Joe Lynn Turner, one of the seminal voices in heavy rock, blew through The Cutting Room last week like a hellion. With a seasoned 4-piece band behind him-Dr. Gary Zappa (keyboards), Rob DiMartino (bass), Angus Clark (guitar) and Charlie Z (drums), this was a kinetic hour and a half, mainly made up of tunes from famous band’s Mr. Turner has fronted.
We got Rainbow classics like “Street of Dreams,†“Stone Cold,†and a truly wonderful “Spotlight Kid,†early in the set. “Perfect Strangers,†and an a** kicking version of “Highway Star,†not a tune any vocalist can take lightly (JLT hit it perfectly) were featured from Deep Purple. There was even a run through of Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Rising Force,†and sample of one from Joe Lynn Turner’s project with Glenn Hughes; their Hughes Turner Project song “Devil’s Road,†another blistering rumble that appeared early on.
The best JLT solo piece for me was the swirly evocative “Blood Red Sky,†one that Mr. Turner really got his powerful voice around. Ending with their second encore, a tribute to Ronnie James Dio, “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll†from the Rainbow album of the same name (and not an album JLT is on) the crowd was on its feet singing along as Mr. Turner and his band kept things fiery and fun.
Joe Lynn Turner’s show was just classic good rock and roll with a heavy edge built around a wonderful voice, great players and classic tunes. What more could anybody ask for?
