Saturday night in North Tonawanda was the place to be as 80’s rockers Lita Ford and Nelson took to the West Herr Riviera Theatre Stage. This was the first show in the Western New York/Southern Ontario area for Lita Ford in almost 9 years and 6 years for Nelson. So there was some eagerness to see both artists as they don’t frequent the area that often.
Up first was the Nelson twins. It was an acoustic performance by both Gunnar and Matthew. The show was more of a storytellers type of vibe as they told stores and played music. The duo opened up with “More Than Ever” off of their 1990 break through album ‘After the Rain.’ Before “Only Time Will Tell,” Matthew was proud showing his guitar that he said was signed by just about everyone including Muhammed Ali. They talked about how they don’t remember many gigs but remember playing a catholic school in Buffalo called “Villa Maria” when their album broke. Their 45 minute set included a total of 11 tracks that also included a two song homage they paid to their dad Ricky Nelson. For fans of the Nelson guys, the duo mentioned that they wrote about 3 albums worth of material during covid. So stay tuned for some new music by them.
Headlining the show was the black widow herself in Lita Ford. The band who backed her on this show was Bobby Rock on drums, Patrick Kennison on guitar and newcomer Marten Andersson on bass. Even though its been 13 years since Ford has released new music “Living Like a Runaway,” she still is a stalwart on the touring circuit. Dressed in a red leather jumpsuit, she took to the stage as the band kicked into the cool track “Gotta Let Go.” The hard rocking “Larger Than Life” was up next led by Rock pounding the skins and a quintessential guitar solo by Ford. Ford and her band let the music do the talking as she said very little throughout her set. She did ensure she kept the crowds interest by incorporating North Tonawanda a couple of times in her lyrics throughout her performance. Bobby Rock did a drum solo in the song “Can’t Catch Me.” She went back to her roots by tapping into her first band The Runaways by playing “Cherry Bomb.” Her and Kennison came to the forefront and sang the Alice Cooper classic “Only Women Bleed.” She ended her show in doing her two biggest hits in “Close My Eyes Forever” (which was co-sang with Kennison) and “Kiss Me Deadly.” As I said with Nelson, stay tuned for Lita Ford as she is working with Gary Hoey on new music that should be released soon.
A cool double bill of music that wetted the appetite of classic rock fans alike, the Riviera keeps bringing bands to the masses. Stay tuned as bands like Tom Kiefer, Queensryche and more will be gracing the stage later this year. Click here for a list of upcoming events at the Riviera Theatre
Setlist:
Gotta Let Go
Larger Than Life
Relentless
Hungry
Playin’ With Fire
Back to the Cave
Can’t Catch Me/Drum solo
Cherry Bomb
Black Leather
Only Women Bleed
Close My Eyes Forever
Kiss Me Deadly
We would like to thank David Fillenwarth and Rafael Castro form the Riviera Theatre for the credentials to review the show.
