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By
alarsen
| Sunday, July 6, 2008, 12:09 PM
We blogged live yesterday from Fraze Pavilion’s SummerFest telling you what we thought of the 10 bands that played, now we want to know what you thought. Who was your favorite? Were there any surprises? Was it a nostalgic moment or an excuse to get out with friends?
If you want to see what we thought click on whichever headline you’re interested in reading about below and it will take you there. Entries are organized from end of the day to beginning …
Terri Becker cheers as Taylor Dayne performs at SummerFest on Saturday, July 5, 2008. Staff photo by Dave Munch
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By
alarsen
| Sunday, July 6, 2008, 12:01 AM
At 10:10 p.m. - an appropriate time for the last band to take the stage for an all-day concert featuring 10 bands - appeared front and center at Fraze Pavilion to cap off Mix 107.7’s SummerFest 10.
Familiar faces in the line-up included Kelly Keagy on the drums and lead vocals, Jack Blades on bass and lead vocals and Brad Gillis on guitar. New additions are Christian Cullen on keys and Joel Hoekstra as the newest guitarist to the group.
“I hear there’s a rumor in the air that you all wanted to have a good time tonight,” said Blades before the band started in on “Rumours in the Air.” Later Blades updated fans on Ted Nugent news (Nugent played with Blades in Damn Yankees and according to Blades, Nugent called him recently saying that he had just played his 6,000th live show in Detroit).
If Garth from Wayne’s World fronted a band that included dramatic, obvious hooks and big “Guitar Hero” shredding it could be Night Ranger … energetic, silly and a little cheesy with the stories, jokes, introductions and talk of “nah-nah” songs, the band’s not breaking new ground but they’re obviously having fun and so were their fans.
In addition to popular songs like “Sentimental Street” and “When You Close Your Eyes,” the group played music from their Before coming out for an encore of “Sister Christian” and “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” Blades said, “it’s been a long day, but it’s been a great day for rock ‘n’ roll … keep it up!”
With the eveing ending just shy of 11:30 p.m., 10 bands and almost 12 hours after the first band had taken the stage, it was just as Blades had described.
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By
alarsen
| Saturday, July 5, 2008, 09:41 PM
John Waite, the former frontman for The Babys and Bad English dedicated his performance at Fraze SummerFest 10 to Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm. During his set Waite played hits that included “Missing You” and “When I See You Smile” that saw a robust Fraze crowd respond to both his charm and his sound.
For being a last minute addition to the bill, Waite and his four-piece backing band played the heck out of their material. His look and stage presence reminded me very much (fans don’t take this the wrong way because it’s meant in the best way …) of Hugh Grant’s character in the film “Music and Lyrics.” Waite wrapped things up with a energetic rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock N’ Roll” wrapping his set up at 9:30 p.m. almost exactly.
Nine bands down, one to go. If you’ve been to Fraze today, feel free to share your favorite moments here.
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By
alarsen
| Saturday, July 5, 2008, 08:17 PM
They have a will to survive … they sing about it and today Survivor has survived SummerFest 2008 at the Fraze Pavilion as the eighth band in a ten band ’80s nostalgic lineup.
Discovered back in the day (the ’80s in case you haven’t been paying attention) by action hero Sylvester Stallone, continues to be a favorite on the oldie, but goodie concert circuit. Ending their more than hour long set with “Eye of the Tiger,” the proverbial lid came off Fraze as the crowd was brought to it’s feet and sang in tandem. Fraze continues to keep close to a very tight schedule with Survivor exiting the stage at around 8 p.m.
Update: The crew from Mix 107.7 just came to the stage explaining why John Waite (former frontman for The Babys and Bad English) instead of Lou Gramm (former Foreigner frontman) … it goes like this: Apparently Lou had some health issues requiring surgery and Mix 107.7 crew thought, “well that’s going to be lame, we’re having our 10th anniversary with nine bands …” According to the story, 48 hours ago John Waite gets a call to come to Dayton and he did … on his birthday no less! The crowd just finished singing “Happy Birthday” to him and he started in on his set at 8:35 p.m.
Eight bands down, the ninth on stage, one to go. Stay tuned …
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By
alarsen
| Saturday, July 5, 2008, 07:13 PM
strutted out in a shorty, cherry hot red dress that would give thumbs up to for the most fashionista moment of the day so far. She ended the set with a cover of the Barry White classic “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” or so we thought … she re-emerged with her backup singers to sing “Tell it to My Heart” which had the crowd on its feet including us.
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By
alarsen
| Saturday, July 5, 2008, 06:05 PM
“It is a great and fantastic honor to be here tonight,” said Howard Jones in a metallic suit at 4:30 in the afternoon.
My husband described him as Paul Shaffer’s alter-ego and until he took off his sunglasses after the first song that is EXACTLY what he looked like. With 10 hit singles to his credit and over eight million albums in sales, Jones was one of the acts we were most looking forward to thanks to his string of ’80s hits and easily identifiable falsetto … who was your favorite going in and coming out?
As if he were channeling Billy Joel, Jones hammered out “Everlasting Love” solo on a keyboard towards the middle of the set which ultimately ended at 5:20 p.m. with
“Things Can Only Get Better.”
He ended thanking a “kind and brilliant audience.”
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By
alarsen
| Saturday, July 5, 2008, 05:38 PM
Asia featuring John Payne left the stage at 2:50 p.m. after some serious monster rock and power chords ending with “Sole Survivor.” The Fraze crowd has officially filled out in, as a DJ from Mix 107.7 put it, “an intimate living room setting with about 3,500 people.”
To finally hear “Heat of the Moment” played by Asia, not the original members, but as close to the original band as it gets (thanks steve!), was a thrill. As a child of the ‘80s (don’t tell) with a unexplained love for all things from that time including cheesy rock music, I rekindled my love of Asia’s “Only Time Will Tell” and the synth-a-licious “Sole Survivor.” Led by John Payne who has, “been lead vocalist, bassist and driving force for the Supergroup ASIA for some 16 years, releasing over 15 albums with them and extensive world tours,” according to the band’s bio.
Shortly before Patty Smyth & Scandal took the stage at 3:10, Mix 107.7 threw T-shirts out and a woman in very close to the back row of the bleachers, not only won a T-shirt, but a set of front row tickets that were wadded up in a T-shirt (how cool is that?). Patty Smyth in a hot pink T-shirt was a bit chatty … “If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been I have six friggin’ kids and John McEnroe … seven friggin’ kids.”
Smyth, who left the group in ’85 to persue a solo career, was back with the band that put her on the map in the first place. Smyth ended the little over one hour set with “Warrior” followed by “Goodbye to You” - the livliest and largest the Fraze crowd has been yet today.
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Craig Schrolucke and Alexis Larsen are good buddies who love a trendy hot spot as much as they do a worn out hole in the wall provided the service is as good as the items being served up. They also love bar talk and all that it entails and are more than happy to belly up to this bar blog and do just that.
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Summerfest was great, except for the sunburn I left with. Howard Jones was awesome. Patty Smyth was