It took three years and a brand new venue for the first installment of the Tierra Sagrada Festival to finally come to fruition last Saturday. So what was an extra hour and five minutes or so?
The return of two of San Antonio’s favorite classic rock and metal artists — Legs Diamond from California and Moxy of Canada — highlighted the gathering originally scheduled for the 5,200 capacity historic outdoor Sunken Garden Theater in the fall of 2020 pre-Covid-19 that found its way to the less than 5-month-old 3,100 indoor capacity of Tech Port Center + Arena.
The bill also featured nothing-to-sneeze-at acts Lita Ford and Jack Russell’s Great White, the reunion of Kingdom Come and local openers Jessikill, who were fresh off their first major national tour opening for Yngwie Malmsteen this past spring.
The influence of the late disc jockey Joe “The Godfather” Anthony was palpable, as he helped give many bands, including those from other countries, their first taste of American radio exposure in the 1970s and ‘80s. That included not only Legs Diamond and Moxy, but also the Scorpions, who just happened to be playing down the road at Freeman Coliseum.
In fact, Moxy’s lone remaining original member, guitarist Earl Johnson (see start of the 107-photo slideshow below) is quoted on Wikipedia as once saying: “We did an interview with a DJ in Texas. I asked him what songs of ours they were playing. He said, ‘First we play the first side, then we play the second side.’ I just about fell off my chair.”
Legs Diamond participated in a meet-and-greet the night before at Fitzgerald’s, which included an unexpected appearance from Scorpions drummer Mikkey Dee. They then hit the stage at 11:53 p.m. after technical issues at the Tech Port forced festivities to begin more than an hour late, cutting Jessikill’s scheduled six-song set in half and backlogging the rest of the night. By the time Legs Diamond performed San Antonio favorite “Woman,” it was after 1 a.m., and a fraction of the 1,500 on hand remained for a set that had been slated to end between 11:30 and midnight.
The view of a half-filled arena that’s mid-sized to begin with was disappointing given the stature of the six bands. However, given that the Scorpions were also in town along with Collective Soul and Switchfoot at the Majestic Theatre, promoters Din Productions were not complaining. And despite the lengthy delay at the start that, according to one source, was caused by Jack Russell’s Great White insisting on using their own soundman which led to backstage bickering, the difficulties and lateness failed to put a damper on the music.
Or the reaction to it.
Still featuring original members in lead guitarist Roger Romeo, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Michael Prince and drummer Jeff Poole and fronted these days by Keith England, the West Coast outfit rocked the house with a bevy of classics from the ‘70s and a few tunes from the ‘90s. See Legs Diamond in action via ATM’s Facebook Live footage on “Rock Doktor” and “Remember My Name,” as well as below the slideshow via “Town Bad Girl” and “Pain Killer.”
Despite each band experiencing its own bout of technical issues, Moxy had the crispest sound of the evening. Led by Johnson, who promised that the band will return next year, the group from north of the border powered through its set to the delight of all on hand. Several songs were performed with an enlarged black-and-white photo of the late original vocalist Buzz Shearman serving as a backdrop. Johnson’s newly assembled band following Moxy’s 40th anniversary, featuring vocalist Nicholas Walsh, guitarist Rob Robbins and bassist Rod Aldon, demonstrated how tight of a unit they are on “Midnight Flight” and “Can’t You See I’m A Star” plus “Out of the Darkness,” “Fantasy” and “Sail On Sail Away,” each of which can be viewed below.
Lita Ford preceded Moxy, bringing tunes from her classic mid and late ’80s albums plus 1991 rocker “Larger Than Life” and 2012’s “Relentless” (see setlist in slideshow). Patrick Kennison of Heaven Below and formerly of The Union Underground once again returned to his hometown as Ford’s guitarist, while Bobby Rock provided the only drum solo on the entire night (ATM footage below), 36 years after he humorously destroyed his kit in Vinnie Vincent Invasion’s first video in 1986, “Boyz Are Gonna Rock.” Watch additional ATM footage of 1988 hit “Back to the Cave” that includes an extended jam session.
Once Russell’s band sorted out its technical issues and differences, the quintet rocked the house on a bevy of classics such as “All Over Now,” “Lady Red Light” and “Mista Bone.” Guitarist Robby Lochner won the unofficial award as the most energetic musician on the entire bill, constantly parading throughout the stage while rocking the axe, while former Alice Cooper drummer Ken Mary was behind the kit.
But yours truly was, well, truly disappointed to learn after the show that Russell’s other guitarist and keyboard player was original Leatherwolf vocalist and guitarist Michael Olivieri, whose latest beard style made him slightly unrecognizable to this dedicated and longtime Leatherwolf fan who was not expecting him to be performing Great White tunes.
Nevertheless, Russell demonstrated his voice is still in top shape even if his body continues to make things difficult for him. Fourteen years after performing while leaning on a cane at the now defunct Scout Bar following back surgery, Russell churned out other hits such as “Save Your Love” and "Desert Moon.” The latter sadly will always mark a controversial period in Great White’s existence given that Russell said he would never perform that tune again following the fire in 2003 that killed 100 people at their concert in Rhode Island. In fact, Great White would continue to open with that song for several years, including at the Scout Bar show.
An appreciative Russell told the crowd, “Thank you for not going to see the Scorpions” and that it was “pushing me to the limit, and I love it.” He then ended the set with Great White’s two biggest hits, “Rock Me” and “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” (footage below) before walking off with a cane and slight assistance from a staffer.
The first national act to hit the stage was the reunion of Kingdom Come. Featuring three-fifths original members in lead guitarist Danny Stag, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Rick Steier and bassist Johnny B. Frank, the band was missing original vocalist Lenny Wolf and drummer James Kottak for vastly different reasons.
Wolf did not want to take part in any sort of reunion tour, necessitating the usage of Keith St. John to front the group the past four years. But it’s Kottak who has been much maligned since his drinking issues led to his dismissal from the Scorpions several years back and resulted in a pair of scathing reviews of Kingdom Come’s gigs in Sweden earlier this year. Kottak then reportedly told fans “Don’t waste your time” in announcing he would not be at Tech Port, which also begged the question of whether he would turn up at the Scorpions show and confront (or hang out with, depending on your perspective) his former mates.
Filling in for, or permanently replacing, Kottak was Slaughter drummer Blas Elias, who was performing for only the second time with Kingdom Come. Watch him and the band in action below on “Do You Like It” and one of the most emotional and best ballads ever recorded by anyone on the group’s 1988 self-titled debut album, “What Love Can Be,” below.
You can also check them out via ATM Facebook Live footage on finale “Get It On,” during which St. John successfully motivated the slow-starting faithful to rise to their feet and remain there for the rest of the night. Kingdom Come also used its biggest hit to toss in some Led Zeppelin crowd participation sing-alongs both as a show of influence from one of the all-time greats, but also likely as a middle finger to critics who incessantly labeled Wolf and the band as a Zeppelin clone dating back to its 1988 Monsters of Rock tour inclusion with Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Metallica.
Jessikill bore the brunt of the delayed start with its scheduled six-song set slashed to three. But as the only hometown band on the program that was playing arguably for the first time ever with a gigantic version of its logo adding to the visuals, Jessica Alejo, Jyro Alejo and Arturo Knight kicked things off in a big way with “Dead of Night,” “Right Now” and “Lightning.” However, just as the keyboards to fourth song “The Beast” kicked in, their sound was halted. Thus, no video footage was able to be filmed.
But at long last, Tierra Sagrada’s initial showing was added to the history books. An extended night of classic Rock N’ Roll mixed with a small handful of more recent tunes could only be delayed, not canceled, by a global pandemic and overcame tech issues and the presence of other bands playing elsewhere in town.
If only San Antonians could teleport between shows.
Alas, fans experienced a night of rock that should tide them over until Tierra Sagrada’s second installment arrives Nov. 4 featuring W.A.S.P., Michael Schenker and Armored Saint, also at Tech Port.
So for those who made the choice to see six bands instead of two, it was clear the state-of-the-art building mere miles from Lackland Air Force Base may not have been the only place to rock out. But it was definitely a great place to be.
And to hold one’s horns high enough for The Godfather to take notice. And maybe even offer up a smile of his own.
