Wow, just let me start by saying what a GREAT club to see a band like this or now that I've been there, to see anyone in this small of a place. The House Of Blues in the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City, NJ., kinda reminds me of our long but never forgotten Back Of The Rack club here in town with a small upper reserved balcony.
         Chickenfoot, an all new American hard rock band is comprised of former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar on vocals and Michael Anthony on bass, solo artist Joe Satriani on guitars and Red Hot Chili Peppers Chad Smith on drums. With their debut and only album simply titled Chickenfoot, fans who attended with hopes of hearing a wide variety of songs from players illustrious pasts, might have felt cheated, but for those who went to hear Chickenfoot and nothing else but, they saw a straight up rock and roll performance they won’t soon forget.
        Chickenfoot's nearly two-hour set gathered all 11 tracks from the band’s album, as well as a two-cover song encore. They opened with "Avenida Revolution," "Sexy Little Thing" and "Soap on a Rope" before Sammy said to the crowd that he has played various locations in Atlantic City, but this place was "very cool."  And then he said, “since there are two bars on both sides of the floor, where's all the fricking shots!” The stage appearance was a very stripped-down production with only their mic stands, monitors and a backdrop of their band's name logo ‘Chickenfoot’ on it that resembles a peace symbol and the footprint of the American chicken. And the logo is also on their guitars and bass drum head as well, which was the first thing I noticed when they hit the stage. Next up, "My Kinda Girl" and then "Down the Drain," for which Anthony switched his Chickenfoot logo'd bass guitar for his old Jack Daniel's bottle-looking bass from the Van Halen era. By the time the band had played "Bitten By The Wolf," Smith had probably thrown at least a hundred drum sticks to the crowd on the main floor and to the upper balcony when Hagar says, “Chad, you’re gonna hurt someone,” and he responded with,  “I'm just trying to hit the sound and light guys at the mixing board.” Then the first song that got the crowd fist-pumping was "Oh Yeah," followed by "Learning To Fall," "Get it Up" and "Turnin’ Left" and ending the main set with "Future in the Past." Most all of their songs were stretched even longer than their original versions, but rather than the audience being bored, most fans stood mesmerized by the band’s impressive energy and stamina. They demonstarted that it was more about having fun and connecting with the fans than putting on a perfectly orchestrated show and production.
        After a short break they returned and Hagar sat on the front of the stage with a lap slide guitar and started a little jam before he and the band launched into his old band Montrose' "Bad Motor Scooter" on his old red Flying V guitar that garnered a huge crowd reaction with Joe and Sammy trading licks. Awesome! For their final song, Sammy traded the Flying V in for his red Gibson Les Paul and the band played a cover of the Who's "My Generation" that brought the house to a deafening roar. When the song was over Smith did what Keith Moon did many times at the end of the Who's concerts; Smith destroyed his drum kit, and I mean literally destroyed it!! He kicked the bass drum off the front, floor tom toms, high hat, and all the symbols were thrown to the stage. There was not one piece of his kit left on the drum riser. I hadn’t seen a drummer do that much damage in a long time. Now, the band is wrapping up their east coast dates, but be sure and catch them the next time they come back. This is definitely one super-group that is just straight up rock and roll. Here’s their web site to check for future concert dates: www.chickenfoot.us