Simon RushworthLita Ford headed back to her hometown for a ‘Girls’ Night Out’ with Vixen and Bobbie Dazzle. Rushonrock editor Simon Rushworth reports on an evening of supercharged soft rock… and an emotional tribute to the late, great Ozzy Osbourne.
Close My Eyes Forever is a timely tear-jerker
When Lita Ford signed with Sharon Osbourne Management in the mid 80s it might just have been the best career move the former Runaway ever made. Ozzy’s better half whipped label bosses into a frenzy, helped shape an MTV-ready pop rock rebrand and opened the door to one of hair metal’s deadliest duets. Ford’s self-titled 1988 album may be best known for the ultimate kick-ass rocker Kiss Me Deadly but it also spawned the Londoner’s biggest Billboard hit. Close My Eyes Forever breached the top 10 as Ford and Ozzy Osbourne connected on a creative and emotional level, and just days after the latter passed away this classy ballad doubled up as a moving tribute to the Prince Of Darkness. There was barely a dry eye in the house as Ford paid a full and heartfelt tribute to her much-missed friend and mentor.
Ford motors through hometown set
Lita Ford hadn’t even turned 10 by the time her parents swapped London for Long Beach, California but the self-confessed Anglophile has always had a soft spot for her country of birth. And the 66-year-old poured her heart and soul into a 13-song set dominated by crowd-favourite covers and a quartet of classics from 1988’s platinum-selling Lita. Kiss Me Deadly — comfortably one of the top five singles of the hair metal era — Close My Eyes Forever, Can’t Catch Me and Back To The Cave all benefitted from a typically robust Bobby Rock masterclass. The veteran drummer overcame problems with his in-ear monitors to set the pace and drive the tempo before Ford assembled an all-star cast to cover Runaways standard Cherry Bomb. Vixen and Bobbie Dazzle joined the beaming headliner for a rock and roll jam screaming girl power from start to finish: a thrilling glimpse of the past, present and future proved to be an inevitable highlight.
The new voice of Vixen is one foxy lady
With all due respect to Janet Garder and the flamboyant face of Femme Fatale, Lorraine Lewis, Vixen has never sounded so good. Why? Rosa Laricchiuta was born to belt out hair metal standards Edge Of A Broken Heart, Cryin’ and Love Is A Killer — the French-Canadian singer nailed the performance of the night as Vixen frequently threatened to upstage Ford with a set tighter than Roxy Petrucci’s spandex. The Michigan native might be the last woman standing from the band’s late 80s commercial heyday but a series of smart appointments means Vixen’s legacy’s never been in safer hands. Six-stringer Britt Lightning’s closing in on a decade shredding for one of hair metal’s ultimate guilty pleasures and Brazilian bassist Julia Lage brings the swagger to a super-cool quartet. Pin-sharp versions of How Much Love and Rev It Up resonated with a crowd plucked from the Marquee circa 1989 but neither topped a steepling six-track medley including Perfect Strangers, Still Of The Night and a suitably foxy take on War Pigs.
Bobbie Dazzle is the future of homegrown glam rock
Fresh from witnessing Bobbie Dazzle heat up Alice Cooper’s Edinburgh crowd, Rushonrock was ready for more. And 24 hours on from an assured set north of the border, the best new band of the year was at it again with more retro-fuelled fun and games to kick off Lita Ford’s Girls Night Out. Frontwoman Bobbie just gets better and better — matching shiny catsuits with shoot-to-thrill chorus-driven bangers echoing the giants of the late 70s glam rock scene. A brilliant rendition of Abba’s Watch Out — the blistering B-side from current single Spotlight — forced the Lita Ford fans and Vixen devotees alike to sit up and take notice. And come thunderous set closer Lightning Fantasy those late to the party were left wishing they’d turned up on time. Bobbie Dazzle hot the road with Luke Morley in September: don’t sleep on the standout sound of 2025.