Saturday, July 21 brought Buckcherry to the Criterion in Oklahoma City for a rousing show full of surprises. The first was the opening band, Killer Strut, a local band from Oklahoma City but there was more. It turns out that the drummer for Killer Strut is Brandon Fields who is the drum tech for Buckcherry and he was asked by the band if he and Killer Strut would like to open the show. He agreed and it was a great choice, the band were really tight with high energy and they played for over half an hour and really rocked the crowd.
After a short break, Buckcherry hit the stage with some songs from their early recordings including Ridin’, Fall, and Slamin’ from Time Bomb and For the Movies from their self-titled Buckcherry album. The crowd came alive with the opening chords to Lit Up and the whole energy in the venue really revved up for the following song, Say Fuck It. Front man Josh Todd’s signature moves – spins, fancy footwork, and bouncing up and down – added to the energy of the song. The crowd loved Todd’s moves as well as those of band members Stevie D, guitar, and Kelly LeMieux, bass.
Between songs, Todd took time to let the crowd know of his Oklahoma roots. His grandparents and parents are from Oklahoma and Todd spend many summers visiting his grandparents in Helena, Oklahoma.
The show slowed a bit for tunes Oh My Lord and Rescue Me, which Todd noted came about after reading “A Child Called It”, a book that reveals the insanely horrible childhood of Dave Pelzer. While Todd seemed to have a few issues hitting some of the notes during Rescue Me, that vanished as he pretended to stumble around the stage introducing Too Drunk to Fuck. That was followed by a new tune, The Vacuum. Todd noted prior to the song that the band had been busy writing songs for a new album which they had written 30 songs for the 10-song recording and planned to be in the studio in September to record. Hopefully there will be a new Buckcherry recording out in the first quarter of 2019, if everything goes according to schedule. The crowd seemed to approve of the new tune and the newer members of the band – drummer Sean Winchester and guitarist Kevin Roentgen.
Gluttony followed from the 2013 Confessions title. Todd teased the crowd a bit, asking what they wanted to hear prior to breaking into Crazy Bitch, which drove the crowd wild. A short break followed Bitch, even a few house lights came up before going back down and the band returned with Out of Line from 15 and a cover of the Doors’ Roadhouse Blues to close out the show.
Buckcherry always puts on a solid, high-energy show that showcases the band’s members and party attitude. This show did not disappoint the crowd at the Criterion.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Claire Zevnik
For complete Buckcherry tour dates head to www.buckcherry.com/tour
