I mentioned this in a previous review that if you get a chance to visit Saint Charles which is just outside of Chicago, you must stop at the Arcada Theater. It’s so much more than a theater. It’s literally an entertainment complex complete with a speakeasy, discotheque, restaurant, and many other features that they’re adding. Not to mention it’s a great place to see a concert. It’s steeped in old world nostalgia from days gone by. The place was notorious back in the 20’s with ties to Al Capone and other mobsters.
My first thought was, what the fuck is a Wig Wam? I didn’t know anything about this band and it’s what I thought it would be from the name. Fun 70’s glam sounding band something right out of England. Except these gentlemen are from Norway. There’s absolutely no way that they aren’t influenced by The Sweet, Slade, Marc Bolan and probably a bit of David Bowie. They were formed in 2001 and it seems like one of their big breaks was getting the Peacemaker soundtrack which is a show on HBO Max titled “Do You Wanna Taste IT”. They are a fresh perspective from the heyday of glam rock in the 1970’s. I really appreciate the effort to not only give the audience a great show, but the pop sensibility of the songs that they perform. Give them a try, you might really like what you hear.
Headliners Winger have cemented themselves as a solid headlining act for many decades now. I’ve seen them more times than I can count and one thing I can assure you, they have an extremely dedicated fan base. Most of you that are reading this review I’m guessing are probably already fans of Winger. I’m going to spend less time talking about the songs they played and more time just talking about the experience.
One of the things I wanted to point out off the bat was all the original members are still together. In this day and age, it’s almost unheard of. I interviewed Kip Winger a few weeks ago and one of the things he said was “they are all still friends and love what they do. He couldn’t imagine doing this without his band mates”. To me that says an awful lot about the character of this band. If you look back at their catalog, they’ve always written heavy edged pop songs that are easy to sing along to. Unfortunately, this is a crime to some people. A lot of the heavy metal fans thought they were too light and some of the poppier fans thought they were too heavy. It puts you in a tough spot when you’re thrown in with a lot of the other hair bands and then the scene changes to grunge.
Like a lot of other bands in the early 90’s, they fell victim to that change in music. Kip had said to me “He wishes they could have started four years earlier than they did to see how far they could have taken this”. For some of the younger fans you may not be aware of how they got really beat up by of all things a comedy cartoon, Bevis and Butthead. Why that show chose to pick on Winger over many other choices they would have had. It’s hard to believe that something that stupid can have such a great impact on a career. This band, to the best of my knowledge, has never been political. They just want to play music and entertain their fans. Beavis and Butthead should have been ripping on Bono and U2. That guy could use a good punch in the mouth.
Nonetheless they weathered the storm, and they are still standing to this day. There’s no way that would have happened if the music wasn’t there. They are fortunate and not only do they have great fans, but they also have many hit songs that even the most casual 80’s rock fan would recognize. That’s a very important point because as I see these festivals gain traction in the United States, they keep unearthing all these bands from the 80’s like XYZ and I have no clue about them. They weren’t even one hit wonders they came and went in a year or so. Another point I would like to make that I think is very important. In this time frame where we’re seeing all these bands pointing fingers at one another for backtracks, help with vocals and everything else that they do to massage the live performance. Winger still plays 100% live with no tracks. What you’re seeing is being performed in front of you is all live.
Winger has a new record coming out in the next few weeks titled Seven. From what I’ve heard it’s a much heavier darker record than what they’ve produced in the past. This should really appeal to some of the fans that are a lot more on the heavy side of their musical taste. It’s an interesting dichotomy when you think about it because you also have Kip Winger who has now become very well known for his classical compositions. They are a lot more diverse and musically inclined than many people have given them credit for in the past. The entire band is so professional and incredible musicians. Lead guitar player Reb Beach is one of the best in the business. They still see value in making new music because it’s art. They’re not looking at it any other way than to continue to create. For me as a music fan, I appreciate that they haven’t jumped on that idea that we’re not going to make a lot of money so why bother making a new record? To me that’s a cop out.
If you don’t know anything about Winger, I encourage you to go and see them play live. They have a great rapport with the audience, and you can see how much the fans love them in their music. On a side note, one of the interesting things that happened at this show was how Kip handled an overly anxious fan. How many of you reading this have been standing on the floor of a concert hall trying to watch a band and some idiot with a sign is holding it up in front of you? You can’t see anything other than the back of the sign. I understand it’s someone who’s just excited, but you must have respect for your fellow concert goers. About 15 minutes or so into the set, Kip stopped the band and asked the gal to please pass the sign up to him. She did and he set it to the side saying thank you, but “we want to make sure that everybody who bought a ticket can see us play tonight”. I just thought that was so cool to handle it that way. I can’t tell you how many times I wish someone would have done that at a show I was at. At the end of the show, he gave the sign back to the gal and everybody was happy. To me that’s a class act all the way.
If you’re curious and would love to hear the entire interview, go to YouTube and type in Three Sides of the Coin / Kip Winger. It will be there for you to watch and enjoy. It looks like Winger will be touring throughout the summer and into the fall. They will be doing headline dates as well as some shows with Tom Kiefer of Cinderella.
