For nearly 35 years, Chip Z’Nuff has comprised one half of one of the most overlooked rock duos in Glam Slam history.
Along with original and longtime vocalist Donnie Vie, Chicago-area band Enuff Z’Nuff has stockpiled 17 studio albums that have rocked diehards to their core.
But that boatload of stellar Rock N’ Roll came with one double-edged sword: although it may not even be one of the top 50 songs Enuff Z’Nuff has ever recorded, 1989 MTV hit in “Fly High Michelle” filled the band’s pocketbooks higher than most of us will ever see, yet still has the group pigeonholed for that one song 3 1/2 decades later.
So while Z’Nuff has been bringing his group to San Antonio regularly since assuming lead-vocal duties in 2016 following Vie’s departure, including Friday, July 21, at Vibes Underground, you can excuse the vastly underrated songwriter if he sounds bitter for playing such an intimate venue.
“My father said it best,” Z’Nuff told a travesty of a turnout of 50-ish fans prior to introducing 1989 single “New Thing” and Beatles cover “With A Little Help From My Friends” (ATM footage below). “Enuff Z’Nuff is an arena band playing clubs all around the country.”
Earlier in the evening of the Glam Slam Metal tour that included The Quireboys, Bad Marriage and local openers Eden Burning, Z’Nuff said, “We should be playing arenas. But we came to play for you guys!”
It may have sounded like a backhanded compliment, but it was anything but. Z’Nuff was merely speaking the truth. In fact, you could argue that Enuff Z’Nuff would’ve fit right in on last year’s stadium tour featuring Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett — and would’ve been more appropriate than the latter.
And if San Antonio wants to reclaim its place atop the Heavy Metal Capital perch, a paltry turnout in the double digits for an artist that has graced the landscape with heavy Beatles influenced Rock N’ Roll for as long as it has is unacceptable.
But that sentiment, naturally, didn’t apply to those in attendance. Nor did it fit yours truly, who showed Z’Nuff several years ago just how much the musician’s musical brilliance means to him (watch here).
Despite the concert being switched at the last minute from the more spacious Rock Box within the same venue next door to Vibes Underground, giving way in the process to younger bands Thousand Below, Until I Wake, A Tragic Setback and Kill Lonely, those who wanted a little glam with their slam weren’t disappointed.
Z’Nuff, guitarist Tory Stoffregen, new guitarist Jason Camino and drummer Daniel B. Hill pulled a pleasant surprise by opening with “Rock N World,” the final track on third album Animals With Human Intelligence from 1993. Hits such as “Baby Loves You,” the aforementioned “Fly High Michelle” and 1989 single “New Thing” (ATM footage below) were interspersed with four Beatles covers from the group’s 2021 album of The Fab Four’s hits Hardrock Nite.
There was nary a mention of last year’s release of new studio effort Finer Than Sin, let alone any tunes performed from that record. It was as if Enuff Z’Nuff was touring in support of The Beatles covers rather than a new record of its own (see setlist in 75-photo gallery).
Either way, it’s a blessing that Z’Nuff chose to continue with EZN after parting with Vie, although the two are still said to remain in touch and occasionally collaborating on songs together, including the 2021 release of Never Enuff: Rarities & Demos featuring a slew of songs recorded from their early days that never made it onto those 17 albums.
Watch the group in action here on the opening two tracks and below on “New Thing” and Beatles tune “WIth A Little Help From My Friends.” The latter included appearances from members of The Quireboys and Bad Marriage.
As if Z’Nuff didn’t have enuff on his plate these days, he officially became the bassist in The Quireboys earlier this year and is pulling double duty throughout the tour.
Formerly known as The London Quireboys, this version of the two-outfit band is continuing on after parting ways with original singer Spike last year. Longtime guitarist Guy Griffin, like Z’Nuff with EZN, has assumed lead-vocal duties and is carrying on the group’s similarly lengthy yet somewhat underappreciated career with guitarist Paul Guerin, keyboardist/pianist Keith Weir and drummer Pip Mailing. Check them out below via ATM footage of brand new track “Lie to Me” and via Facebook Live footage of “Misled” and “Gracie B.” plus “7 O’Clock.”
Opening more than a few eyes on this night, for multiple reasons, was Boston band Bad Marriage.
Despite having only formed in 2015 and possessing just two albums and an EP under its belt, the band played like seasoned veterans mixing a bluesy Zeppelin-eque swagger with in-your-face heavy rock.
Fronted by Jonny Paquin and under the leadership of lead guitarist Mike Fitz along with rhythm guitarist Ian Haggerty, bassist Todd Boisvert and drummer Michael Delaney, Bad Marriage scored a major coup earlier this month by snagging Tesla co-founder and original guitarist Tommy Skeoch.
Incidentally, Skeoch was in town March 3 playing with his previous band Resist & Bite at Fitzgerald’s. This gig marked one of his first with Bad Marriage, and lest ye think the members of the latter would try to tone down Skeoch’s presence for fear of having the audience’s focus turn to him for his Tesla pedigree, you’d be mistaken.
Fitz proudly recalled that Bad Marriage’s previous San Antonio visit was at the Aztec Theatre opening for Tesla (sans Skeoch, of course) and that now Skeoch’s presence added a well-known axe to a triple-guitar attack that shone through rockers “Ready, Aim, Fire” and “Second Hand Smoke” plus yet-to-be-released track “Match Made In Hell” and “Victory Is My Name” (ATM footage of both below).
Ironically enough, the group’s Artificial Mind EP was produced by Tesla bassist/pianist Brian Wheat.
The evening started with the lone local flavor in the form of Eden Burning.
Led by singer/band founder/guitarist Phil Salazar, Eden Burning is another example of a talented and rocking San Antonio quartet that finds it difficult to carve a strong niche in its hometown despite having rocked local bars and theaters, not to mention the famed Whisky-A-Gogo and Rainbow Bar N Grill in Hollywood, since 2007.
Whether it’s performing at Vibes Underground in front of a double-digit crowd or mere feet away at the Vibes Event Center with Enuff Z’Nuff, Ace Frehley, Dokken, L.A. Guns and the Graham Bonnet Band as it did in 2017 (coverage here and here), Eden Burning and its Sunset Strip sleaze band influence deserves to be catching more eyes and turning more heads locally.
With Shane Breon on bass, Jarred Burns on guitar and the recent addition of former Wednesday 13, Evil United and Down Generation drummer Jason “Shakes” West on the kit, Eden Burning is an act that needs to be witnessed more regularly if you call yourself a metalhead in San Antonio.
Luckily for you if you were one of the folks who chose not to make this gig’s turnout a triple-digit affair like the temperatures outside, ATM has you covered. Watch Eden Burning in action below on “Glitter Girl” and via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Let’s Have A Good Time.”
The days of groupies backstage and on tour buses may be few and far between in 2023, but Z’Nuff proudly recalled the glam and sleaze Enuff Z’Nuff partook in when he talked about “shoving my tongue down your throat” as he referenced a female in the back of the bar before proclaiming, “This isn’t milk and cookies! This is Rock N’ Roll!”
He also relayed his love for the Alamo City before bashing San Antonio’s ordinance and curfew in the next breath, stating, “Don’t you want Rock N’ Roll all day long? I know I do!”
Another reference that touched closer came when Z’Nuff brought up his band’s days of opening for Urge Overkill at The Thirsty Whale in Chicago (suburban River Grove, Illinois, to be technical). That now-defunct venue is where yours truly was one of 200-250 fans recorded chanting “Kick your ass! Manowar kills” on the 1988 title track to Manowar’s "Kings of Metal.”
So yes, the sex and drugs portion of sex, drugs and Rock N’ Roll may not be what it used to be when these bands formed. Some of the cities hosting their gigs in 2023 may be a shell of their former selves as well.
But when these bands continue to put out stellar music combined with playing their old hits live while they’re still alive — albeit for 50, 500 or 5,000 — it’s up to the patrons to reciprocate with as much appreciation as possible.
For those in attendance on this night: give yourselves a round of applause.
And for all others: where you at, San Antonio? Your favorite artists ain’t gonna be ‘round forever.
