NJ Food Truck & Rock Carnival Day 1 - ZAKK WYLDE KOed By Rain! ALICE COOPER, BÖC, CLUTCH Perform
October 1, 2016, 8 years ago
Although a native son, Zakk Wylde, who was scheduled to perform a set of Black Sabbath material, succumbed to the washout that also nixed carnival rides, assorted tribute acts and the band Kyng. A minor league baseball stadium in Lakewood, NJ is the site of the three day event. In a previous life, I was a huge Blue Öyster Cult fan, although I'd be hard pressed to pick either Eric Bloom or Buck Dharma out of a line-up these days. After kicking off with "This Ain't The Summer Of Love", they aired an hour's worth of classics, including the ubiquitous "Burning For You" (up second!), "Godzilla" and "Don't Fear The Reaper" finale. Rumors swirled that Clutch would not play, the stage soaked with water. Despite the dangers, they flew the backdrop during the BOC set, as a calling card they'd be on. A funky, bass driven, albeit abbreviated show, was better than nothing to the the Neil Fallon faithful/ Scheduled for 1:15, was the shortest Alice Cooper set I've witnessed. Behind a screen, depicting Alice's old "flowery" eye make-up, spider & web in each eye socket, they begin with the telltale Vincent Price narrative to "Black Widow". The curtain drops and there's the crazy cast of characters, the mainman, center stage, stoic on a riser for the entire number, as sparklers fall from the sky. He strips off his cloak, revealing a black and white, vertically striped suit as an assistant hands him a prop cane, for "No More Mr. Nice Guy". "Under My Wheels" and Billion Dollar Babies"come early (although given the time constraints, there really is no later), but of course there's "I'm Eighteen", "Schools Out" and the timely "Elected" to close the evening.