RAVE: The Dead Daisies, Hookers & Blow, Honor Among Thieves @ The Highline Ballroom — PHOTO GALLERY

by Jay Rubinstein
Photos by 7th Sign Photography

Is scrolling through Facebook, viewing unknown Instagram followers, watching TV or losing count of the water main breaks in town becoming mundane. Well, this is what you missed on a recent evening right across the river in NYC…

Veteran Rock n’ Rollers The Dead Daisies—comprised of Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake), John Corabi (Mötley Crüe), Deen Castronovo (Journey), David Lowy (Mink) and Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy) rocked at the Highline Ballroom with special guests, Hookers & Blow (Dizzy Reed of GnR).

What’s better than seeing live music in a small rowdy venue where any location is the best seat? The energy given off rivals that of a tire smoking muscle car—each and every time I set foot in a venue for a show, it’s like I am on a first date.

Beginning the evening was Honor Among Thieves, a band I had never seen, but one that has a bright future in the Rock n Roll scene in NYC. Next up was Guns N Roses own Dizzy Reed, who himself was in the Dead Daisies a few years back. Guns N Roses seems to have a close knit bond to the Daises. as the Daisies one time guitarist Richard Fortus is now in Guns N Roses as well. Dizzy got the crowd rolling with a mix of his own tunes and Guns N Roses staples. Close your eyes & who needs GNR when you have Dizzy up close and personal! My personal favorite song was “Sweet Child of Mine,” as the crowd joined in and fueled up the energy level.

That crowd pushed ever slightly closer to the stage as the Dead Daisies came out, thundering into “Resurrected” and followed by “Rise Up.”

There is something about the stage presence of well-traveled musicians that puts them miles ahead of your typical bands—something in which the Dead Daisies are well versed. After their standard rock n’ roll songs, they followed up with “Mexico” and then “Long Way to Go, one of my favorite tunes. The mix of ballad type tunes with just good old plain Rock N Roll is what makes the Dead Daises so easy to like. This latest incarnation of the Daisies appears to be melding just fine with the mesh of melodic vocals, thundering bass, solid rhythm guitar, screaming lead guitar and heart-pounding drums by band new comer, Deen Castronova.

As the set wound down, Dizzy Reed came out for the last song and another incredible performance was under their belt. They continue to gain my respect, and that of many newcomers. What more can I say, the Dead Daises are far from Dead… and if you were not there, YOU missed out!

As I exited the venue my phone rang, it was the Hoboken Parking Authority informing me that there was another water main break near the PATH train and that my car needed to be moved. Did the Dead Daises cause it from all the way across the river?

Maybe… just maybe.