Jump to content
Hamer Fan Club Message Center

Saw Stryper Last Night


Recommended Posts

Stryper played a show at the performing arts concert hall at Isothermal Community College in Spindale, NC last night.  Seating capacity is 1300 and there were probably 700 - 800 people there. 

The first band was a Charlotte based band called Beyond The Fade.  This is the third time I have seen them and we have never clicked.  The music is too modern rock for me.  They had to be playing through amp emulators because the only instrument we could hear at the front row was the drums.  Everything else was in the PA overhead. 

I did not wear a Hell shirt to the show.  Friends thought a Ghost shirt might be in bad taste.  I did see a pickup truck in the parking lot with a Grucifix sticker in the back window. 

Stryper did a couple of shows in my area back in the 80's and they were another one of the heavy metal bands to see.  Their show was unique, too, with all the black and yellow.  Today they are one of the old bands that can still put on a show equal to what they did in the past.  It has been a long time since I really listened to them, and the music that I have been playing to get ready for the show has been a lot better than I remembered.  Stryper has some good stuff! 

The band had amp cabinets behind the yellow and black screens that made the backdrop for the stage.  We could hear the guitar parts clearly!  Whatever amps they played is a mystery.  There are too many endorsements listed on the Stryper web site to really narrow down anything. 

033.JPG

As for guitars, Michael Sweet played a Washburn V that had bevels in the body much like a Hamer Scepter V, dangerously pointy. 

PXV-MS2FR.jpg

Oz Fox played a couple of guitars, but for most of the show it was a GMW set neck Super Strat

048.JPG

Perry Richardson played a Roscoe bass that was mostly yellow with a yellow fretboard which made it really stand out. 

107.JPG

Michael Sweet has a great voice.  Remember that he was singing with Boston for a short time.  Oz Fox can really sing, too, not just back up vocals.  The only one who was not singing was the drummer, Robert Sweet.  Perry Richardson came from Firehouse, and they always had really good vocals. 

As for the playing, here is what I relearned about Stryper.  They have catchy licks.  There are some harmony parts.  While both guitar players have whammy bars they do not use them the same way with Oz Fox as more of the whammy tricks guy while Michael Sweet is less obvious.  They split the solos, but it seems that Michael got more of them.  Maybe they are even. 

Robert Sweet has some really catchy drum parts in the songs that add a lot of character.  Until I was "reviewing" what I heard over the years it really impressed me just how much the drum parts make some of the songs.  Give me a drummer like this guy any day. 

The show was absolutely heavy metal-- lots of gain on the guitars and lots of lyrics about Satan.  They just have a different position on Satan than other heavy metal bands. 

Before the show the band did a meet and greet with photos and signing stuff.  However, the guy at the merchandise table told people that if they bought the new CD they would get a ticket (yellow, of course) that would allow them to get it signed after the show.  After the show there had to be 300 people in line, and everyone got a friendly hello or handshake as the band signed those CD's.  There was a cute girl working for the band that I talked to, and I had to smile and ask if she happened to be related to a band member.  Yes, she was.  The girl coordinating the line for signed CD's is Michael Sweet's daughter. 

If you can make it to one of the remaining tour dates, go! 

The setlist.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

great review as usual, steve.

I saw 'em ~86??... great show. the tune soldiers under command is still on my ipod (my highest endorsement). love the EMG/mesa tone on that one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a couple Stryper albums back in the day. I listened to all the regular nwobhm era type stuff with dark, evil lyrics (most of which is nothing by today's standards! ) But, as a Christian it was refreshing to sing metal tunes that I believed in. 

Saw them once in concert and it rocked quite well. Michael Sweet has a lot of talent and he seems to be a cool guy   who works with people that agree with his views as well as others who don't. I think that's cool.

Those guitar graphics are pretty cool even though that's not really my thing.

Nice concert review as always!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Early Stryper shows were always fun for a few laughs. The abuse heaped onto them by audiences was epic! The band used to throw out pocket-sized New Testaments to the crowd which, in turn, threw them back ripped in two, slathered in loogie, or with a lovely pentagram written on them. 

All hail the Bumble bee Bible-Bangers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RobB said:

Early Stryper shows were always fun for a few laughs. The abuse heaped onto them by audiences was epic! The band used to throw out pocket-sized New Testaments to the crowd which, in turn, threw them back ripped in two, slathered in loogie, or with a lovely pentagram written on them. 

All hail the Bumble bee Bible-Bangers!

That's just sad people have to be that way. That's hateful. If you don't want it, find someone who does. Or just leave it on a park bench. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never had cable back when MTV played music, so I never saw this video.  It makes me think of Steel Panther which is sad because Stryper really did have the heavy metal image perfected long before Steel Panther ever appeard. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw Stryper in '86 at "The Channel" in Boston.  My ears are still ringing.

I was really into them at the time- Have the (white vinyl) records and the t-shirts from the show at the bottom of a dresser to prove it.  I'll scrounge around my scrap book for a vintage picture...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

That's just sad people have to be that way. That's hateful. If you don't want it, find someone who does. Or just leave it on a park bench. 

True. One heavy-handed gesture begets another, I guess. It certainly generated some publicity early on...

The bible-shtick caused so many problems that they wised up and just played their sets instead of trying to convert the heathens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never was a fan, but not so long ago they released an album of covers titled “The Covering” and I enjoyed it big time. Solid as rock band!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice review, Steve. Glad you got to see them...at Isothermal, no less. Interesting choice of venue. 

Religious context aside, they have always been exceptionally strong musicians who write catchy, melodic hooks. I did see a video on YT where Michael Sweet tried to explain how he conceived the honky guitar tone. I think he used an Orange to try to show that one could get that sound out of any good amp. After a couple of minutes, it became clear that he was pimping hard for Orange to give him some products. Came away from that video finding him kind of creepy. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never was able to get into them though I'll admit the half dozen or so songs I did hear impressed me with the guitar work and lush vocal layering. Can't help but wonder if the guys in Stryper enjoyed some of the more.... uh... debaucherous trappings of being a rock star. I'm reasonably sure there were some attractive, if not very enthusiastic female Stryper fans.  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

I never had cable back when MTV played music, so I never saw this video.  It makes me think of Steel Panther which is sad because Stryper really did have the heavy metal image perfected long before Steel Panther ever appeard. 

 

They can’t dance. But pretty good hooks and great harmonies. Always liked them...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, polara said:

Always enjoy your reviews :) Thanks.

Steves reviews are legendary.  Always there to help remind me of the shows that are on the road that I should be going too! 

Hamerica

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...