Concert Review: Dead Daisies

It was during this final song of the night that Jon Stevens announced, “We’re definitely going to be back here next year."

By YONI COLLINS
Dead Daisies concert 370 (photo credit: Yoni Collins)
Dead Daisies concert 370
(photo credit: Yoni Collins)
Dead DaisiesBarby Club, Tel AvivDecember 21
The Barby Club in Tel Aviv was full of anticipation ahead of Saturday night’s performance of the Dead Daisies, a super-group consisting of members of Guns N’ Roses and The Rolling Stones, and fronted by Australian rockers Jon Stevens and David Lowy.
After a half-hour opening act of Led Zeppelin-style tunes by Israeli trio Electric Zoo, which got the audience excited and tapping their feet, The Daisies took the stage and opened with “Time that we Don’t Have” off their recent debut album.
A strong vocal performance by front man and ex-member of INXS Stevens enhanced the powerful concert. He then addressed the audience saying “Tel Aviv, it’s so f***ing great to be here!” after which the band performed the first ballad of the night, “Yesterday.” Guitarist Lowy, who had once spent time in Israel, endeared himself to the crowd by speaking in Hebrew.
While many of the songs were from the debut record, The Dead Daisies also performed new unreleased material, as well as their single “Fly” from the recent Disney film, Planes, during which Darryl Jones, longtime bass player of The Rolling Stones, was given a solo.
Lead guitarist Richard Fortus from Guns N’ Roses described the Daisies as “new music for classic rockers,” and Tel Aviv was not disappointed by the set. As the night progressed, Stevens called up several local singers for cover performances including Ninet Tayeb, who sang a hard-rock rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” before returning during the encore.
The group completed their set with the first single off the record “Lock N’ Load,” a song co-written with Slash and which featured the former G&R guitarist in its studio recording. For an encore, the group performed a medley of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” with Tayeb. It was during this final song of the night that a smiling Stevens announced, “We’re definitely going to be back here next year."