Y&T

This Friday night in New York City was a special one. First of all, this was my first trip to Stage 48, NYC's beautiful brand new venue which will be the home to many more hard rock/metal shows (Kamelot, Helloween, Overkill/Kreator all already slated to play here later this year). The venue has a classy, upscale feel with both an up and downstairs, a very nice sized stage, two easy accessible bars downstairs with plenty of bartenders available so there is no waiting time for your drinks and comfortable couches and seating outside of the main floor. Overall first impressions were great. Second of all, Y&T were in town and celebrating 30 years of the album “Mean Streak”. The place was not sold out but the crowd was not too slim either. A very dedicated fan base was in attendance and the band played as if the Sweden Rock Festival crowd stood before them.

The boys came out all guns blazing kicking things off with ‘Black Tiger’ and never let up once throughout the evening. ‘Lonely Side of Town’ was second in the set, a very cool addition having never heard this live before. The title track and ‘Midnight in Tokyo’ would also be included from “Mean Streak” tonight. ‘Dirty Girl’, the best song Van Halen never wrote, was up early, a personal favorite of mine. I was beyond happy to hear my favorite Y&T song ‘Contagious’ as it was not played last time I saw them and ‘Rhythm or Not’ also from the “Contagious” album, a real nice treat. I was up in front of the stage during this one singing every single word and guitarist John Nyman took notice of me and kept smiling. Following that song he handed me his guitar pic which was one of the rare Phil Kennemore ones which has his the late bassist playing his bass on it with the Y&T logo and reads "We Love You Phil" and "Fuck Cancer" on the back of it. such a cool piece of memorabilia to be given from a band member. Speaking of John Nyman, what a cool guy. Standing directly in front of him the whole night he was just having such a good time on stage, constantly interacting and joking with fans standing in our section. These guys really appreciate their fans.

‘I'm Coming Home’, from the latest album “Facemelter” (‘Shine On’ and bonus track ‘Losing My Mind’ were also played), was dedicated to Phil Kennemore, a heavy track that holds up just as well with the bands classic catalog. ‘Forever’ closed the main set only to be followed up with the great encore of ‘Go For The Throat’ (from the “Open Fire Live” album in the 80s), and ‘Rescue Me’. No ‘Summertime Girls’ tonight and while I like the song I admire that the band can come out and play a headlining set minus their big MTV/pop friendly hit (still got ‘Don't Stop Runnin', another mainstream one which is fine, great song) and stick with heavier tunes as well as play some deeper cuts. Wish more bands would do this.

Dave Meniketti's voice sounded incredible and held up greatly all night. Hearing him sing like this for two hours really makes you appreciate all he does to take care of himself especially when others from the same era are not doing quite as well (see my Dokken review from last year). Also, yes, in case you are wondering that was "two hours" that I just said, a rare feat these days. Much kudos and respect to Y&T for this, some of these younger bands should take note as they have no excuse for their so called hour long "headlining" sets. Y&T set the bar tonight now its up to the younger generation to follow suit. Having been to 200+ shows this one will go down as one of my favorites. Hope they make it back to NYC real soon.

Setlist:
Black Tiger
Lonely Side of Town
Mean Streak
Losing My Mind
Dirty Girl
Rhythm or Not
Midnight in Tokyo
Lipstick & Leather
Don't Stop Running
Shine On
Winds of Change
Contagious
I'm Coming Home
I’ll Cry For You
Squeeze (John Nyman on vocals)
I Believe in You
Forever
Go For The Throat
Rescue Me