On Saturday August 25th, three hair rock bands from the 1980's arrived at the Chaifetz Arena on the Saint Louis University Campus for an evening of nostalgia. Def Leppard, Poison, and Lita Ford all graced the stage and played the songs we all remember from the free wheeling 80's.
Lita Ford opened up the show with a short six song set with her new band. I was never much of a Lita Ford fan. Of course I knew her big songs,
"Kiss Me Deadly" and
"Close My Eyes Forever." I knew she had been talking about touring again for at least the last ten years. I had long since given up on her making good on the threats which made me very happy that she decided to get back on the road supporting her first album in forever, "Living Like A Runaway." She opened with "The Bitch Is Back," how apropos, no? What really struck me were the new songs she played. My companion and I were really blown away at the musicianship, the lyrics, and the emotion that went into these songs. I immediately went and purchased the CD at the merch table. Lita then ripped into the aforementioned big hits. She played a short and sweet set. Her new guitarist handling most of the leads even though Lita was always quite adept at handling those herself. When her new guy let loose on a the new songs, I saw why she let him take over. The dude just
smokes. I haven't listened to the CD yet, but her performance was good enough to convince me to lay down fifteen bucks for it.
