The crowd at the M3 represents a virtual “Who’s Who” of ’80s rock fans. Everyone who was wearing band t-shirts in high school during the 1980s (the “lifers”) are out in full force and in some cases wearing the same exact t-shirt they sported in the day.

The high school and college kids (“young punks”) are sometimes in tow with their parents, but often spotted in their own gatherings cheering on the same bands their parents most likely raised them with.

There are Maryland natives, and there are couples who traveled from Europe and Asia.

Festival organizers clearly intended to create an experience worthy of a cross-country (or trans-ocean) trip, and they’ve succeeded. As Rocklahoma drifts further into the grunge scene with each passing year, M3 is filling a thirst for glam rock that may never be quenched. At least they can try.

Starting off shortly after Noon (yes, you read that correctly), Great White took to the stage to fuse glam and blues with the help of new frontman Terry Ilous. Although original guitarist Mark Kendall, keyboardist Michael Lardie, and drummer Audie Desbrow remain intact, Ilous is filling big shoes left by Jack Russell, who had a complicated divorce from the band last year.

While Russell tours with a new band he’s calling his own version of Great White, it’s clear this version is closer to the real deal. They’re embracing the change now with a new release titled “Elation” to arrive in stores later this year.

Ilous earned himself quite the task for the afternoon. Shortly after finishing up his duties with the sharks, he was off to the second M3 stage to sing with XYZ, an obscure band that never quite lifted off when he helped found it in 1989.

Christian metalheads Stryper were on next, with guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet and his bandmates dropping the jaws of those who didn’t expect them to keep up with their secular counterparts. Think “To Hell with the Devil” won’t rock hard in concert? Think again.

The Phil Lewis version of L.A. Guns followed up shortly after. The headline here? An overtly British Lewis has kept much of his voice and his looks from the sunset strip era. And it’s fitting, because the band is coming forward with a new album this summer titled “Hollywood Forever”.

Two versions of L.A. Guns still persist, but we’ll take the one that’s fronted by the 55-year-old London-turned-L.A. rocker.

Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns

Michael Sweet of Stryper

There’s a lot that can be said about the state of Dokken‘s lineup. We’ll sum it up in three sentences. Singer Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch played a couple shows together and went on “That Metal Show” in 2010 to fire up speculation that they would reunite. Dokken and Lynch Mob (Lynch’s solo band) were both booked at M3 on the same day, firing up speculation that they would reunite. Dokken and Lynch did not reunite, despite much speculation being fired up.

But that’s hardly the whole story. Like Great White and L.A. Guns, Dokken is also coming out with a new album this summer. It’s titled “Broken Bones”, and is ‘up-tempo’ according to Don. Fans at M3 weren’t treated to any new cuts from this album, but they were treated to plenty of air guitar from Don Dokken, and real guitar from Jon Levin, who may or may not be George Lynch in disguise.

VH1 host and M3 emcee Eddie Trunk noted on Twitter that Lynch watched Dokken perform from backstage. An interesting dynamic, no doubt.

For the meantime, Don Dokken seems rather content charting his own path with or without Lynch, and proclaimed “let’s just pretend it’s 1987 again” to many cheers in the audience.

Don Dokken of Dokken

Jon Levin of Dokken

Don Dokken of Dokken

With Jani Lane’s passing, Robert Mason has taken the helm of Warrant, who were eager to please with their famous blend of pop and metal. Although “Down Boys” was an uptempo opener, a heaping of ballads set in for “I Saw Red”, “Heaven”, and “Sometimes She Cries”. But the crowd didn’t mind the band going for the softer notes – M3 like their power ballads, too.

A more disturbing than ever version of Queensryche was up next, and guess what? They also has a new album out. It doesn’t take a math degree to sense a pattern here – maybe Don Dokken is right and it is 1987. Note to self: for all intents and purposes, it is always 1987 at the M3 Rock Festival.

Queensryche is known for having an air of theatrical mystery that’s hard to put a word on, and this show was no exception. Geoff Tate was so into the show that he reached out and grabbed our camera (see photographic proof below!) Now there’s something that doesn’t happen at every rock show. We’re not sure what made Geoff put his hand over the camera, but it certainly added some shock value to his already dramatic performance.

Geoff Tate of Queensryche

Geoff Tate of Queensryche

Geoff Tate of Queensryche

Parker Lundgren of Queensryche

Queensryche’s “interesting” performance was capped off to perfection with “Silent Lucidity”. We’re pretty sure that even Tate got goosebumps as he heard the crowd echoing back the song’s famous chorus. Search the United States high and low, there is no crowd that sings along better to ’80s hits than this one.

Last but never least, it was time for RATT. Let’s see if they pass the M3 inspection. Reunion with excommunicated bassist? Check. Stephen Pearcy raspy as ever? Check. New album coming out? Check. That last one is a major sticking point.

Instead of describing how RATT’s set was truly a blast from the past, setting the Twitterverse on fire with statements like “RATT N’ ROLL LIVES AGAIN”, it’s better to simply reveal the list of songs they played. This allows for a full understanding of how deep into the band’s catalog Pearcy and the gang chose to dive.

Spoilers, here we come.

Dangerous But Worth The Risk
Scene of the Crime
In Your Direction
Wanted Man
I’m Insane
Lay It Down
Lack Of Communication
Take A Big Bite
Way Cool Jr.
You Think You’re Tough
Nobody Rides For Free
Body Talk
Back For More
You’re In Love
Round And Round

If you don’t recognize half of those songs, you’re not a true RATT fan. But anyone who went out and purchased vinyl during 1983-1987 must have been shocked to hear some of these songs again.

A happy band made for a happy show. Juan Croucier is obviously psyched about being back on stage with his former bandmates, and the roaring fans were glad to see him there. For someone who hasn’t been able to play in front of somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 fans in a long time, he clearly missed it.

The rest of the band was feeling nostalgic as Pearcy opted for the eye shadow and guitarist Warren DeMartini used up a can of hair spray. It doesn’t get much better than this.

This year’s M3 was everything a rock fan could hope for. Great bands, great fans, and great weather (thanks to a great decision to move the festival to May from June) all were at work here to create the ultimate hard rock experience. Judging by the attendance figure, the formula is working and there’s no need to change it.

Learn more about the M3 Rock Festival at http://m3rock.webs.com.

Warren DeMartini of RATT

Juan Croucier of RATT

Stephen Pearcy of RATT

RATT

If stepping out of a time machine into 1985 could be accomplished, it would look and feel a lot like walking up the wooded trail that leads to the Pavilion’s main entrance on opening night of M3 Rock Festival. Fans are swarming in lines to snatch up glam metal t-shirts, and the video screens are showing a piece of brilliant comedy titled “M3 Groupie Exchange Program”.

Now in its third year and gaining momentum with each carefully executed rock mash-up, the early days of summer in peaceful Columbia, Maryland haven’t been quite the same since M3 came to town.

The fans aren’t the only ones feeling ’80s fever. After Enuff Z’Nuff performed with singer Donnie Vie looking more like John Lennon than John Lennon, Night Ranger took the stage and had no trouble getting a chorus of fans singing along to even the more obscure parts of the catalog.

Even the song they wrote for Michael J. Fox’s yuppie classic “Secret of My Success” was no match for a crowd that cherished every note that came out of hyperactive frontman Jack Blades’ mouth.

Night Ranger has not skipped many beats since their days of peak stardom. Dueling singers Blades and Kelly Keagy are singing in top form, and Blades becomes the energizer bunny when he’s put behind a microphone. Perhaps they’re reaping the benefits of being one of the few glam acts not embroiled in drugs and alcohol during their time in the spotlight.

Last year the band roared to life once more with the release of “Somewhere in California”, inspired by their west coast roots and littered with the kind of guitar excess that two lead guitarists will get you. The M3 crowd eagerly received two choices from that album – “Lay It on Me” continues to prove itself as an excellent opener since they began employing it on last year’s tour with Journey and Foreigner.

KIX didn’t achieve half the stardom that Night Ranger did during the 1980s, which made their headlining status questionable even to their own singer, Steve Whiteman, as he pondered on stage and thanked Night Ranger for being gracious. There are two explanations for this arrangement: Maryland is the KIX homeland, and Steve Whiteman was born to headline rock shows.

If his over the top antics during “The Itch” or the dozens of rock star poses during the first three songs didn’t tip anyone off – Whiteman enjoys attention. And as a fifty-something who can still maneuver like an acrobat while screaming like a banshee, quite frankly he deserves it.

There’s no better crowd for KIX than an M3 crowd. Their songs may not be well-known radio anthems in most parts of the country, but it’s a different story at a festival where “criminally underrated” is most commonly used to describe their brand.

With KIX, Night Ranger, and even VH1′s Eddie Trunk as emcee, the M3 time warp was off to a good start on Friday. The only problem with the ’80s theme was a series of large HDNet cameras that wouldn’t have been imagined in the heyday of hair metal. But HD footage of this weekend escape? Bring it on.

MRC: You’re out in Virginia, and the tour continues. And you’re with Styx and Ted Nugent, but these guys are your good friends by now. It must be a lot of fun out there.

BH: Oh you bet. We’ve worked with Styx lots of times, and we played back to back with Ted in stadiums in the ’70s and early ’80s. It’s good to see everybody, we’re all getting along great and the people who are coming are having a ball. This is a nice package.

MRC: A lot of young people are showing up at your concerts now too, and today you just visited a high school where they’ve been singing your songs! What’s it like to see the whole new generation picking it up?

BH: Classic rock is catching on so fast with young people, it’s not just a few, there are lots of them who are classic rock fans. I think it has to do with not only liking the music, but remember Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and all that? I think that hooked a whole new generation on classic rock because a lot of the songs that were on those games were songs from the 1980s. So now they show up, and their parents played it in their house when they were growing up.

Today at this high school they asked us what some of our first inspirations were, and we said “The Beatles”. They all started clapping.

MRC: I want to go back in history a little bit because it was not long after you joined the band that this stellar rock song that everyone recognizes called “Back on the Road” again came out. How did that song come together?

BH: I grew up playing a band, so I was “on the road” from the time I was about 14 or 15. The song is about a guy who meets a gal that he likes and he has to say goodbye, and he’ll see her next time he comes to town. It’s kind of a rock anthem. That song came about really fast, I was 17 when I first wrote it in about five minutes. It’s been a good one, and we do it every night, and we rock it pretty hard. It was actually a blues song before we rocked it up with REO.

MRC: That bass solo is a lot of fun.

BH: That’s something that just came together over time. We never decided we wanted a bass solo on there, it just kind of happened to work that way. It’s kind of a nice set up for me to get ready to scream myself silly. [Laughs]

MRC: I like listening to the older stuff – Nine Lives is such an underrated album.

BH: The Nine Lives record was a bit different, we were trying to rock a little harder. We just turned up the volume and tried to be a little more “manly”. [Laughs] The songwriting was starting to get better as well. Kevin and Gary were both starting to write songs that were just constructed better. Kevin especially was just getting deeper into songwriting and getting his soul into it.

MRC: It seems like things became “right” with the band about that time.

BH: When we popped the Hi Infidelity album out there, it felt like a rocket taking off. It changed our lives big time.

MRC: There’s stories about the history of the band and this push and pull between writing ballads and writing rockers. Are those stories exaggerated?

BH: There were songwriters who were writing differently. Kevin starts from the standpoint of a folk singer, and comes up with more of the acoustic sound. Gary, on the other hand, was the Marshall guy who would turn it up. It was hard sometimes, not always, with certain songs. I remember when Kevin brought in “Keep on Lovin’ You” on piano, and we had to add some guitar chords to make it an REO Speedwagon song. We helped invent the power ballad that way. It was a conflict, but you just have to outthink the problem. All and all, it worked out just fine. That was our first number one single.

MRC: The last REO album was in 2007. Are there any news songs in the works or plans to go back in the studio?

BH: Making records has changed a lot these days. It’s not that we stop writing songs or we don’t record, but we just don’t have the same avenues that we used to for getting them out to the public. The music business has changed so much. Fans can find music on our website, when you used to have to hear it on the radio. We just write songs that make us happy, and the good ones we record. We get a batch together, and if we like them all, we’ll put them all out. Or if we just like one, we might put that out. We never stop writing or being creative, or thinking about new music. When you’re an artist it doesn’t stop, you just do it because you love it.

Visit REO Speedwagon at www.speedwagon.com.

On their second tour with Roth back at the helm since 1984, it’s hard deciding which of the band’s accomplishments is the most significant feat. Is it the mid-air spinning kicks that the uber-flexible David Lee Roth whips out? The brilliant return to form of guitar god Eddie Van Halen, whose fingers moved so fast they may have started his instrument on fire. Or the fact that all four band members are not going after each other’s throats – but instead smiling and laughing on stage together.

It’s easy to forget this is a band that has been through more relationship drama than your average soap opera. They’ve survived drugs, alcohol, three lead singers, cancer, lawsuits, divorces, and even the 1990s. To top it all off, Roth said as recently as 2006 that any reunion would result in a “Jerry Springer style fist-fight”. Van Halen is the last band that could be expected to mount a stunning comeback tour more than 35 years after forming, but that’s exactly what’s happening. And they seem to be having more fun than ever.

“My name is Mr. Roth and I am your substitute teacher for the remainder of the concert. If you are a spanish language student, you belong in Panama. That’s about 4 songs down the hall, just a little more to the left.”

He can scream, he can kick, and he’s witty. Roth proved he’s still a triple threat on this night. Although his multiple scarves, shirts, and glasses put him up against Madonna for most costume changes in a single performance, it didn’t make his outlandish green jackets any less fun.

Smiling wide and dancing the night away whenever he wasn’t singing, Roth was wiping sweat off his face at the end of song one. Four splits, a half-dozen kicks, and a hundred shimmys later, he was still yammering out the words to “Jump” while shaking around like the energizer bunny. If it wasn’t for his devotion to clean living (he’s even a big canine fanatic now), you’d swear that 1980s stimulant drugs were making a comeback.

The show lasted over two hours and included every hit a casual fan could ever want, along with enough deeper cuts and new songs to keep the die-hards satisfied. The famous vocal harmonies are still there in full force even minus bassist Michael Anthony, and especially showcased on chorus-echoers like “Beautiful Girls” and “Hot for Teacher”.

Everyone in this band appears reserved when put next to Roth, but Eddie filled the role of showman just as well as he did his standard role of guitar genius. A healthy lifestyle has clearly done wonders not only for his playing but also his looks, which are more youthful than the last tour. His extremely young son Wolfgang is understandably quiet as he plucks away on the bass, but there was a gleam in his eye from time to time as he caught sight of Roth whipping up a kick or his dad wailing on an extended note.

There were no fireworks or explosions, no moving platforms or sliding surfaces. For a band that would seem to want every frill known to man making the job easier, they achieve their shock value with unbridled talent and personality. One massive LED screen and a truckload of confetti was the extent of the “stage” show. For comarison, Rihanna recently employed a moving sidewalk to assist her sliding dance moves. All Roth needed was a well-swept piece of hardwood flooring.

There’s something extremely satisfying about seeing this band move and play as if the last 30 years never happened. For all the crowd could have cared that night, it was 1984 again, and their substitute teacher was Mr. Roth.

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MRC: I have to start out by telling you something you have to hear all the time, but it can’t be said enough. The show you guys are putting on out there is just superhuman – the energy, the singing, everything, and it just keeps getting better year after year. Did you ever imagine that you’d still be doing this in 2012?

JY: In our heyday, I don’t think I could have projected in my mind that anyone would even care at this stage. When I was interviewed by Mary Turner in 1981, she asked me what will I be doing ten years from that point in time. I had hoped we would be doing Styx at that time, but we lost our recording contract in 1992. Damn Yankees even lost their recording contract. In 1994 I really thought the whole thing might be over. Tastes had changed, music television was really the driving force and they had changed to the Seattle grunge scene. And we were broken up by that point so I didn’t see a lot of hope.

Fortunately there was an incredible manager by the name of Charlie Brusco, who said “put the tickets on sale, and they will come”. Not quite like the Kevin Costner baseball movie, but he knew how to promote shows. In 1996, we had this astounding reunion tour and we’ve never looked back from there. If you would have asked me in 1996, I would have said “yeah” – we’ve survived the dark ages and the light’s back on us. We have a sense of how strong the show is but that doesn’t stop us from trying to make the show better with each turn. We have a great time out there and it’s just a tribute to democracy and a great group of people.

MRC: And isn’t Red Rocks just the best place to play a show?

JY: The Gorge [in Gorge, Washington] I think was voted the best amphitheater in the country, but Red Rocks has it beat by a long shot. It’s just amazing. The audience goes up on the hill in front of you, and when they yell back, it’s the greatest place for a call and response. Red Rocks to me is the best natural amphitheater by a long shot.

MRC: Every show you guys play you recognize that you aren’t playing to just the longtime fans. Anyone who comes to see you for the first time is really getting that “ultimate” Styx experience, and that has to be very satisfying.

JY: We’ve come to the conclusion that the best thing for us to do is go out there and play great shows 100 or 110 times a year and just bring it on the stage, because what we do cannot be digitized. To be at a venue like Red Rocks, there’s no way to reproduce that. You can capture it, but it’s not the same as being there.

People more than ever I think are looking for an escape from the difficulties you see on every single news channel. Everyone needs a place to go where they can put that aside, put that out of their brain and celebrate something that gives them joy, and a Styx concert is the perfect thing for that. We’re focused on playing great shows and stepping up our game whenever we can. It comes naturally from my friend Tommy Shaw, from Mr. Gowan. And after the sad passing of John Panozzo, Todd Sucherman is just like a new engine under this race car and I just love taking it out for a drive.

MRC: What are you doing before the shows to get warmed up?

JY: There’s a big hookah. [Laughs] It’s not a secret ritual or anything. It really comes from Tommy Shaw’s natural energy, from Lawrence Gowan’s natural energy, and from my natural desperate need for attention. There’s no special ritual, we just have the right people and take the stage with supreme confidence. I love being dazzled by my bandmates, and it happens regularly. I’m like a kid in a candy store. This is the band I’ve always wanted to be in, and the lineup I’ve always wanted to be a part of.

MRC: Of course the song that lives on like no other is “Miss America”. And you’ve still got the pipes to hit those big screams every night.

JY: [Laughs] I’ve got some catching up to do with Ted Nugent. That guy can scream like no one I’ve heard in a long time.

JY performing with Styx in Denver, CO on May 8, 2012

MRC: The music you create live is a very needed thing in the world right now.

JY: Music is an amazing thing. It’s channeled through a higher power, and it has the power to soothe, to calm, inspire, and in the best cases to heal. Chuck Panozzo is a great example. Without this band and the lift that it gives him when he comes on stage, he might not have beaten his battle with AIDS. This gave him hope, and that hope gave him strength to swallow all those damn pills which made him feel terrible many days.

It’s a joyful thing. My quote from a recent CNN interview called “Age Against the Machine” was “find the joy in each day”. And it really is true. In a rock band there’s going to be planes delayed, this is going to go wrong, that’s going to go wrong. It’s just life on planet earth. Things aren’t perfect. When you’re away from home and familiar touchstones, and you’re in a strange place, these things can be very troubling. But the time on stage brings us all back together. That for me is the joy in days spent on the road. In your daily life you’ve got to spend some time focusing on a joyful aspect of your existence. And once you’ve connected with that, it’s like “that’s ok”. Get a good night sleep and face the next challenges tomorrow.

You can find the latest on JY and Styx at www.styxworld.com.

Six gigs into the tour, and even these veterans of Red Rocks were in awe of its acoustic quality.

“Wow! Can you hear yourselves out there? They can hear you 500 miles away!” yelled a smiling Lawrence Gowan, the Styx keyboardist with a penchant for requesting the audience to play “complete the lyrics”.

The mere thought of this trio hitting the road together seems so implausible in 2012 once you consider the collective age of all the musicians involved, the 40 years (give or take) since their careers began, and that’s not even adding politics into the mix (Ted Nugent and Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin are not exactly two peas in a pod).

Age, time, and politics be damned – these guys are putting on a rock show. Ted Nugent, the madman performer. REO Speedwagon, the masters of the power ballad. And Styx, the band that hasn’t missed a single beat in their modern career. Pack the bags and the cigarette lighters.

It’s no surprise these days that young fans are catching on to the music their parents (or grandparents) listened to, which means it shouldn’t be surprising that a huge crop of 15-29 year olds made the trek out to Red Rocks to sing a long with this gang of age-resistant rockers. But it was still remarkable to see college students clasping newly purchased Styx t-shirts.

The hits, and there were a lot of them, flew from start to finish with rare exceptions including a “soul” jam from Ted Nugent and company, and Tommy Shaw’s epic “Man in the Wilderness” in the middle of Styx’s set. Shaw is hitting notes that might be higher than his prime here, and the smile on his face says it’s effortless.

Shaw’s exceptional voice and aura were hard to top, but each musician had a clear chance to shine. Derek St. Holmes is singing loud and clear and clearly happy to be reunited with his axeman Nugent. REO’s Kevin Cronin has stage moves that are something to behold, and his voice holds up nicely on the ballads and rockers alike. Even James “JY” Young from Styx can still send a shiver down your spine when he belts out the delightfully pompous “Miss America”.

Cronin may term his band’s music as “classic rock heavy artillery”, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this tour is only for the usual suspects. The “usual suspects” for these artists has been redefined in recent years to include anyone old enough to sing. This tour is escape to a different kind of mindset. No recession, no job worries, it’s all rock and roll. It’s what Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Ted Nugent were put on this earth to do – and they better not stop.