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Rock N
Roll Remembers
Angel/Starz/Stories
The Saddle Rack, Fremont, CA
April 8, 2008
By Dan Wall
Angel Set List: The Tower, Can You Feel It,
Broken Dreams, On the Rocks, Mirrors, The Fortune, You’re Not
Fooling Me, Pressure Point, Don’t Leave Me Lonely, Rock N
Rollers, Feelin’ Right, Angel Theme. 60 minutes.
Starz Set List: Live Wire, Tear it Down, (She’s
Just) a Fallen Angel, Detroit Girls, Night Crawler, Cherry Baby,
Subway Terror, Pull the Plug, So Young So Bad, Coliseum Rock,
It’s A Riot. 60 minutes.
Mike Krikorian has
a tough job to do, and it just got tougher last week.
Krikorian
heads up Rock and Roll Remembers, an organization devoted to
helping fallen and older rock musicians who may need financial
assistance for any number of things (medical expenses, etc…).
Amazingly, one of his partners in this venture, ex-Ted Nugent
drummer Cliff Davies, died of an apparent suicide last week that
may have been triggered by his inability to pay his medical
bills (the exact sort of thing this organization is trying to
avoid).
It’s
difficult enough to get older rock stars involved in this
venture, but Mike has had the help of some great ones-Davies,
Richie Ranno, Tod Howarth, Ian Lloyd, Rob Grange and Herman
Rarebell, to mention a few-fellow musicians who have joined
together to play shows and raise money for this cause.
Unfortunately, the shows have not drawn well, despite a plethora
of talent that has included Mark Farner, Starz, Angel, Stories
and others. So getting the word out to the general public about
the organization and the good cause behind it are very important
to Krikorian right now.
I was lucky
enough to see two of my favorite bands from the 70’s, Angel and
Starz, along with Stories (“Louie, Louie”) at the Saddelrack in
Fremont in April. Despite a great venue and two bands that
haven’t played here much since their respective heydays, only
100 or so hearty rock vets attended. Still, it was a small yet
boisterous crowd that included visitors from as far away as
England that joined together to help fund future shows in this
area.
Angel
headlined the show, and doesn’t look or sound much different
from its last appearance in Northern California back in 1980.
Still led by vocalist Frank Dimino and drummer Barry Brandt, the
group blasted its way through selections from its four albums,
and included all the biggies (if you consider any of them really
biggies-I do). Decked out in all white, per tradition, and
louder than the first three bands combined, Dimino led Brandt
and a backing band that included Lillian Axe guitarist Stevie
Blaze through an hour-long set. Blaze was the real star of the
show, “blazing” away on all of Punky Meadows riffs and solos,
while Domino fiddled with an effects board most of the night and
drove my buddy Brad nuts.
Starz made
yet another appearance in the area, and this time brought along
a special guest. With original guitarist Brendan Harkin at home
in Nashville, and his replacement, Bobby Messano, otherwise
occupied, the band used local guitarist Billy Howe (from Jetboy
and American Heartbreak) to fill in. It must have been a sweet
gig for Howe, since Starz is one of his favorite bands; he was
behind the band’s first appearance back in the Bay Area two
years ago.
Not much has
changed since then, with Ranno still holding down lead guitar
duties, Michael Lee Smith singing his heart out, and drummer Joe
X. Dube and bassist George DiAna holding down the bottom. The
set definitely sounded better when Howe was brought up-as he
said after the show, “Starz is a two-guitar band.” Sometimes,
the explanation is just that easy.
Just how successful Krikorian is with this
effort probably comes down to which names he can get to lend a
hand, either for fund-raising efforts, live gigs or just getting
the word out. Since I’ve been around a few musicians in my life,
I know it’s a big challenge just getting them out of bed in the
morning, so he’s definitely got a lot of work ahead. But his
heart is in the right place, which helps. If you want more
information on this venture, go to
www.RockandRollRemembers.org |
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