Missing Persons on 5/13/2016 review

M

Matt Bo Eder

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A friend of mine had free tickets to see these guys on a "Totally 80s" concert at the House of Blues located in Downtown Disney in Anaheim, CA, with other 80s bands, the other notable was Bow Wow Wow. I've been working for Disney for so long, this is the first time I actually went to a concert there!

After hearing people say stuff like Missing Persons is no longer what it used to be, I was interested in seeing what the complaints were about. So I thought I'd do a short concert review here of what I saw.

Lineup of the band: Dale Bozzio (vox), Pat Bolan (gtr), Prescott Niles (bs), Andy Senesi (dr), Fred Bensi (kybrd).

OK, yes, Dale is 35 years older than what we remember when they debuted back in 1981, so I do not fault her with not being able to hit those quirky notes like she used to. She is no longer a Playboy bunny either, so being fully clothed along with the band is ok too. For the most part, she still nails the songs, and the music is still difficult for average cover bands to cover. Which explains why you never hear anybody covering their stuff.

But the band absolutely rocks. They nail the parts originally recorded, but have added themselves to it. In fact, I hate to say, but Prescott Niles (bass player - the same Prescott Niles who played for THE KNACK when they hit big), drove that band more than anything else. His parts just rocked and the tunes drove and grooved better than they do on the original albums. He was the ultimate bottom and really held that group together. It was quite scary.

The drummer really held his own against what Terry Bozzio created too, and needless to say, I thought between him and Prescott, all the songs grooved hard. Having a drummer use real drums (all the acts used the same backline kit provided by the House of Blues) was very reminiscent of when King Crimson recorded The Construktion of Light with V-Drums, but when I saw them live, the drums were real, breathing acoustic drums. The songs just elevated with real tom sounds (and not the effected roto-toms Bozzio used in the beginning).

In fact, during the show, the song Simon Simon became a vehicle for the band to take solos - kinda' stuck out but not too far out from the rest of the material.

So I just wanted to report, if you want to hear your old Missing Persons favorites groove a lot harder than what you have on vinyl, check them out when they come to town. Yes, Terry, Warren, Patrick, and Chuck (original members) are no longer there, but this current incarnation will not let you down. I was surprised and happy to get the chance to see them now.

The other side of this is now I have become my parents. I used to scoff at the rock n roll my parents listened to in the 50s. Now I'm sure an entire generation look at me and say "what is that old guy listening to anyway?" So for one night, my wife and I weren't the only old people in the room. I saw lots of grey hair, balding people, women dressed inappropriately for their age, etc.,...you know what I mean.

This is why Lady Gaga did those duets with Tony Bennett. She knows when she becomes older, she'll be able to put on a nice elegant gown to go out and sing jazz ;)
 

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Thanks for the review. Peace and goodwill.
 
... but Prescott Niles (bass player - the same Prescott Niles who played for THE KNACK when they hit big), drove that band more than anything else. His parts just rocked and the tunes drove and grooved better than they do on the original albums. He was the ultimate bottom and really held that group together. It was quite scary.

...and that's what a good bassist is supposed to do. There's an old quote a mentor (guitarist) told me a long time ago which was - "If the guitarist is good people will tell the that 'the guitarist sounds great', if the bassist is good they will tell you that the band sounds great" - I have never forgotten that.
 
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