Tesla Rocks Emos
On Wednesday night legendary heavy rockers Tesla hit Austin for the first time in years with a show at Emo’s. Sledd and NoMara opened. Review by Lee Ackerley.
As I walked into Emo’s on Wednesday night, mixed emotions swirled with excitement and skepticism flowed though me. The headliner, Tesla, a band that had formed in 1982 and had reached their pinnacle with other glam and hair metal bands in the late 80’s, would be trying to recreate the magic that had allowed them to sell 14 million albums, but would now be attempting this feat with most of the band now aged into their 50’s.
My fears of suffering through a cringe-worthy pity fest were crushed and discarded immediately as I walked into the opening band Sledd’s skull-rattling set. Sledd is a five-piece heavy alternative metal band out of San Diego that is closer sounding to contemporary bands like Slither or Velvet Revolver rather than Tesla. Having never heard of them, Sledd was a pleasant discovery, but more importantly they fulfilled their role as a proper palate tickler, and sufficiently revved up the crowd for the headliner to follow.
When the lead singer of Tesla, Jeff Keith, appeared onstage looking like a more skeletal Steven Tyler with the band in tow, you couldn’t find one person in the near sold-out show that wasn’t screaming, smiling, or saluting the band with their beer.
Tesla, having not been to Austin in over a quarter of a century, opened ironically with their song “MP3” that addresses the problems of technology dominating the world. Keith, whose quirky gyrations and unbridled energy was mirrored by the crowd, lead the band through their first few songs, but it wasn’t until they played “Hang Tough” that the crowd lost their shit, and grown men leapt around like children.
Guitarist Frank Hannon addressed the crowd saying, “We’ve always had a good time in Austin! Does anyone remember Texas Jam?” The crowd unanimously roared. “Now does anyone have our new album?” A much smaller contingent cheered.
Tesla blasted the crowd with their megahits including “Mama’s Fool”, “The Way It Is”, “What You Give”, and the Five Man Electrical Band cover “Signs”, while interspersing in new songs off their 2014 album, Simplicity. The zenith of the night came from the band playing their timeless anthem, “Love Song”, where the lighters of yesteryear were replaced with the glow of iPhones. Jeff Keith is a special kind frontman, and while he certainly took a page from Steven Tyler's performance book, he possesses enough wild energy to get even the most stoic observer interacting.
The band finished out their set with “Modern Day Cowboy” and gave a one-song encore of “Little Suzi” before gracefully bowing out, hopefully not marking their last Austin show before they call it quits.
While people today enjoy knocking the bands that arose from the glam and hair metal era as gimmicky, lacking in talent, and a laughable stain on the evolution of rock, there is more substance in a show like Tesla’s, which embraces over-sensory, showmanship, and simplistic yet anthemic choruses, than many of the brooding and self-serious indie bands that frequent Austin today. With the old hair metal clichés out the window, the bombastic overkill and relentless shredding that assaults the senses, coupled with charismatic showmanship, all melds into one adjective….fun. The essence of rock and roll rears its head in the form of sharing both pain and the good times, and Tesla still displays mastery in conveying both.
