Have You Ever Heard of BASH FEST?
I’ve never heard of it before, but nearly everyone who was at the Yost Theatre in Santa Ana on the 18th of January seemed to. It was previously called the California Music Festival, but BASH FEST sounds much cooler! (I think so) First thing, the Yost Theatre, where they held BASH FEST 2017 for 3-days straight, is a pretty cool venue. The building is reminiscent of those old theaters, around the turn of the 20th century, that could be found tucked in-between a row of buildings, somewhere off of Main St. We weren’t there for the history of the building; we were there TO ROCK!!!
And the opening band did just that. These guys looked like 5 leather-clad psycho’s ready to destroy that stage! The guitarist was destroying that guitar! That guy can play…not to take away anything from the other musicians; the entire band was tight and performing at their peak. These guys weren’t billed for the show, so I’m sorry to say I don’t know their name. They were just the teaser…the first part of the night, “Neil and Michaels Metal Jam,” was a metal fest of high-caliber rockers from bands like Megadeth, DIO, Anthrax, and many more! I believe it was over 50 musicians that Brian Tichy and Joe Sutton Productions landed for this massive show? My ears were ringing BEFORE I left the building that night, and BOY was it worth it. I could only imagine the headache it was trying to organize it, and for how daunting of a task it was, they flowed rather seamlessly in the transitions. There are WAY too many musicians and bands that were represented there that I will refer you to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nammmetaljam for more details.
After the flow of 50+ musicians was over, another band took the stage, beginning a tribute, “A Farewell To Kings: 4 Decades of Rush,” to finish out the night. With a house band starting it off and a plethora of musicians flowing in and out all evening; drummers, singers, guitarists, keys, and yes…even bassists, with some energetic musicians switching instruments throughout the night. If you closed you eyes, it felt like Rush, but when you opened them, you knew you weren’t in Canada; you were in Southern California and the Yost Theatre was entertaining you with more musicians than should be legally allowed in one venue.
Big Jon / BackStage360
