyd, who also hold a fulltime tenure track teaching position as an Assistant Professor in Social Work at the Edwardsville campus of Southern Illinois University. Anyway, with a lineup that currently includes Boyd (keyboards), Mike Mesey (drums), Richie Callison (guitar) and Rich Creadore (bass), I wondered if I would really get to hear a band that I actually recognized.
To my delight, as well as many other appreciative, long time fans (Hi Lisa!), Head East put on a powerful show that sounded every bit as good and authentic as they did with their original line-up in the 1970’s. The set included vocals by Boyd, Creadore and Callison and a combination of new songs like the opener, “(Give Me) Just a Little More Time” and “More Than The Man;” a cover of the classic blues song “Stormy Monday” and an array of classic Head East hits, including “Get Up and Enjoy Yourself,” “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Never Been Any Reason,” among others.
The music during the 90+ minute set was virtually non-stop as the band rocked its way back into the hearts and minds of the appreciative and noisy crowd. From the front to the back of the building, people were singing along, dancing and pumping their fists to songs like the raucous, “Raise A Little Hell.” Boyd’s B-3 was amply backed by some fine guitar by Richie Callison and the rhythm section of Rich Creadore and Mike Mesey. The rock and roll anthem-like nature of “Raise a Little Hell” was nicely offset by the following rock-laced slow blows of “Stormy Monday.” As I watched the audience, the band and listened to the songs, it was clear that everyone was having a great time, singing along with the ever familiar songs performed by Head East.
Head East closed the set out with a flourish, saving song of their best known songs for the end. The band played out the set with a rapid succession of well know tunes including “Jefftown Creek,” “”Since You’ve Been Gone,” “Never Been Any Reason” and the encore, “Elijah,” with Robert Boyd strapping on his portable keyboard at the end, raising it over his head in a triumphant display of musical showmanship. As Head East’s many fans came over to the side of the stage after the show to get autographs and chat with the band members, it was easy to see that everyone enjoyed the music just as much as I. In true rock and roll fashion, several women came up and asked if they could meet certain members of the band, offering numerous items for autographs, including various part of their bodies (use your imagination).
As the evening entertainment closed out at Oktoberfest with another, longer musical set by Dave Rogers, the happy (and somewhat intoxicated) crowd slowly filtered out, thoroughly satisfied with the great music that punctuated the final night of La Crosse’s 44th Annual Oktoberfest. Anyone interested in attending the 45th annual event would be well advised to mark their calendars for September 30 – October 8, 2005 and check out the website at www.oktoberfestusa.com for current information on the event.
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