Lita Ford, Vixen, Chez Kane - KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton

Tonight, in Wolverhampton, it’s Girl Power all round as Rock Goddess Lita Ford brings her ‘Girls Night Out’ tour to KK’s Steel Mill. Support comes from 80s glam powerhouse Vixen, and Welsh hard rocker Chez Kane.

Chez Kane

Welsh singer Chez is one of three sisters who formerly fronted the band Kane’d. Now fully fledged as a solo frontwoman, she’s been tasked with warming up the crowd with her brand of straight up vocal led hard rock, and bounds onto the stage beaming from ear to ear. She wastes no time in grabbing Wolverhampton by the scruff of the neck, forcing us to take notice. Chez is a powerful and dynamic vocalist, clad in ripped denim and swagger aplenty; tonight we get 9 tracks, 5 from the 2021 Self-Titled debut, and 4 from 2022’s Powerzone.

Her stage presence, vocal style and all round attitude make me want to bet she grew up with posters of Lita Ford and Vixen on her wall, and she’s lapping up this opportunity to share the stage with her heroes. Equal praise is due to her backing band who delivered an energetic and tight performance – Nationwide and Love Gone Wild being two standout tracks.

Chez is a bundle of bouncing, smiley energy – her band equally so, and even with a short set they seriously impressed tonight, and I expect to see more of her on the gig circuit these next few years. A great opener for The Girls Night Out!

Setlist

Too Late for Love
All of It
I Just Want You
Nationwide
Ball n’ Chain
Love Gone Wild
Get It On
Rocket on the Radio
Powerzone

Vixen

Hendrix’s crowd pleasing riff ‘Foxy Lady’ comes over the PA system, signalling that 80s legends Vixen are about to rock the place. The band is now made up of much loved original drummer Roxy Petrucci, with guitarist Britt Lightning, bassist Julia Lage, and singer Rosa Laricchiuta having joined over the last couple of years. Understandably, Roxy attracts a thunderous cheer when she takes to the stage, whilst it feels like Rosa has some pretty big shoes to fill after original singer and band leader Jan Kuehnemund’s sad passing in 2013.

They start strong with Bon Jovi-esque “Rev It Up”, and the first of 2 Jeff Paris covers “Charmed Life”. Already by this point, Rosa has firmly answered any questions one might have asked about her worthiness as the band’s new vocalist, and with the other three ladies all mic’d up, the trademark Vixen harmonies and gang vocals are sounding brilliant. Julia Lage is a fantastic bass player – I’ve seen her strut and swagger all over the stage at KK’s Steel Mill with the Smith/Kotzen band a couple of years ago, and guitarist Britt Lightning is a riff whirlwind of headbanging blonde hair. Backed up with Roxy’s trademark groove and stick tricks galore, the girls are firing on all cylinders.

Strong songs of the set were “Cryin”, “Streets in Paradise”, and of course their biggest commercial hit – the set finale – 1988 power ballad “Edge of a Broken Heart”.

But it was three quarters the way through their performance that came the most interesting moment – a 7 song medley including drum solo. The girls paid homage to their influences – Van Halen, Deep Purple, Rush, Sabbath and Whitesnake. The tributes to Ozzy and John Sykes were touching and classy, but it was Rosa and Britt’s performances on Deep Purple’s “Perfect Strangers” that stole the show. The way Rosa sang it, brilliantly mimicking Ian Gillan’s haunting vocals will not soon be forgotten by the Wolverhampton crowd.

Setlist:

Rev It Up
Charmed Life (Jeff Paris cover)
How Much Love
Cruisin’
Cryin’ (Jeff Paris cover)
Medley – Runnin’ with the Devil / I Want You to Rock Me / Perfect Strangers / What You’re Doing / War Pigs / Still of the Night / Drum Solo / I Want You to Rock Me
Streets in Paradise
Edge of a Broken Heart

Lita Ford

Finally it’s time for the main event, and the crowd chants “LITA!, LITA!” as the perennial First Lady of 70’s/80s rock prowls on to the stage, of course dressed in her trademark high heels and skin tight red leather jumpsuit.

After finding popularity in the 70s with her band The Runaways (also featuring Joan Jett) Lita forged ahead with a successful solo career throughout the 80s. By the time her best selling album 1988’s ‘Lita’ dropped, she had seen it all – the highs, the lows, rockstar marriages and subsequent divorces, and songwriting collaborations with the biggest names in the music industry. And it’s one of those collaborations that is very much at the forefront of everyone’s mind tonight – this will be the first time she would have to confront the stunning Ozzy Osbourne duet ‘Close My Eyes Forever’ after hearing the heartbreaking news that he had died only 24 hours before. We were all hoping she’d have the strength to get through it.

Lita’s band includes drummer Bobby Rock, guitarist Patrick Kennison and bassist Marten Andersson. ‘Gotta Let Go’ is a great kick-off track, and a good showcase for her solid rhythm and lead guitar work. Most of the set tonight harks back to the early days, but we do get ‘Living Like a Runaway’ from her 2012 return to form album.

“Let’s have a jam!” Lita exclaims, as she introduces an extended, sprawling (15 minute plus) version of ‘Back To The Cave’. For this track, she really lets her musicians off the lead, featuring a scorching bass solo from Marten Andersson. The fact that she assigns so much precious set time on this sort of extended jam session signals Lita’s wish to let us get to know her and the band a little more intimately. It’s a classy move that’s opposite to some artist’s tactics, who try to fly through their back catalogue, cramming as many songs as possible in.

Bobby Rock held a solid groove throughout, and played a thoroughly entertaining one handed drum solo – at one point even nonchalantly drinking a bottle of water passed to him by his drum tech with the free hand.

Recounting a few rock’n’roll stories from back in the day, Lita summons out all the Vixen girls and Chez Kane for a fantastic joint rendition of The Runaways’ song “Cherry Bomb”, with all the girls trading solo vocal lines back and forth between each other. The set also included a trio of great covers; Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back”, The Sex Pistols’ “Black Leather”, and a rocked up version of Alice Cooper’s 1975 song “Only Women Bleed”.

Then the moment we all knew was coming – It’s nearing the end of the night and so usually time for the duet with Ozzy. When she introduced it, she was emotional without being upset, and when she broke into song, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The Midlands crowd backed her up with one strong voice, with a heartbreaking picture of her and Ozzy from the 1980s projected onto the back wall. It was such a powerful moment for all.

After a brief few seconds recovery, and the dabbing of tears etc, Lita erupts into the first line of her best seller hit song.. “I went to a party last Saturday night!!!!” – 1989’s ‘Kiss Me Deadly’.