Live-Metal.Net - Concerts: Buckcherry

Recher Theatre
Towson, MD
April 12, 2006

By GREG MAKI

Sex? A look at the set list shows songs like “Porno Star” and “Crazy Bitch.” In other words, check.

Drugs? “I love the cocaine,” anyone? Check.

Rock n’ roll? Are you kidding? This is a Buckcherry show. You shouldn’t even have to ask that question.

Yes, Buckcherry is back and quite a few people missed them while they were away. In fact, they were much more than “away.” The band broke up, and for all intents and purposes, has been dead for the last few years. But their brand of down and dirty rock n’ roll never goes out of style, and the fans in Towson eagerly welcomed back frontman Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson, and said hello to the three new band members: bassist Jimmy Ashhurst, guitarist Stevie D. and drummer Xavier Muriel.

Rock -n- Roll Soldiers and Baltimore act Forty Acres preceded Buckcherry on stage. Both are no-frills rock bands and a good match for Buckcherry, though nothing about them stood out. All I can really remember about them was Forty Acres’ set closing cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

It wasn’t about those bands, though, as Buckcherry showed from the moment they took the stage, opening with “So Far,” the first song from their new album, Fifteen. The band is as tight as ever, with the new members fitting in perfectly. Feedback was a problem throughout the set and Todd’s mic cut in and out many times, but it hardly mattered. Buckcherry is one of the few true rock bands left today. Todd is one of the very best frontmen; you can’t help but caught up by his boundless energy. The 75-minute set featured a mix of songs from all three albums, with the renditions of the new tracks sounding particularly inspired. An extended version of the smash single “Crazy Bitch” was the clear crowd favorite. “Whiskey in the Morning,” “Lawless and Lulu,” “Next 2 You,” “Ridin’” and the B-side “Late Nights and Voodoo” also were among the highlights for me.

Following the obligatory set closer “Lit Up” (complete with Todd leading a chant of “Co-caine!”), the band returned for what appeared to be a real, unplanned encore (i.e. it wasn’t on the set list) of “Crushed” from their first album.

Everything about Buckcherry says rock n’ roll. And that’s exactly what everyone at the Recher Theatre got.