Tesla Shines At Night Number Two at The House of Blues

Fresh off two performances on the 2023 Monsters of Rock Cruise, hard rockers Tesla took over the House of Blues in Orlando for two nights, playing to a sold-out audience on Friday, May 5th followed by a nearly sold-out show on Saturday, May 6th. I attended the Saturday show with a good friend and concert photography mentor, whose behind the lens Jedi skills have earned him the nickname Lord Nikon.

We had a spirited and entertaining music-related conversation enroute to the venue based around the two Tesla shows I had just seen onboard the cruise and how well they were attended.

Well that carried over to their two dates at the HOB as Friday was sold out and from the looks of the line on Saturday when we arrived, this was the case again or darn close.

Opening for Tesla was Kurt Deimer and sadly, I was not able to enter in time to take photos of him and his band but something he mentioned in between the songs caught my attention. His spoken introduction to a song written during Covid questioned why everyone was so hateful towards each other? His point was that we should all be nice to each other.

My thought was that this should not have to be kept being said in the world today, it should be an unspoken rule. The band covered “Have A Cigar” by Pink Floyd and that was the song of theirs that stood out to me.

 Fastest Land Animal was up next and I noted they had a twin guitar attack just like our headliners for the evening. I thought their sound had some solid rhythms and grooves and at least two of their songs after my time down in the photo pit had my head nodding to some crunchy riffs and leads.

Singer “Screamin” Jack Novack tossed out tambourines to fans at various areas of the crowd and had them join in on creating the band’s sound. I had noticed the pile of tambourines stacked around a microphone stand and wish that would have happened earlier in their set, as I can picture tambourines flying in my photos.

 In the minutes leading up to the main event for the evening, I took note of how much the crowd was singing along with the in-between set songs. From what I experienced from varying locations around the venue for Tesla’s set, the sing along never stopped, if anything it only got louder and more people joined in. The crowd was also multi-generational with grandparents and parents bringing their young ones to the show who were also singing their lungs out. Its pretty special sight to see and realize that kids are enjoying rock and just not pop music these days.

This would be my fourteenth time seeing Tesla and the third time in the past six days as I was one of the lucky ones to have sailed on this year’s Monsters on Rock Cruise.

This is a band that I have been a fan of since my discovery of their music with their debut release “Mechanical Resonance” back when MTV played music videos. My first time seeing them live was in 1989 and this (as well as every other prior show of theirs) is a stroll down memory lane for me. I appreciate their straight-up solid rock n roll with no frills – combined with the passion of each band member’s delivery and interaction with the fans.

Lord Nikon and I both mentioned after the show how there was very little chit chat in between songs, and not as a slight to talk to us in attendance, it was more to fit sixteen songs into a ninety minute time slot. I would venture to say that every song played this evening was the favorite song of someone in attendance as I saw continual evidence of air guitars, air drums and many people putting their head back to try and hit the same note and length as lead singer Jeff Keith.

I shared the photo pit with a trio of incredibly skilled photographers who I am thankful to also call friends. We had plenty of room to move around during our three-song allotment as Tesla brought the crowd to a roar starting off with “Change in the Weather” and then rolling right into their gateway song for me, “Modern Day Cowboy.” Our last song up front was “Time to Rock” and I was thankful we had beautiful lights to work with and very little piped in smoke.

After my time down front I made my way up to the balcony hoping to find a decent view of the band but with the crowd as full as it was, that proved to be a challenge. I was over in the corner near one of the stage lights and became quick friends with a group of people who were rotating out those in their group to the balcony rail.

One of them noticed my media credential around my neck and asked if I had gotten any good shots? I replied “absolutely!” I showed a couple of photos that I had already copied to my phone and then they put me in their rotation club in exchange for me taking their family photo after the show. I got to experience another perfect unobstructed view of these rock titans that I grew up with.

As the set list progressed and “The Way It Is” hit my ears, I closed my eyes for a few moments of self-reflection. These songs take me back to life events that have such thought provoking emotion within me and to where I once was. I then opened my eyes and appreciate where life has taken me and joined the crowd in the sing along.

I would say the exact same thing for the song “What You Give”, but it was my turn at the rail and with this view, there would be no eyes closed reflecting on my past.

During “Miles Away” which was a late addition to the set, the twin guitar attack of Frank Hannon and Dave Rude, and bassist Brian Wheat and drummer Steve Brown holding down the rhythm section, the band sounded as crisp ever.

After “Miles Away,” Tesla segued into the fabulously gut-wrenching “Love Song.” To quote an old Sam Kinison joke, this is the song that makes you think about the girl that broke your heart and made you say “…make that TWO fifths of Jack Daniels!” For the third time in the past six days I am man enough to say that hearing this song live gave me goosebumps.

After tearing our hearts out with what truly is a beautiful love song, “Little Suzi” brought the crowd’s feet back to life and brought the main set to an end with a roar of approval from the crowd. The band concluded the evening with their famous rendition of “Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band and truly brought the evening and their two night stint to a fantastic conclusion.

With how strong this band is live they truly are still kicking ass and I encourage anyone and everyone to go and see them live at least once. I can adamantly say I look forward to whenever the future brings me my fifteenth Tesla show. I did end up taking the family photo for the gracious group and they were a lot of fun to rock out with. I hope they do end up using that picture as the family Christmas card photo.

Tesla will be back on the road after taking a brief break with tour dates all over the country.

For a list and additional info on the band, head to https://teslatheband.com/tour/

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Tesla set list for Friday, May 5th 2023:

Lady Luck

Modern Day Cowboy

Hang Tough

Time to Rock

Heavens Trail (No Way Out)

Miles Away

Changes

Were No Good Together

Love Me

Call It What You Want

What You Give

Song & Emotion

Edison’s Medicine (Man Out of Time)

Love Song

Little Suzi (Ph.D. cover)

Encore:

Signs (Five Man Electrical Band cover)

Tesla set list for Saturday, May 6th 2023:

Change in the Weather

Modern Day Cowboy

Time to Rock

Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)

The Way It Is

Shine Away

Changes

Pvt. Ledbetter

Lazy Days, Crazy Nights

Love Me

Call It What You Want

What You Give

Miles Away

Love Song

Little Suzi (Ph.D. cover)

Encore:

Signs (Five Man Electrical Band cover)