Concert Review:
Child O’ Mine at Lakewood Bar and Grill

by Mike Orren

I know I bill myself as bit of a rock snob, but sometimes you find yourself in the position of just wanting to have some mindless singalong fun.

Band site

Child O' Mine

I know I bill myself as bit of a rock snob, but sometimes you find yourself in the position of just wanting to have some mindless singalong fun. So, after a hard week of bidness wheelings and dealings; in the wake of an aborted weekend getaway; and after more than my share of a pitcher of homemade sangria, I tossed the missus the keys; hopped into the family truckster; and ambled down to the Lakewood Bar and Grill to catch Guns N' Roses tribute band Child O' Mine.

The DFW area has a really active tribute band scene -- one that is rarely covered since most of the music media and blogs are busy trying to catch the Next Big Thing. But people here love them some cover bands --  Even though we almost never write about them outside the listings and don't have any audio due to legal concerns, "Cover and tribute bands" is consistently our second or third-most visited genre section after Country (always #1) and alongside Blues. (Take note alt-indie kids.)

I was big GnFnR fan in my day, and have been meaning to catch Child O' Mine for a while. The only local tribute bands I've seen are Hard Night's Day and Dead Thing. We were, unfortunately, too late arriving to catch opening act Beatles Tribute Eight Arms to Hold You, and got into the club just in time to see Co'M (out of costume) setting up.

We went, as I said above, looking for singalong fun -- which we got in spades. The band took the stage in full costume, complete with the dramatic setup of frontman Nuke Walker/"Axl" coming in from the back of the bar after a long instrumental intro. Axl treated us to three costume changes -- all dead-on, particularly the show-ending kilt/catcher's garb.

The band delivers faithful renditions of the GnR catalog, down to the last detail. "Civil War," for instance, came complete with the tinny Axl political speech mumbled into the final solo. I had been worried that the band would only cover Appetite for Destruction, but I was pleased to find a healthy amount of material from Use Your Illusion, Lies and even one song from the theoretically upcoming Chinese Democracy. The band mentioned that they are preparing to record an original "in the style of" GnR. I wish more local tribute bands would do this, as Queen for a Day has, for no other reason than that it allows us to show off audio tracks on this site.

Co'M aquits themselves well in covering GnR. They wisely don't try to emulate Slash's unique solos verbatim -- and it looked to me like more of the guitar work was coming from Dan Walker/"Izzy." The only weak link to my ear was drummer Sparky Sorenson, who lacked the complex rhytms of a Steven Adler or Matt Sorum. But, he was certainly in the spirit of things, working in a drumstick toss nearly every fourth beat.

In the end, a GnR tribute comes down to the Axl portrayal. And Nuke hits it on the head vocally, except on some of the screams, and pulls off the look and the trademark Axl shimmy-sway nicely. The only thing that's missing is the nasty Axl attitude -- his polite requests to the soundboard guy (who was having more than his share of problems) were forgivably out of character. Nuke spends much of the show jumping on tables and the bar with a wireless mic, and the crowd was eating it up. There was a sense of exhuberance and fun in the whole place, with strangers linking arms to sing along; high-fives being traded as people walked back and forth to the bar; and lots of women dancing and brandishing drumsticks, which were being thrown from the stage like candy.

A good part of the crowd was "with the band" -- girlfriends, moms and pals took up a large section of the room. (Theory: The propensity of cover bands to bring an entourage is another factor that makes them so attractive to book. It's a built-in bar tab.) But friends and strangers alike were certainly united in their enjoyment of the show. It's rare that you see a show in Dallas where everyone is 100% into the music and focused on what's happening onstage (or atop the bar). But that was the case last night.

High points included the aforementioned "Civil War," the acoustic "Patience," "Knockin' on Heavens Door," and the show-opening "Mr. Brownstone." ("Mr. B" happens to be my favorite GnR song -- My college swimming teammates and I rewrote the lyrics as a rant about our coach, and would sing same loudly while drinking Gatorade and Everclear on the bus coming back from away meets.) The only cover that didn't work for me was the show-closing (I think) "November Rain." Just can't do that one justice without a piano. I would have liked to hear some "deeper cuts" like "Breakdown" and "Locomotive" -- hell, just about any of the harder songs from UYI, but I imagine the band sticks to the songs the casual fans remember.

The Co'M show was exactly what I'd hoped it would be. I'd prescribe it as a tonic for anyone looking for a fun night of memorable tunes, and as an object lesson for any local rocker who has forgotten that a rock show is first and foremost about having a good time.

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• Anonymous

Mike Orren, says:

One thing I forgot -- strangely until watching The Simpsons tonight.

Killer rendition of the theme from the Godfather late in the set.

Staff

3 years, 3 months ago
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