Chris
First instrument played:
Tenor Saxophone. I got teased because all the other kids' parents (wisely) got them Alto saxes (much lighter) and was accused of some kind of sax penis envy I guess. I mean if that was the case I would have gotten a Baritone Sax! I was around 11 years old, I had to drag this heavy case from our home (in England at the time) to a train, then on the "tube" to St. Johns Wood to the American School in London and finally to school band practice. Except I never practiced much and got sent home after music teacher had all the other kids stop playing and just asked me to play my part; and then asked me to leave.
Main instrument:
Guitar; picked this up in High School since I was then becoming a massive heavy metal fan in the 80's; an era rich with guitar gods. My guitar teacher asked me to check out this album by a guy called Yngwie Malmsteen, and I was like OMG this is what it's all about.
Other instruments played:
Bass in a pinch, and Vocals; I'd love to be able to break glass with a scream - I don't care for cookie monster "singing" much.
First band:
First band was Desciples from Hell; then I thought that might be a little over the top so just changed it to Deciple. Then once I wasn't feeling that I changed it to Gypsy Roze, I thought it was clever to use a "z" in Rose.
Other current bands:
Nothing right now than RIAG; however I'd like to be in some kind of tribute band. I think I could pull off a decent Ozzy and a cool solo era show, I just need a killer guitarist that looks like Randy Rhoads to get it all started.Any funny band stories?
Fun fact about yourself:
I love going to concerts; as a matter of fact my first concert was Ozzy on his Bark at the Moon tour; Ratt opened because Motley was kicked off because Ozzy was getting too wasted with them. I was on vacation with my mom and sister; I was about 15 and we were in Quebec City. I bought a walk-up ticket, had no idea what the lady said to me in French-Canadian and I couldn't find my seat so I just stood in the concourse in between the first and 2nd levels of Le Coliseum. Well, someone decided to light a firecracker and throw it my way. It blew up by my ear, lots of ushers ran over to me and were very concerned; I suppose (because they all spoke French-Canadian). After the show, the cabbie was outside as promised and I made it back alive to the hotel. My mom still has no idea why on Earth she let me do this.Another story: Back in 2000, my wife and I went to a Poison concert at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel NJ. After the show, we went back to our cheap hotel and there in the little cover nook area was Carlos Cavazo from Quiet Riot, who opened the show! He had his mom and girlfriend with him, so my wife and I grabbed a camera from our room. Not only did Carlos take a picture with me – but he had us sit and join him for a slice of what turned out to be his birthday cake! I told him how Metal Health was first metal album I ever bought and how we walked what seemed like miles as young teenagers to the record store to buy it – it was like our metal Mecca journey. He asked how we enjoyed the set, I said it was awesome. We were still in the parking lot when they'd gone on (Quiet Riot was the first of bands) and while we were walking in, we heard the late Kevin DuBrow just finishing, we realized we'd missed their set – but I would never tell Carlos that. It was his birthday after all.
Most memorable Rock Improv-a-Ganza experience so far:
Favorite Sacred Object:
New genre Rock Improv-a-Ganza should add:
Southern Rock & Today's Country. Back to The Troupe page!