John 5 and The Creatures at Manchester Music Hall in Lexington, KY 23-FEB-2018

John 5 and The Creatures deliver a bewitching performance for hungry Kentucky fans.

John 5 and the Creatures, touring in support of his 10th solo album, a double live album entitled It’s Alive, make a triumphant return to Kentucky. The impromptu recording of It’s Alive was completed at the Sellersville Theater in Pennsylvania during John 5’s 2017 tour, capturing the raw emotion and energy of John 5 and The Creatures live shows.

Guitarist John 5 has been performing/touring with Rob Zombie since 2005 having performed previously with the likes of David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, Marilyn Manson. In a recent interview John 5 discussed his solo work and tours saying “I want to be playing every day, If I wasn’t touring I would be at home playing guitar. I love playing these smaller venues, when we are touring with Zombie we are so far away from the crowds, I want to be feeling the energy in the room.”

In front of the huge John 5 backdrop, The Manchester Music Hall stage looked like a home waiting for Trick or Treaters in any neighborhood, with several larger than life inflatable figures filling the stage including Frankenstein and the Grim Reaper. As the house lights drop, “Johnny Guitar” blares from the overhead speakers building anticipation for what is about to occur. Without hesitation John 5 emerges from behind one of the large inflatables, his signature multi-colored laser mouthpiece flashing as the guys start the evening with “Flight of The Vulcan Kelly” immediately followed by “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” and the riff-heavy tribute to Al Di Meola “This Is My Rifle”.

One treat after another come from the stage over the next nearly 90+ minutes of the all-instrumental show with John 5’s solo performance covering of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” while the entire venue is singing the words is a standout show moment. Throughout the evening John 5 parades numerous one of a kind guitars including the Lucite ‘lava’ Telecaster and his LED body lit Telecaster adding to the visual spectacle coming from the stage.

Even though the spotlight is clearly focused on John 5 during the evening, stellar musicianship from bassist Ian Ross and drummer Logan Nix add to the overall experience of the evening. A recent interview John explained that each night there is a friendly “competition” between bandmates to perform the perfect show, which is amazing to consider given the sheer number of notes that are performed during the set.

Asking for the lights to be turned down, John 5 is center stage with a telecaster complete with more than 50 laser lights projecting from the guitar body as the guys close the evening with a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” and a closing medley that includes song snippets from “Hot For Teacher,” “Cat Scratch Fever,” “Man in the Box,” and “Roxanne”. In John 5’s own words, “How was that for a mother fucking show?” – Enough said!

Providing the main support for the evening was Indianapolis, Indiana based rockers Hero Jr. Touring in support of their most recent release Sometimes You Just Gotta Give It The Business, Hero Jr. rolls through a high energy set of original songs. Hero Jr. is Evan Haughey (vocals, rhythm guitar) from Bridgman, MI, Ken Rose (lead guitar) from Los Angeles, CA., Dave DuBrava (bass) from Binghamton, NY, and Ryan Keyes (drums) from Minneapolis, MN

From nearby Richmond, Kentucky rockers Sinful Lilly open the show with both guns- a-blazin’. Drawing musical influences from classic metal bands like Manson, Slipknot, Kiss, and Megadeth, Sinful Lilly exudes an old-school metal vibe with their onstage performance.

Featuring lead singer and guitarist Fredi Handshoe, dynamic bassist Nikki Valklix and the demonstrative drumming of Trey Bledsoe, Sinful Lilly deliver thundering bass notes, screaming guitar riffs and solid vocals as they roll through a set full of original songs and a couple of surprise covers. Tonight’s set includes “Anti-U,” a bass-heavy cover of Kiss’s “God of Thunder,” an Alice Cooper cover of “Spirits Rebellious,” before ending with Truth or Consequence” from their Moment of Clarity Volume 1 EP.

Order the brand new live album from John 5 and The Creatures from this link “It’s Alive”.

It’s Alive Tracklist: