John 5 – Turtle Lake Casino – Turtle Lake WI – February 2nd 2024

St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake has been upping their game in regards to heavy metal concerts in the last couple of years.  It’s interesting because, despite being from Minnesota, we are familiar with Turtle Lake.  We were unaware of the demographic of the area.  Because of this, we wondered how well such concerts would play out at this venue.  Turns out, they were well received.  John 5 was quite well received, for that matter.

For those not in the know, John 5 has worked with a number of artists in the past, leading to these amazing solo shows.  He’s extremely well known for his work with Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie.  Currently, he is working with Motley Crue.  Despite his work with all these artists, he has released ten solo albums, his latest, “Sinner” released in October of 2021.

The show consisted of guitar solos from numerous bands.  Such music included a Motley Crue medley, Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, some of his own solo stuff, and both “The Beautiful People” and “Sweet Dreams are Made of These” from his work with Marilyn Manson.  The Marilyn Manson ones were a surprise to everyone, as he hasn’t played them since he worked with him.

His setlist changes every night. That is something really interesting about his shows.  He likes to say that he’s just up on stage screwing around without any real rhyme of reason.  It’s one of those things that makes these shows so enjoyable.  There is nothing quite like watching an artist just let go and play whatever they want.