The ’70s and ’80s saw the evolution of a sister genre to rock ‘n’ roll emerge with a rougher approach, a bigger attitude and a much harder musical edge. Think Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, The Scorpions, et al. Pat Travers was a seminal figure in that movement that separated heavy metal from ordinary hard rock back in those days, and he remains an iconic player in the idiom today.
Like many musicians of his generation, Toronto-born Travers casually played guitar as a young teen until seeing Jimi Hendrix in concert, which forever changed his musical persona from that of a part-time strummer to a serious, full-on, electric rock guitar soloist.
In addition to Hendrix, Travers lists his influences as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Paige, among others. “Every one of those guys happened to me and my mind at the very same time,” Travers says.
The eponymous title cut of Travers’ 1979 release “Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights)” is a driving, 5-minute-long up-tempo instrumental escapade that puts on a clinician’s tour of the innards of hard rock guitar playing – distortion-laden chord work punctuated by lengthy heavy metal rides from the group’s two guitar soloists, Travers and lead guitarist Kirk McKim.
Those two enjoy an admirable chemistry, and also collaborate on parallel harmony lead lines throughout at blistering speeds, all with a musical and soloing sensibility that evokes Satriani and Vai.
Most Travers aficionados mark his 1977 Polydor studio effort Putting It Straight as his masterwork, with each cut a great tune, from first to last. Whether doing the hard-driving brisk tempo “Life in London,” or the much slower ’80s-style strut-rock of “Snortin’ Whiskey,” Travers and his band, now four decades in, continue to rip straight-ahead hard rock/metal, coupled with his trademark gravel-ridden blues vocals.
Points North, featuring Whitesnake alum Uriah Duffy, opens.
PAT TRAVERS BAND 9pm Thursday, June 30. Doors open 8pm. Fox Theater, 241 South Main St., Salinas. $15-$25. 758-8459, www.foxtheatersalinas.com
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