(Live Review) LITTLE JOHNNY'S TOP 40 LIVE SETS OF 2024 (#s30-21)
Okay, it’s me again, you know,… Little Johnny and here’s part two of my top forty sets of 2024.
Top live sets of 2024
#30: Drowning Pool 6-21-24 BMO Arena Summerfest Milwaukee, WI
So, Summerfest was a bust this year, even by Beard's standards. We watched a bunch of nothing over two days. There were lots of beers of course, but nothing really to get excited about music wise, except for two bands. The first were these guys who at least played metal. Their set was good, and that last number was awesome. Jumping around and yelling “Let the bodies hit the floor!” After that I told Beard let’s let “our” bodies hit the door and get out of this lame place.
#29: Mary Shelly 6-20-24 Summerfest Milwaukee, WI
This was the only other good band at Summerfest. These New York guys came out wearing raincoats and animal masks which of course got my attention right away. They played some kind of East coast punk stuff and by the second number the singer was out in the crowd. By the third, he was climbing up on the top of all the amps and by the fourth the chick guitar player was down to a flimsy top and dark sunglasses. This band was at least unique and cool. I wish I could have hung with them all day instead of following Beard to his next stop. The Little River Band. Jesus!! Drown me in a river.
#28: Morbid Saint 3-22-24 Hells Heros White Oak Music Hall Houston
This band was a Wisconsin local act playing on the big stage during one of the biggest festivals of the year and they still brought the heavy. The singer was bad-ass. The backdrop was cool and one of my favorite characters showed up. Apparently they have a fan that I call the moshing Nun. This hot chick dresses in a nun’s habit, but you know like a kind of sexy one, and then she throws elbows in the Pit like a dude. She is really cool. I tried to meet her after the set but she kind of had resting bitch face, so I didn’t. One day though.
#27: Steel Panther 11-26-24 House of Blues Chicago, IL
These guys are a full-on Little Johnny band. They sing songs about doing it and then talk about doing it, and then bring chicks up on the stage and ask them about doing it. I liked these guys a lot. They also kept playing hat Frisbie with a couple hats they were wearing. Guys in the band would just chuck em all over the place and then catch em. I wanted to play too, but Beard told me I couldn’t jump on stage cause I wasn’t a chick. I guess that makes sense cause I’m not gonna do it with em. But, it was a really fun show and evening.
#26: L.A. Gunz 2-1-24 The Forge Joliet, IL
This was our second show of the year. The promoter called Beard and invited us out there, so we changed plans at the last minute and drove to Joliet. In addition to the bands, some brewery was unveiling a new beer called Mosh God. Beard told me to try and get a sponsorship deal with them, but they weren’t interested. They did give Beard and I each two cans of the new beer though so, hey, that was cool.
The headliners, according to Beard anyway, were a few guys who were in the original Guns & Roses before they made it really big. I don’t know nothing about that, but they did play a good set and that guitarist really solos a lot. They kept the set fun though and the band pushes a full-on party atmosphere, so I remember having a good time. Oh, and that Mosh God beer was good too. Hey guys, if you need a spokesperson, I am still available.
#25: Supersuckers 11-6-24 Reggie’s Chicago, IL
Apparently these guys were favorites of our boss Chris Tighe, the dude who runs this site. They were a three-piece band that sounded like the band with the lead singer who died a while ago. The one with the super-giant mole on his face. Anyway, this guy had a voice kind of like that guy's, and they brought two hot chicks on stage to dance to one number. The thing I really remember was they wanted the entire audience to flip them off. I thought that was pretty funny. Beard wasn’t as into them, but I thought they were good. (Ed: Your superior taste is coming thru Johnny!)
#24: Lutharo 4-14-24 Reggie’s Chicago, IL
This Canadian band had a drummer that looked like Beard, and a chick who could sing traditional style, then do thrash or death metal style and then do like symphonic stuff too. She was really talented and with all the styles in their set, every song was something kind of different. Beard was into these guys too and they were the best act of that night. Good playing and singing.
#23: Anvil: 8-22-24 Reggie’s Chicago, IL
The singer of this band actually started the show in the crowd and stayed there the whole first number. That was impressive. It was one of the smallest crowds of any show we went to all year, but that doesn’t mean the band wasn’t good. I guess Anvil has been playing for about a million years and never had much success. They just keep doing it though so they must love it. They did a song about Mothra from the Godzilla movies. That was pretty memorable. Afterwards that singer dude, (I think they called him Lips or something), took a picture with me for his collection. It’s always cool when I meet my fans.
#22: Hollywood Undead 7-21-24 Credit One Tinley Park, IL
Man, Beard HATED these guys. I mean he H.A.T.E.D.!! them. Now, I don’t really know nothing about their music, and to be honest their stuff sounded like one giant frat party for wanna be hip-hop surfers, but that was kind of the point right? I mean Beard is always getting introspective with the songs and what they mean and what their metaphor is and stuff. I mean I know he’s sincere and all, but a lot of times I just go to sleep mentally and then when I don’t see his lips moving for a few seconds, I tell him how he is so right, and nobody ever made me look at it like that before. He generally buys that crap and then he shuts up sooner.
Hollywood Undead though were just a party band with absolutely no deeper meaning. Grab your red solo cup, smoke a little grass and party to the noise. I have no problem with that. Can’t be serious ALL the time.
#21: Alice Cooper 8-7-24 BMO Center Rockford, IL
Now, here I admit it. Beard won me over. We have been seeing this guy and his band every year since I met Beard and damn it if they aren’t always good. Now admittedly that guy “Alice Cooper” is like 75 years old, but he still puts on an amazing show with props and snakes, and guillotines and lots more. No matter how many times I see it, every single time is fun.
Plus, Beard is all ga-ga over their chick guitar player. At one point the band members were all in the stage front area throwing out their guitar picks and since we were only three rows back some of them were heading our way. Man, I think Beard elbowed some grandma in the mouth trying to get to the one that Nita Strauss threw that direction. All the way home he kept saying “she threw it to me on purpose.” I was right there, and she never even looked at him, but after a while I just gave up. That old man gets crazy over women rockers. I just let him babble on and sometimes said, “Yeah Beard maybe she reads our stuff.” The point is any Alice Cooper show is a good time, and I way recommend it.
So, there we go. I was at least a little shorter than last time. I guess I will talk to you all next week when we do part three of this project and cover 20-11. Until then remember Little Johnny likes IPA’s. Oh, and Horns Up!.