I guess if you ever had to refer to a band as a supergroup, Damn Yankees would certainly fit the bill. Formed in 1989 by arena rock luminaries Tommy Shaw of Styx, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Ted Nugent of the insane asylum, and drummer Michael Cartellone. Damn Yankees breathed new life into the careers of three guys whose own bands were in serious decline, and in the case of Cartellone, provided his first taste of mega-success.
During their brief four-year run. Damn Yankees went on to release two successful albums, 1990 s Damn Yankees, and 1992 s Don t Tread before calling it quits in 1993.
Damn Yankees were very much the synthesis of their previous bands.
Shaw s songs would have fit comfortably on any Styx album, Blades songs channeled Night Ranger, and Nugent s songs were straight out of the Motor City Madhouse. They pretty much followed the Styx and Night Ranger formula for success, by laying down a solid hard rock foundation, adding tons of memorable hooks and vocal harmonies, and then letting the ballads sell the albums. In concert, they alternated effortlessly between the hit power ballads and the balls-out rockers, never quite giving you enough time to catch your breath.
Uprising Live! documents a killer concert that the band performed in 1992 at the Rocky Mountain Jam in Denver, Colorado during their final tour in support of the Don t Tread album. I can t say that I have paid much thought to this band over the last decade, but when I saw this DVD it definitely peaked my curiosity.
I have seen the post-Yankees incarnations of Styx, Night Ranger, and Ted Nugent a few times in concert over the last decade and came home satisfied each time. Some of this stuff is simply a nostalgic guilty pleasure, but mostly it still kicks some serious ass.
The setlist is a run through of the band s biggest hits from each of their albums.
With the exception of Nugent s ultra-heavy Uprising you will probably be intimately familiar with every one of these songs if you tuned into rock radio at all during the 1990s. Once they get started they wisely alternate between fast rocker and power ballad, which gives the show a great pace. The intensity builds throughout the performance and each song seems to outdo the previous one.
The highlights were many, but the powerful performance of Come Again will certainly have you hearkening back to the glory days of Styx. Shaw opens the song with some gorgeous 12-string acoustic guitar, while Nugent lets his electric guitar sing out wildly over the chords. Shaw has to pause the song about 20 seconds in and ask reverently, Ted, would you mind doing that one more time for me?
Nugent is his usual over-the-top self throughout, hamming it up, and not at all shy about stealing the show, but Shaw and Blades seem perfectly content with his antics, because his energy and enthusiasm are very contagious.
The show ends appropriately with three of the songs that made these guy s other bands famous. Up first is Renegade , Shaw s Styx classic, which gets completely hijacked by Nugent s screaming guitar, which makes James Young s original riffs sound like they were being played on a frigging acoustic.
He doesn t slow down after that one either, because his very own Cat Scratch Fever is up next, and he shows how much he still revels in assaulting a crowd with the song s killer opening riff, and his sexually gyrating hips. Night Ranger s Rock In America waves the band s patriotism flag with vigor and brings the show to a rousing finale.
The performances are ALL intermingled with behind-the-scenes footage and band interviews, which I usually can t stand, but it was presented exceptionally well on this DVD, and was not the least bit distracting for me.
Also, and listen up all of you concert video directors, they included a Performances Only option in the main menu that allows you to skip all of the behind-the-scenes stuff with the push of a single button. Outstanding!
The behind-the-scenes footage and interview segments provided a nice glimpse into the personalities of each band member and were fun as hell to watch.
Cartellone was the sarcastic comedian of the bunch, constantly joking about the age difference between him and the other three dinosaurs, and refusing to show deference to their legends. Tommy Shaw mentions how there is usually just uncomfortable silence whenever he and Nugent are alone in a room, since they have so little in common outside of rock and roll, with Shaw being a strict vegetarian and Nugent killin and grillin most of his own food.
The production quality was pretty admirable for an amphitheater concert recording from 1992.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track was particularly impressive with screaming distorted guitars coming at you from all angles, and all of the instruments and vocals sounding crisp and perfectly balanced in the mix. The picture was not the sharpest, but was clean and captured the intense light show well.
Some grainy black and white footage and slow motion effects were also thrown in, but were used sparingly enough to not be overly annoying. The camera work was very herky-jerky at times, but the overall excitement of the show was captured brilliantly.
The DVD does not include any special features, which is a shame, because including all of the Damn Yankees videos, and maybe adding some current interviews with the band members reminiscing about their time in the band, would have added immensely to the value of this package.
Uprising Live! provides an excellent look into the personalities and music of the Damn Yankees and is highly recommended for fans of the band. Oh, and make sure you stick around until the very end when Nugent sticks an arrow into the heart of a life-sized Saddam Hussein cutout from about 50 feet, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Hey, it was 1992 after all.
Set List
01. Damn Yankees
02.
Uprising
03. High Enough
04. Don t Tread On Me
05.
Where You Goin Now
06. Fifteen Minutes Of Fame
07. Come Again
08.
Coming Of Age
09. Renegade
10. Cat Scratch Fever
11.
Rock In America
Performance 8/10
Production 8/10
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