Review by Rock Over America
Enuff Z’Nuff is one of those, what most people now call “Hair Bands”. I have always hated that term, but everyone knows what it means so we all use it. Personally, I think it was some dweeb that hated all 80’s Metal bands that came up with the term in the first place, as some sort of slam on the music. Anyway, I digress. Tonight was Enuff Z’Nuff. To understand them and their place in Rock is to understand this: Yes, they qualify as a hair band, but they were different in that they had a very unique sound with a very Beatle-esque quality to their music. I have seen them before and everyone at their shows always has an amazing time.
This time would be no different. I ran into several friends at the show and we were all stoked. I mean, this was going to be a blast filled with memories from years and days gone by and by the end of the night it had truly lived up to all of the hype in our minds. Comprised of founding members Donnie Vie on Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Piano, and Keyboards and Chip Z’Nuff on Bass and Backing Vocals, the band now also has Tory Stoffregan on Lead Guitar and Randi Scott on Drums. They still sound as great as ever and never seem to let up or let the crowd down. The crowd was near capacity at Vamp’D and the audience was very interactive with the band with cheers coming up to the stage. Likewise, the Donnie was talking to the crowd and getting them to interact and sing along. It was a match made in musical heaven.
They played 16 songs this night, including “New Thing”, “Saturday”, “Dissonance”, “Right By Your Side”, “Fly High Michelle”, and their version of The Beatles’ “Come Together”. To understand them is to look at things like this. They can go from a song like “Right By Your Side”, which is a song your can sway side by side and dance with your girlfriend or boyfriend to and then they speed it up and go into a fast driving song like “Love Train”, which hits full force at 100 MPH. The two big hits of their career, “Fly High Michelle” and “New Thing” are the songs that cemented them forever as one of the great Rock acts to ever come out of the 1980’s.
From preppies to 80’s long haired Head Bangers and the hot girls, everyone was here. At the end of the show, they went into “Come Together”. In the middle of this, they broke into another Beatles’ song, “She Loves You”, and then it was back to “Come Together” to round it all out and put the cap on a great evening. An Enuff Z’Nuff show is not your typical in your face, thrash it out or head banging show. It is a little more subdued, while all the while a lot of fun. For me it was a nice respite from some of the heavier shows I have seen lately. To quote The Eagles, there is a “peaceful, easy feeling” and vibe to their music and that is what makes them special and different from most of the bands from the 80’s.
Special thanks to Korie and all the staff at Vamp’D for making everything happen this night.