|
Subject: “A reunion of the legendary
Easy Street Band”
The band that helped define the phrase
'Cleveland Rocks'
is
scheduled to play again
at Tangier in Akron, Ohio on November
5th, 2011.
This
will be the band’s
11th
appearance at Tangier. They have sold out all
their previous concerts in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
2009
and
2010. In
2002, the band headlined the opening night of the Crooked River
Festival at the Riverfront Mall in Cuyahoga Falls in front of 6,000
people. In June of ‘05 the band also co-headlined a multi-band show
at the Cleveland Agora.
Here's the (condensed) band history:
-
From the band’s inception in 1976 and continuing into the mid
80’s Easy Street was a top
draw at local rock clubs and on tours of Canada and US cities
that included: Dallas, Houston, El Paso, Denver, Miami, Daytona
Beach, Tampa, Little Rock and Atlanta.
-
Easy
Street quickly became synonymous with the term
``pride of Cleveland'' at a time when the city was the center of
the known radio world. The band's self-titled 1982 album ranked
among WMMS' top 25 releases, sandwiched between Robert Plant and
Bruce Springsteen. MSB’s Michael Stanley and Kevin Raleigh made
guest appearances on this record as back-up vocalists.
-
Easy
Street shared the stage with Meatloaf, Tom Petty,
Southside Johnny, .38 Special, Pat Travers, Beach Boy Carl
Wilson and Joe Ely.
-
Easy Street regularly
packed the house at Akron's Flying Machine and Filthy McNasty's
in Kent as well as clubs from Columbus to Lorain. Nearly 2,000
kids crammed into the original Cleveland Agora every week for
the band's regular Thursday spot - the attendance record remains
unmatched. Easy Street held that coveted Thursday night slot for
nearly 6 straight years.
-
Easy Street is still
so closely identified with the glory days of local rock and roll
that band's self-titled album, bumper sticker and hat were a
part of the set on ABC TV's Drew Carey Show. Drew, as always has
an open invitation (and an open microphone waiting) to join the
band at its reunion shows.
-
Easy Street was
recently featured in a 2005 KSU documentary about the original
Cleveland Agora.
-
Easy Street released
a CD in 2002 that featured all the songs from their original
1982 vinyl EP and 10 songs that were never before recorded.
Show details:
The band will be broken up into two groups for the upcoming
show. The first version of the band will open the night by
playing the old favorites from the “early years”. That group
will consist of: Westside Steve Simmons
& Gary Krizo (lead vocals),
Bob Martin (bass),
Robin Harris (guitar),
Bob Wallace (drums),
John
Marsek (guitar), Andy
Henkel (sax) and
Tim Longfellow (keyboards).
They will be followed by the “album band” that will perform all
of Easy Street’s original material as well as a number of
well-known signature tunes. That group will consist of:
Westside Steve Simmons &
Gary Krizo (lead vocals),
Bob Martin (bass),
Russ Hagler (guitar and
vocals), Tim Longfellow
(keyboards), Bones Bonam
(guitar) and Ronnie Gillard
(drums). We will also be featuring a horn section consisting of
Andy Henkel &
Eddie Vidmar on sax,
Jim Pica on trumpet and
Dr. David Bowe* on trombone.
....KH & WM.....
|