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The show with Twisted Sister was as electrifying as anyone could have hoped! Everything fell into place as 2003 closed out. We moved on to the 2004 season with a lot of momentum and excitement building! Our next show with Blue Oyster Cult was a blast as J.Rad debuted a new line up of songs including Homegrown and Second Chance. The response was overwhelming. Blue Oyster Cult proved to be as gentlemanly and professional to work and interact with as a band of their stature would indicate. The place Rocked!
Next up! Living Colour! What a great time. Of all the wonderful people we've met along the way, Living Colour's entourage ranging from roadies to the band members themselves could not have been easier or more rewarding to work with! Corey, Vernon, Will & Doug we Love Ya! They rocked the house as expected and J.Rad was well received as J.Rad himself drew the crowd to its feet for an ovation with his solo in Second Chance! Then proceeded to pound the place with the first showing of Dirty Whore a new sledgehammer tune that would eventually lower the boom on us at our next show!
The Next Show - Words have to be stolen from Dickens: "It Was the Worst of Times; It Was the Best of Times" This show was possibly the most awaited, as a chance to play guitar on a bill with George Lynch and Yngwie Malmsteen would flatter any player! Most especially our own 15 year old shredder Mr. J.Rad himself who has been a Malmsteen fan since first hearing his work several years ago!
At this time all of us connected to the J.Rad project would sincerely like to apologize for what happened! Anyone directly affected by the events I am about to describe may contact us and we will provide a ticket at our own cost, to come join us at any venue in which we participate.
Mr. Malmsteen's seven foot tall body guard / field manager presented us a self generated flow sheet indicating that our play time had been moved up to 8:30 P.M. and would end at 9:00 P.M. We explained that all the show promotions as well as the ticket's themselves state clearly that doors open at 8:00 P.M. and show starts at 9:00 P.M. It was made clear to us that despite the fact that J.Rad had been responsible for well in excess of two hundred ticket sales and forty or more complimentary tickets paid for and distributed by the band, we would not be allowed to play to the audience at the posted show time. The audience was theirs and theirs only!
We immediately appealed to the establishment and learned that the Malmsteen camp was as inconsiderate to the house as they had been with us. Yngwie's wife and manager could be heard publicly harassing house management and threatening to take their deposit and run if all of their demands were not met, which would have left the house to refund a thousand or more ticket's to angry patronage. It was clear to us that the establishment was left no choice in the matter and we decided to support the house in any way we could.
After being on site and ignored for nearly six hours, we commenced to set up our gear. With about ten minutes before the club's door opening, we began to set up on the floor in front of the stage. Yes, I did say on the floor! As the stage was made unavailable to us! We then unloaded every piece of equipment in the J.Rad arsenal as we had also now just learned that we would play without the use of monitors or the P.A. system. While we didn't have time to wire up monitors of our own we did have enough amplification to juice the room! The house engineer saved the day and gave us one wireless microphone enabling Gino to sing through the P.A. and the rest of the band was on its own!
Those of you who perform already know we were set up for a train wreck! The left and right sides of our makeshift stage would at no time hear each other during the set! The P.A. that Gino would sing through was way out in front of him and with no monitors he would not hear himself nor would the band hear him at all. He would be significantly louder than the band and J.Rad would play four full Marshall Stacks by himself on stage left in attempt excite a packed room. Yngwie's wife re-entered the room just as the flood gates opened. She marched out with the look of disgust on her face, as the setup we created in ten minutes flat alarmed her. The floor was now just as impressive as the stage! Too Late!
The crowd charged in and rows of both curious and anxious people waiting to be entertained pressed up against the crowd control straps that separated the band from the people. Being so eye to eye with the audience, and having been diminished in every way, brought a new brand of butterflies to the stage. In a last second huddle we remarked between ourselves that we watched the Malmsteen crew complain about what they could hear in their monitors for almost two hours, and now at the point of no return we will execute a set with each member hearing only himself! We now knew that we were never really supposed to play! Every step was taken to discourage us from playing! We know our place on the food chain and we are not all delusional with our little bit of success. We know we are a Long Island Band, we know we are unsigned to date, and we know we are also the last band that will ever quit!
Management gave the signal to start the set. At that moment a well known Radio Personality grabbed the mic' to introduce us. I don't think it fair for me to mention his name without having asked his permission first. He introduced us as a band with the kind of heart that wouldn't give up despite being kicked around and humiliated and stripped of all promised privilege! Instead of packing it in, they're here to "FUCKIN PLAY!" he said! He stated that in twenty plus years of radio commentary he had said a lot of things he lived to regret, but that he would certainly not regret what he had to say now. He went out on a limb and thanked some Rock stars for absolutely nothing! For not remembering where they came from or where they are eventually going to! He then explained to the audience that we did not have use of the sound system and that we could best be heard if everyone backed up a few steps! He promised no disappointment and handed over the mic' as he introduced J.Rad !!!!!!!!!!
As I near the end of my description of that night's events I apologize for having been long winded. However, it was necessary to archive the truth for those who were there and those who were cheated out of a chance to be there! We played! We Nailed It! J.Rad and Diezel slammed back to back solo's and Gino, Dave and Brian never missed a beat. Flawless! Stage movement was curtailed to a minimum so as to maintain eye contact whenever possible and timing and execution was perfect!!
Twenty Two minutes into the set Yngwie's wife and her seven foot tall body guard demanded that play stop immediately and ordered me to get my boys "the fuck out of here"! Ironically, they just went into Dirty Whore! Not that that I would ever speak to anyone that way and use such colorful metaphors! I said we are barely over twenty of the 30 minutes promised to us! Ingwie's wife replied "I said get them the fuck out of here now! Did you hear me asshole. I'm pulling the fuckin' plug! PULLING THE FUCKIN' PLUG!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Well the song ended. I instructed the band to announce that we were done. Long Island Fans pulling for a Long Island Band - the crowd loved it and chanted for more! Long Islander's are not stupid, they know what they saw and loved what they heard! We expressed thanks for the way they received us and apologized for not being able to oblige them with another song! Hardly any of our friends had arrived yet so clearly we had made a bunch of new ones.
The "Guitar Guys" show went as expected. A real night of quality guitar work from Rick Derringer, Pat Travers and our own Mr. J.Rad! Pat Travers emerging as a J.Rad favorite player proved to be a gentlemen and was an absolute delight to work with. Rock on Pat! So friends new and old, "thanks for your support." It is what makes it all worthwhile.
Congratulations to Pat on celebrating his 50th B'Day and to J.Rad who celebrated his 16th B'Day, as the night progressed it became obvious they had a lot more in common than birth dates!
July 4th, 2004 will mark the 1 year anniversary of the J.Rad (current line-up) project performances! We will celebrate with an anniversary show at "The Downtown" with another night of slamming guitar work from Smokin' Joe Bonamassa and yours truly on July 3rd, 2004.
The anniversary show was a booming success. The J.Rad gang would like to thank everyone for their support.
Moving forward, J.Rad is happy to announce their first headline show at The Downtown on Thursday, October 14th.
We would also like to thank our friends from LOT16 for joining us on the bill.
J.Rad was invited to play Looney Tunes (largest independent music store on Long Island). And our favorite CD store as well. On July 8th we played the store and had a great time as owner Karl Jr. proved to be a talented engineer on the mixing board. By his invitation we then played the annual Looney Tunes band showcase at Club Ritual. July 10th was a blast as Karl posted 5 bands that covered all styles and created a wonderful musical event. It was a privilege to be included.
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Thanks Karl,
Looney Tunes Rocks! |
Thursday Oct. 14th turned out to be an emotional rollercoaster! With just a few short hours left until showtime we learned that our bass player for reasons undisclosed would not be able to play the headline show. Fortunately, Ed Kern, a respected musician and friend of the project stepped in and filled the void. "No Void", get it Dave? Without even a chance to hear the material, arriving only twenty or so minutes before the set Ed played the changes as quickly as Dave could shout them out. We substituted a couple of Velvet Revolver and Judas Priest cover tunes for some of the more complicated originals and thanks to Ed the night was a big success! Rock on Brother Kern!
Halloween! Yes, J.Rad played the WBAB Halloween fright night at Sports plus. Yes, in full costume! Special guest vocalist Tom Laurita re-united with J.Rad to perform a set of popular cover tunes with Halloween favorites such as the rocky horror picture shows "Time Warp". It was horrific! Tom Laurita's pictures in our celebrity photo section are a must see! Tom you are the true Prince Of Darkness!
Saturday night Nov.6th J.Rad played with Twisted Sister for the second time this year. The newly revised set and stage show was a big hit with the sister fans. It was a thrill to share a stage with a band that packs so much muscle and firepower. It was an electrifying nite in a packed house. We picked up a lot of friends along the way. Dee and the guys were great. Thanks for having us again!
Wow! Mountain - Leslie West - Corky Laing at the Patchogue Theater. J.Rad opens the nite as Leslie West and Corky get inducted into the L.I. Music hall of fame! J.Rad rocked the house and ended with a standing ovation! Mr. J.Rad himself blistered the place with guitar solos. Just what a Mountain audience wants to see! Mountain of course lived up to their reputation and blew everyone away. Leslie and Corky were as nice to the guys as could be and proved to be men as Mountainous as their music. We love ya!
J.Rad plays a benefit for an injured cyclist at the request of Local Union 25 of the I.B.E.W. A great gathering for a great cause. The union hall was packed and J.Rad was pleased to help the family of the injured party. Our entourage played master of ceremonies and the band rocked. A little rough on the day after Thanksgiving but a great cause none the less. Good luck to Preacher and the family!
J.Rad records a second live DVD at EKO productions! The guys nail it! It's worth the wait and is being authored and replicated at Hello World Communications. Yes the new songs are finally recorded!
The year 2004 in closing
All of us in the J.Rad family of friends would like to thank all of you for making 2004 a special year. The love and support from those both far and near has been overwhelming and J.Rad will keep the faith and keep the music coming in 2005 as was done on New Year's Day!
To all the new friends we have made this year, we raise a toast in hand and heart and welcome you to our family of friends.
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God bless you all
Love,
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is all about the restoration of 70's and 80's rock, shred guitar and driving rhythms.
Note of Special Thanks
The family would like to thank some of the special people who have helped in the development of the project.
Barry Vanderberg - lighting & effects - road crew
The players' BEST FRIEND. Not enough can be said about the 1 fan. The  family would never be the same without you. We love ya!
Little John Seccafico - Assistant manager and friend of the project. Always innovating, searching for means of improvement, exposing opportunities and maintaining the project's best interest. Always ready to go on a moment's notice. John, we love ya! (Debbie and Briana too)
Eric Orsini - The man, the fan and guitar tech.
Joe Callari - Mentor , Musician and Friend Joe the family owes you a debt of gratitude and will always value your judgement and involvement. We love ya!
Bill Ciaramelli (Torbil Music Studios) - Bill your judgement has always proved to make something bad into sumtin good! Or sumtin good into something better! Not enough can be said about your efforts to promote and develop the project. Whether its scrutinizing a single drum lick or a guitar harmony your ear and dedication to perfection and don’t leave out womanizing has made you a valued member of the family! We love ya!
Mark Kurtz and Paul DiPalo - road crew and respected true friends of the project
Therese aka "Couch Girl" - thanks for all your support
Tom Laurita- respected friend whose voice helped launch our musical campaign, whose musical knowledge helped shape our musical future.
Randy "Bassthoven" Hitz - friend of the project whose mentor-like skills and patience played a significant role in the early development of the project.
Special thanks to the gang: Brian Breen, Marco Accomando, Mikey B., Mike Powers, Marek and JH gang who was always there when help was needed (great crew of electricians, even better road crew).
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