Were Brian & Cliff rocking in Florida?
Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams appeared at a fundraising concert in Florida on 28 March 1998.
[Review thanks to GOZONE1 ]
Hello everyone, heres my review of Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams rocking the opera house Saturday, March 28, 1998. The gig was a benefit/fund raiser for a local theatre in Sarasota, Fl. There were several performers and comedians throughout the night including Jim Breuer, Bob Nelson, Jesse Dupree, Billy Leverty, Donald Duck Dunn to name just a few.
On to the show, Brian, Cliff, and Jesse Dupree were the highlight of the jam session at the end of the night. It was a long night, but well worth the wait, lets face it when is there a opportunity to check out a couple of the living legends of rock up close in a opera house of all places. Most of the time vocals were shared by Brian and Jesse, both were excellent. Jesse came out 1st and did a old song called Mustang Sally, it was a rocking version, well done. Next Brian and Cliff made their entrance, the band with Billy Leverty on Guitar (he was magical on guitar, the man can play!), they kicked into Back in Black, I was on the side stage, it was shaking from Cliffs thundering bass and Brians hurricane vocals, these guys are true rock veterans the sound was incredible. I think Brian and Jesse made some of the paint peel of the walls of the opera house. Next up was You Shook Me All Night Long, the song is a classic, and sounded brilliant, Cliffs backing vocal was on the mark as always. The band played through several classic rock tracks. A couple of the surprises were, Old Time RnR, yes a Bob Segar song, it was the most heavy, pounding rendition I had ever heard. With Brian, Cliff, Jesse, Billy Leverty playing the song it added a new twist like no other. Another track I thought was maybe the best of the night was the Beatles, I Saw Her Standing There, this tracked rocked! No offense to Paul McCartney fans, but with Cliff adding his own bass style, it added a special thumping boost to the song. To top it off Brian Johnson just tore the vocals up, the 1st verse he sang along, but by the second verse he really reached down to the classic Johnson wail, I think I heard some glass breaking in the opera as he hit some wicked high notes. The song was played the way it was meant to be done, at least in my book.
Well that was just a few of the highlights for the evening, I'll remember it forever. I did get to speak to Brian, Cliff, Jesse and several others, they were all very down to earth and nice people.
