Review of Michael's show in Toronto by Mike McHale (from Pennsylvania, USA)

Dear Michael Monroe Fans,

If you have already read my story on Michael's website, then you may remember that me and my friend Brian Rose had the opportunity to see Michael live at The Velvet Underground in Toronto, Ontario Canada on February 1st 1998. It was a dream come true for me and I'd like to give my own personal review of the show.

Brian and I arrived at the club at 8:00 p.m. (Sorry Michael, there was no door person, so we actually got in free). Unbelievable Right? There was barely anybody in the club at that time. So Brian and I sat at a table and I had a few drinks. At the table to the right, we overheard aprrox. 3 guys humming Michael's tunes and speaking of his music. Well, Brian and I had driven 8 hours to see the show and thought it was to good to be true, so I ask them very soft spokenly... "Do you guys know if Michael Monroe is definitely booked for a show here tonight?" One man answered "Yes" and went right back to talking amongst themselves. Approx 20 minutes later, these 3 guys and another
man get on stage during what appeared to be a soundcheck and began playing Machine Gun Etiquette And Make it Go Away. Just basically the music. The Bass player was just humming the lyrics. Right away I say to Brian, "I bet these guys are going to be covering some of Michael's songs tonight". Brian says to me, "Mike, wake up!! I bet these guys are going to be playing with Michael tonight". Well, he was right. Immediately, we began to try to meet them, praying that maybe they could help us meet Michael after the show. (My life long dream!!!) Guitarist, Ky Anto, says "I'll see what I can do." We also talk to Michael's road manager and told him how far we came to see him, and he said he'd see what he could do. It was beginning to look a little hopeful!!!

Brian and I were meeting people in the crowd. I sat and talked with 4 Japanese people (2 male and 2 female). 1 of the females saw Michael's Not Fakin' Tour in Japan in 89' (Just wanted to take time out and tell you that you were all very nice, and it was a pleasure to meet you all). I met some punk rocker named Bob near the pool table. He was real cool, and we later had the pleasure of singing a little Dead, Jail or Rock'N'Roll with Michael. Last and definitely not least, Brian and I met a Canadian named Cory Lambert, a.k.a. Lambchops. He is without a doubt the coolest and one of the, if not the biggest, Hanoi Rocks/Michael Monroe fan alive. Brian and I have kept in touch with him since the show and we have all grown to be pretty good friends. (Don't worry Lambchops, we'll visit soon). We had the privilege of meeting Michael together. We basically met right at the stage, front and center. The anticipation was running high. He told us that he had the chance to see Michael doing a D.J. gig at the Phoenix Club a few days earlier and briefly met with him. But even Lambchops, couldn't believe that we were about ready to see Michael live for a full set of hard and heavy rock n' roll. Let's get ready to rock like fuck!

It's only a guess, but I'd say that Michael came out at about midnight, 12:00a.m. It's total energy right from the beginning. The band consisted of guitarist - Ky Anto, guitarist - Tim Welch, Bass - Mark Holmes, Drums - Justin "Juice" Kadis, Jude Wilder - backing vocals, and the living legend on lead vocals -Michael Monroe.

The show opens up with Nothin's Alright. Michael was rocking right from beginnig to end. One thing that Brian and I noticed was that the band basically stayed in the background all night long. Michael had free reign over the stage. We knew it wasn't designed to be that way, but we were glad that is was like that. Basically, the band had only been assembled a few days before and seemed to be focusing on playing the music correctly. They were doing a great job! The only thing out of the ordinary was that I handed Michael a sign right during the guitar solo explaining the Brian and I drove 8 hours and would love to meet him after the show. He read it, gave us a thumbs up,
threw it, and got right back to the performance. Next, they went intoHammersmith Palais and then Machine Gun Etiqutte. Rock solid!!! Finally, Michael speaks. He said that he just wanted to prove to a friend that he could do this and then sang "Hello Toronto" in soprano. Then he said, "I'm just fooling around, I'm not into shit like that". Then he basically went into how he'd like to get D23 and Piece of Mind licensed in the states to make it easliy available to people before introducing Dysfunctional which I have to add ended with an unbelievable jam on the harmonica. Next he goes right into Make It Go Away. They played it exactly as recorded on Piece of Mind. Next they went on to play a very unique version of one of my all time favorites... All night with the lights on. It started with the bass playing the rhythm guitar part and the guitarists playing some improvising slide. It seemed out of the ordinary, but it was very cool, and that's what live performances are all about!! Next tune... Relationshipwrecked!!! Awesome. Michael introduced it by jokingly saying "AS for my and my old band buddies, we are relationshipwrecked. As for Hanoi tunes? What's a Michael show without Taxi Driver? Talk about improv? The best improvising of the night was Michael's Saxophone playing that replaced the guitar solo. It was definitely one of my favorite highlights of the show. He is such an excellent Sax player. I was in awe! He didn't even have a mic for the sax, he just simply lifted it up to his normal mic which I thought was so cool and classy. Let's get ready to kick some ass, because now there Ain't nothin to do. Definitely another highlight. Why? Because I momentarily jumped on stage with Michael and sang it with him. I'm not sure if the crowd or Michael was happy about this, but the
adrenalin was pumping, and it was something I have always dreamt about doing. Thank God I didn't get thrown out!!! Well, luckily I was able to stick around for the next song... I wanna be loved. Again, great performance, Michael introduces band member and gives some great adlibs. Sadly enough, we all know that the show is coming to end when we hear Dead, Jail, or Rock N' Roll. Again I get to sing with Michael (and Bob) as mentioned earlier. This time the cool thing was that Michael seemed to welcome a little vocal participation, and seemed to cause a frenzy as he came into the crowd with the mic for everybody to sing. Encore anyone? You bet as he yells, "It's time to kick out the jams motherfucker". Unbelievable is the only word I can use to describe his energy during the last song of the night. The MC5 would be envious Michael!!!

After the show a number of fans were lucky enought ot meet Michael Monroe. As I have mentioned in my personal story, he was the coolest. Very friendly and basically signed anything that needed signed. I was only able to talk briefly with him. I hope someday that I have the opportunity to see Michael live again and have the chance to speak with him longer. I have so much to talk about. Again Michael, I'd like to thank you for being so cool. Don't ever change (I know you never will!) and keep rockin'.

To end this review I would like to thank a few people. First, Markku. If the website wasn't up and running I never would've known about the show. Second, Brian Rose. Thanks for the extra motivation of driving all the way to Toronto. You're company made the show even better. (oh, and thanks for the ride home dude, I was glad to help with the directions home). Last and definitely not least, the legendary Lambchops. You've grown to be a great friend via Emails. Thank you so much for the show souvenir (you know what I mean). Without that, this review would not have been possible!!!

By: Mike McHale