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Heavy Metal Rockers, FOZZY have been touring with legendary Saxon and last night they had a stop here in San Francisco at the DNA Lounge. This was the first time that FOZZY has made a San Francisco appearance and they truly showed us what we have been missing! They put on an incredible show. These five guys just have adrenaline running through their veins from the moment they step out on to that stage and give us 150% of what they got.

We were excited to see them play, since back in August, we had the opportunity to talk with Chris Jericho about the Sacrifice and Sin tour. You can read the entire interview below or check it out here.

We got there just in time to catch Halcyon Way as they got the crowd warmed up and ready to ROCK. We will tell you more about them under a separate post. Then FOZZY started their set with my favorite song, “Spider in My Mouth” and that is the perfect song to get the crowd pumped. You can’t help but be drawn in by their stage presence. I believe their set list went as follows:

SPIDER IN MY MOUTH
SANDPAPER
EAT THE RICH
GOD POUNDS NAILS
SHINE FOREVER
SIN AND BONES
ENEMY
BLOOD HAPPENS

From that first song to the last note, you were captivated by them. It really had me wishing they were headlining so I could get to hear a few more songs. The sound at the DNA Lounge on this night was great. Chris Jericho delivers his powerful vocals and you can’t even imagine him ever having another career, other than being a born a true rock star! Rich Ward shredding guitar and backing vocals had you watching him, in hopes of catching another one of his wild jumps. He was like a caged tiger just full of energy and couldn’t wait to pounce as he let loose on stage. Billy Grey, wielding his guitar in the air as he ripped through the songs without missing a note. Paul DiLeo was laying down some crunchy bass lines as he would synchronize his stage presence with Billy. Then Frank Fontsere was bringing it all together with his precision high octane drumming and the double bass providing the heartbeat of the show. Together these five guys KICKED ASS and owned that crowd! You can check out some photos here from the night:

Here is also a Tribute video that Rockin Ryan made for Sandpaper from the photos and footage from the DNA Lounge:

I can’t wait for the new album so we can get to see FOZZY again! There are still a few more dates left on the tour and check them out if they are coming near you. Make sure to check out their social media sites so you can stay up to date on everything FOZZY!

~ Marisol

* * * INTERVIEW FROM AUGUST 2013 * * *

For an audio of the video, you can check it out here:

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Music Junkie Press: Hi Chris, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press! I think the last time we got to chat was backstage at the Golden Gods in May. You were wonderful as always.

Chris: That show is a blast, I just love that show!

Music Junkie Press: You guys just came back from playing in the UK, what was the highlight of that tour for you?

Chris: It was great, it was a little more extensive, we played the UK and then we played Europe as well, so it was a pretty quick tour. It was like 15 shows in 16 days but it was a huge success for us. We did a bunch of shows on our own, a bunch of festivals. Then we did a mini-tour with Anthrax as well, which was cool. I mean the UK has always been like the second home for us, we have a great fan base there, really gained a lot of fans over the years, same thing with Europe as well. So, ya, festival season over there is always special and we had a great time and it was a lot of fun.

Music Junkie Press: I understand you are heading out on another tour here in the US with another one of my favorite bands, Saxon. Are you ready to get back out on the road?

Chris: Ya, I mean we are excited about this tour. One of the things we wanted to do on the Sin and Bones tour cycle is to get out in the States, and we did that last year, full US tour on Uproar with Shinedown and Godsmack, and it was amazing. It was cool for a lot of our fans in a lot of these states that were always, not complaining, but always bringing up the fact that “you guys tour so much overseas, you never tour the States”, we are like, ya, we know that, we are gonna change that. That is why we really wanted hit the States again, with another run this summer before the tour is over. Saxon tour is the perfect mix because it is 2 bands that are similar in a lot of ways but different enough that there will be a lot of Saxon fans that don’t know Fozzy, a lot of Fozzy fans that don’t know Saxon. It is going to be a great mix, another thing that I like to mention about Saxon too, is that for over the last few years, the records that they have been releasing have been the best of their careers. The record Sacrifice is off the chart amazing! And I love the fact that they are still a living, breathing, vibrant, Rock and Roll band with a lot of history and legendary status. So it is gonna be a really cool package. We are really excited about it.

Music Junkie Press: I have to tell you, your album Sin and Bones is KICK ASS non- stop heavy rock from start to finish. I appreciate that literally every song from start to finish is one not to be missed. How do you even choose what songs to play on your upcoming set list in addition to the hits from your other albums?

Chris: Well, first of all thank you for saying that. That means a lot. I know it has come out over a year ago and it is our highest selling record, highest charting record, most critically acclaimed etc, etc. So we are playing the lion share of the record in the set. We are doing seven songs from it and you kind of judge it by trying a song out live and seeing how it goes, how it goes over and then kind of play the ones that are your favorites as well, kind of see how they work. All the songs we have chosen are all going over great live, to the point where I don’t know how we are going to get rid of any of them when the next record comes out. And of course the other songs we don’t play, there is always requests for them as well. I think because it is such a well-rounded record with no filler at all, I think that the overall goal at some point is to hopefully do the whole record in its entirety which I think would be a pretty cool accomplishment to do. So when we get some special shows maybe that is something we will look in to.

Music Junkie Press: That would be so great; I hope I can be at one of those special shows! Chris, you have what I call the Nikki Sixx/Dave Grohl Factor, like a modern day Midas touch. You do all these different things and succeed at them, whether it is wrestling, music, film, theatre, even dancing. What is next for you or is there something else that you want to try?

Chris: Well, I have never really looked at it that way. When I was growing up I wanted to be in a rock band and I wanted to be a wrestler. Those are the two things that I really wanted to do. And then kind of all these other things have stemmed from that; you know acting, or dancing, or writing, they are all things that I knew I could do or had it in me, creative projects. That is kind of the way that I chose to do the things that I am doing, to decide whether or not I am going to continue to do them is kind of based on the fact of whether I really want to. You know, I don’t really have a list of things that “Oh I have to do this! Or I have to try that!” I just know when things come up either A) it sounds interesting or B) I am not interested. There are a lot of things that I turn down as well. I will never do something just for money or never do something if I don’t feel 100% like I could really do a good job at it. I kind of think that I owe that to my fans. I have a great loyal fan base that kind of follows me in everything that I do, but also knows that I am not going to lead them astray and do something that is not true to me or true to them as well. So as long as the music keeps going, I am happy, and whatever comes ancillary on top of that I will judge them on a case by case basis.

Music Junkie Press: That is true, you put passion into everything that you do and we all feel it, too. As fans we appreciate the attention you give. Now, you have played all over, it seems to large scale festivals with tens of thousands to nightclubs, personally what type do you prefer? Festival, Arenas or the intimate nightclubs?

Chris: All of them. It is kind of a wishy washy answer but it is the truth. I mean the fact that we have the opportunity to make a living playing music is huge and the fact that we can play at all these different levels. Obviously, you know I think every band’s goal is to be U2 and play a stadium every night but there is something to be said about playing in clubs as well. You are playing to your fans, whether there is 10 fans or 10 thousand, you want to give them the same show and make sure they have a great time and make sure that they leave there telling all their friends how amazing you were, and how stupid they were for not going. It is fun playing festivals too. We just did a couple over in Europe, the Rock Am Festival of 70,000 people there, for us maybe 10% of the people that were watching us knew who we were when we walked on stage; but 100% knew who we were when we left the stage. And that is so cool, it is cool when you can actually see, literally see people being converted into fans in front of your eyes. That is a cool moment. That is why, like I said, you want to do festivals or why you want to do shows with bands like Saxon, to kind of show some diversity and get some new fans. It is also great to play club shows on your own, where every single person there is your fan, then you are preaching to the choir and it is an easy night at the office, so to speak. They all have their pros and cons, bottom line is, you are playing music and we dreamed of doing this when we were playing in the garage at like 14 years old, so to be able to do it at the highest level or professional level is a dream come true and to never take that for granted.

Music Junkie Press: We all wish we had the wisdom of today when we were younger, if you could go back and talk to your 14 year old self, what advice would you give to yourself?

Chris: I don’t know, man I mean, to just keep doing what you are doing probably. Because it seemed to work out for me, I didn’t really have too much, like you said, there wasn’t a lot of knowledge back then, when I wanted to become a wrestler or wanted to start a band, you didn’t really know how to do that. You kind of just try it and see where it takes you. I never had any guarantees, or any real plan but it always seemed to work out for me. So, I would probably just tell my 14 year old self to follow your instincts and just do what you think is right and chances are it is gonna end up working out pretty good which it did.

Music Junkie Press: Have you and Rich been working on another album?

Chris: Absolutely! It has been in the works, actually kind of the day after Sin and Bones came out last year, we started working on new material. We have slowly been building up the archives and so now, we at the point where it is writing time. The idea is to write the record and kind of have it done by the end of December and start recording it in January and hopefully have it out by next summer. We have a lot of momentum right now from Sin and Bones and a lot of people talking about this band, so you don’t want to go and disappear for two years when you have so much momentum. So we think it is kind of very important to kind of, we got our foot in the door, and now it is really important to kick the damn thing open and keep the ball rolling.

Music Junkie Press: We can’t wait for the next album. That is very exciting! When you are out on tour, what are three things that you can’t leave without?

Chris: Well, I mean, for me it is my laptop, because I am writing my fifth book so I have to have that with me at all times so I can write as much as possible. Obviously my phone, you know with all your music in it, that is kind of your safe haven when you are out on the road and in the bus. Anytime when you kind of get sick of the outside world, you can just climb into your bunk and put some headphones on and listen to some tunes or watch a movie or something along those lines. So, ya those two things and then I don’t know really how you can say this but have your dietary plan ready to go. For me it is like, even when we eat certain things and it is not really pizza or anything like that. It is kind of like you have to plan out your day meal wise. I have to have my meal planner so it is like you have to figure out OK, where are we going to be, where can I get breakfast, here is what I can have for snacks during the day, where are we going to get dinner. Stuff like that is important when you are on the road because it keeps you sane. If you don’t eat properly you start feeling like shit, both mentally and physically, and that makes it a whole lot harder to be on the road. If you can eat well and kind of feel mentally at peace then it is kind of a piece of cake to be on tour for sure.

Music Junkie Press: That is the right attitude! Touring can be so grueling. How about if I could take a peak in to your Ipod, what artist or song might I be most surprised at finding in there?

Chris: Umm. I am going to say early 90’s rap, Gerardo “Rico Suave” might be a surprise. That always kind of gets a reaction when it comes up. Plus I have three kids who love Justin Beiber and One Direction so there are a couple of those songs on my Ipod that they ask me to buy so they can hear them. You know, it was funny when I was hosting the Golden Gods in England and I had a big party in my dressing and I just put my Ipod on shuffle to listen to all the tunes. You know it is 90% rock and roll, some dance stuff on there and some disco and some pop music, and I came back in the room and Katy Perry was playing and all the metal heads are just staring at me like I just lost my mind. I said “Just forward it to the next song man, so ya, I got a Katy Perry song, I guess I am not as heavy as you. Forward it the next song, there will be some Slayer in there somewhere.”

Music Junkie Press: It is so funny because the number one response we get from people is Katy Perry; I think everyone likes Katy Perry.

Chris: Ya, she is catchy, Lady Gaga is great. A lot of those artists have great songs and that is the most important thing. That is what we try to do with Fozzy, you can beef it up and put some double kick on it and make it as heavy as you want but the bottom line is it has to be a song with a good melody there or else nobody is going to want to listen to it.

Music Junkie Press: So true. I know that when you guys first started out doing cover songs and you being a big Beatles fan, if you can pick a Beatles song to cover and completely turn it into pure Fozzy style, what might that be?

Chris: I don’t know, that is almost a sacrilege! It is very rare to hear a good Beatles cover song. I think the last one I heard was Halestorm when they did “I Want You, She’s So Heavy” which is one of my favorite Beatles songs as well. Since, if I was going to cover something, it would have to be something obscure, most of the good tunes have been covered but I don’t think I have ever heard a cover of “Get Back” or there is a really cool George Harrison song called “Savoy Truffle” on the White album. That might be a fun one try; it is kind of a really dirty, kind of a psychedelic heavy tune and might be a fun one to try.

Music Junkie Press: Those would be great covers! Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

Chris: We are really excited to be back in the States and touring coast to coast again. I always say we have a really great fan base Worldwide but we sell the most records in the States, and still the biggest fan base in the States, and we are really happy that we were able to come and see everybody last year on the Uproar tour which was at the highest level playing all the amphitheaters across the country and now we are playing all the clubs across the country. Some great places like House of Blues’ and some famous rock clubs like The Machine Shop and places like that and the Phoenix Theater in Toronto. So we are really looking forward to kind of saying Hi to everybody who has missed out on seeing us over the years and if you have never seen us, Batten down the hatches, because we are going to blow your FUCKIN SOCKS OFF!

Music Junkie Press: Thank you for your time Chris and we look forward to seeing you at the DNA Lounge here in San Francisco in October.

Chris: Killer, that is gonna be a good show. We have never played in Northern California so we are excited! We are going to blow it apart!

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