A little over six years ago I went to see my then favorite band, The Biters, at a club in D.C.  That night in May of 2016, The Biters would open for Buckcherry, who I also like very much.  After watching a stellar set by The Biters while standing right against the stage, I retreated back to a table where my wife was waiting for me.  At that point, the Cherry Bombz dance troupe gave a nearly X-rated performance while my wife & I had a few more cocktails than we should have.  To cut a long story short, we did not really see much of Buckcherry that night, opting to leave early.  Fast forward to July 25, 2023 and we got a second chance.  Buckcherry headlined a show with two other bands on a hot Tuesday night at the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, VA.

After checking into a nearby Hampton Inn, we took an Uber to the Wine Kitchen in downtown Leesburg for a nice dinner.  We then made the very short walk around the corner to the venue.  The first band to hit the stage was an outfit called Harmless Habit.  I had downloaded about six of the songs that they have out.  I think the songs are just okay.  They played most of those songs, the only one of which I specifically remember was a 2022 single called “Lights Out.”  All you really need to know about this opening act was that they had a ton of energy and put on a very good show.  It’s a 5-piece band: two guitars, bass, drums and a lead vocalist.  The lead vocalist had a red mohawk that really stood out.  Bottom line: It was highly entertaining, but the songs just aren’t great to me.  (By the way, the band is based in Columbus, OH, home of Pencilstorm, so maybe some of our readers know this band.)

HARMLESS HABIT             Photo:  JCE

Next up was Gunshine.  These guys have a decent self-titled record from 2022 and a new EP called Checkmate which includes a great track called “Swing Away.” Pictures and videos of this band include four members, but only three guys hit the stage.  There was a guitar, drums and a lead vocalist, but no bass player.  That was weird to me.  They sounded pretty good, I guess.  At several points though, I saw the guitar player in moments where he was not playing at all, and yet there was a full blast of music still going, so there’s no way it was all live.  I guess that’s something lots of bands do, I don’t know, but I don’t like it. 

They never mentioned being shorthanded or gave any explanation for the bare bones line-up.  The aforementioned “Swing Away” was a highlight for me, along with two other catchy tunes called “Feel Alright” and “Wall Said to Call.”  Those three songs all have good videos you can check out on YouTube.  They really are good songs.  I wish the band had lived up to my expectations.  The frontman gave off an overly pretentious vibe and did way too much rock ‘n’ roll posing for me.  Bottom line:  I had really been looking forward to hearing these guys, but they left me a bit disappointed.

GUNSHINE           Photo:  JCE

I headed to the restroom and the bar after the Gunshine set and ran into the vocalist from Harmless Habit.  I gave him some kudos on a good set and asked him if he knew the band Jetboy.  I mentioned them because they had a bunch of metal- looking guys but were fronted by a vocalist with a white mohawk and I was reminded of their look.  I love Jetboy.  He had never heard of them, which made me feel older than dirt, but whatever.  Maybe he’ll check them out and get educated on that great band.

Finally, it was time for Buckcherry.  They came out on stage to some walk-up music that was made up of the opening chords from “Sin City” by AC/DC, somehow cobbled together with Buckcherry music and a lot of spoken words I couldn’t decipher.  It was excellent.  They wasted zero time kicking into maximum overdrive with “Lit Up” from their self-titled 1999 debut record.  It’s probably my favorite song of theirs.  From there, they never slowed down until they got to their most well- known “hit” called “Sorry,” which is a ballad.  “Hellbound” from the 2021 record of the same name was a killer. 

The 2001 record called Time Bomb was well represented in the set, including the title track, which is great.  “Good Time” is a single from their latest effort called Vol. 10 that sounded excellent.  They closed out the main set with “Crazy Bitch,” which I am not fond of, and the encore included their quite good cover of “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams.  I give them credit for trying to cover a lot of their ten-record catalog.  Vocalist and frontman Josh Todd was on top of his game, sounding & looking great throughout.  Bottom line:  Buckcherry separated the men from the boys on this night.  I am so glad we made the effort on a Tuesday night to right a wrong from seven years prior.

 BUCKCHERRY               Photo:  JCE

 Hellbound by Buckcherry

Swing Away by Gunshine

Still No Paradise by Harmless Habit

 JCE, or John to his friends, was born in the Nation’s Capital and grew up in the VA suburbs of D.C.  He just turned 60 years old, he has a wife of 32 years, and a grown daughter.  He leads a bit of a double life, working by day as the chief administrative officer of a VA county, and spending as many nights as possible listening to live rock n roll with his wife at any club that has a decent band within 100 miles or so of their house (and sometimes further).