{"id":17655,"date":"2018-05-02T01:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T05:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=17655"},"modified":"2018-05-03T06:43:29","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T10:43:29","slug":"content-needed-richie-kotzen-exposes-his-soul-to-a-sold-out-atlanta-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=17655","title":{"rendered":"Richie Kotzen Exposes His Soul to a Sold Out Atlanta Crowd!"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Evening with Richie Kotzen<\/strong>
\n April 23, 2018<\/strong>
\n Atlanta, GA – City Winery<\/strong><\/p>\n

An unusually cold April Monday night in Atlanta just seemed like the perfect night to take in a show.\u00a0 On this evening I would be seeing a show by an artist that I have respected for many, many years and even been a fan of but yet knew next to nothing about the majority of his solo career.\u00a0 Richie Kotzen is pretty much a legend in his own right.\u00a0 His legendary Shrapnel Fever Burn album, his short tenure in Poison, and his stellar Mother Head\u2019s Family Reunion are pretty much all I know of this guy so seeing this show was going to be a real treat.<\/p>\n

I literally went into this show blind as a bat to his solo material over the past 20 years or so.\u00a0 This can sometimes be a scary thing but it can be a very exciting thing as well.\u00a0 Richie Kotzen and his trio consisting of Mike Bennett on drums and Dylan Wilson on bass took the stage and stormed out of the gates with \u201cYour Entertainer.\u201d\u00a0 Good fucking god my face just slid right off of my head.\u00a0 I was not expecting this level of soul infused shred rock.\u00a0 \u201cBad Situation\u201d just took things to a whole other level as Richie and Co. laid down the stank so hard I felt like I was in the grittiest soul club somewhere in the deep south.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo Faster\u201d kicked shit up a notch but shit got fucking real when the band busted out \u201cSocialite\u201d from Richie\u2019s Mother Head\u2019s Family Reunion album.\u00a0 First off, how the fuck was everyone able to just sit down for this show.\u00a0 It was everything I could do to contain myself from kicking my seat from under me and somersaulting down the fucking aisle yelling \u201cI SEE THE LIGHT!\u201d ala John Belushi Blues Brothers style.<\/p>\n

Richie was such an amazing performer and he was really engaging.\u00a0 With that being said, he still chose to let the music do the talking as he mellowed things out on the piano for some amazing renditions of \u201cThe Road\u201d and \u201cMeds.\u201d\u00a0 The highlight of the show for me was the absolutely stellar \u201cEnd of Earth\u201d which once again had me relying my inner groove child to do all the funky moves and grooves while I contained myself to my seat as to not be escorted out in a straight jacket.<\/p>\n

The chorus for \u201cEnd of Earth\u201d is so goddamn infectious that I felt like I was lifted out of my seat.\u00a0 The interplay between the band in that song is something to be seen and not just heard.\u00a0 I loved the fact that Richie takes a backseat now and then to really let his band mates showcase their talents.\u00a0 It\u2019s a rare thing for a lot of artists but Richie just seems to be this confident yet humble and respectful character.\u00a0 The band closed out with \u201cWar Paint\u201d which was outstanding but honestly, \u201cEnd of Earth\u201d is such a hard song to top that I would have closed with that one.<\/p>\n

Richie Kotzen and his band absolutely floored me; melted my face; crushed it.\u00a0 The songs were so packed full of heart, soul, groove, and emotion and his set list was perfectly sequenced so that it felt more like an emotional journey than just a band playing a bunch of songs.\u00a0 This show without a doubt made me a huge Richie Kotzen fan and since that night I haven\u2019t been able to stop listening to his material.\u00a0 That, my friends, is the sign of a truly great artist.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t seen Richie Kotzen live, you are sadly missing out and you best do so ASAP.\u00a0 You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n