There are very few rock stars anymore. Sure, there are great singers and frontmen, but authentic animal magnetism, real danger, excess, carnality, lustful virility, and raw sexuality are nearly extinct. Not for Buckcherry, and their randy rock star frontman, the tatted, masculine, vulgar, sweaty ball of energy, Josh Todd —the most “real,” authentic, edgy, and macho star since AC/DC’s Bon Scott prowled stages across the globe in the 1970s.
Buckcherry played a stadium-sized, old-fashioned, decadent, sweaty, loud rock show with all the trimmings on this crisp autumn evening, at the decidedly rock n’ roll club, the earthy Pop’s Nightclub and Concert Venue across the river.
Formed in the late 1990s (first as Sparrow), Buckcherry has never tried to reinvent the wheel. They are what they are, and what they are is a classic, down-and-dirty, raw rock band that not only sings and writes songs about sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, but seems to live it, especially singer Josh Todd. The tattooed, lithe, bare-chested Todd was in constant motion–dancing, jumping, playing tambourine, ripping off his shirt, and engaging in saucy, adult banter and lascivious moves. And, his voice is the same Marlboro, whisky-drenched, raspy bark that launched the band to stardom back in LA in 1997-98, and on their 1999 powerhouse, self-titled major label debut.
The band wasted no time hitting the stage like a hurricane of decadence and fury, and launched into “Lit Up,” the smash first hit single from their 1999 self-titled debut. Clad in his trademark black and red bandana, an AC/DC black T-shirt, a black jacket, black tape over his fingers, and dark jeans, Todd has “it,” and the women lapped it up, and the guys wanted to be him. And, it was full throttle, pedal to the metal, party time, and buck naked from there until the end. The band’s energy was infectious, spreading to the audience and keeping the momentum chugging along.
Next, they crashed immediately into the latest album’s title track, “Roar Like Thunder (2025, Round Hill Records),” the double-time, AC/DC-ish, hard-charging rocker that has as much nitro-charged funny car fuel as anything they did in the 1990s. Again, the band hasn’t messed with its original formula, and that’s why they’re a dependable, real rock band with a loyal, diehard fanbase. From the sounds and looks of the crowd, many seemed to know this newish track, and they lent their ears and screams to the chorus.
The band, bassist/vocalist/journeyman, Kelly Thomas LeMieux, drummer, and heartbeat Francis Ruiz, guitarist, vocalist Stevie D, and vocalist, rhythm guitarist, Billy Rowe, provided the musical bed for Josh Todd’s rasp and vocal venom, gymnastic elasticity, and vigor. LeMieux’s and Stevie D’s backing vocals added more heft and punch to Todd’s vocal deliveries, especially on the choruses, helping deliver a dense, saturated live sound that punched you in the gut and rumbled in your belly. Yes, those are good things, but only in this context.
The band didn’t slow down and kept the momentum chugging along. They next lit into “So Hott” and the randy rocker, “Somebody Fucked With Me.” It wasn’t until their twelfth song, and only real power ballad, the successful single entitled “Sorry,” that the band slowed down the runaway train. Before beginning the intro, Todd addressed the crowd again: “Believe it or not, this next song (“Sorry”) was a bigger hit than ‘Crazy Bitch.” Even when it’s a ballad, Todd’s voice is rough and ready, even in the more tender passages, and singing it bare-chested and drenched with sweat and pheromones doesn’t tenderize the ballad the way it would in the hands of some lesser generic 1980s hair band.
During the sleaze rocker, the self-explanatory “Porno Star,” or the tale of self-described excess and debauchery, and second to last song, “Blackout,” Todd asked the crowd: “Do we have any blackout drinkers here?” “Have you ever drunk so much you can’t remember what you did last night?” With some rock stars, that’s just cliched banter, but with Todd and Buckcherry fans, that’s a real question.
And then, it was time to enter the final stretch of the night and leave their heads ringing. The band concluded with an extended medley of their ode and anthem to the crazy members of the fairer sex, “Crazy Bitch,” from their successful, third studio album release, 2006’s 15. They began the song, then segued into three different “cover” sections, including Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie,” Donna Summer’s disco hit, “Bad Girl,” and appropriately, Ike and Tina Turner’s version of CCR’s “Proud Mary,” and back to the original.
The crowd of mature and newer fans dug it with a shovel, and their performance demonstrated why rock n’ roll will never die. As long as there are tattooed bad boys, hot chicks, lust, loud guitars, and fast cars, Buckcherry will continue to rock the free world. It’s not rocket science, it’s just rock n’ roll.
