We interrupt the Jeff Scott Soto Series to bring you a new concert review for a show I attended this weekend that included Jeff Scott Soto and Jason Bieler. It was Saturday, I guess that makes it alright, so I headed down to the Evening Muse in Charlotte, NC, for another fun evening with the comedy stylings of Jeff Scott Soto and Jason Bieler…oh yeah…there was a lot of music too. What started out as two grumpy old men sitting on stage, ended with two very drunk men practically falling off stage…ok not quite, but they had a lot fun as people kept bringing them drinks all night long…as well as cookies.

The evening started at 6pm for those that bought the VIP package…and yes, I was one of those. Last year, they mostly sang, but this year they did a full on Q&A section. You had to stand up, say your name and where you are from, then the crowd said it back to you. My question was to both of them asking if we would see Solo tours from them anytime. Jason stated that he is working on doing a Baron Von Belski tour later in the year, but wants to make sure it presents those 2 Baron albums the right way. Jeff got all serious and laid down the truth. That truth is No, there will be no tour. He said there is no demand for his solo shows in the States and it would not be cost effective to pull it off. Sadly, I know he is right and that disappointments me greatly. I guess I need to keep writing the Soto reviews as the word hasn’t reached everyone yet.

After the Q&A, the boys played a few songs for us including the Saigon Kick songs “On and On”, “One Step Closer” (I think) and ‘Sgt. Steve”. All classic SK songs and performed beautifully. The two were in rare form, cracking jokes and keeping the audience in stitches and they even lost it a few times (especially Jeff). Sometimes Jeff would laugh so hard because Beiler would go off on these tangents that made no sense, but were funny as hell. After around 30-45 minutes or so, the VIP experience ended, the boys went to eat and then we waited for the show. Oh yeah, I forgot we were given a secret password and any time they said that word, we were to cheer really loudly and get all excited. They said this would confuse those that came in for the show and by the end the would start cheering and have no understanding why. The word was “New Jersey” as there were several people in the Q&A from there.

The show started off another great Saigon Kick songs called “All I Want” and then straight in to the classic “You’re the One That I Want” which turned in to a little comedy sketch as Jason did Sandy’s vocals and Jeff did Danny’s. Things got dirty fast and we are all laughing along, like would happen all night long. My throat hurts from laughing so much. They played the Talisman song “Just Between Us” and then Saigon Kick’s “All I Want’. What is great about these songs is that they both sing, taking turns on vocals and then sometimes they would just stop and make an observation or crack another joke. Jason had a running joke and every time he heard a stripper sounding name, he would go…”I used to dance under that name”…for instance…Cinnamon Schnapps

They also played a lot of songs that Jason claimed he wrote like “Love Will Keep Us Together”, “Mexican Radio”, “You Make My Dreams Come True” and even “Watermelon Sugar”. They covered the song “(They Long To Be), Closer to You” and Jeff tried to sing it like Kermit the Frog as it sounded like a Muppet song, but he ended up sounding like Fozzy Bear. Again, they had the crowd in stitches. They also had a moment for Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters when they played “Times Like These” which was the only serious moment of the night. The rest was pure bonkers and great music.

One of the funniest moments was when the talked about Eddie Trunk and his rant on bands using backing tracks, meanwhile, Jeff hits a button on his phone (attached to his mic) and it starts saying, “The Jeff Scott Soto and Jason Bieler Backing tracks” and it starts playing music, vocals and all sorts of sounds. It was pretty dang hilarious and let me tell you that these two don’t need backing tracks with their vocals as they both still kill it even at their age.

If you follow Soto’s career, you know he sang for Yngwie Malmsteem very early on and things didn’t end up well between the two, but they still played an Yngwie song after some pretty damn funny jokes. They played “I Am a Viking”, however, so they wouldn’t get sued by Yngwie, they played it to the tune of Extreme’s “More Than Words”. And by the way, if you heard about Nuno Bettencourt hurting his knee on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, Jason made it known it wasn’t him that hurt him as Jeff sheepishly raised his hand and took credit for it. They claimed there is nothing sadder than a bunch of aging rockers out there playing basketball, it was not if, but when someone would get hurt.

They played more of their own songs including “Coming Home”, “Alive” from Sons of Apollo (which was so cool and probably my favorite song of the evening), “Close to You” and “I Love You” (Jeff’s favorite Jason penned song). For Mother’s Day, they had the crowd sing the “Mama” part of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody as Jason asked a question between each line and the next line answered that question. A fun moment for the crowd. They played Jason’s biggest hit from Saigon Kick with “Love is on the Way” and afterwards, Jason decided to show us his long locks by removing the trucker cap and blowing out his lion’s mane of hair saying it looks like Tim Burton. And he’s not wrong…as you can see, Jeff was in stitches.

They played and cracked jokes and drank for almost two hours and sang parts of about 25 songs…parts because sometimes they’d stop and crack jokes or poke fun at a lady that got up to go to the bathroom during a song. They told her they’d wait and then she took awhile so they told someone to go check on her and when she came out they asked her if everything came out okay!! Yes, we all laughed. There were other great comedy moments, but I don’t want to spoil it all, but so many things were inappropriate and thank the heavens because we need to laugh and they certainly let us do that. The show ended after “Don’t Stop Believing” (and yes, they mentioned Jeff’s time with Journey), Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” and finally a Christmas song and “Fuck You It’s Christmas”, my new favorite Christmas song.

After the show, I waited for both Jason and Jeff. Jason did remember me from our interview last year from The LeBrain Train and he signed a few items for me as you can see below…

And then I talked to Jeff briefly, thanked him, shook his hand and got him to sign some things as well…I have 70 albums of his, but I only brought 5 as I didn’t want to be rude…I think I now have 12-15 covers signed by him. And as like last year, I was so fanboy, I forgot to get a picture.

And they had some great merch with a new shirt that is styled like Flash Gordon and looks amazing…

And the coolest piece was a CD they had for sale. Jeff was in a band early in his career called Slam from around 90-93, but they never released an album. That is no more. The Slam CD was for sale in a limited edition run. Which means, we have another CD to add to the Jeff Scott Soto Series and it will end the series since it is his newest release.

And that was the evening. I had a blast, the music was great, the comedy was hilarious and it was a good time had by all. If they come to your town, you must go see them. You don’t need to know their songs as they do play a lot of covers and you won’t regret it. I hope this becomes an annual event as it is 2 years in a row now for Charlotte, plus I still have a lot of Soto CDs to get signed. I need to buy more Jason ones as I already have all of his I own signed.

Thanks for hanging around and now Back to our regularly scheduled posts…

UP NEXT: SONS OF APOLLO – ‘LIVE WITH THE PLOVDIV PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY’ (2019)

THE JEFF SCOTT SOTO SERIES:

1. Panther – ‘Panther’ (1986) – recorded in 1984
2. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Rising Force’ (1984)
3. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – ‘Marching Out’ (1985)
4. Kuni – ‘Lookin’ For Action’ (1988)
5. Kryst the Conqueror – ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ (1989) / ‘Soldiers of Light: The Complete Recordings (2019)
6. Eyes – ‘Eyes’ (1990)
7. Eyes – “Nobody Said It Was Easy” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
8. Talisman – ‘Talisman’ (1990)
9. Talisman – “I’ll Be Waiting” (1990) – 7″ Single – Bonus Edition
10. Skrapp Mettle – ‘Sensitive’ (1991)
11. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Eternal Prisoner’ (1992)
12. Bakteria – ‘Deficate! Suffocate! Mutilate! Masturbate!’ (1992 / 2009)
13. Eyes – ‘Windows of the Soul’ (1993)
14. Talisman – ‘Genesis’ (1993)
15. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘The Ballads’ (1993)
16. Biker Mice From Mars – ‘Biker Mice From Mars (Soundtrack)’ (1993)
17. Takara – ‘Eternal Faith’ (1993)
18. Talisman – ‘5 Out Of 5 (Live in Japan)’ (1994)
19. Talisman – ‘Humanimal’ (1994)
20. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Between the Walls’ (1994)
21. Gary Schutt – ‘Sentimetal’ (1994)
22. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Love Parade’ (1994)
23. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Made in Germany (Live)’ (1995)
24. Takara – ‘Taste of Heaven’ (1995)
25. Talisman – ‘Life’ (1995)
26. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Black Moon Pyramid’ (1996)
27. Human Clay – ‘Human Clay’ (1996)
28. Talisman – ‘Best of’ (1996)
29. Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Magic’ (1997)
30. Human Clay – ‘U4IA’ (1997)
31. Boogie Knights – ‘Welcome to the Jungle Boogie’ (1997)
32. Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998)
33. Talisman – ‘Truth’ (1998)
34. ‘Rock Star: Music from the Motion Picture (Soundtrack)’ – Various Artists (2001)
35. Humanimal – ‘Humanimal’ (2002)
36. Humanimal – Find My Way Home: Limited Edition E.P. (2002)
37. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Holding On E.P.’ (2002)
38. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Prism’ (2002)
39. Talisman – ‘Live at Sweden Rock Festival’ (2002)
40. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘JSS Live at the Gods 2002’ (2003)
41. Talisman – ‘Cats & Dogs’ (2003)
42. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Believe in Me E.P.’ (2004
43. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Lost in the Translation’ (2004)
44. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at the Queen Convention 2003’ (2004)
45. Soul SirkUS – ‘World Play’ (2004/2005)
46. Talisman – ‘Five Men Live’ (2005)
47. Talisman – ‘World’s Best Kept Secret DVD (2005)
48. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Essential Ballads’ (2006)
49. Journey – ‘Live from Atlanta (Bootleg)’ (2006)
50. Talisman – ‘7’ (2006)
51. Talisman – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
52. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘B-Sides’ (2006)
53. Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007)
54. Jeff Scott Soto – LA Rocks Demo / Vinnie Vincent Demo 1988 (2008)
55. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (2009)
56. Jeff Scott Soto – “21st Century” / “Gin & Tonic Sky” CD Single (2009) – Bonus Edition
57. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘One Night in Madrid’ (2009)
58. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ‘Night Castle’ (2009)
59. W.E.T. – ‘W.E.T.’ (2009)
60. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live at Firefest 2008’ (2010)
61. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Damage Control’ (2012)
62. W.E.T. – ‘Rise Up’ (2013)
63. W.E.T. – ‘One Live in Stockholm’ (2014)
64. Jeff Scott Soto – The Authorized Biography (2014)
65. SOTO – ‘Inside the Vertigo’ (2015)
66. Joel Hoekstra’s 13 – Dying to Live (2015)
67. SOTO – ‘Divak’ (2016)
68. Sons of Apollo – ‘Psychotic Symphony’ (2017)
69. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Retribution’ (2017)
70. W.E.T. – ‘Earthrage’ (2018)
71. SOTO – ‘Origami’ (2019)
72. Sons of Apollo – ‘Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony’ (2019)
73. Sons of Apollo – ‘MMXX’ (2020)
74. Talisman – “Never Die (A Song For Marcel)” – 7″ Single (2020)
75. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Live and Loud in Milan 2019’ (2020)
76. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)’ (2020)
77. SOTO – ‘Revision’ (2020)
78. W.E.T. – ‘Retransmission’ (2021)
79. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Duets Collection, Vol. 1’ (2021)
80. Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Complicated’ (2022)
81. Ellefson/Soto – ‘Vacation in the Underground’ (2022)
82. Jeff Scott Soto / Jason Bieler – Live In Concert (2022) – Bonus Edition
83. Jeff Scotto Soto / Jason Bieler – Live in Concert (2023) – Bonus Edition