Concert Review: Cheap Thrill June 14th at The Back Bar, Janesville, Wi
Not really knowing what to expect and mere hours after seeing Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer in Rockford, Illinois, I trekked out to Janesville, Wisconsin to go see his Cinderella bandmates Eric Brittingham and Jeff LaBar along with drummer Cheney Brannon (John Corabi band, Collective Soul) and singer Brandon Gibbs (Gibbs Brothers). The Back Bar is a nice venue with nice sound and a good vantage point of the stage pretty much wherever you are inside the building so myself and the better half took up residency halfway back, front and center. Up close enough to clearly be paying attention but far enough back to not feel like groupies.
Cheap Thrill hit the stage while people were still filing in front out front, smoking, grabbing beers and generally picking ass. At first, I was unsure of what song they were playing. I knew it was hard rock, I knew it sounded good and then suddenly my tired ears finally locked in with my eyes watching Jeff LaBar crank out the familiar riff to Cinderella’s “Somebody Save Me”. From that moment, I was instantly aware that Cheap Thrill has a shitload of potential. Brandon Gibbs sang the vocal expertly, all the while sounding absolutely nothing like Tom Keifer. The band rocked this song incredibly hard on this particular evening, as if to say, “We’re here….deal with it”.
Eric Brittingham, photo by Rockerchix promoters
Brandon Gibbs continued to erase any doubts or preconceived notions I may have admittedly had about him or his seemingly under the radar status. The guy is a star. As in a “Jani Lane in his prime” quality frontman, the rare singer with the ability to sing his ass off, hit every note and still find the time to be an all-around self-effacing, crowd uniting front man. Jeff LaBar told me that Brandon would prove to be the star of the show and indeed he was almost understated in saying that. If you have the chance to go see Brandon live, whether it’s solo or with Cheap Thrill, you would be best advised to get your ass out and see him.
Mind you, the entire band was tight as a fist and entertaining during their set of Cinderella songs, Brandon/Cheap Thrill songs and covers. Drummer Cheney Brannon took a song like “Home Sweet Home” which I could frankly live without ever hearing Motley sing again, let alone another band and made his performance absolutely electric. It was amazing to see Jeff and Eric cut loose, smile, joke loudly onstage and just seem to have a good time during the entire set, free from the confines of playing the exact same Cinderella set night after night. I have seen Cinderella a few times and was always blown away but maybe never noticed exactly how great Eric Brittingham is handling the additional vocals. I was not at all digging much of the cover material, despite their playing a particularly amazing version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”. It just seemed to kill the mood for us and a few others when the band played songs by Foo Fighters and some of the other newer bands they handled like Paramore. Gibbs is just too talented of a singer/songwriter to even have to worry about performing covers his band or he didn’t personally write.
Jeff LaBar, Brandon Gibbs and Cheney Brannon of Cheap Thrill, photo by Rockerchix promoters
Having said that, this minor complaint was more than made up for every single time they played a Gibbs/Cheap Thrill song like “This Town” or a Cinderella song. The band is more than aware that a lot of the crowd wants to see Eric and Jeff play some Cinderella and the fact is, they absolutely KILLED on the songs they chose. Jeff LaBar should be arrested and taken straight to jail for what he did to his guitar during each and every lead break on “Nobody’s Fool”. Evil. Brandon’s vocal on that song, as well as “Heartbreak Station” were nothing short of breathtakingly, jaw dropping good. With all due respect to Tom, who put on a great show the night before, I actually preferred the Cinderella songs that Cheap Thrill chose to play. Jeff had also mentioned that they would possibly be performing some of his solo material and maybe they did and I just didn’t catch the intro. I will say that every single song they played that I didn’t recognize was totally kickass and every bit as good as the Cinderella stuff. I only wish they played even MORE originals. The guys cracked jokes about their band name and their self-described “crappy t-shirts” and made it a point to be totally fun the entire time they were in town. Not sure how many bands I can honestly say that about so it goes without saying that Cheap Thrill is already a success story in the making. I would go see this band again in a heartbeat and buy anything that they or Brandon put their name on.
For CHEAP THRILL tour dates, visit http://www.cheapthrillrocks.com
Category: Reviews
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I ran sound for them last night, and I think Your review is spot on, except that they slayed on the cover songs as well!! excellent back up vocals by Eric who came through even though his voice was hurtin a bit at soundcheck
Awesome! Thanks for reading, Robert!
I agree with this review too. I thought the covers they chose to do were excellent. Loved it when they did “Roll with the Changes” and thought it was perhaps a little tongue in cheek stab at the fact that Brandon is there and Tom isn’t. Liked that! Thrilled when they did “Heartbreak Station”, which is my absolute favorite song. Was a bit leary about Brandon at first cuz’ yes, he is no Tom Keifer, but after hearing him sing a few bars, realized that he doesn’t have to be. He can hold his own just fine!! Loved the originals as well. Met the guys after the show, and although I had met Jeff and Eric before and knew they were stand-up guys, was pleasantly surprised by both Brandon and Troy. Two mid-west boys with down-home personalities. Whole night was fantasic- a show I will remember!!!!
It was an honor opening the show for these gentleman. I have seen Cinderella only once prior even though they are the creators of one of my all time favorite 80’s albums “NIGHT SONGS”. It was great seeing Tom the night before in Rockford and then sharing the stage with Eric and Jeff the next night. As a Cinderella fan It was an exciting couple of days to say the least.
I was pleasantly surprised by Cheap Thrill as a whole. Brandon is truly a great front man and has a fantastic voice! Seeing Jeff and Eric have so much fun that night was very cool. Meeting and talking to all of them before and after the show was an amazing experience for me.
I’ll support these guys in anything they do, Cheers!
~Jerry
All I can say to the non-believers!! Told you!!! They are great!! Go & see them!!