Concert Review: Tom Keifer Band with Buckcherry, Springfield Symphony Hall, Springfield, MA

Tom Keifer (Cinderella) and Buckcherry rolled into Springfield Symphony Hall on Saturday, May 23, 2026. Fans packed the historic hall, wearing vintage Cinderella concert shirts and metal regalia, minus the big hair. They carried decades of memories, ready to relive the soundtrack of 1980s and 1990s radio and MTV. The elaborate Symphony Hall, with its vaulted ceilings and classic theater atmosphere, was the perfect setting for a night of loud guitars, raspy vocals, and fist-pumping choruses. Springfield Symphony Hall became a raucous, full-on hard-rock revival.

Buckcherry opened the night with LA vibes and, on stage, towers of extra-amped volume. Since breaking out in the late ’90s with a combination of Sunset Strip-inspired bluesy punk metal, Buckcherry has kept its unapologetic hard rock, sex, drugs, and rock n roll edge. Frontman Josh Todd’s commanding presence, think an amalgamation of Billy Idol, Axel Rose, and Anthony Kiedis, but with more tats, nonstop energy, and consistent hard rock vocals, has a dangerous edge. The band hammered through riff-heavy anthems that had the crowd on its feet

immediately.

The audience response intensified after Tom Keifer took the stage. Keifer, one of rock’s more distinctive voices, can still summon the unmistakable, gritty, bluesy rasp that made Cinderella a standout glam rock band during the late ’80s hard rock explosion. Unlike many glam-era acts, Cinderella leaned heavily on blues-rock, blending it with melodic sensibility and emotional vulnerability to give their songs a raw, soulful quality that set them apart. 

Keifer’s thundering band came out roaring, and the crowd was raging with metalhead enthusiasm from the first notes. Fans, some coming as far as Pennsylvania and Maine, sang every lyric with Keifer, especially “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”, Cinderella’s most successful single, with over a hundred million Spotify streams. Hearing “Don’t Know" flashed me back to the late 1980s Jersey Shore boardwalk arcades. I’m relatively sure it was my younger brother’s junior prom song. Couples stood embraced during the ballads and pumped their fists through the heavier tracks. Keifer sounded solid, seemed locked in, smiled through solos, and devoured the audience’s energy.

By the end of the night, the Hall had become a sweaty, cheering time machine of blues-rock- and-roll soul. The audience didn't stop rocking, and neither did the bands. For a few hours, it felt like the 1980s again, loud, joyous, rough around the edges, and exactly how rock and roll is supposed to feel.

Buckcherry Set List:

Lit Up

Roar Like Thunder

So Hot

Let It Burn

Come On

Gluttony

Sorry

Blackout

Crazy Bitch

Tom Keifer Set List:

Night Songs

All Amped Up

Heartbreak Station

Bad Seamstress Blues/ Fallen Apart at the Seams

The Death of Me

Coming Home

Nobody's Fool

Solid Ground

Somebody Save Me

The Last Mile

Don't Know What You Got (Till it's Gone)

Shake Me

Encore:

Tumbling Dice

Gypsy Road