Tag: TESLA

Psychedelic Lunch

Welcome to our “Psychedelic Lunch” series where we find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes and explore music from the 60’s to today. Weekdays At Noon EST. Enjoy the trip!

They are named after scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla. The band tried to raise the profile of Tesla by giving the Smithsonian Institute a bust of the scientist, which they rejected.

A Tesla is a unit of magnetic flux. Many of us learn this in Physics class but none of us remembers it.

The band broke up in 1995, they got back together in 2000.

They formed in Sacramento, California. A disk jockey there helped get them back together to tour after they broke up.

Skeoch had drug problems and was the first to leave the band. The other members broke up shortly after.

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Influences And Recollections of a Musical Mind

Written By Braddon S. Williams

Tesla: Mechanical Resonance

Tesla always got unfairly labeled as a glam or hair metal band, when they were actually much more of a throwback to the hard rock of the 1970’s.

Mechanical Resonance (1986), was a great collection of songs with plenty of fiery lead guitar work from Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch, a granite heavy rhythm section comprised of Brian Wheat on bass and Troy Lucketta on drums, and the charismatic and perpetually happy Jeff Keith on lead vocals. The songs on Mechanical Resonance were full of riffs that were influenced by Led Zeppelin, UFO, AC/DC and Montrose. Furthermore, these guys weren’t wearing spandex or sporting big hair like so many of their peers. I first heard them via the video for Modern Day Cowboy on MTV’s original Headbanger’s Ball and immediately bought the album.

Other bangers on their debut included Little Suzi, Cumin’ Atcha Live, Getting Better, 2 Late 4 Love, EZ Come EZ Go, and We’re No Good Together.

I saw them at the height of their popularity, and once again at a club when they reunited in the early 2000’s and Tesla were dependably energetic and rock solid both times.

Great band for certain!

https://youtu.be/jGkBFIw5iMk

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On This Day in History

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On this date in history, I saw Tesla in 2001 at The Vogue nightclub in Broad Ripple. They had been on hiatus for 6 years and had returned to touring in 2000. I had seen them once before in their hayday, opening for Poison. Seeing them headline in an intimate club setting was excellent, and it was evident that they had rekindled their passion for performing during their time away.

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There was a sense of playful camaraderie among the band members on stage that helped feed the audience to musician exchange that is so integral to great live music. I don’t recall them playing anything new, but they pulled out all their best stuff and had everyone singing along and dancing in their seats.

My only complaint was the choice of a local metal band as the opener. Normally, I’m all about diversity, but this band (who I believe was called Scar) just didn’t fit the vibe that Tesla projects. It’s not that they were bad musically, but they played all original stuff that basically only their friends and fans would recognize. The rest of us had to patiently wait for Tesla. Good thing for us, Tesla was worth the wait…killer band, killer tunes, killer show!

Written By Braddon S. Williams

TESLA – “Live in the USA” – 2001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB8CmM2NHfQ

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