OK my friendly steemers here you go, Lita's sold out show at the whiskey on Friday May 17th was Fucking Amaz-balls! It was everything you want from a rock show and well worth the 40 I spent on a ticket. Who is Lita Ford you say well she is my Rock-N-Roll bucket-list #7 and if you really dont know who she is. We will get to that later. I never got to see Lita back in the day. The Lita I saw was strong, sexy, and there to blow the fucking roof off. The band is well rehearsed and everything was in the pocket thanks to drummer Bob Rock. Her guitar player Patrick Kennison is a monster virtuoso and great singer supplying back up vocals and the other half of Lita's hit "Close my eyes forever". Lita's playing was absolute shred and switched back and forth from her legendary red BC Rich Warlock to her black Gibson explorer.
Lita played a long and rocking set. She did four from her album "Lita" that went gold and platinum in 1988 and reached 29th on the billboard top 100. Kiss me deadly, Close my eyes forever, Back to the cave and Cant catch me. She also did four cover songs. Elton Johns "Bitch is back". She did "Black Leather" by the Sex Pistols and a cover of "Cherry Bomb" from her first band The Runaways. Lita singing cherry bomb was better than the original by far. It was definitely a high light. Lita opened with 'Gotta let go" one of my favorite songs and I have to be honest. The first two verses did not sound good. She wasn't hitting the notes and her voice was cracking. I thought Oh SHIT! Don't tell me she doesn't have a voice anymore and that this is how the show is going to go. But half way through the song her voice was pulling together. Stretching, snarling and eventually howling. She then and until the end of the show sounded amazing. Through the show you could see her loving the feedback she was getting from the audience. The audience was with her the whole way and through the evening she appeared possessed by the ghost of the Whiskey. She was sweaty, sexy and on fire the whole time and had everybody in the palm of her hands. For sixty years old she is still a hellcat. A force of nature. Age is just a number to Lita. She was shredding guitar solos at seventeen and blowing bands of the stage and at present. Shes still doing it. Bigger and better and sexier than ever.
I've seen all of Lita's videos back in the day and recently to get ready for the show. I worship her first three albums, her debut "Out for Blood" I got while working at a record store in 1983. I was thirteen. I hung out at the store so much"Hit Record and Tapes" in Plano TX that the manager offered me a part time job. I was to be paid ten dollars in cash and four albums a week. I did all the store displays with another employee, a college kid Tim. Tim was an encyclopedia of music and taught me how to do store displays and opened my ears to music I would not normally listen to. David Bowie, Prince, The Ramones, Frank Zappa. Larry our manager would leave when I got there after school around four and not come back till nine to close up. I also got all the promotional posters and sold them at school and would split the money with manager Larry. I made so much money on promo posters that I bought a Moped. I remember opening 'Out for Blood" and seeing Lita for the first time. She looked like half vampire and half med evil barbarian. But one thing was certain. She was beautiful. And holding a guitar. A big shinny red axe. Drenched with blood, I was hooked immediately. Larry can I have this? Yes! I took it home that night and listened to the whole thing. I loved its hard rocking riffs and blistering solos. I couldn't believe is was a woman playing. This beautiful woman, Shredding. Singing stylized lyrics about everything I thought was cool and important. I became a fan quickly and followed her music through the eighties.
Now, your question, who is Lita Ford. Lita rose to fame in 1975 with an all girl rock band called The Runaways. The other guitar player in the runaways was Joan Jett. The Runaways blew up big and fizzled out much like The Sex Pistols did. After touring through the 70's the band was hit with losing their lead singer. Joan Jett and Lita quarreled over the direction of the band and eventually went there own way. Joan would have huge international acclaim first with her chart topping "I love Rock and Roll". For Lita the solo career took longer but eventually she would reach International superstardom and critical acclaim. Lita would reach her stride on her third album simply entitled "Lita". Kiss me deadly and Close my eyes forever were monster crushing hits. Everywhere you went that summer of 88 you'd hear Lita's songs. Lita stepped away from music after 95 and in 2009 came back with a new album, a new band and a new touring schedule. She's touring across the US right now so please go and see her. If you like rock, hard rock or Heavy Metal I guarantee you'll have a kick ass time.
I with a couple other fans waited for Lita outside the Whiskey after the show. She came out about 2:00 AM and signed all our stuff. She was extremely nice and held a bag with two chihuahua's while she signed. Shes tall with an athletic build. You who she reminds me of is Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. I got an album signed and a press photo I got in the eighties from the record store. I framed the photo with Lita's Kerrang playing card and a pick I got off of Tommy Holland in the 90's. For me if you're a musician and you cant throw down live you ain't shit. Seeing a great musician like Lita Ford is like food for my soul. I cant live without seeing live music. It is the best drug there is and I hope this story inspires you to go out and see a band. Soon. Like now. Can you picture it , the lights go out. The band starts up and the drug is distributed. It lingers through the air passing from one person to the next. The person in front of you starts moving, you start moving. Suddenly everyone is moving. Were all in the trance and were all in agreement. And were all having fun, together, in harmony. Perfect harmony.