Surviving Rocklahoma

IDL hosted another national act with ties to not one, but two legendary groups. John Corabi, who briefly replaced Vince Neil in Mötley Crüe between 1992 and 1996, and was guitarist for Ratt for the “Infestation” album. He’s also been a part of numerous other groups such as Union, Twenty 4 Seven, Brides of Destruction, and the supergroup The Dead Daisies. Before John brought his stories to stage, we were brought back to that era of music with local musicians and podcasters Rocket Science who electrified the ballroom with covers of legendary tunes that spanned decades.

Before we were treated to John’s journey. Rocket Science lit the stage in a performance that demonstrated that their groups name is not just a catchy title, but a description of what fuels them. These artists run on some sort of rocket fuel and they have their craft down to a science. Featuring songs like Cinderella’s “Shake Me”, AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds”, and even some old school Bullet Boys’ “Balls To the Wall”, just to name a few, they can play just about anything, and do it flawlessly. One example of this was Janna’s rendition of Lita Ford’s “Close My Eyes Forever”. Some could argue that it was on par with the original. We may just find out as Doug from DEB Concerts announced later on that we will be seeing Lita soon. In December, she’ll be joining us at the IDL Ballroom with Patrick Kinnison and featuring the band Paralandra. For now, Janna’s performance will, easily, tide us over. It drew a standing ovation from the crowd. This was just one example of the stellar performance from the group. I would also like to nominate Scott and Janna for the first couple of Tulsa’s rock scene. This couple has a chemistry that is so evidently overflowing that they not only fill their home, a podcast (Tulsa Music Stream), the Tulsa Music Awards winning band Down For Five, and Rocket Science in which they front. The band is every where this few months, and rightfully so. I will happily see them at every opportunity, and I encourage anyone, especially those who loves the classics of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s metal scenes, to do the same.

Once the crowd had completed their rollercoaster ride through what could be described as the golden age of metal, we were treated to a more relaxed experience from an unsung legend that is commonly referred to as “Rock Journeyman” in John Corabi. John’s worked with a LONG list of collaborations, including those listed above, as well as a short stint with one of the biggest bands of the Hair Metal era, Mötley Crüe. He fronted the band for their self titled album “Mötley Crüe” and the EP “Quaternary“. Not to be ignored, he also spent a lengthy stint with Ratt and was with the group when they played Rocklahoma in 2007, before resigning from the band a year later. His set, Friday night, featured roughly equal time of music and stories from throughout his career. Some of his most interesting stories included tales of playing with all these different groups, stories of playing with his son who is also a musician and working with some of his favorite producers like Eddie Kramer. My favorite story of the night was of his time just joining Mötley Crüe to record their self titled album and a how a prank orchestrated by Tommy Lee resulted in John barging into an Aerosmith recording session that was going on down the hall, much to the outrage of Joe Perry and the amusement of Tommy. This lead to John setting down and hanging out with Steven Tyler whom John had grown up admiring and covering and covering in bars in his career’s infancy. It was a charming story with a moral of not being a “fanboy” when you meet people you look up to. That no matter how big these artists are that you’ve looked up to your entire life, they are people like any of us. And that when you meet your hero’s, go in seeing them as peers and colleagues. Just don’t let Tommy Lee make your introductions. There was a lot of heart in John’s stories and he very much showed how humble of a person he truly is under the rock and roll mantle he lives in after working with some of the industries biggest legends. It was a very enlightening evening and the amount of motivation was apparent on many in the room as they were enthralled in his tales of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.

The night of tales from Mötley Crüe and Ratt’s John Corabi was produced by DEB Concerts, hosted by Doug Burgess and Tulsa’s IDL Ballroom.