Smith / Kotzen live at Teatro Flores. A night for good taste in guitar playing with 2 legends loose in town.

“The Iron Maiden fans are the Metal relatives to Beatles fans”, a friend of mine said. They’re the kind of fans who really became obsessed with the band. They buy every kind of merchandise, collectibles, and, of course, different editions of records. It is pretty common to meet a person who travels around the world following the band’s tour. And I always found it amazing, and it’s easy to see how this fandom just gets bigger with new generations as time passes by.
So, it’s not a surprise that every Iron Maiden real fan supports all kinds of side projects of a member of the band. You have the Bruce Dickinson’s solo carreer, recently deceased singer Paul Di’Anno too (may his soul rest in peace), Steve Harris’ British Lion (whose drummer is now replacing Nicko in Iron Maiden) and the band that got us here: Smith / Kotzen, a band formed by the mix of voices and guitars from Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen (as the name would’ve made suspect haha).
This side project was born in 2020 and landed in Latin America for the first time this year, selling tickets really quickly. It was the opportunity to see Adrian in smaller venues, like an intimate show with him and Richie, of course!

They showed up in Buenos Aires on April 21st, at Teatro Flores. The local band chosen to open the gig was Karkaman, a Hard Rock band with very talented musicians. They started their set at 20, and for 30 minutes we enjoyed their songs and skills. The band is formed by guitar players Miguel and Marcelo, the “Vikingo” on bass, Ariel in charge of drums, and the amazing vocals of Maxi. They even surprised us with 2 well-known classic rock covers: “18 and Life” by Skid Row and “Highway Star” by Deep Purple.

At 21 o’clock, the lights went off, and a tape of “Bad Company” by Bad Company started playing. We saw the band getting up on the stage: Bruno on drums, Julia on bass (who’s also Richie’s wife), and the 2 legendary guitarists positioned behind their microphones. The majority of the songs were like exchanging verses between Adrian and Richie, some others were just with a main singer, and the other joined in at the chorus to harmonize with him. It’s very curious the way they found which song would fit the best for their vocals.
The set started with “Life Unchained”, “Black Light”, and “Wraith”, from their latest record “Black Light / White Noise”, which made this tour happen in the first place. Then it continued with “Glory Road”, “Hate and Love”, and “Blindsided”. These songs had more of a Southern Rock vibe, which was very catchy and groovy.
There were moments where songs had a “guitar duel” with solos from both guitar players. And it was very funny to see how they paid attention to the other’s guitar solo and then answered with their own, making faces like “oh, that lick was sick man”. Every guitar player in the crowd would easily recognize that feeling, haha.
They have 2 different styles that work very well when mixed. Adrian has these bendings full of feeling and pentatonic runs that sound so bluesy; and then, Richie’s like a virtuous guy that plays really fast and makes incredible licks (even without a guitar pick, there was a moment when he threw his pick at the crowd and continued soloing just playing with his fingers. Classic on him).
Chemistry was in plain sight, too. Richie and Adrian were soloing next to each other in every instrumental moment of any song. And Julia at bass smiled the whole show and even sang in some choruses, stealing the microphone from Adrian or Richie.
“Taking My Chances”, “Outlaw” and “Darkside” were the next songs, followed by “Got a Hold on Me”, “White Noise” and “Scars”. Talking about the performance, drummer Bruno was nuts. He’s a very talented young man from Brazil who played as a hired gun for many other artists, such as Angra and Kiko Loureiro. And proved how qualified he is to be among these legends sharing the same stage!
After playing “Running”, the band left the stage, waiting for the crowd call. Which came sooner than later, with Argentine chants that made them come back with a smile on their faces.
Next song was “You Can’t Save Me”, a song from Richie’s solo career, a powerful ballad full of emotion. And then, a moment that every fan will keep in their hearts forever: the ending of the show with “Wasted Years”, the classic Iron Maiden tune, but sung entirely by Adrian, with Richie’s vocals harmonizing on the chorus.
There’s no need to say that the whole venue started jumping, singing, and partying like there was no tomorrow when this song came in. A dream came true for every Iron Maiden fan, and every person with good taste in guitar playing, too!

Photos by Eliana Fernandez

Review Agustin Lopez

Produced by Icarus Music & AnubisMusic

Press Marcela Scorca