Review by Rock Over America – by Taylor Carlson, Photos by Leah Burlington
When it comes to the world of rock and roll, Las Vegas has the best scene in the world. Perhaps nowhere is this truer than at Vamp’d, which is Vegas’ leading rock and roll venue. To date, the venue has had countless shows from local, national, and international acts alike. Owned by Danny “The Count” Koker of Pawn Stars and Counting Cars fame, the venue remains popular and continues to attract countless performing acts.
This evening featured performances from both John Corabi and Mike Tramp, both of whom have their own respective careers and highlights. When I heard the two of them were going to be doing an acoustic show here in town, at Vamp’d no less, I knew firsthand I was going to be there. No way this rock and roll fan was gonna pass up a chance to capture two of rock’s best in a small, intimate club setting. I was all the more surprised to see that the venue was surprisingly uncrowded for this show; there must have been another show in town this night competing for attendance.
John Corabi’s name may not be instantly recognizable, but the man has had no shortage of career highlights. Beginning his professional career in a band called the Scream, he is best known as being the singer that replaced Vince Neil in Motley Crue in the 1990s. Corabi only recruited a single album with Crue, their self-titled 1994 effort, which has been widely regarded as an underrated masterpiece amongst fans. In the years following his Crue departure, he also played with Union, a group that featured Bruce Kulick of KISS fame, and Brent Fitz (now of the Conspirators, Slash’s backing band.) Corabi has had many interesting career moments, and continues to go strong as a solo artist and in other projects.
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While I had heard John Corabi’s name for years and had listened to much of his music from the past, this was the first time that I had ever seen him live and in person, on a stage. Having so many previous and current projects alike, he certainly had no shortage of material to choose from, as far as performing goes. And he managed to pick a solid setlist that held the attention of fans for the duration of his set. As he has just recently released an unplugged album, he is clearly comfortable in this setting, and delivered a solid performance.
At first I did not even recognize Corabi; he looks drastically different than he did in his 90s heyday with Motley Crue. In fact, he was sitting next to me on the patio prior to the show, and I had no idea it was him! In his current looks, he resembles Rob Zombie, in fact. But once he hit the stage, that voice was unmistakable. Corabi’s set was the highlight of the night, even if Tramp was supposedly the headliner.
Mike Tramp is one of the greatest rock vocalists to emerge from the 1980s rock scene. In his native Denmark, he was already a notable singer prior to coming to America in the Decade of Decadence. As the vocalist of White Lion, Tramp sang on countless classic hits, including Wait, When the Children Cry, Little Fighter, and Broken Heart. With a sound that was more mature than many of their contemporaries, the band won over audiences all over the world. Following the initial disbandment of White Lion in the early 1990s, he went on to record several solo albums and play in other projects, still maintaining a loyal following.
Prior to this show, I had seen Mike Tramp do one of these acoustic shows; I am not fortunate enough to have ever caught him doing an actual White Lion show. These acoustic shows from Tramp are always a unique experience, because you get to hear stripped down versions of your White Lion favorites, including hits and deep tracks alike, but also many of his lesser known solo songs, and material from other projects he has been a part of.
This was more of the same of what I had seen Tramp do last time, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Hearing some of the stories behind what inspired these songs make them all the more appealing, and audience members clearly enjoyed hearing these renditions of the classic hits and the newer material as well.
Tramp made a point to the audience about how he was going to be playing a longer set, and he certainly delivered on said promise. With no dull moments in the whole set, he gave the crowd what they wanted, and clearly had their attention the entire time. He was even a good sport about a drunk spectator in the crowd that kept shouting random responses to his stories. Following the show, which ended with a killer acoustic rendition of “Radar Love”, Tramp quickly came out into the audience, signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans.
The one big complaint here though is the obvious one. You have two of the most talented men in rock and roll together doing separate acoustic sets… So why could they not do a song or two TOGETHER? This would have made for an interesting experience, and I was disappointed to see this opportunity go wasted. But that is my only substantial complaint here.
Ultimately, Tramp and Corabi impressed audiences, even if the turnout was significantly lower than this rock and roll fan expected it to be. There were many highlights of the evening from both performers, and everyone enjoyed what the evening was composed of. Should Tramp and Corabi bring this tour to your town, it is highly recommend that you attend if you are a fan.