Concert Report

Concert Report by David
Michael Schenker Fest at Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
March 9, 2018
Added on 03/11/2018

Robin McAuley at his finest with Michael Schenker Group - MSG - performing tonight in Boston!!

Concert Report by Karyn Sliva
Michael Schenker Fest at Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
March 9, 2018
Added on 03/12/2018

This is one humble long time Schenker fan's review on the Boston show at Berklee last night:
Coming down from Cloud 9 after this EPIC lineup last night in Boston! Schenkerfest 2018 was everything I had hoped for and with THIRTY songs on the set list including the multiple tune ENCORE, the entire ensemble certainly delivered! Singers were on point and though each had their own segment of songs to deliver it became a common theme for the others to run out from the wings and join in at various points so that in itself was wildly entertaining....it truly WAS a 'FEST' to be enjoyed by all. I loved the fact that everyone was so enthusiastic and happy and looked as though they were having so much fun themselves as performers and interacting with their fans! Michael was grinning ear to ear the entire night, along with his untouchable guitar wizardry which never fails to impress! While we had seats in the front of the mezzanine which were overlooking the stage with an unobstructed view, this old rocker still likes a 'down and dirty' general admission come early to get a good spot at the front of the stage like we had the past two times at the Tupelo and Manchester, NH club where we saw Temple of Rock. Not to say I didn't personally rock out in my mezzanine seat and stood at certain points during ovations but it's not quite the same as being DOWN FRONT and 'in the moment' as I felt 'slightly removed'...people around me seemed rather sedate. Some of you 'like me' will surely 'get' this....others who just are glad for a comfortable seat might not! LOL The energy emitted from the stage was palpable and the group covered EVERYTHING including Temple of Rock tunes thanks to the addition of Doogie White. Singer highlights for me were Gary Barden on 'Attack of the Mad Axeman', Robin Mc Auley on 'Save Yourself' and Graham Bonnet on 'Assault Attack.' Schenker just blew it out of the park on EVERYTHING but of course I'm a sucker for the 'instrumental segment intros' like 'Captain Nemo' and 'Coast to Coast' and of course who complains about a seven-plus minute solo on 'Rock Bottom?' Never gets old! Also included several songs from the newly released 'Resurrection' CD of new material Of these, what I found especially awesome was 'Warrior' which has a very Schenker-esque melodic guitar intro sung by Gary Barden followed by a hard rocking rest of the tune with each of the singers doing a part and then joining together in the anthem like chorus. KILLER TUNE vocally and CLASSIC Schenker! The one 'complaint' I would have is that the merch table (at least at this show) was lacking. They had great T-shirts and my brother got a nice one with the new CD cover photo on the front and the Schenkerfest tour dates and venues listed on the back. But for those of us who don't 'do' T-shirts any more, all they had were little bags of guitar picks... which IMO....unless the pick was thrown or handed to you by the guitarist themselves at a show (of which I own a few, but not Michael's) they don't 'mean anything' so not interested. Was hoping they would have had 'buttons or pins' for a jacket or whatever which I would have purchased but they did not, so I do not have a 'physical' memento from this time around. I was rather surprised that they didn't even have the new CD available for purchase at the merch table. (even though I already have my CD/DVD combo) Anyway, for those of you going to the NYC show tonight and beyond throughout the tour....GET READY TO ROCK!!! You won't be disappointed! ??

Concert Report by Matt Beauchemin
Michael Schenker Fest at Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
March 9, 2018
Added on 03/12/2018