On Saturday night March 14th, Paladino’s in Tarzana was hopping at 8:45. Given that the L.A. music scene typically doesn’t fire up until after 10 or 11, what was happening? TimeBomb was taking the stage.
TimeBomb, a Burbank-based cover band, had brought a substantial crowd and entertained the club with rock hits from 1975-85, what they call “The Golden Era of Rock.” To help those whose memories of 24 to 34 years ago might be a little fuzzy, and those who were too young to be able to remember, drummer Craig Ordelheide had put together a slideshow of the album (yes, that means RECORD) covers for each song. And especially for this show, Heidi Cox added an appropriately “Price is Right” campy ambiance by cheerfully parading a lighted scorecard-type sign with the corresponding year in big bold numbers at the beginning of each song.
Once the music started, it’s fair to say most of the crowd (including this writer) recognized – and remembered the words/music to – almost every song, meaning the set passed the true test of whether or not the songs were “golden” or “classic.” Quick: Name a new song that is popular today that people will be listening to nostalgically in 2039, 30 years from now. Can you think of one? How about 45?
That’s right, as a cover band TimeBomb does 45 songs from 1975-85, typically playing 3 or 4 sets in a row per show. To fit into Paladino’s standard 45-minute slot, the band pared the set down to just 10 songs, 1 from each year, for “A Decade of Rock.” As guitarist Matt Gruber explained, “We do Iron Maiden’s ‘2 Minutes to Midnight,’ but at about 6 minutes long, that would have been a big portion of the set.”
KISS’s 1975 “Rock and Roll All Nite” kicked off the set with high energy, followed by Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town” and The Clash’s “I Fought The Law.” Are you singing along yet? 1978 was well represented by Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love,” then the set mellowed out a bit with Rainbow’s “Since You Been Gone.” Not too mellow, though: 1980’s song was “Breaking The Law” by Judas Priest, then Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.” Yeah! Next up were INXS, ZZ Top, and Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” closed out the set. But wait, that’s only 1984! Encore: 1985’s “Slide It In” by Whitesnake ended the decade.
Singer Ray Christ, who did an excellent job engaging the crowd, said the band has had the current lineup since October. All 5 musicians were clearly very comfortable both performing together and holding their own on stage. Guitarist Gruber did double duty on keyboards for a few songs and was well-accompanied throughout the set by rhythm guitarist Stu Collins. Bassist Darryl Strucke was all over the stage (atypical for bassists), and drummer Ordelheide’s solid chops gave the songs an authentic feel. As we used to say back then, the live songs sounded “just like the records.”
During TimeBomb’s set the crowd was cheering, people were dancing (yes, really!), and the general atmosphere was that fun was had by all. Isn’t that how seeing a live band is supposed to be? TimeBomb has several upcoming gigs in the So Cal area (Burbank, Duarte, Ventura, Santa Clarita, and back at Paladino’s), so check out their web site for dates: www.MySpace.com/TimeBomb197585.
