stonestour Blog and Journals

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California – All-star rock project Camp Freddy tore it up in front of a star-studded, capacity crowd at The Roxy Theatre on Thursday night as part of their five-week residency at the venue, and Buzznet caught up with the band's drummer.

"These five shows are way to bring rock 'n' roll back to the Sunset Strip," Camp Freddy (and Velvet Revolver) drummer Matt Sorum told Buzznet about the residency. "We've got some new-wave artists. It's very diverse, it's not about what music you play, we've got rappers, people try to put too many tags and names on things, it's music you know, I dig music."

Before the core of Camp Freddy – Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction), Billy Morrison (The Cult), (Velvet Revolver), Donovan Leitch, (son of singer Donovan), Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction) and Sorum – took the stage, the audience was treated to a sexy 15 minutes from Darling Stilettos, a dance troupe co-produced by Sorum and his girlfriend. It was the perfect warm-up for the rock 'n' roll madness that was about to begin.

From the opening notes to the closing number, last night was a nonstop parade of guest vocalists and musicians jamming on classic cover tunes. Guest vocalists included Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Terri Nunn (Berlin), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and Corey Parks (Nashville Pussy).

[Click the picture to view more from the show.]

One of the biggest surprises of the evening was Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), who took the stage shirtless and belted out "Them Bones" by Alice in Chains. Taylor – who has peformed with Alice in recent years – looked around the stage, with Cantrell on his left, and laughed, "Can I just say that this is the most surreal moment of my entire f---ing life!" Taylor then asked if anyone had heard of a band called Free (a British rock group that was big in the '70s) and launched into one of the best versions I've heard of "Alright Now."

Camp Freddy primarily revolve around their lead vocalists, but that didn't stop drummers Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Budgie (Siouxsie and The Banshees), from making use of the extra drum kit onstage, giving the crowd two, sometimes three, percussionists performing at one time. Throw in a little Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard), Mike Inez (Alice in Chains), a rousing rendition of "Rock Superstar" featuring B-Real and Sen-Dog of Cypress Hill, a whole lot of sexy Navarro, and you can begin to get a picture of the diversity that Camp Freddy thrive for.

What's next for Camp Freddy? Two more weeks at The Roxy is certain, a possible television show is being discussed, and an album is in the works.

"We've done a bunch of covers, it's being worked on, it's coming together slowly," Sorum said. "There is a record, there's a lot of music done, we just need to lay vocals.  It's a little difficult because every one has record labels, and we need to get clearance. Sometimes when you get big stars you can run into some difficulty business-wise. That's the wall we've hit. At Camp Freddy, we try to be artists for artists, we just talk to each other and work it out."

Camp Freddy set list:

"Hello There" (Cheap Trick)

"Song 2" (Blur)

"Bad Reputation" - with Parks on vocals (Joan Jett)

"Rock 'N' Roll Star" - with Campbell (Oasis)

"The Metro" - with Nunn on vocals (Berlin)

"Christine" - with Nunn on vocals and Budgie on drums (Siouxsie and The Banshees)

"Antmusic" - with Budgie (Adam & The Ants)

"Eighties" - with McGrath on vocals (Killing Joke)

"Rock and Roll All Nite" - with Cantrell (Kiss)

"Jailbreak" - with Cantrell on vocals and The Cult's Billy Duffy (Thin Lizzy)

"Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" - with Taylor on vocals (Van Halen)

"Rock Superstar" - with B-Real and Sen Dog (Cypress Hill)

"Highway to Hell" - (AC/DC)

"Them Bones" - with Taylor, Cantrell and Inez (Alice in Chains)

"All Right Now" - with Taylor, Campbell and Smith (Free)

"I Wanna Be Your Dog" - with Cantrell, Campbell, Taylor, Parks, Duffy, Smith, Budgie and Darling Stilettos (The Stooges)

- Leah Cevoli