The measure of a singer can be found in the offers they get to fill the boots of famous predecessors. Best known as the frontman for Burning Rain- whose guitarist Doug Aldrich should recognise a good singer having worked with the holy trinity of Coverdale, Dio and Hughes- Keith St. John was also asked to fill Sammy Hagar’s boots in latter day incarnations of Montrose, and more recently he was handpicked for the reformed Kingdom Come when Lenny Wolf was not interested in continuing his Robert Plant impressions.

Unfortunately, not being a household name, his UK tour always seemed a bit optimistic especially with so many gigs around and did not wholly go to plan. Indeed this show, originally at the Black Heart, was downgraded to a free show at short notice and moved to ‘The Dev’, one of the venues that make Camden almost the last rock stronghold in London. The advantage of a pub gig was an intimate atmosphere and more scope for comings and goings.

After what seemed like endless sound checking, his acoustic show opened with ‘Rock the Nation’, showcasing that strong and bluesy voice before one of a number of Burning Rain tunes in ‘My Lust Your Fate’ and, appropriately enough a Zeppelin song in ‘Good Times Bad Times’ which had some younger visitors singing along lustily.

Recounting how he spent a time depping in Lynch Mob, he covered their ‘River of Love’ before a classy ‘Shelter’ from the Burning Rain back catalogue, and getting the crowd to sing along to the Whitesnake classic ‘Love Ain’t No Stranger’. He was accompanied by a fellow American in Jack Frost, briefly guitarist in Savatage and various other bands. However, a lack of rehearsals together before undertaking the tour was betrayed by the way the latter appeared at times to be working out the right keys on the fly.

Keith outlined his career in engaging fashion, including how James Kottak had persuaded him to front the reformed Kingdom Come (before with irony departing himself). Now, back in the day I was a defender of KC against the ‘led clones’ insults but as I momentarily confused the verses of ‘Get It On’ with ‘Kashmir’ as it merged seamlessly into a medley with ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’, complete with more singalongs, I began to think Gary Moore and other detractors had a point.

There was a then a very special guest with Jack vacating the second stool for a rather self effacing Myke Gray. The Skin guitarist did however tell an amusing anecdote about how a career criminal left his Dad a box of tapes, and how one with Montrose and Van Halen on each side shifted his musical education from punk into heavy rock.

The level of professionalism increased dramatically as the two duetted on not one, not two but a trio of numbers from that classic Montrose debut in ‘Rock Candy’, ‘Bad Motor Scooter’ and best of all the relative obscurity in ‘Make it Last’. Myke even then tried to teach Keith ‘Tower of Strength’, assisted by vocals from the Skin fans present, before handing back.

After a Burning Rain ballad in ‘Made For Your Heart’, and another Lynch Mob number in ‘Hell Child’, setting a Guinness World record for clichéd lyrics, Keith’s delivery of the KC ballad ‘What Love Can Be’ was a highlight of the set.

However as people began to drift away, understandably on a Monday night, the on stage fare became progressively more ragged. After a cover of ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, half hearted attempts for the audience to lead ‘Here I Go Again’ and ‘Crying in the Rain’ rather fell flat before a final Burning Rain song in ‘Face the Music’, the title track from when he and Doug Aldrich last toured the UK.

Full credit is due to Keith St. John for being one of the declining number of American acts determined to make it across the pond whatever the financial cost. The tour took place in challenging circumstances and technically this was far from a perfect gig but his classic blues rock voice and winning personality made for a fun evening. I’d love to see him back, maybe as part of a wider bill with better-known names.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)