Fozzy, Auckland NZ, 2018

Fozzy

7th November 2018
Galatos, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.

Ask yourself; what does it take to make a good rock show? Venue, band and possibly a few drinks beforehand. But what does it take to make a great rock show?

The answer is Fozzy.

Rolling into town for their first ever New Zealand appearance, Fozzy – headed by the one and only Chris Jericho – delivered a show that their fans won’t soon forget. But every great rock show needs some local talent to get the fans salivating for more and tonight the walls of Auckland’s Galatos were shaken by not one but three impressive bands.

Hailing from Hamilton and led by vocalist Fraser Coombes, Checaine began the night on a high with their unique brand of melodic/progressive hard rock. Beginning their set with ‘Down The Line’ they quickly moved into the powerful ‘Symbols’ for which they released a music video last year. Tight and uncompromising, the four-piece set the tone for the evening before finishing on the chugging riffs of ‘Bring Me Down’.

Next up and currently in the middle of their national tour supporting the incomparable His Master’s Voice, Coridian are always a welcome addition to any line-up and tonight was no different. With lead vocalist Dity Maharaj leading the three Raven brothers into battle, Coridian delivered a set that embraced both the past and the present – and even gave us a glimpse into their very bright future. ‘Nonetheless’ and ‘Dunes’ pulled the crowd in, before Coridian hit them with their latest track ‘Better Off’ which was only released last month as an official single. Having featured in several of their live performances throughout the year the deeply emotive track once again proved what a powerhouse Maharaj can be vocally and how well Coridian works as a unit.

A sweet double header came in the form of ‘Seed’ and ‘Seed Pt 2’ with Coridian finishing on the popular ‘Reflections’. Having just announced that they have picked up the support slot for the American band Skillet and with their aforementioned tour with His Master’s Voice there is absolutely no excuse not to catch Coridian live over the next few weeks – It’s a decision that you won’t regret.

It wasn’t long before the obligatory house music soon gave way to the familiar tones of Black Sabbath, the juggernaut of a band storming out through the speakers as the audience were plunged into darkness; their whoops of delight punching holes through the curtain of black as they awaited the appearance of Fozzy.

Lights up and those whoops only got ferociously louder as there before them stood Chris Jericho, hat tipped down low, jacket sparkling like the night sky itself, a multitude of scarves hanging from around his neck in full rockstar mode. While the last-minute change in venue saw the five-piece having to play on a slightly smaller stage, it did nothing but supercharge the show. The band fed off the crowd’s energy and they the band’s, many fans still in an obvious state of disbelief that they were physically this close to their idols.

Opening with the colossal ‘Judas’ the title track of their latest album and following it up quickly with ‘Drinkin with Jesus’ which saw lead guitarist Rich Ward get straight off the stage and in amongst the fans, the show was already off to a high octane start, the fans displaying their appreciation with an un-prompted but deafening ‘Fozzy’ chant. Jericho is the ultimate front man, as he stated in a recent interview “it’s rock n roll with a smile – we are the show”, and both he and the rest of the members of Fozzy undeniably demonstrated this throughout the night.

Formed back in 1999 by Jericho and Rich Ward, Fozzy – like any rock band – have seen their fair share of line-up changes. But the creative partnership between Ward and Jericho is rock solid and it shows. Leaning heavily on their latest album Judas, Fozzy interspersed their set with a selection of tracks off their impressive back catalogue, momentarily plunging the audience back into darkness again before Jericho illuminated the front rows with his jacket that was patriotically blinking red, white and blue. While Jericho’s voice may have been a little raspy in places, the backing vocals of the other members assisted with giving some of the more in your face chorus lines the body and bite required; no-one however could fault the overall vitality of Jericho whose smile never once left his face.

Time and time again the fans showed their appreciation by chanting the band’s name, a few old school wrestling fans adding in some of their own flavour to the mix.

Fozzy also had some unexpected tricks up their sleeves – and no we are not just talking the outstanding stick work of drummer Frank Fontsere formally of Stuck Mojo which was indeed damn fine – their cover of the 1975 Abba track ‘SOS’ both surprising and delighting the audience who wholeheartedly sang along before the band plunged once again into their set list, finishing with crowd favourite ‘Enemy’ from the 2005 album All That Remains, Rich Ward delivering a guitar solo to end all others that included him playing on his back while lying across the crowd. Although to be fair, his solo was almost outshone by the spellbinding quality of his vocals! A chant of ‘Thank You Fozzy’ saw Jericho taken aback for a moment, the honesty of the crowd’s adoration a touching moment.

Joking with the fans about leaving the stage to do an encore like everyone expects, Jericho instead placed a towel over his head, only lifting it if the crowd screamed loud enough, yep these boys have a sense of humour. A cover of AC/DC‘s  ‘TNT’ had Galatos rattling as the crowd bounced in time to the rhythmical chorus line, Jericho once again emphatically thanking the crowd before dropping ‘Sandpaper’ with an extended musical finale.

So, what does it take to make a great rock show? Ask anyone of the patrons leaving last night with a mile-wide grin plastered across their face and they would all tell you that the answer without a doubt … is Fozzy.

Were you there at Galatos for this intimate heavy metal concert? Or have you seen Fozzy perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Fozzy Setlist:

1. Judas
2. Drinkin With Jesus
3. One Crazed Anarchist
4. Sin And Bones
5. Burn Me Out
6. Painless
7. Spider In My Mouth
8. Elevator
9. Do You Wanna Start A War
10. SOS [Abba cover]
11. Lights Go Out
12. Wolves At Bay
13. Enemy
14. TNT [AC/DC cover] [encore]
15. Sandpaper [encore]

Coridian Setlist:

1. Nonetheless
2. Dunes
3. Better Off
4. Pride
5. Good For Nothing
6. Seed
7. Seed Pt 2
8. Reflections

Checaine Setlist:

1. Down The Line
2. Sleep With The Enemy
3. Symbols
4. The Division
5. Full Circle
6. Bring Me Down

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