If you’re over the age of 25 you have probably seen Chris Jericho dominating the wrestling ring. If you’ve never had the privilege to watch Chris perform, click here!

 

Many have said that Chris is a natural performer, whether it be gimmick or not, he is definitely over-the-top and passionate about everything he does. After watching him perform with his band Fozzy at the House of Blues, I’d definitely agree. Fozzy released their first album in 2000 and have continued to tour and release seven more studio albums along with one live album. Jericho has described the band as “if Metallica and Journey had a bastard child, it would be Fozzy”. They have the hard guitars of Metallica with a dash of upbeat energy like Journey.

 

Each member is non-stop excitement

 

In a lot of bands, the vocalist is the only member dancing around and acting crazy. Fozzy, is an entirely new animal. Front man Chris Jericho may capture attention like no other, but every member seemed to have drank 4 red bulls when the band played at House of Blues in Cleveland.

 

Rich Ward is the lead guitarist with beautiful, long, blonde hair… Not as bouncy as Jericho’s, but Jericho has always encapsulated the celebrity glam style with an added touch of badass. Rich had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on stage and the enthusiasm to match. This man jumped off the drum kit more times than Amy Winehouse said she wouldn’t go to rehab. With all the energetic antics he still managed to crush his guitar, at one point playing upside down in the crowd… As well as upside down hanging off the stage. After the show he stayed behind to met all his fans, including me, just chatting and taking some pictures as well.

 

Paul Di Leo is another guitarist with quality hair. Paul is the bassist with fluffy black hair and a dramatic style all his own. Check out the photos and you can see him posed, guitar standing in one hand with the other hand out to the crowd. Along with Rich, Paul never stopped high kicking, it was as if the two were in a burlesque kick line, but the only one actually showing skin that night was Chris. Paul may not have said much, but his dramatic style and ability to riff on the bass was a good addiction to the band’s enticing performance. No matter where you looked someone was doing something!

 

Billy Grey was king of facial expressions, I’m not sure how he doesn’t strain muscles in his tongue after imitating Gene Simmons all night. With wide, powerful stances he played his heart out on the guitar on every song.

 

Last, but not least, was the only member without a hairstyle, drummer Frank Fontsere. Frank doesn’t need a hairstyle because he is a no nonsense type of guy. Just look at his face in any of the photos. His drumming never ceased to cause a thumping in my chest. Even behind the kit his presence was felt by the entire audience.

 

Fozzy follows Frank’s lead and is a no nonsense type of band. They didn’t wait until the last song to play their newest hit, Judas, they actually started with the rock anthem. Jericho has the voice of a true rock metal musician, so don’t stereotype him as just a wrestler. His forever present rasp adds an intense biker gang feel to the songs. From Anarchist to Lights Fozzy never stopped giving a good show and the crowd responded with much enthusiasm. Within the first song Jericho made it clear that Cleveland was their best show, even daring the crowd to look up all the other shows on youtube to prove he’s never said that anywhere else; a very respectable move since many bands claim the same thing in every venue.

 

One thing I have never seen any band do in all my years of concert going, break the “fourth wall”. The term “fourth wall” is usually found in film, an example is in the new Deadpool movie when Deadpool speaks directly to the audience. After the last song, Chris stood up and spoke directly to audience, saying how everyone knows how a concert works, the band goes off stage, the crowd cheers and chants until they come back on stage and play one more song. Apparently, that was too much work for them, so instead they chose to remain on stage, but they would only play their last song if the crowd chanted loud enough. For a little extra flare, Chris told them to pretend they left the stage and proceeded to place a towel over his head (as seen in pictures above).

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Review by Courtney Ramey