Y&T

Setlist:

Hang 'Em High
Lipstick And Leather
Don't Stop Runnin'
Dirty Girl
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Mean Streak
Lonely Side Of Town
Barroom Boogie
Winds Of Change
Eyes Of A Stranger
Midnight In Tokyo
Hurricane
Rescue Me
Blues Jam
Summertime Girls
I Believe In You
Forever
Beautiful Dreamer (impromptu excerpt at fans request)
Open Fire
Sail On By
Black Tiger

If Y&T frontman Dave Maniketti is not one of the more unsung guitarists and singers from the 80's than I don't know who is. Also very underrated and unrecognized is the bands catalogue of music as their arsenal includes such hard rockin slabs like “Black Tiger” and “Meanstreak”.

Now I'm sure there are those out there who only know Y&T for their radio hit “Summertime Girls” from 1985's “Down for the Count” and was the only good song they had but that couldn't be far from the truth. Long time frontman Dave Maniketti is still joined by original bassist Phil Kennemore as he is the Joe Perry to his Steven Tyler. Original drummer Leonard Haze who initially re joined Y&T a few years ago for touring is no longer in the band replaced by Mike Vanderhule with rhythm guitar by John Nymann who has been touring with the band since they got back together several years ago.

The band got its start in the late 70's when they were originally called Yesterday and Today and release two albums before shortening the name. Tonight at BB's we even got a surprise improvisation at a fans request as he held a small sign in the air for “Beautiful Dreamer” off the self titled debut with Dave Maniketti joking after a verse or so that's all they remembered off the cuff.

Moving along to the 1981 debut Y&T release Earthshaker, they played setlist classics “Dirty Girl”, “Rescue Me”, the ballad “I Believe in You” and headbanger “Hurricane” where on all tracks Mr. Maniketti really got to show what he is made of on the guitar.

I always that he had a unique sound both vocally and playing wise and his chops show no signs of wear after all these years. Just a uniquely fantastic and rich, yet gritty vocal tone as well as sharp guitar sound.

They played for a little over two hours including other great heavy rockers “Open Fire”, ‘Hang em High”, “Forever”, “Mean Streak”, and “Lipstick n Leather” along with another MTV video hit “Don't Stop Runnin”. Also another interesting treat was the inclusion of “Sail on By” which is off an album called “Endangered Species” that was independently released in 1997.

Y&T really should be respected more than they are and appeal perfectly to the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal listener as their music can be both very radio friendly to bluesy and downright headbanging. They are not just another one hit wonder from the 80's and their catalogue transcends just what you hear some DJ playing on radio.