M3 2012... Columbia, Maryland

[zrock63]

Does anyone know if HDTV will be doing a replay of the show ? I didn't even realize I had the channel, until my son in law called me about a bunch of 80's bands having a concert in Maryland on channel 897. I never even watched any channel over 400. I only got to see the show from Queensryche to Ratt.

[Evil Rick]

Does anyone know if HDTV will be doing a replay of the show ? I didn't even realize I had the channel, until my son in law called me about a bunch of 80's bands having a concert in Maryland on channel 897. I never even watched any channel over 400. I only got to see the show from Queensryche to Ratt.

I don't know for sure but if I had to guess I would say yes. They replay concerts on there all the time and I would think this one would be no different.

[66 mustang]

looks like Night Ranger was the class of the show????? like I said before, I missed the first day but during the 2nd day they showed 2 songs from the Night Ranger show and everything was spot on, great show and great sound. the band was perfect and the vocals were fantastic. wish I got to seen the whole thing

[LV KIX]

Well... here as a very brief description on what I thought of each band:

 

FRIDAY NIGHT:

 

IN THE PINK: I was actually looking forward to seeing these guys. i had seen them a Hammerjacks in about 1992ish. I didn't go to my seat for their set, I watched from the lawn. I wasn't really feeling them as they were a bit mellow and boring.

 

ENUFF Z'NUFF: These guys were a lot of fun back in the day. It seemed like the band was just going through the motions. I was actually glad they played a short set as vocally they just didn't hold up.

 

NIGHT RANGER: I love this band. They played for just over an hour and the set was hit after hit. Great selection of songs and each member is strong. Though KIX is one of my favorite bands ever, Night Ranger may have been the highlight on Friday Night.

 

KIX: The guys were a bit off this year, that is not to say they were bad by any means. The show was on HDNET and also broadcast live on Sirus Radio. It seemed as though KIX was rushing the set to satisfy the people listener at home and kind of forgot about the crowd that was there to see them. Still a great show... just not as good as usual.

 

 

SATURDAY:

 

GREAT WHITE (Main Stage): I know... It's not Jack. You know what? I don't care. Terry more than did justice to the earlier songs and the new songs sound pretty good to me. No disappointment here.

 

XYZ (Back Stage): Great crowd at the back stage for XYZ. The band was tight and the crowd was loving it. Talk about a band that wanted to be there. You could tell that each and every member was glad to be performing. I got to hang out with Pat Fontaine a bit. A couple members from XYZ came out to my pre-party. What a super nice guy Pat is. I saw him talking with fans all day long. he seemed to be enjoying things as much as the fans.

 

STRYPER (Main Stage): They only had about 50 minutes... what an injustice. Michael's voice has lost nothing. OZ Fox was blazing and the rhythm section was spot on. Great song selection for such a short set. Hightlight of the entire festival. Too bad they went on at 1:15 in the afternoon.

 

BANG TANGO (Back Stage): They played on the back stage. I wandered up the hill a bit to check them out but ended up running into a friend on the way. I wasn't that keen on seeing them anyway. they were the band I wanted to see least. They sounded decent and it appeared they had a nice crowd.

 

LA GUNS (Main Stage): Once again Phil and the band showed why this is the real L.A. Guns. Hit after hit.. It was great to see them (they were added to the festival late) again. Solid set and you could tell Phil was glad to be back at M3.

 

LOUDNESS (Back Stage): Loudness played the back stage in the middle of the afternoon. I had headed to the back stage as fast as I could as this is a band I didn't wanna miss. What a great guitarist... as far as guitarists go he and Oz Fox were the stand outs this year. I happened to look behind me a few songs into the set... the stage was packed. The crowd response may have been better than any other band playing the back stage. Great set... Go see these guys if you ever get a chance.

 

DOKKEN (Main Stage): Don struggled a bit. It is no secret that he just can't hit some of the notes he used to. Having actually walked out on Dokken a couple years ago at The Rock N' America Festival (Tulsa, Oklahoma) I was surprised by the effort Don was giving. Don's band is really good and Don did his best to keep up. I heard a ton of people say how bad Don sounded... but personally I thought he was alright. Great set list.

 

LYNCH MOB (Back Stage): I wasn't impressed. George, of course, is a great guitarist but this band just didn't do it for me live. Worth watching just for George but pretty boring as a whole.

 

WARRANT (Main Stage): Maybe the tightest band of the weekend. Robert Mason is the perfect guy to be fronting this band. You can tell he becoming more comfortable singing the Jani songs. He appears more natural on stage and this makes watching Warrant much more enjoyable. Warrant was never my favorite band but I thought they were great.

 

QUIET RIOT (Back Stage): Again... I know.. it's not Quiet Riot without Kevin. Guess what? It is Quiet Riot. They were the the biggest surprise of the entire weekend. The vocalist is great. He sounds a bit like Kevin and he does each and every song justice. Tell ya what.. If they play around here again.. I'm there. I actually had goosebumps during the set. It was actually rather haunting.

 

ALL-STAR JAM (Main Stage): This was basically Vinny and Carmine Appice with Michael Sweet Oz Fox and Timothy Gaines. The band did a three song tribute to Ronnie James Dio. Nice touch but rather short.

 

SKID ROW (Back Stage): The back stage was packed, I could get nowhere close. I was to the side and near the back. It seems as though many people skipped the All Star Jam to head up to the back stage to catch Skid Row. They played about an hour and played everything you would expect them to. I actually had a better view by watching on the large screen set up to the side of the stage. I really enjoyed this show.

 

QUEENSRYCHE (Main Stage): Geoff Tate can still hit nearly every high note he could 25 years ago. I have seen Queensryche a couple times before and had always found them somewhat boring.. but not this time. Celebrating 30 years as a band the set list consisted of at least a song from every release. The band was great and something was just different this time. I'm not sure why I enjoyed them so much this time around.. but I really did.

 

RATT (Main Stage): Talk about 1984 all over again. I first saw Ratt open for Billy Squire at this very venue well over 25 years ago. Steve's voice has lost a bit over the years and the band has been known to have off nights. This was not one of those off nights. It was great to see Jaun back in the fold. Carlos Cavazo is the perfect replacement for Crosby. I heard a few people say that Ratt wasn't very good... but again, I loved them. The crowd was rocking to Ratt all night long. The worst thing was... you knew the weekend was coming close to an end. All the hits were included and a few surprises were thrown in. Personally I thought Ratt sounded very good and I really enjoyed them.

 

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It's amazing how a festival like this can make you feel. Nothing will ever be like it used to be, but this festival tries it's best. For one weekend a ton of people were able to put all of their problems behind, come together as one, and go back to a time when life was care-free. Festivals like these are more that just a concert... they are escapes for all those in attendance. It's like a mass therapy session for a generation. If you've never had a chance to get to a festival like this.. you really should try and get to one. I'm telling you, it will actually benefit your life and your well-being if you do so.

 

Can't wait until next year's M3 festival.