Vain in Lowell, MA this past Friday

[kingbrian74]

Was finally able to cross another band off the bucketlist this past Friday, as Vain played a show in Lowell, MA. Never saw them back in the day, and always loved the No Respect cd.

They played at a club called Taffeta, which I had never been to before or even heard of...but it was nice. Pretty clean, decent sized stage and good overall set up. It is in Lowell, which is a strike against it, but location aside....not bad.

Officer X and All Sinners opened. Walked in during Officer X. They weren't my thing, but they weren't bad. Singer is going for that Dio sound. All Sinners was good. They had two really good songs that stood out during the set, but I have no idea the titles of those songs. Opening bands should announce song titles AFTER they play the song, for those rare instances where an opening band isn't terrible....and All Sinners was not terrible.

Vain was much better live than I expected. After years of Vince Neil, Stephen Pearcy and Sebastian Bach shows, I've learned to keep expectations low...but the band and Davy sounded great. The songs from No Respect got the biggest reactions, but he played a fair number of songs from other albums. Played No Respect, 1000 Degrees, Who's Watching You, Icy, Beat the Bullet....probably a couple others. Davy's between song rants aren't very good....but man, he delivers live when singing.

Probably a couple hundred people in attendance (I guess similar to a Tuff show in '94 at the Troubadour). I picked up a copy of Disintegrate Together....only listened to about 1/2 of it so far, but it's good. Long story short....I'd recommend anyone go see them if they have the opportunity....though I wish they did a Vinnie Vincent Invasion cover or two!

[DonJuanDeMarco]

Are they doing any other dates? Seems odd to fly across the country for one random show! Was it the current Vain band lineup or just Davy with a local band backing him up? Does Davy wear shoes onstage?

I got to see them at Rocklahoma like 20 years ago! They went on a 11am or something like that but they brought it! Great live band. Davy wasn't wearing any shoes!

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Was finally able to cross another band off the bucketlist this past Friday, as Vain played a show in Lowell, MA. Never saw them back in the day, and always loved the No Respect cd.

They played at a club called Taffeta, which I had never been to before or even heard of...but it was nice. Pretty clean, decent sized stage and good overall set up. It is in Lowell, which is a strike against it, but location aside....not bad.

Officer X and All Sinners opened. Walked in during Officer X. They weren't my thing, but they weren't bad. Singer is going for that Dio sound. All Sinners was good. They had two really good songs that stood out during the set, but I have no idea the titles of those songs. Opening bands should announce song titles AFTER they play the song, for those rare instances where an opening band isn't terrible....and All Sinners was not terrible.

Vain was much better live than I expected. After years of Vince Neil, Stephen Pearcy and Sebastian Bach shows, I've learned to keep expectations low...but the band and Davy sounded great. The songs from No Respect got the biggest reactions, but he played a fair number of songs from other albums. Played No Respect, 1000 Degrees, Who's Watching You, Icy, Beat the Bullet....probably a couple others. Davy's between song rants aren't very good....but man, he delivers live when singing.

Probably a couple hundred people in attendance (I guess similar to a Tuff show in '94 at the Troubadour). I picked up a copy of Disintegrate Together....only listened to about 1/2 of it so far, but it's good. Long story short....I'd recommend anyone go see them if they have the opportunity....though I wish they did a Vinnie Vincent Invasion cover or two!

"""""""""""""""""Vain was much better live than I expected. After years of Vince Neil, Stephen Pearcy and Sebastian Bach shows, I've learned to keep expectations low...but the band and Davy sounded great. """""""""""""""

ALL of this!

And such is the case... if you go to see Heaven's Edge (who are also GREAT live) and dare I throw TUFF in here.

Often I meet fans who say stuff like: "I never got to see you back in the day, but wow... you guys were WAY better than I expected" and so on, and so on.

I individually and the band collectively, have battled the "Bret Michaels (Poison) wanna-be" hate and dissing for 35+ years, oh well... it's expected at this point, but laughable.

The artists who sold 3-5 or 10-20M... often are the groups that everyone saw, and still have the chance to see 2-3 or 4-5x each year. While some of us, who choose not to play 40-50 or more shows every year... are limited with our exposure.

So many of those bands & singers... I won't name them all (Don Dokken, etc...), have beaten their brand, band into the dirt and often are lacking or fall short.

Great to see kudos for some friends, who still deliver beyond what was expected.

$tEvil

[kingbrian74]

Are they doing any other dates? Seems odd to fly across the country for one random show! Was it the current Vain band lineup or just Davy with a local band backing him up? Does Davy wear shoes onstage?

I got to see them at Rocklahoma like 20 years ago! They went on a 11am or something like that but they brought it! Great live band. Davy wasn't wearing any shoes!

We were taking about this in the car ride home (I’m in CT, so about 1.5 hours of driving each way…worth it). There are no other shows that I’m aware of, and it does seems odd. Lowell of all places.

I guess I’m just glad I was able to make this one.

Also, it was his band. Same guys (and gal) that are pictured on the cd.

[kingbrian74]

Was finally able to cross another band off the bucketlist this past Friday, as Vain played a show in Lowell, MA. Never saw them back in the day, and always loved the No Respect cd.

They played at a club called Taffeta, which I had never been to before or even heard of...but it was nice. Pretty clean, decent sized stage and good overall set up. It is in Lowell, which is a strike against it, but location aside....not bad.

Officer X and All Sinners opened. Walked in during Officer X. They weren't my thing, but they weren't bad. Singer is going for that Dio sound. All Sinners was good. They had two really good songs that stood out during the set, but I have no idea the titles of those songs. Opening bands should announce song titles AFTER they play the song, for those rare instances where an opening band isn't terrible....and All Sinners was not terrible.

Vain was much better live than I expected. After years of Vince Neil, Stephen Pearcy and Sebastian Bach shows, I've learned to keep expectations low...but the band and Davy sounded great. The songs from No Respect got the biggest reactions, but he played a fair number of songs from other albums. Played No Respect, 1000 Degrees, Who's Watching You, Icy, Beat the Bullet....probably a couple others. Davy's between song rants aren't very good....but man, he delivers live when singing.

Probably a couple hundred people in attendance (I guess similar to a Tuff show in '94 at the Troubadour). I picked up a copy of Disintegrate Together....only listened to about 1/2 of it so far, but it's good. Long story short....I'd recommend anyone go see them if they have the opportunity....though I wish they did a Vinnie Vincent Invasion cover or two!

"""""""""""""""""Vain was much better live than I expected. After years of Vince Neil, Stephen Pearcy and Sebastian Bach shows, I've learned to keep expectations low...but the band and Davy sounded great. """""""""""""""

ALL of this!

And such is the case... if you go to see Heaven's Edge (who are also GREAT live) and dare I throw TUFF in here.

Often I meet fans who say stuff like: "I never got to see you back in the day, but wow... you guys were WAY better than I expected" and so on, and so on.

I individually and the band collectively, have battled the "Bret Michaels (Poison) wanna-be" hate and dissing for 35+ years, oh well... it's expected at this point, but laughable.

The artists who sold 3-5 or 10-20M... often are the groups that everyone saw, and still have the chance to see 2-3 or 4-5x each year. While some of us, who choose not to play 40-50 or more shows every year... are limited with our exposure.

So many of those bands & singers... I won't name them all (Don Dokken, etc...), have beaten their brand, band into the dirt and often are lacking or fall short.

Great to see kudos for some friends, who still deliver beyond what was expected.

$tEvil

Tuff is on the bucketlist. Book an east coast show. I hear Lowell, MA is nice….

Also on the list: White Trash, Killer Dwarfs, Warrior Soul

[kingbrian74]

Are they doing any other dates? Seems odd to fly across the country for one random show! Was it the current Vain band lineup or just Davy with a local band backing him up? Does Davy wear shoes onstage?

I got to see them at Rocklahoma like 20 years ago! They went on a 11am or something like that but they brought it! Great live band. Davy wasn't wearing any shoes!

Ooops. Missed the question about shoes. I wondered the same thing during the show, as I hung out towards the back. But, I found this video on YouTube that confirm that he was, in fact, barefoot.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wVrlQDcRY ... b3dlbGw%3D

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Are they doing any other dates? Seems odd to fly across the country for one random show! Was it the current Vain band lineup or just Davy with a local band backing him up? Does Davy wear shoes onstage?

I got to see them at Rocklahoma like 20 years ago! They went on a 11am or something like that but they brought it! Great live band. Davy wasn't wearing any shoes!

""""""""""""Does Davy wear shoes onstage?""""""""""""""

No.

Even when he jammed with TUFF back in 1990 at The Roxy, he took them off when we invited him up!

Also... back about 10-12 years ago he came to a Shameless show in Germany and got up with me and did a few songs, he took them off that night too!

$tEvil

[BritniTaiste]

It was a one off, local promoter named Al who books sludge type bands here and there put it on. He has always wanted to book them but Vain has a high guarantee and didn’t think he could make it work. I don’t know if they came down on price or he just said “fuck it”. Glad he did, they were really great, first time seeing them since they played the Channel with Spread Eagle so I wasn’t sure what to expect. He’s also bringing Warrior Soul around soon, good dude.

[LAglamrocker]

Hire more cashiers Warrior Soul is coming!!!!!!!

[FreddyFender]

Hire more cashiers Warrior Soul is coming!!!!!!!

[BulletProofPoet]

Hire more cashiers Warrior Soul is coming!!!!!!!

That’s actually funny!!

[nuno_cherone]

Thanks for the review. I wanted to go but wasn’t able to make it. The promoter Al is a great guy and carries the torch, so I’m glad it went well.

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Thanks for the review. I wanted to go but wasn’t able to make it. The promoter Al is a great guy and carries the torch, so I’m glad it went well.

"""""""""""""""The promoter Al is a great guy and carries the torch,""""""""""""""""

This!

I've known him for years... VERY good guy!

$tEvil

[Nobodyspecial]

Thanks for the review. I wanted to go but wasn’t able to make it. The promoter Al is a great guy and carries the torch, so I’m glad it went well.

I would have gone but I was out of town that night.