The Preakness in Maryland is a yearly tradition that's known for 2 things: Horse Racing & Heavy Alcohol Consumption! When the Preakness committee announced that the 2009 Preakness would NOT allow patrons to bring in their own alcohol, the initial response was mixed & to really change things up a bit, the Infield at Preakness was going to have a concert stage & the concert stage was to feature Classic Rock Icons ZZ Top, Buckcherry & Baltimore's own Charm City Devils! It was actually quite interesting if you analyzed the bill they put together...you had Charm City Devils which is a brand new band that's just starting to make it's mark in the music world outside of Maryland, you had Buckcherry who have been together for more than 10 years, toured the world numerous times, had several hit singles, & then you had the legends, ZZ Top, who have been around for atleast 3 decades, has a huge fan base, countless hits, & they are in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame! It was an interesting billing that covered 3 era's of Rock N Roll when you looked at it for what it was!

The day started off dreary, the clouds were a mix of purple & gray & depending on the direction you were heading to Preakness from, there was a random sprinkle of rain here & there when the gates of Preakness opened at 8 AM. When we got to Pimlico the worst part of the day began...trying to find a parking space & HOPING your car would be safe...to anyone who's not familiar with the area, Pimlico is in Park Heights & that is without a doubt, one of the worst neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland! I will give it to the Baltimore Police Department though, they were out in full force, making sure the patrons of Pimlico were safe & not taken advantage of by opportunistic locals seeking to make a fast buck by conning naive people out of their cash. For all the hype that IS Preakness, when we walked through the gates a little after 8 AM there was not as many people as I'd expected to be there, the Infield was not too crowded, you had the beer drinkers taking advantage of the $1 beer special which ran from 8 AM - 11 AM...they basically cut off the cheap beers shortly before the live music started!

Charm City Devils kicked the concert stage off just around 12 PM & what I noticed immediately about the band was that they'd tightened up their game, tweaked a few little things, they were sporting a brand new drum set, & out of all the times I've seen Charm City Devils, this is probably the biggest stage I'd seen them on & they totally rocked it stadium style on the large outdoor stage! The best way I can describe the bands performance is, if you've ever seen when Motley Crue played the U.S. Festival, there's a killer bootleg of that show out there, but the band was in their prime, it was vintage "Shout at the Devil" era, & Motley were young, hungry & tore that stage up....that's exactly how Charm City Devils were at Preakness! John Allen was jumping on top of the speaker cabinets, demanding attention on the stage, while drummer Jason twirled his sticks & never missed a beat! Charm City Devils added "Burn" back into their set for this show & I've got to be honest, "Burn" is one of those songs that's short, fast & to the point...it kicks your ass with a mix of attitude & energy! The bands set closed with the first single off their debut record, "Let's Rock N Roll" & it was pretty damn sweet to see & hear the crowd sing along to the chorus! Charm City Devils kicked the day of pretty damn good & after the next race California's own Buckcherry took the stage!

Josh Todd has always had a unique style, fashion wise...I swear I saw the same jeans he wore at this show at H&M, he sported an Aunt Jemima styled rag on his head & the thing I noticed point blank was that he was wearing a pair of Van's KISS "Dressed to Kill" shoes! Keith Nelson was sporting some new facial hair & was dressed kinda similar to how the New York Dolls dress these days & Stevie was sporting a Jimi Hendrix denim jacket! Buckcherry played a strong 8 song set & the only song they played off the debut record was "Lit Up" which was the 3rd song in the bands set...the bulk of the bands set was stuff off their last 2 records.."So Far", "Sorry" & the shows closer, "Crazy Bitch" all from the "15" record were played & "Rescue Me" & "Too Drunk" from "Black Butterfly" were also played. Buckcherry's set was amazing, I was bummed they only played 8 songs, they could have easily played a 2 hour set, but they wrapped their set up pretty good, they covered alot of ground & when they left that stage, that meant the next horse race was about to begin!

Now the concert stage was starting to fill in & it kinda made sense if you think about it....the Preakness Infield is primarily an older crowd, & the classic rock fans flocked to the stage to see ZZ Top pretty darn fast! ZZ Top played just around an hour, they covered all the hits & my personal favorite of the day was the slide guitar driven "Just Got Paid". "La Grange" & "Tush" were the days closers & what I did notice right away that kinda made me laugh was, Billy F. Gibbons, lead guitarist for ZZ Top, is seriously starting to look, atleast in stature & physical build, he's looking alot like Mick Mars from Motley Crue! I don't mean that as an insult, but it is the God's honest truth, both Mick Mars & Billy Gibbons have a very thin frame, they play the hell out of their guitars, but they come off like a Grandfather on stage...the main difference between those 2 though are the obvious Beard on Billy & Mick's long black hair, but regardless, the similarities ARE there! ZZ Top's set ended around 3 PM & on a side stage Derrick St. Holmes, original member of the Ted Nugent band & the guy who sang "Strangle Hold", his solo band played a short set near the 98 Rock booth, I saw Derrick setting his gear up, but we left Pimlico shortly after watching some Sumo Wrestling hosted by another local radio station & to be totally honest with you, it was a smart bet to leave early if you could, because Preakness was jam packed, all the roads leading to Pimlico were swamped, so to say we were glad to leave early & beat the traffic was an understatement! I won't lie, I didn't give a shit about the horse racing, I wanted to see the party that is Infield, see the bands kick ass & have a fun time...when I left the event my first thought was, "I Will NEVER attend Preakness again!" because logistically, it's in the wrong part of Baltimore, it's a mess traffic wise, the parking situation SUCKS & the actual parking lots for Pimlico are hard to find, hard to figure out because each lot is for different sections...I saw one lot that was $75 to valet park in, there was another lot that was $45 & then you have the opportunist's that live in the area who try to pimp their driveways for $30 a pop as well as selling various foot items....the actual event was fun, but the crap you have to go through to get in & out of the area kind of kills the fun aspect of things. I want to personally thank Chelsea for all her help with this piece...without her this piece would not have been possible..thank you, I Love you! <3

Tags: bob suehs, Buckcherry, Charm City Devils, Preakness, ZZ Top