Chickenfoot - August 24, 2009 @ Bank of America Pavilion

Towards the end of Chickenfoot's main set, Sammy Hagar turned to Joe Satriani, the guitarist of his new "supergroup" and asked him, "How much funny shit can we do in one night, Joe?" Chickenfoot may have only formed earlier this year, but last night at Bank of America Pavilion, Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith, during their nearly 2-hour set, demonstrated chemistry that might suggest that they have been playing together for years. The band is composed of four members who have long known and worked with their identities, but Chickenfoot is a whole new individual identity that can't just be defined by its members, as the combination of these musicians yields a completely new voice.

The house lights went down at about 8:40, and the members of the band ran on stage and blasted straight into "Avenida Revolution," the opening song of the band's self-titled debut. This high-powered opening number was matched in exuberance and intensity with each of the four songs that followed. After "Down the Drain," a flashing version of the band's logo (a modified peace symbol that is said to resemble a chicken's footprint) was lowered onto the stage, and the band continued with one of the mellower songs of the night: "Bitten By The Wolf." During "Oh Yeah," the band's first single, the logo flashed each time Hagar sang the words "Oh Yeah", allowing each member of the 2500-person crowd to chant along.

While each member of Chickenfoot has already led a multi-decade career in the music industry, their joint purpose on this night was not to showcase all these years, but rather to focus in on the product of their most recent 43 days in the recording studio. In fact, the entire main set was composed exclusively of songs from the band's debut. Chickenfoot appropriately closed the set with the last song on their self-titled debut, recorded on their last day in the studio.

Between songs, Hagar hinted his secondary passion of standup comedy, joking about topics including but not limited to the weather, Chad Smith's smelly clothes, Bruce Springsteen, and the Boston Celtics.

After the main set, the band returned for a two song encore. The first song was the only song of the night from Hagar's pre-Chickenfoot career was "Black Motor Scooter", from Montrose's debut album. The show was closed with Deep Purple cover "Highway Star", which was integrated with snippets of The Who's "My Generation."

Davy Knowles & The Back Door Slam served as the opening act for the show, taking the stage at 7:30 PM. Their 40 minute blues-rock set, containing original songs with a few covers mixed in, was the perfect prelude to Chickenfoot's set. The set did exactly the job that an opening act should do: it warmed up the venue's atomosphere for the main act. Unfortunately, attendance under the tent was quite sparse during this opening set.

Setlist:

1. Avenida Revolution
2. Sexy Little Thing
3. Soap on a Rope
4. My Kinda Girl
5. Down the Drain
6. Bitten By The Wolf
7. Oh Yeah
8. Learning to Fall
9. Get It Up
10. Turnin' Left
11. Future in the Past

Encore:

1. Bad Motor Scooter (Montrose cover)
2. Highway Star (Deep Purple cover)/My Generation (The Who cover)