M3 Rock Festival continued on Sunday with New York’s Spread Eagle joining the festival for the very first time. As they tour in celebration of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the band’s debut album, they were a welcome addition to the Sunday line-up. The band consists of frontman Ray West who could be found leaping around the stage in the early afternoon times slot while most of us were still hitting the caffeine to recover from the previous evening, guitarist Jommy Puledda who is the most recent addition to the band, dummer Rik DeLuca and bassist Rob DeLuca.
Self-described as “pure NYC streetmetal,” the band’s most recent video “Subway to the Stars,” literally takes you to their city, but this week they will be hitting the road with stops in Ohio and my city, Pittsburgh, PA. Unfortunately, we will not be in town for their local show at The Smiling Moose on Sunday, but we encourage our local followers to stop out. The tour continues with dates in the UK this August and September with Warrior Soul.
Vixen was up next and received an introduction from Tommy London of Sirius XM who was accosted by pro-wrestler Robby Vegas in jest. Honestly, he was a bit easier on him than the venue security was later during the show…and while we know that they were only doing their job to keep the right people in the right seats throughout the weekend, their policing of people who simply wanted to grab a quick photo or visit with a friend seemed a bit over the top and quite frankly unnecessarily rude, leaving many fans upset.
The lovely ladies of Vixen took the stage soon after to the tune of Jimmy Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” with their newly revamped line-up now featuring Tran-Siberian Orchestra’s Rosa Laricchiuta on lead vocals. She joins drummer Roxy Petrucci, guitarist Britt Lightning, bassist Julia Lage, and their multi-talented keyboard player Tyson Leslie.
The band was fierce as ever. We always enjoy watching these girls (and guy) perform and can’t wait to see what they are wearing to be truthful. Being a huge Whitesnake fan, I absolutely love how they’ve extended “I Want You to Rock Me,” with a medley that includes “Still of the Night.” It is always a highlight.
The day continued with more girl power as Lita Ford took the stage adorned from head to toe in her signature red and sounded as amazing as ever. She was joined by Patrick Kennison on guitar and vocals, Marten Andersson on bass and Bobby Rock on drums. The set focused on her solo hits and also included the “Close My Eyes Forever” duet with Patrick which was made famous by Lita’s performance with Ozzy Osbourne and the Runaway’s classic “Cherry Bomb.”
As a special bonus, later that evening Patrick could be found joining fans Joe Bagnato and Sarah Boyer during karaoke in the Merriweather Lakehouse ballroom for an encore of “Close My Eyes Forever,” which we know just meant everything those fans. And, as an added bonus, he shared some of his jokes with a group of us Monsters of Rock Cruise alumni who missed his Punchlines & Backlines comedy show appearance on the 2025 sailing.
Great White took the stage next with frontman Brett Carlisle bringing his usual energy, and the band delivering their usual hits. The only departure was a pause to sing happy birthday to guitarist Mark Kendall, who celebrated his 68th birthday on April 29th. The band includes long-time members Scott Snyder on bass, Michael Lardie on keyboards and guitar, and Audie Desbrow on drums.
As I longtime fan, I’m thankful that the music lives on despite the passing of Jack Russell last August, and having seen the rotation of frontman who tried to fill that void long before he died, we are thrilled that Brett has found his home with Great White as he delivers the bluesy rock songs with the emotion they deserve.
Warrant’s set was one of our favorites. We were so excited to have Jerry Dixon in check for the show as we hadn’t seen him in years, and while we love Robby Crane as the substitute, Jerry brings a different energy to the band when lines up his mic stand next to partner in crime Erik Turner. They were of course joined by Joey Allen on guitar, Steven Sweet on drums, and frontman Robert Mason.
The energy was intoxicating and the fans were in full force by the time these guys hit the stage. From the ballads like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” to the rockers like “Cherry Pie,” we ate it all up.
Ace Frehley is one artist that we had never seen live back in “the day” but with on of our favorite Pittsburgh natives Randy Meullier running sound now, we’ve caught quite a few shows this past year. This was by far the largest audience we’ve seen and the band’s performance was just what the crowd needed to warm them up for the finale of Ratt classics.
Ace is touring in support of his latest release 10,000 Bolts which was produced by Steve Brown of Trixter who also performed the album’s title track at the official pre-party and the previous night’s after party. And, his band features Jeremy Asbrock on guitar, Scot Coogan on drums, and Ryan Spencer Cook on bass. The bonus of having such a talented band to back him is that they can and do take over on lead vocals throughout the show and at one point Coogan even belted out a big of Led Zeppelin.
Stephen Pearcy who has been performing as a solo artist at M3 Rock Festivals of year’s past, brought us a very special treat this year, making the festival one of his first performances with former Ratt bandmate Warren DeMartini. Warren’s fretwork was the talk of the festival, and the reunion coined simply as Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini was definitely a highlight for many. What seemed to take the majority by surprise was that the due were joined by and all-star band featuring Carlos Cavazo (Hurricane) on guitar, Blas Elias (Slaughter, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) on drums and Matt Thorne on bass (Rough Cutt). As some may recall Carlos had joined in another Ratt reunion on the Monsters of Rock Cruise ‘Monsterwood’ sailing back in 2016, Blas has been performing on drums in Stephen’s solo band since Scot Coogan began playing with Ace Frehley again, and Matt has also been on the road with Stephen’s solo band and is known for co-writing the cut “Back for More.” So, the line-up was solid, rehearsed, and truly something to watch.
The line-up allowed for the resurrection of some deeper cuts like “Givin’ Yourself Away” and “Over the Edge,” along with the usual suspects like “Way Cool Jr.” and “Round and Round.” We hope to see more of the duo and their band this summer as they continue to add dates.
Review and photos by Kara Uhrlen for The Pure Rock Shop. Posted on 5/14/2025
Related Content: M3 Pre-Party, M3 Day 1, M3 Day 2