Look Around And Open Your Eyes: Artpark

As summer is starting to wind down, there are still good shows to be had if your patient enough to “look around and open your eyes.” No pun intended, but those lyrics were penned by the band Tesla. That same band Tesla is currently on their “Keeping It Real” tour. Tesla along with Kurt Deimer and Stretch played Artpark this past Wednesday night.

Opening the show was a band called Stretch. The band hails from Kansas City, and I can say it was a very interesting set. They combine a lot of different elements of music, but I would say the two main elements are shock rock and punk. Their half-hour set had a lot of stage props, including tossing mini Slim Jim’s into the audience. They have a new album titled ‘Carnivore of Chaos,’ and the title track was the main feature of their set. The show reminded me if GWAR met Rip Taylor and had a baby.

Next up was Kurt Deimer. You may know Deimer as an actor from the 2018 release of “Halloween.” He is also in another film that is getting ready to be released called “Scared to Death.” When Deimer took to the stage, there was a montage of video clips from his acting career. He did mention that he wanted to get back to his music a few songs into his set. The 10-song set comprised of all originals and one cover of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar.” “Hero” and “Fight” seemed to go over well with the crowd.

One of the most underrated bands to come out of the 80’s rock scene was Tesla. 38 years later, the band is still releasing new music and touring around the world. According to guitarist Frank Hannon, the band will be releasing a new EP later this year. Besides Hannon, the 2024 version of Tesla is comprised of original members Jeff Keith (vocals) and Brian Wheat (bass), along with Dave Rude on rhythm guitar and Steve Brown (drums).

The band came out with a kickass attitude as they delivered “Rock Me to the Top” off of the first record, ‘Mechanical Resonance.’ They stuck with the same record as they did one of my favorite Tesla tracks in “Modern Day Cowboy.” A brand new song called “All About Love” was played and sounded just like you would expect a Tesla song to sound like. This will be one of the songs on the upcoming EP. A cool cover of the James Gang classic ‘Walk Away” was played, which Tesla recorded for their Volume 1 Real to Reel record back in 2007. The title track to their 2008 release “Forever More” was belted out next.

Keith’s vocals were on point, and he sounded fantastic throughout the entire performance! A cool song that was dusted off within the past few years called “Love Me” (which is also off of the 1st album) has been getting its due and I think was one of the standout tracks in their set. I hope it can find its way permanently into the set. A brand new song that was never played live (I believe) until the show in Lewiston, NY, was a song called “From the Heart.” It was an instrumental and acoustic number that both Hannon and Rude performed. That will also be on the new EP. From that, they segued into “Love Song.” They closed the show with a kickass version of “Little Suzi” and everyone’s favorite sing-along in “Signs.”

The band was tight, and Keith’s voice sounded better than ever. They had a great balance of new and old within the setlist to give everyone a nice retrospective of the band's career. They show no signs of slowing down, and as stated earlier, look for a new EP from Tesla later this year.