Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan, and Mike Portnoy. Three dynamo musicians that need no introduction on their own, much less as a three-piece supergroup. The Winery Dogs rolled into Derry New Hampshire’s Tupelo Music Hall this past Sunday on their 2023 World Tour. Intimate venue, the cold weather outside, and hot music. Let’s dive in…
Doing a tour with no openers, neither supporting acts nor local bands, makes each night start with no fluff or filler. A welcome fact with this tour. At 7pm on the dot, the lights dimmed, and the chorus of “That’s My Name” by Bow Wow (ft Snoop Dogg) starts playing and Richie emerges towards the front of the stage alongside bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan. Mike Portnoy on the drums lurking in the back to fill out the scene.
Jumping directly into “Gaslight” off of the band’s new album III (Three Dog Music LLC) lighting the stage up with subtle theatrics that can be appreciated by everyone from the casual fan to the most discerning of music buffs. With the charisma of “We know our shit don’t stink” and the attitude of a band right off of the Sunset Strip, Richie and the boys ran thru their latest single off of III, “Xanadu”. After giving the audience a taste of what to expect for the rest of the night, Mr. Kotzen expressed his gratitude to the audience for the warm welcome back, as the band hasn’t been back since pre-Covid when they played back-to-back nights at the same venue back in 2019. Guiding the audience to “check in with the Captain” and having Portnoy bust out one of his famous drum solo intros into “Captain Love” off of their sophomore record, Hot Streak (Three Dog Music LLC) which also happens to be my favorite record of theirs.
Richie Kotzen, with his sultry and gritty voice akin to the late and dearly missed Chris Cornell went full force into “Desire”, “Breakthrough”, and “Time Machine” back-to-back-to-back. It’s not often I see or cover shows where the entire venue is fully seated but I will admit that seeing a sold-out show give a standing ovation at every chance available is still something special to see.
The remainder of the 17-song set (including a two-song encore) was a mix of old and new and Billy Sheehan, well… being Billy Sheehan. Continuing straight thru the end of “Time Machine” into an extended bass solo in a way that Mr. Sheehan can only do. I swear his fingers are made of goddamn vibranium, that’s the only explanation! Watching his fingers go at the speed of light is dizzying, frantic, melodic, and a genuine treat to see. Closing out the set before the encore was my personal favorite song The Winery Dogs have made to date, “Oblivion”. This song is fast, thick, soulful, bombastic, and bewildering in between each section. It’s ballsy progressive dad metal… and I fucking love it! The encore was the ballad “Regret” and the introductory song that brought The Winery Dogs to the masses with their debut self-titled, “Elevate”.
This was only the 9th date on the tour which goes until April 6th here in the U.S. and then a couple of shows in Brazil at the end of April. Do yourself a favor and grab tickets if you can, because this show is not one to miss and The Winery Dogs don’t tour too often.
Until next time y’all. Peace and chicken grease.
Smallz, signing off.
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS SMALL