KINGS OF CHAOS AT THE LEGENDARY FILLMORE IN SAN FRANCISCO

In May, I wrote about the Kings of Chaos at the Hollywood Seminole Casino and was thrilled to have the opportunity to do a story on some legends of rock. Then I planned a vacation to San Francisco and the Kings booked a date during my vacay time! I couldn’t believe my good fortune to be able to have the chance to once again experience the majesty of seeing a different lineup of the Kings as well as at the famous Fillmore. The Fillmore was the mecca for the 60’s psychedelic music scene. A Who’s who of bands played from the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed to Hendrix, Zeppelin, the Stones and the Grateful Dead played 51 shows at the Fillmore. There were poetry readings by such notables as Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis and Aretha Franklin. Upstairs, there is a vast collection of great artistic framed posters of various shows that played over the years. The Fillmore is a rock music lover’s paradise.

The Kings lineup for this charity show for “The Dolphin Project” are some real royal rockers including Sammy Hagar, Slash, Myles Kennedy, Glenn Hughes, Billy Duffy of The Cult along with Dio & Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich. Chaos brainchild Matt Sorum and the framework of KOC are Gilby Clarke and Duff McKagan of Guns & Roses fame.

This show opened with the bombshell voice of Glenn Hughes doing Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” and the classic “Smoke on the Water” with Aldrich on guitar.  A great way to kick-off this potpourri of rock stars.  Hughes and Hagar being at the top of the court of these Kings, Hagar came on next with a 3 song block including Hendrix’ “Foxy Lady” and Sammy’s old band Montrose’ hit “Rock Candy”.  Sammy took a chance on a Cult song he had never performed along with Billy Duffy on guitar and the crowd fell right into it.

Slash and Myles Kennedy brought it with “It’s So Easy”, “Mr. Brownstone” and an unbelievable version of “Communication Breakdown”. “Goin’ Down” and “Whole Lotta Love” get thrown in with Hughes, Kennedy and Hagar trading lines and the place is going off the chain! The finale is a Guns and Roses tribute with Myles Kennedy’s incredible vocals on “You Could Be Mine” and “Sweet Child O’Mine” and the entire royal court comes to the stage for Zep’s “Rock & Roll” and “Paradise City” that must have been heard down the street with everyone in the place singing along!

Kings of Chaos is a great Supergroup because it keeps changing the players and keeping it fresh! The next round of KOC will be in Ontario, Canada on October 29th at Caesar’s Windsor and Casino Rama on October 30th. The great vocalists and players for this show will be Sebastian Bach, Robin Zander, guitar whiz Steve Stevens and the GNR boys keeping it real. Rock fans, seeing Kings of Chaos, is an experience that will leave you wanting more.

photos by Vicky Sullivan, Rock the Lens Phototography, property of the Sarasota Post.