Did we say in the reunion heading that we tell it all… the good, the bad and the ugly? Because this one got real ugly, not only behind the scene, but at the scene as well. The planning for this started in January. Our manager decided it was time to return home for a show. All of our reunions to date had been in the Verona area.
He called Dave Porter from 805 (805 had headlined the Taste of Syracuse in 2003) and got the contact information. It took about a month before they said they wanted Alecstar as their headliner. Our thanks go to our old friend Dave Frisina (back then from 95X and currently from TK99) for putting in a good word for us.
It then came down to a price. Our manager told them we had three plane tickets to purchase and equipment we had to rent. Their response was… You won't need to rent anything because there will be a backline there. For those of you unfamiliar with that term it means that drums, amps & keyboards are provided at no cost to the performer. We struck a deal.
They did mention that they might book a 'national act' if they could get one reasonably. A few years ago they got Steppenwolf as the headliner so that was cool with us. Eddie Money (and probably a host of other classic rock acts) have played events similar to this. Well a few months had passed and on a phone call to the TOS office, our manager was informed that the Bacon Brothers were now the headliner.
That was almost an insult. Two years earlier when we played with 805 at the Turning Stone our show with them sold out in 5 weeks. The Casino holds 800 people. The Bacon Brothers were scheduled to play the very next night (Sunday). They had sold a little more than 100 seats. We were asked if we would be interested in opening up for them to push the ticket sales for their show. We could not do it because we had three guys living in Florida and Arizona and two of them were leaving Sunday afternoon to return home.
This is nothing against the BB's but we felt it was a bad idea. From the moment they were booked we got lost in the background with all the other bands. We actually contacted TK99 and asked them to help push our reunion for the show. We wanted people to know we were there. All we were hearing was about the BB's. To TK99's credit they came through for us… especially Dave Frisina. He made a big difference for us and for that we owe him a big debt of gratitude (or at least a beer!).
A few weeks later George phoned our manager and reminded him of years back when we would open for national acts and the problems we had to deal with. Restricted stage space, restricted stage lighting and restricted PA use were the big three. A letter was faxed to the local company that was providing these items. We did not want any last minute problems and wanted to clear up any potential ones.
We also requested the use of an amp and the drum kit. They were very professional. They didn't care one way or another. They just wanted a trouble free show…As did we. They referred us back to the TOS people to make sure that there would not be any problems. Tuesday, the week of the show our manager got a call at home saying we would have to play in front of all the Bacon Brothers equipment, we would have to rent the very equipment we were already told we could use at no charge.
Then they dropped the big problem on us. They wanted our drummer to set up off to one side of the stage instead of in the middle where he has always played. At that point our manager exploded (almost literally!). Insult had now been added to injury and they were told the band would not play under these new and last minute conditions. This was not what we had agreed to three months before. The whole event was becoming a circus.
We had suggested that they push this event as The Bacon Brothers with special guests Alecstar. That way they could take advantage of both bands being there. The sad thing is that the draw with the BB's was all about the famous actor in the band. Unfortunately its not about their music. Steppenwolf may not have had a hit in over twenty years but at least they have had hits. The BB's have had none. Nearly no one has heard their music. They were not even a one hit wonder. This was all about Hollywood. Much like Bruce Willis or Billy Bob Thorton's band. People want to see the famous actor.
Read more about our history here
Despite all the challenges behind the scenes, on stage it was just pure fun. We want to thank all of you who came to the show. We had a blast. There are a lot of things that go into playing an event like this but it all comes down to you guys. You are the reason we do these shows, and you are the reason we will be back…