Quiet Riot And Bad Mothers Rock Alive at 5 Concert Series

It was rock night at Jenning’s Landing as the 30^th Anniversary of Alive at Five Concert Series continues. The sun was hot and shone brightly over the stage and the sea of rock and rollers who came out in full force Thursday evening to listen to rock and roll legends, Quiet Riot with special guest, Bad Mothers.

Albany’s own Bad Mothers opened for Quiet Riot and the band certainly wasn’t quiet at all as they headbanged and moved about on stage. Rocking out to a series of original tunes, Bad Mothers, featuring Matt Dalton (vocals/guitar), Patrick Flores (guitar), Kevin Bohen (bass), and Brian Chiappinelli (drums), didn’t waste no time in showcasing their love of rock on stage and were grateful that the sun was out for their show.

Performing their singles, “Wasted”, “Colors”, and other originals from their debut album, Covers, Bad Mothers got their fans warmed up under the sweltering sun before Quiet Riot’s set. Even though their rock music was a bit loud and gritty for my taste, the band still put on a rocking show. Watching Bohen whip his hair back and forth as he played his bass riffs along with the rest of the group who bounced along to each song beat, was entertaining to watch.

With the dark, robotic call of “Quiet Riot” booming out from the sound system, “Quiet Riot” came on stage ready to rock out and “Party All Night” with their fans. With the passing of lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow, their lead singer was replaced with vocalist, James Durbin (lead vocals), and Nashville, TN guitarist, Alex Grossi, was added to the band in 2004. The two original members, Frankie Banali (drums) and Chuck Wright (bass/vocals), remain.

Quiet Riot was certainly not “quiet” at all; they were loud rockers who put on a spectacular show. Only hearing their popular single, “Cum on Feel the Noise” on PYX 106.5 FM, I was familiar with who they were as a band but never really heard the remainder of their songs from their album, Metal Head, among others until this point. From the moment they began performing their first song, I was hooked and ready to rock out!

Among the sea of fans who crowded around the stage was a young boy named Orion who was wearing the “Metal Head” mask on his face as he stood on the shoulders of his father. As the band ended their first song, Durbin signaled out Orion out in the face of the crowd and thanked him and their young fans for coming out to hear their music. Durbin, who has two young children of his own, enjoys seeing young kids enjoy rock music. Durbin invited Orion and his father to come up on stage to sing along with him to “Cum on Feel the Noise” later that evening.

Quiet Riot, who is going to release a new album later this summer, performed a series of songs from their album, ‘Mental Health’, that the crowd sung and recorded live on their cell phones. From hits as Slick Black Cadillac, Mama We’re All a Little Crazy Now, Don’t Wanna Let You Go (dedicated to the ones that they love and lost in life), their slower ballad, Thunderbird performed with Durbin, Grossi, and Wright, Party All Night, and Let’s Get Crazy. Their songs and their stage presence were entertaining and captivating to watch. Wright would throw in some bass tricks; often raising his bass up high in the air after playing certain riffs of a tune. Durbin, who paid homage to DuBrow through his energetic stage presence and holding his black and white stripped microphone stand up high in the sky, was a musical jumping bean; prancing around the stage as he stood upon the edges of the speaker cabinets with his black boots and gave his band members an embrace as he worked the crowd.

Durbin’s stage presence was electrifying! Your eyes were always on the move to capture his movements from one side of the stage to another!! Another electrifying moment came from Grossi during his solo of Let’s Get Crazy. While the band members took a brief break, Grossi, with his electric guitar in hand, was on fire in his soloing, throwing in bits and pieces of an old classical song one would hear on a stringed instrument during his powerful interlude, just before the group returned to sing again.

Towards the end of the evening, Durbin later called to Orion and his father to join them on stage for Cum on Feel the Noise. With security letting them into the fenced area and onto the stage, Durbin lowed his microphone stand to Orion’s level and did a brief sound check with him before singing along with him to the popular tune. All eyes were on Orion and Durbin in this cute moment as they sang along to the song together on stage. Orion even joined in with Grossi to sing with him and watch him play his guitar with Durbin! The crowd went wild as they sang along to the hit that made Quiet Riot famous. The band concluded the night with their head-banging tune, “Metal Health (Bang their Head)” that had their crowd fist pumping and head banging all the way to their hot finish.

Rock lives at Alive at 5 and the City of Albany! The city was rocking as they partied all night to the sights and sounds of Quiet Riot and Bad Mothers.