Simon RushworthThe Winery Dogs @Newcastle Riverside, October 3 2023
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Well, what if the old dogs are the ones doing the teaching?
Everything you think you know about rock stops right here: this talented trio strip things back, rebuilds from the roots and rolls out a show unrivalled in terms of rich creativity.
The talent pool runs deep where The Winery Dogs are concerned.
And it would take a meaty tome, rather than the usual sheet of A4 paper, to collate the collective CV of Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen.
Their names are synonymous with game-changing albums and must-see global tours.
Dream Theater, Mr Big, Poison and more have benefitted from the expert touch of three consummate professionals.
But it’s what Portnoy, Sheehan and Kotzen are doing now, rather than what they’ve achieved in the past, that’s truly remarkable at a time when the safety net of the norm continues to stifle ambition.
In February the long-awaited III — a fabulous first album in eight years — reinforced The Winery Dogs’ reputation as true rock and roll disruptors.
Sure, it stuck to the blueprint of pairing post-grunge power with nuanced classic rock.
But not for the first time all three band members took the opportunity to creep beyond the comfort zone and collaborate without boundaries.
III Is The Magic Number
Five of III’s tracks featured here in a meandering show that never felt anchored to any semblance of structure.
Gaslight and Xanadu afforded fans an early taste of how the new music might fit into a career-spanning performance.
And it’s testimony to three veteran songwriters still operating at the very top of their game that III’s highlights seamlessly complemented the evening’s deeper cuts.
There was an intuitive, instinctive — and, in truth, occasionally self-indulgent — feel to a 16-song set as the peerless Portnoy led from the back.
And The Winery Dogs’ casually reinforced their reputation as ‘the musician’s musicians’, leaning on minimum chat and maximum flair.
Mining the band’s self-titled debut for no fewer than seven songs felt like a pro move from three individuals well versed in reading the room.
It was difficult to pick fault with a diverse live playlist but a rather tepid version of Time Machine was lucky to make the cut.
Otherwise it was all killer, no filler from a trio that don’t really deal in anything other than diamond cut, modern day classics.
Regret and Elevate wrapped things up — the brief but brilliant encore allowing The Winery Dogs one final, glorious flourish.
New tricks, new memories, new hope. Newcastle’s Riverside had it all.
Images courtesy of Adam Kennedy