MASTERS OF ROCK BUENOS AIRES 2023

 

Pictures: Javier Lubelski

“This will be our last song tonight... now don't be sad, it could be worse... it could be raining and it could be a shit song... but it's a great song!”

Tobias Sammet when finishing Avantasia's set.

On April 28th the Masters of Rock festival featuring Avantasia, Helloween, Deep Purple, Scorpions and Kiss landed in Buenos Aires and took place in Parque de la Ciudad, located in the south of the city.

Major international rock concerts arrived late in the game to Argentina and South America in general. Other than a select few top of the line bands in the 1980s, it took the economic stability of the 1990s to bring the stadium filling rock bands from the US and Europe to Argentina.

Since then, most successful bands visited the country and even though the economy took a big hit because of the pandemic, once concerts were permitted again there was a flood of international visits as people were eager to get out and enjoy live music again.

Around 40,000 music fans gathered since the early morning to enjoy a day of hard rock and power metal from England, Germany and the US. A wealth of Chilean, Bolivian and Colombian flags could be seen throughout the venue, as many visited from other South American countries to experience the Masters of Rock in action.

Something new to Argentinian festivals was the setting of a very small stage beside the main one to have a local band - La Carga - perform half hour sets while the crew prepared the main stage between bands. La Carga covered Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne and other rock classic artists to entertain the crowd while they waited for the next band.

Horcas, the only local group to grace the main stage, opened the show with their potent brand of Argentinian thrash metal at 1:30 PM. As it was a working day, the venue would not be full until later.

Plenty of the attendants who were there to see Kiss or Deep Purple were probably surprised by Tobias Sammet´s Avantasia when they took the stage at 2:30 PM.

The band is quite popular in Argentina as proved by their sold-out sideshow the night before at the Gran Rivadavia theater. Their brand of operatic power metal is both melodic and catchy and the guest singers they invite to the stage and their albums are top notch. Eric Martin, the larger-than-life Ralf Scheepers, Ronnie Atkins and Bob Catley, all took their turns at the microphone and succeeded in creating the feeling that they were all part of the band instead of guest singers.

The sound was powerful and clear, the songs memorable and full of energy. The likes of “Lost in Space”, the epic 12-minute opus “The Scarecrow”, “Reach Out for the Light”, “Sign of the Cross” and the anthemic “Farewell” - the last three from their classic 2001 debut album “The Metal Opera, Vol. 1” - won over an audience that in their majority were there to see other bands.

Tobias Sammet is a natural frontman, claimed to love Buenos Aires and promised to return before leaving the stage to make room for the band that many consider to be the creators of power metal: Helloween.

The German band performed in Buenos Aires with Hammerfall last year and their Masters of Rock set was an abbreviated version of that 2022 gig.

Helloween has the singularity of being a band that parted ways with their original lead singer and replaced him with another one only to have their original vocalist return decades later without removing his replacement and thus having both lead singers in the band. Makes sense? Total sense.

Both Michael Kiske and Andy Deris are terrific frontmen with enviable pipes and charisma to spare. Both recorded songs with Helloween that are considered classics of the genre. And the way the show is paced with both sharing the stage and duetting on each other's songs is nothing short of fantastic. But that’s not all, as Kai Hansen was guitarist and lead singer on the first Helloween album and he also returned to the band after decades of absence and fronting Gamma Ray, so there were three lead singers on stage who took turns at the mic.

The start of the set with the one-two punch of “Dr. Stein” and “Eagle Fly Free” - both from the genre defining 1988 album “Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part II” - made clear that the band was there to please their old fans and also gain new ones; the audience sang along and the 4 PM sun didn't stop the crowd from going crazy, especially when Kai Hansen, Helloween's founding father, guitarist and lead vocalist on their “Walls Of Jericho” debut LP took the spotlight for a medley of “Ride the Sky” and “Heavy Metal (Is the Law)”.

The other two guitar players in the band - founding member Michael Weikath and taller than tall Sascha Gerstner - played with German precision - pardon the pun - while Daniel Löble and Markus Grosskopf provided the steady backbeat as the band ran through the different eras of its rich history.

A special mention must be awarded to the emotional ballad “Forever and One” sang by Deris and Kiske sitting on benches like old friends sharing a pint and hearing their favorite song played through the loudspeakers of a bar.

Andy Deris, who currently lives in Spain, congratulated the Argentinian crowd in Spanish for winning the world cup which led to the audience chanting “Dale campeón” - Go champ -.

It was over too soon as Deep Purple was next. The Argentinian audience is no stranger to a band that visited many times before and even though their 2017 concert with Cheap Trick and Tesla didn't showcase singer Ian Gillan in his best voice, this time around he was superb and looked way too cool for his 77 years of age, wearing sunglasses for the first few songs after taking the stage at 5:30 PM.

“Machine Head” is not only considered the finest Deep Purple album but also one of hard rocks best, so no wonder the opening tracks were “Highway Star” and “Pictures of Home”. They would return to mine the 1972 LP for more classics like “Lazy”, “Space Truckin'” and the all-time anthem “Smoke on The Water”. One of the highlights of the gig was the Machine Head outtake “When a Blind Man Cries” released only as a single B side. Even non-believers felt chills running through their spines while Gillan sang magnificently the somber lyrics and the cheering from the audience when the song ended said it all.

Ian Paice, one of the best drummers in rock history, is the only original member still in the band and does an amazing job behind the kit. Along with bass player Roger Glover, they are partly responsible for the classic sound of Purple on stage. Don Airey, keyboardist who replaced Jon Lord in 2002, plays his parts peerlessly and when he jammed a classic Argentinian tango song - “Adios Nonino” by Astor Piazzolla - during his solo the crowd roared in approval. His charisma shone through when he got a waiter -his son Mike- serve him a glass of wine on stage and returned for the encore wearing the Argentinian football team T-Shirt.

This was Simon McBride's first visit as Deep Purple's guitar player as he replaced the departed Steve Morse and kudos to him for playing Ritchie Blackmore's parts tastefully and fatefully while adding his own imprint to the sound.

He was particularly great on the heartfelt Jon Lord tribute “Uncommon Man”, released on the “Now What” album in 2013 as an homage to Purple's original keyboard player who passed away the year before.

The not often performed “Into the fire” from 1970's “In Rock” LP made an appearance on the set and one of the most celebrated songs was “Perfect Strangers” to which the audience reacted in a very positive way as they sang along to the guitar/keyboard riff solo.

The ending came with the classic “Black Night” and everybody in the audience sang the woo-oohs along with the riff.

Deep Purple does not need explosions, costumes or gimmicks of any kind; they can win audiences over with just their virtuosity, charisma and a bag full of some of the greatest songs ever recorded in the history of rock music.

When Scorpions took the stage a few minutes before 8 PM, the standing room only venue was close to packed. The night came down and the band made full use of the stage and lights while they played their hits and songs from their excellent latest release, “Rock Believer”.

For the first few songs, lead singer Klaus Meine seemed to have pitch issues, probably related to a faulty monitor. After the long instrumental “Coast to Coast” vocal issues were no longer apparent and the 74-year-old singer entertained the crowd with a performance that rocked nonstop except for a small detour of hit ballads like “Send Me an Angel” And “Wind of Change”, the latter with new lyrics dedicated to the Ukrainians. Before singing them, Klaus addressed the crowd: “In earlier times I would ask you to bring out your lighters; today I ask you to use the flashlight of your iPhones”.

Original guitar player Rudolph Schenker and lead guitarist Matthias Jabs did a peerless job walking the line between grit and technical prowess. The same can be said of Paweł Mąciwoda on bass and yet it was former Motorhead drummer extraordinaire Mikkey Dee who gave a masterclass of his instrument both during each song and his own solo.

Still, the instrumental segments of Scorpions’ show might have been too long for a festival of this kind.

The band had the roaring crowd now eating from the palm of their hands while they belted hits like “Big City Nights”, “Tease Me Please me” - from their 2x platinum album “Crazy World” - and during the big finale with “Still Loving You” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane”.

At 10 PM it was time for the headliner. For the 12th and last time in Argentina - or at least that is what guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley told the crowd -, these words resonated: “You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world, Kiss!!”

You could say the band is a classic example of a love them or hate them scenario. Fans know that they will get the true meaning of over the top when attending a Kiss show.

Last year Kiss performed on Argentinian soil and this show was a carbon copy of that Buenos Aires gig apart from the addition of “Makin’ Love” in place of the 1985 single “Tears are Falling”.

Still, this is the show that the majority came to see and even though a big part of the audience was tired after standing for many hours under the sun, the cheering never ceased throughout the 2-hour performance.

Between songs the crowd would chant praises for Kiss and individual band member. At one point Stanley seemed genuinely emotional and claimed to be moved to tears by the love of the fans.

But what about the songs? Kiss took the audience on a journey of rock classics spanning 5 decades

of up and downs, makeup and no makeup, band members coming and going and through it all, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley soldiering on while music fads came and went.

Opener “Detroit Rock City”, with the band descending from above like Gods visiting earth while fireworks and explosions thundered around them, was a sight to see. Their hit 1976 “Destroyer” LP was well represented with 4 more songs including “Shout It Out Loud”, “Do You Love Me?”, "God of Thunder" - sung by Simmons after the bass solo during which he spits blood and raises on a platform to the top of the stage - and Kiss’ highest charting single ever, “Beth” was majestically performed by drummer Eric Singer while sitting on a fake piano. His vocal impression of original drummer Peter Criss on both “Beth” and the main set closer “Black Diamond” is impressive, though pretending to play the pre-recorded “Beth” piano is unnecessary.

Tommy Thayer plays Ace Frehley’s original solos and riffs with the passion of a real fan. He shoots fireworks from his guitar while soloing and does the job accurately while wearing the Spaceman’s makeup and outfit.

Long debates took place on the internet regarding Paul Stanley’s voice deterioration in the past few years. Also, there were accusations online of use of pre-recorded tapes and lip-synching, sometimes using YouTube videos as evidence. More and more artists these days use pre recorded tapes for their live gigs and that seems to be the accepted norm now. Paul was a bit hoarse on his between songs banter but sang well and if there was lip-synching involved it went unnoticed at the venue.

Always a natural entertainer, he did a good job on 80s belter “Heaven’s on Fire” and Sonic Boom’s “Say Yeah”.

Bass player and vocalist Gene Simmons was in very good voice for “Cold Gin”, “Deuce” and the heavy “Creatures of the Night” album closer “War Machine”.

Before the end of “I Love it Loud” he spat fire and during “Calling Dr. Love”, there was some fun soloing taking place between Paul and Tommy.

Now 71-year-old Paul Stanley deserves a separate paragraph for continuing to zip line above the audience from the main stage to a little one halfway through the venue: it really is impressive to see and allows people in the back to get a good look at him performing “Love Gun” and disco hit “I Was Made for Lovin' You”.

The usual ending with “Rock and Roll All Nite” had both band and audience having a party and saying goodbye to each other for the last time. Or at least that is what they lead us to believe. With Kiss, you never know!

After almost twelve hours of non-stop live music, the Masters of Rock festival came to an end. The exhausted but happy crowd left with memories to treasure for a long time. It was a privilege to have all these bands together on the same stage.

While the crowd was slowly leaving the venue, “God Gave Rock and Roll to You” from Kiss’ “Revenge” album played through the PA speakers.

You don't have money or a fancy car

And you're tired of wishin' on a falling star

You gotta put your faith in a loud guitar.

So, we do put our faiths in loud guitars!

Javier Lubelski