The Dead Daisies (w/ Hookers & Blow) @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre (Toronto, ON) on August 24, 2018 [Photos & Show Review]

The Dead Daisies are a rock n’ roll band thriving in an era where rock n’ roll is being proclaimed as a non-entity. Brought to life in 2013 by Australian rocker David Lowy (Red Phoenix, Mink) the current Dead Daisies lineup features guitarist Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio), singer John Corabi (Mötley Crüe, The Scream), bassist Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake), drummer Deen Castronovo (Journey, Bad English, Hardline), and Lowy, the only original member left in the band.

For the first few years, the band’s turnover of personnel reads like a revolving door of celebrity musicians, but recent years have seen the lineup solidify into something that feels more permanent with only one member switch; drummer Deen Castronovo stepping in after the departure of Brian Tichy. The Dead Daisies already boast four studio albums, some EPs and a live album, all released in the last five years. Their studio output, mixed in with the band’s eagerness to tour has organically, brought the group into the limelight across the globe. Their fourth studio album Burn It Down (released earlier this year) brings the band back through North America once again, with Canadian stops in London, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal included on this current run of dates.

Check out the video for “Dead and Gone” from Burn It Down below.

This day marked a first for Toronto, with the Dead Daisies doing an intimate six-song live set (that they have been doing in earnest, calling the performances Daisyland) upstairs at Steve’s Music Toronto for a small group of attendees. The band performed three original tracks along with three covers, before stepping out into the store to mingle with attendees posing for photographs and signing autographs.

The show at The Phoenix was opened by Dizzy Reed (an ex-member of The Dead Daisies, along with Guns N’ Roses) who performed with his new band, Hookers & Blow. Original new material along with some Guns N’ Roses classics was finely performed this evening to a hot reception from the Toronto audience.

The album Burn It Down was released on April 6th, 2018.

The Dead Daisies took the stage at 10:30 and delivered a powerhouse live performance that lasted just over an hour and a half. New material along with some tracks pulled forward from their earlier albums were mixed in with an assortment of fantastic cover versions, making this evening feel pretty special. While The Dead Daisies fall into the category of a relatively new band, the players in the band obviously do not.

Watching the Dead Daisies perform is like watching a thirty-year-strong band perform. Their performances are rife with wild guitar licks; drool-worthy drum solos; killer bass-lines and powerhouse vocals , all delivered with wild abandon. Anyone that enjoys a good rock n’ roll show NEEDS to put a Dead Daisies performance onto their wish list. For only forty dollars, everyone in the room last night got to see a hundred dollar show.

The Dead Daisies’ Setlist:

01. Resurrected
02. Rise Up
03. Make Some Noise
04. Song and a Prayer
05. Dead and Gone
06. What Goes Around
07. With You and I
08. Last Time I Saw the Sun
*Drum Solo*
09. Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
10. Devil Out of Time
11. Highway to Hell/Rock and Roll All Nite/The Boys Are Back in Town /Smoke on the Water /Heaven and Hell
12. Leave Me Alone
13. Bitch (The Rolling Stones cover)
14. Mexico
15. Long Way to Go
16. We’re an American Band (Grand Funk Railroad cover)
Encore:
17. Midnight Moses(The Sensational Alex Harvey Band cover)
18. Highway Star