incogNITA!: Hellwagon - Indy Band Review - Ro's Bar & Grill

Can heavy metal music exist without hair….long hair, lots of hair? Uh….no…it’s metal, c’mon! It makes for better pictures anyway, right Bill? So, if orange is the new black, then Hellwagon is the new crazy train…all aboard! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Just when you believe you’ve got it all figured out, you realize otherwise. You think ‘metalmania’, and then you hear something that makes you stop and think ‘really’? I did some double checks myself.

Hey, stop by, check out and 'like' Hellwagon's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/HellwagonIndy

Hellwagon comes right out of the rock and roll gate with a KISS classic ‘Detroit Rock City’, followed by AC/DC (my personal favorite rockers) ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ (later adding ‘Highway To Hell’). And certainly, you can’t do rock up right without some Led Zeppelin, ‘Good Times, Bad Times’. I always like to include those songs that you don’t typically hear out at the club. It is those selections that bring diversity to the show. I’m always ‘observing’ the patrons when I go out, I study their body language, their facial expressions. Perhaps that sounds odd, but that is to me an indicator of whether they are enjoying their evening. This Saturday night at Ro’s was certainly being appreciated by many.

Tony - Photo credit: Bill Iles

Hellwagon is:

Tony Diekhoff - vocals

Craig (aka: Shred) Young - guitar/vocals

Greg Lockhart - lead guitar/vocals

Stacey Ely - drums

Brian Coleman - bass guitar

Claude Brissart - lights and sound

Brian - Photo credit: Bill Iles

Greg - Photo credit: Bill Iles

Craig

Stacey - Photo credit: Bill Iles

So, when was the last time I heard Pat Travers ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’? It’s been a long while! ‘Bathroom Wall’ is classic late 80’s Faster Pussycat material. Add in The Four Horsemen ‘Rockin’ Is Ma Business’ and you can see where this is going. Did I say heavy metal? Black Foot, ‘Train, Train’, Judas Priest ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’’, Motorhead, ‘Ace of Spades’….that is definitely throw back….like way back to my later high school years…I’d forgotten all about that band…wow….R-N’-R memory lane for sure, guys! Then throw in a few that I certainly would not have expected…The Commodores ‘Brick House’, Wild Cherry ‘Play That Funky Music’ and….oh my…..Johnny Cash ‘Ring of Fire’….really? Did I say heavy metal? LOL

By the way, ‘cuse me, Tony, but WTH is a blunkin, or maybe that’s blumpkin? I didn’t realize there was such an issue with them out in Hancock County. Maybe I’m not spelling that right, but I ‘Googled’ it, and didn’t find it…so, I’m thinkin’ they don’t exist? Sorry guys, just sayin’! But thank you for your concern about everybody’s safety, that is important! Hellwagon's current line-up of bandmates has been together about two months, but HW itself about one year. All come from previous 'bands of the past', in case you thought perhaps you recognize a face or a name.

Nazareth ‘Hair of the Dog’ certainly qualifies as mid-70’s Scottish hard rock, but would you expect tunes from Journey or Lynyrd Skynyrd….did I say heavy metal? So at the end of the night when you’ve had your socks rocked off in ways perhaps you could not have imagined….you’ll be sayin’….’well, that was one helluva ride!’ Kickin’ and screamin’ all the way….Hellwagon? Hell yeah!