NEWSLETTERS
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Road Update 2/ July Time for another installment of the newsletter Guys and Dolls! Well I attended my second show this month this time in New Jersey at the PNC Arts Center instead of Poison’s old home base of Hershey PA before they loaded up the truck and moved to California many moons ago. Not as many people this time around but still a good crowd. It might have had something to do with the fact that the last show was in Poison country and many of their old hometown fans wanted to see them back home again. I’ve driven by the amphitheatre many times but this was my first time there. And impressive looking place I must say! It was a cloudy day but the rains never came. I got their early and wandered over to the VIP section and there was the “Chipster” doing a radio interview at a table. I waited till he was finished and then he brought me down to the bus and was gracious as ever. I always bring him his favorite cigarettes, which are Dunhill’s and other things for some of the guys. It was about a little over an hour from showtime and I chatted for awhile and took my seat next to Scotty who works with Tesla. He’s from California and you would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. This fly isn’t talking though. One thing I must say if any of you are Eddie Van Halen fans say a prayer for the man… First off… the show started off with the “The National Anthem” which was a first for me at a rock concert. The band played it’s usual number of songs and the same one’s sans “Invisible” they play at some shows bit not at the two I was at. Must be a time allotment thing. Anyway during there set their booking agent Sammy Boyd’s boy came onstage and played drums with Ricky during his solo. He’s just a young lad but can really beat those skins! Plus another youngster came onstage and Chip has him reach over and play his bass as well. I must say he did a MUCH better job than the security guy did when Chip tried to get him into the show. The band played it’s usual number of songs and the same one’s sans “Invisible” they play at some shows bit not at the two I was at. Must be a time allotment thing. Anyway during there set their booking agent Sammy Boyd’s boy came onstage and played drums with Ricky during his solo. He’s just a young lad but can really beat those skins! Plus another youngster came onstage and Chip has him reach over and play his bass as well. I must say he did a MUCH better job than the security guy did when Chip tried to get him into the show. The usual lineup of songs was Revolution, Kiss The Clown, We’re All Alright, Fly Away, Baby Loves You (with drum solo) and New Thing with Donnie explaining that had two minor hits from the first disc but only time to play one. He was strutting around the stage in leather pants with tassels and a black hat with a sheriff’s badge on it or something and he looked very cool in that outfit! This was their last show before a 10 day break and then back to the road until the end of August ending on my birthday in West Virginia. They will then take off until they go to Germany and additional tour dates are PENDING! Please be mindful of this as that’s a ways off and this is ONLY a “possibility” at this point until it is posted people. Keep your fingers crossed! After the show I talked with the effervescent Ricky and he had a bass drum head that he was signing for the “Eric Carr” foundation. He was the drummer for Kiss for many years and died of cancer of the heart. The head had a picture of the Paraphernalia cover on it and John was signing things as well. Chip was talking to anyone and everyone and I had a chance to talk to by buddy Tom “NFL” Feeley for a bit. We went on the bus again and it was getting cramped and Ricky asked if anyone wanted something to drink. Donnie was on the bus packing his things and trying to sign autographs at the same time. He never forgets his fans even at the expense of leaving his clothes behind! ;) For those of you who didn’t know it Ricky has been doing a bang up job the whole tour with a broken hand that won’t be reset until the tour is over. A friend and schoolmate of Ricky’s brought him a whole bag of aspirin as a joke as he is an EMS supervisor. If you see Ricky at a show I’m sure he’d get a good laugh at Tylenol, Advil etc. as a gift. ;) After the show I ran into the world traveler herself “Hollywood” who came down from Canada. Anyone remember her? I met her once before and she’s a sweet lady who gave me a good smack (more like a tap) when I tried to guess their ages. Guys, always underestimate as Holly told me. I was off by one year! Chrissy who does assistant work for the band was also there and was at the Hershey show and I didn’t think I would see her at this show but she was a nice sight to see again. ;) Both of them for that matter! There were a lot of media people there and Eddie Trunk as well who does work in the business. Since it was a hop, skip and a jump from NYC a lot of media were waiting to talk to the band after their set. As one of them said, if this were 10 years ago this show would be at Giants Stadium but we all know what grunge did and I give kudos to all the bands that are going back out here to show people what “good” music is really about! That’ll do it for me and Traci has compiled some fan quotes that are quite funny in some spots so I’ll step aside for now… Tour quotes from the fans…
If opening night was any indication, the rest of the tour will make this the party of the summer! All
in it was a fun show.... I’m just bummed cause Znuff, IMO, is better than any
band up there, but no one will know that with such a short set & no kudos as
far as sound & stage go. Life just isn’t fair:
Ricky
Parent kicked some ass on stage tonight.
It's
good to see that Chip & Donnie are dressing like rock stars again ... I
won't mention the rest.
Nice
socks Monaco! What the hell is that?!
Monaco
was rocking the leather pants & plain t-shirt. Chip took his magical time
machine back to Pimp-time for my show (Sweet Sunny Gem What was on his
head????). Donnie was Donnie, grabbin' the `ol beanbag & choking on the
pollen in the air. I
went to the concert on the 27th in the woodlands. I was just sitting with my
sister, my mom and her friend while they ate and Ricky was just standing there!
So I got my arm signed and my pant leg and a few pics with him. But yeah, he was
just walking around. So keep your eyes open!!! Too
bad for Poison that both EZ and Warrant completely kicked their a** from one
side of the stage to the other! Maybe EZ and Warrant should tour together. That
would weed out all of the riff-raff. Peace.
LONG
LIVE Z'NUFF!!!!!!
I
just want to say a big thank you to all the guys; I saw their show in Atlanta
and ended up being able to spend about 4 hours with them. They were the nicest,
politest guys I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with; they are
without a doubt true gentleman. I want to thank Donnie for taking me backstage
during Poisons set, the whole night will be one
that I will remember forever, and guys Rita says ya'll can have backrubs
anytime you want. It was a total dream come true down to the last goodbye. Peace
guys I
just went to the Atlanta Glam Slam show, and I was so disappointed that Enuff
Z’Nuff went on first. With out saying anything bad about Quiet Riot, EZN
should have been after them with more stage time. If the guys ready this, I'm
personally sorry that more people didn't show up early to see you. My friends
did, and you may have 2 new fans. Thanks for putting up with such a lame time
slot. It shows you really care to be there.
Chip
was wearing this cool purple pimp suit, it was great.
Thanks
for a kickin’ show Enuff Z Nuff! Headline
next time your in town! We need to hear more songs
I
was impressed with all of the guys, all the way around. Great vibe going on
there that night! …nothing
wrong with that! Z'nuff aren't lookers, they're artists... different caliber
than the rest of the acts on the glam slam tour... different entirely... with
them, I always believed the music came first... I
definitely agree with the person who said that they didn't seem to fit in. All
the other acts were purely nostalgic, in their 80's/early 90's glam outfits and
their hair all teased up, playing all their "old" stuff. But Znuff
came out like they are today...for better or worse; they were not "put
on".... it was just them, doing what they do best. What a breath of fresh
air to that tired old line-up. Too bad most of the crowds seem to be missing
them. I
went last night to the EZN show in Raleigh and was really impressed. They have
the songs to back themselves unlike the other bands. Poison was good but I was
disappointed in Warrant. I thought 'the beast' live was killer. The crowd was
sparse though. 6P is pretty early to be taking the stage. I
was also at the Raleigh show last night! The guys rocked!! It was actually the
first time in 10 years that I had seen them and I was very impressed that they
are still sounded as good as they did back in the day. The
Charlotte show was awesome to say the least!! It had been 10 years since I had
seen the guys live & they did not disappoint me!! Was even lucky enough to
meet Chip & Monaco that night! Just
wanted to let everyone know that the show last night in Hershey, PA was
kick-ass! It was great to hear them perform "Kiss The Clown" - it's
been a long time for that one! For all his critics, Donnie looked fantastic and
his voice was out of this world. A very special thanks to Ricky Parent for
letting me and my friends in to say hello! I'm
new here. I saw Enuff Z'Nuff for the first time at Hershey last night!! I'm in
love!! Hahaha. They were so incredible!!! F I
have been a fan of these guys for years. Finally getting to see them was like my
Birthday, Honeymoon, Pay Day and an ass load of Christmases all rolled into one! Not
a lot of people were there or seemed to even know who they were. But I was
jumping around screaming in the back for everyone who wouldn't. After
their set we had a chance to meet Monaco and Chip. They were incredibly nice. No
egos. Not in any rush at all. They were more than happy to sign the CD's that
people brought and pose for pictures.
A real class act Chip,
Donnie, Ricky, Monaco - the orange hair guy from VA thinks you rocked and will
definitely be out to see you again soon - LOOK FOR ME - good to see you guys!!! I've
been a fan for a long time but this will be my first chance to see them!!!!!!!
I'm so excited, I'll be coming right back here with a set list and review when I
get home. Chip is one of the coolest looking people I've ever seen, can't wait
to see him in person. John,
on stage right, would get the prize for most "interesting" look on
stage…. A denim stone-washed 2-piece silver-studded "dress", with
shorts underneath, white knee-socks, black shoes, red-streaked hair and bright
orange lipstick!! The man looked like a cross between 80's Debbie Gibson and
Raggedy Ann!! John told us later that Donnie had bought the dress for him.
You're a brave man, Monaco!! —And the skirt was a good `cut' for your figure! I
saw some people that were there wearing old poison shirts that had gone and
bought EZN shirts after they were done playing, that to me is a good sign. The
hospitality that Chip and Donnie and Ricky and Monaco showed me put this weekend
over the top, I will never forget it, and I will never forget how well all of
EZN and their road crew treated us. They are as nice outside of their roles as a
band as they are talented, and you don't find that commitment to fans very often
in any other bands. EZN truly are class acts with loads of talent. LONG
LIVE Z'NUFF!!!! The stage of
course was set for the headliners, but EZN made a commanding presence
nonetheless, despite the lack of bells and whistles. The shows EZN
put on were incredible. And the guys could not have been any cooler towards me. Donnie
recognized me from the crowd as I was one of about 2 screaming (the other was my
sister in law), gave us hugs and told us "you two are the whole reason I
felt like rockin’ tonight", As far as the
Monaco thing some have argued about, this guy was great. He played all the songs
wonderfully, was very fan friendly, and he too has a great sense of humor They say that
you shouldn't meet your icons or idols, but EZN has done nothing but elevate my
opinion of them this weekend, and I didn't think that was at all possible. To
Chip, Donnie, Ricky, and Monaco... I hail you!!!! And thank you. For those of
you out there who have yet to see Enuff Z'Nuff on this tour, or any show to
come, you're in for a special treat when you do! Also know that our guys truly
appreciate each and every one of us being there to support them. They make
themselves as available as possible for their fans, and as Chip asked me to
relay: "Thanks to all of our fans for sticking by and seeing us through,
all these years! We hail you all!!" And "hail", they do… As we stood at
midnight outside the gates at the Mars Music Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, we
realized one striking point: Not one member
of any of the other bands there was greeting fans outside the gate—much less
for an hour and a half, as WE were treated to! Bands like Enuff Z'Nuff, and guys
of their character don't come along very often. We "Hail" you right
back, brothers!!! Next month we
will have one more contest before the tour ends so stay tuned! Till next month… The EZNEXPRESS staff: Chris Capozza
(owner/editor) Traci Peters
(co-editor) Michelle Dimos
(contributing editor)
www.eznexpress.com “Never argue with an idiot. They’ll drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience”.
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