Things got a little hectic out there on the road, as they tend to do, thus prohibiting me from posting sooner.
Friday's show in Ogden Utah was the bomb - a beautiful day in a packed outdoor amphitheater with some great bands and fans. It was of course my first
gig with the Sin City Allstars, but hopefully it didn't show...it felt like we'd been together a lot longer than four days, and judging from the
audience response it was working.
Of course in my 'costume', wearing a suit, hat, and sunglasses, and not having a whole lot of time to spread the word, I don't think many people knew
that I was 'Ron Keel' (remember, I am one of the guitarists, not the lead singer in this outfit) until Louie introduced me and then I got some cheers
and smiles...it was really fun to get into not only the music but the character. The show was shot by a pro photographer that I know, so I will be
getting a disc of pics from this gig and posting them asap.
Next up was Eric Martin, who is one hell of a singer and quite a character. He has an excellent band which I really enjoyed making friends with - his
killer guitarist Mark Holley was in a band that opened up for KEEL back in the day, and drummer GiGi Conoway (who spent many years in Mariah Carey's
band) was a monster, and bassist Mark Chole. Killer band, great songs, and Eric is simply a great vocalist/songwriter/entertainer, if this band comes
around I highly recommend you check it out. They called the Sin City Allstars on stage to sing the Humble Pie classic "30 Days In The Hole" to close
their show, very cool of EM.
I ran into a number of old friends backstage, including Great White guitarist Mark Kendall who I haven't seen in years, it was cool catching up with
him.
Tesla threw down hard, as good or better than ever - I've always loved their straightforward approach to rock n roll and they really tore it up. This
was the first gig for their new guitarist Dave Rude, a friend of our man Sheldon, and he fit in great and seemed right at home.
Of course there was a fair amount of partying afterward, and the usual pain getting up the next morning for our short drive to Salt Lake. Since this
was a club gig, I anticipated a late soundcheck and was looking forward to a 4 hour nap...until the promoter (Danny Marz - super guy) roped me into
going to do a radio interview. Want to thank all the crew from KBER 101, Utah's Rock Station, for all their support, it was great meeting everyone and
worth missing the nap for.
Last night's show, I thought, sounded great (loud as hell) and I was much more comfortable on my second gig with the guys. Once again we joined the
Eric Martin band onstage for "30 Days In The Hole", it was great to see Eric's lengthy headline set with music from Mr. Big and all of his other solo
albums and projects.
My Father's Day was spent on the road, as usual, and after a 7 hour drive I am now back in Vegas watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals and checking in
with my People. For all my brothers out there who are Dads, I hope you had a great Father's Day.
I really enjoyed my first run with the Sin City Allstars, thanks to everyone who welcomed me into the family and I hope we get to do it again soon. By
the way, the band has recorded a killer version of Judas Priest's "Turbo Lover" for an upcoming Judas Priest tribute album, you can hear it on their
myspace page:
http://myspace.com/sincityallstars
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