Fuel ignites West Texas.

Fuel ignites West Texas

Last Saturday was one for the books for mutable reasons, first and foremost, Fuel was making its return to the borderland, the site for this epic event was none other than Speaking Rock Entertainment Center, the home of free concerts.  This venue is blue ribbon all the way, they’re all about our community and this story I’m going to share with you speaks volumes to that effect.  The second reason for last Saturday being one for the books is a special one for sure, it starts with the mother of a diehard Fuel fan reaching out to the venue in regard to her son being able to attend the show. You see Jacob, the son, is wheelchair bound and sadly, losing a battle to cancer.    Speaking Rock said of course, we have a VIP section right up front and that’s where your son can watch the show from.  This call was placed one week before the show, but unfortunately, she called back two days before the show and cancelled their plans because Jacob had taken a turn for the worst and was placed in Hospice.  The mother asked if the band could please do a video message for Jacob by chance. This message was relayed to the band, no sir, no video, after sound check, Matt Velasquez, our production manager, packed the boys in a van and drove them out to Jacob’s house on the westside of El Paso. A guitar that was provided by Speaking Rock was signed by the entire band a gifted to Jacob, photographs, hugs and conversation were the order for this 30-minute visit.  Needless to say, they made Jacob’s day tenfold, how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that one. Its acts of kindness and compassion like this that really stand out in my book, a special thanks for making all this happen goes out to Maria, Karl and Matt at Speaking Rock, you guys have hearts of gold, not to mention the members of Fuel, you cats are second to none. 

This makes the second time covering Fuel for me, the first time was 9 years ago here in El Paso and of course that was with Brett Scallions, who left the band permanently in 2020.  The band going though lineup changes and constant ups and downs over the years would be the understatement of the year, but Carl Bell has retaken the reins of his band and has hit the ground running with nonstop touring of lately.  Founded in 93 in Tennessee, but reared in Pennsylvania, released their first album in 98 followed by five more, Anomaly was released in 2021.  Their music is classified as Alternative Rock/ Metal, Post Grunge, if you will.  You would have had to be living under a rock not to recognized hit after hit by this band that has endued the test of time over the years, with that said, this audience of 5k plus was locked and loaded for an evening of classic hits, myself included.

This evening’s local support was one of El Paso’s favorites hands down, The Roulettes.  This four piece was founded in 2016 and are noted for their nonstop high energy performance and that’s putting it lightly. They hit the stage at 7:30 and never not once took their foot off the gas, the band consist of Juan Flores doing vocals and guitar, Luis Marquez on Bass, Sergio Becerra (Cheko) doing the honors on percussion and Jose Ibave (Junior Sabbath) on lead guitar.  They do a 90-minute set of alternative covers with two originals squeezed in.  In the Good News Department, the band was recently signed to Rock Solid Talent Entertainment, lord knows they have enough original material to put out a release and hopefully followed with a tour supporting that venture.  When you take in their set, you just feel that feeling of greatest that washes over you like a cool breeze on a hot desert night, yeah, these guys are for real, they’re serious about making music, music that hits you in the feels, doesn’t get any better than that, now does it?  These cats are on the move, turning heads and people are taking notice, if you’re a fan of rock and roll, then it’s safe to say, you’d be a fan of The Roulettes, check ’em out, tell ’em Tim sent cha.

Right on time as Speaking Rock always is, Fuel hit the stage at 9:30 sharp to quite the enthusiastic crowd, they plowed through a 13-song set list in just under 90 minutes.  There was much appreciation by this West Texas crowd of Fuel followers that sang along to hit after hit. Songs like Falls on Me, Sunburn, Shimmer and of course Hemorrhage (In My Hands).  As stated, I’d seen them years ago and, in my opinion, didn’t quite measure up to the original lineup with Brett Scallions, but still a knockout performance, Aaron Scott who has taken over the duties as frontman for the past two years is quite the showman for sure, they found him on The Voice, how cool is that?  I guess I’m that ole school Fuel fan, same with Saliva or Queensryche, the original frontman is who we relate to and or associate the hits to, but times change, so do lineups, but on this hot August night, the band was unbelievably tight with Carl Bell on lead guitar, Kevin Miller on Percussion, Mark Klotz on guitar, Tommy Nat on Bass and Aaron Scott on vox, they moved flawlessly from one song to the next, like a well-oiled machine, starting with Last Time and ending with Hemorrhage.  All in all, what a great night of music and fun, keep an eye out for upcoming tour dates, without a doubt, an awesome experience with an awesome band, you can’t go wrong there, see ya at the next rock show.

Review and Photography by Tim Schumann

Set List-

Last Time

Jesus or a Gun

Won’t Back Down

Shimmer

Falls on Me

Untitled

Quarter

Sunburn

Bad Day

Want it

Empty Spaces

Prove

Hemorrhage (In My Hands)