Walking into The Grand Theatre for the 10-year anniversary of Ronnie Montrose Remembered felt like stepping into a living scrapbook. Not the dusty kind, but the kind that still smells like a road case and sounds like an amp warming up. It was tribute night, sure, but it was also a reunion. With NAMM happening the same week, the room carried that extra hum you only get when builders, players, and lifers are all in town and looking for something real.
The Grand Theatre of Anaheim is not a small theatre, but the feeling was that of intimacy. It was as if a group of legends decided to have a jam session, to remember Ronnie, and the rest of us were invited to hang out.
Ronnie Montrose (1947–2012) was a pioneering guitarist from San Francisco who helped shape 1970s hard rock. He broke out with the Edgar Winter Group on “Frankenstein” and then formed Montrose in 1973 with Sammy Hagar. Their debut album delivered “Rock Candy” and “Bad Motor Scooter,” and it is often cited as America’s first heavy metal record. He later led Gamma, released solo work like Open Fire, and did session work with artists such as Van Morrison and Boz Scaggs.
The music moved through a shared bloodline of classic rock, glam, and metal. The names are familiar, but the energy felt fresh. Think White Snake, REO Speedwagon, Guns N’ Roses, Dio, Night Ranger, Winger, Burning Rain . All of this in addition to Ronnie’s band. Those worlds overlap more than people realize, and this night made that overlap feel alive. It never played like a greatest-hits medley. It felt like a group of people who have lived the same life, telling the story in their own accents.
Keith St. John sat at the center of it all, and his connection to Ronnie Montrose gave the evening its spine. He worked with Ronnie for years, and you can feel that weight in the way he carries the show. It does not come across as nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It comes across as loyalty and love. That’s a hard balance to strike, and this night held it.
Keith fronted Ronnie Montrose’s band from 1998 until Ronnie’s death, singing on his final tours and albums. A staple of the L.A. rock scene, he leads Burning Rain with Doug Aldrich and has worked with Lyon and St. John. He produces the annual Ronnie Montrose Remembered show during NAMM and pulls together the all-star cast that keeps the catalog alive.
There were plenty of standout moments, but Brad Gillis lit the room up with a guitar solo that felt both classic and present. It was the kind of playing that reminds you why people used to stand five feet from the stage and just stare. Not because it was fast, but because it meant something. It was melodic, confident, and easy to feel in your soul.
The lineup itself read like a map of hard rock’s most durable corners. Doug Aldrich brought the Dio and Whitesnake fire. Billy Sheehan made the bass feel like a second lead guitar. Reb Beach showed the Winger touch. Dino Jelusick added a modern vocal edge that still respected the old-school soul. David Ellefson brought heft to the heavier moments, Matt Starr kept the whole thing grounded, and Stacey Blades carried the LA grit. None of it felt like a celebrity parade. It felt like a band of cousins who grew up in the same house, even if they now live in different cities.
What hit me just as much as the playing was the crowd. There were longtime fans who have been holding these songs for decades, and there were younger faces who found their way in later. The ages blended without feeling forced. The vibe was warm, not precious. People were there because this music still works, and because nights like this are harder to find than they used to be.
The details around the music mattered too. Riot Stitch had a pop-up booth with rock wear, which is exactly the kind of local texture this scene thrives on. Cathy Rankin kept the night moving as MC without pulling focus. The memorabilia auction benefitting the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund gave the evening a quieter kind of gravity. It felt like a room that takes care of its own, and it reminded me why this corner of the scene still feels like a community.
Ronnie Montrose Remembered still does what it promises. It honors Ronnie, and it reminds you that SoCal rock is a living thing. The music hits, the players are real, and the night feels like community, not simply performative. If you want classic rock with heart and actual history behind it, this is a show worth being in the room for.
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