Following a very successful year-ending Ray Charles Show tour overseas, the band rested that show this year – how ya gonna top that? – and concentrated
on the Chicago Transit show, the Rod Stewart show and their regular Powerhouse show. Dave Battah, as ‘Rod’, took us into Georgian Downs and Kawartha
Downs casinos to start the year. The Chicago Transit show opened both of those gigs, as the two shows always worked so well together. We did a few local
theatre and club dates with these two shows, with our other Rod Stewart guy when Dave was performing elsewhere.
Where last year was much about the Ray Charles tribute show, this year was about the Chicago Transit show, as the band took it to numerous venues, some
as far away as the city of Chicago itself -- on a very hot summer afternoon. They didn’t understand Chicago Transit music much last year in Europe, but they
sure ate it up in Chicago, Illinois. There was also the Bay Mills casino on the southern shore of Lake Superior, with a rapid drive home in the middle of the
night to beat an approaching blizzard. The band also put their Chicago Transit show into the Woodbine racetrack for two nights, with a couple of repeat gigs.
The big change in the band this year was the addition of Mike DeBenedictus on bass guitar (replacing Greg Smith). He got the Bay Mills casino and the
overnight ‘beat the blizzard’ ride as his first gig – sorry, Mike. As Powerhouse, the band did what they’ve been doing for a quite a while now – play locally,
clubs, corporate events, private parties, special events and the Port Dover Friday the 13th bash. As usual, our pictures here are a bit sparse. It’s hard to
take pics of a band we’re playing in, and before and after gigs, there’s a lot of set-up and tear-down to do. Again, most of these pics are forwarded from
other sources, with our thanks.
Friday the 13th landed in the middle of the summer this year, and as they've done year after year,
Powerhouse was there, pumping out Mustang Sally, James Brown, old soul and R&B hits to a city
full of bikers and their babes. Yes, there was indeed some fine lookin' hardware in town.
Another excellent venue this summer was the Classic Cars and Legendary
Stars Festival in Gage Park in Brampton, sponsored by the Antique and Classic
Car Club of Canada (Brampton region). Powerhouse was there this summer
with their full Chicago Transit show.
As the band has done for the
last few years, the year came
to a close at Carmen's
Banquet Centre in Hamilton
for the Annual New Year's
Eve Bash. Once again, the
place was packed, the food
was great and the year
closed out in the best
possible way.
While 2006 was mostly about the
Ray Charles tribute show, concluding
with our year-end tour overseas, and
last year (2007) was spent
concentrating on taking our Chicago
Transit show to bigger and better
venues, this year (2008) would be
known as the summer of the ‘rain out’. Nearly every
show we did outdoors during the busy warm-weather season was
either rained out totally, or we dealt with rain at some point during the
show. I swear that we spent more time off-stage with our instruments
in hand, watching the crowds and the equipment get drenched, than
we did performing.
The Ray Charles show, again, took the year off, but
Dave Battah and his Rod Stewart tribute had us
and our Chicago Transit show back in the casinos
and we did a couple of dates at an excellent local
club called Johnny B’s in Whitby. Mostly though,
the year was about the Chicago Transit and
Powerhouse shows, and of course, standing
waiting for the rain to stop.
The band played the Fort Erie Slots, Windsor
Casino, the Friday the 13th bash in Port Dover to
see it rained out, was in Bracebridge for the
Muskoka Summerfest before
rain ended the show half-
way through, did festivals in Jarvis, Ont., Stoney Creek, Hamilton
mountain, and a number of club dates in the Hamilton, Burlington,
Toronto area. But in spite of the weather problems, it was still a
good and busy year for the band. And, as an added bonus, both
Steve Dormer and our friend Sue came
by this year and took some excellent
pictures of the band.
Early in the year, the band took their
Chicago Transit Show into Whitby,
Ontario for a redate at Johnny B's
nightclub. On hand that night was Steve
Dormer who took a great collection of
pictures of the band -- shown above and
below. My problem here was picking the
best from a few hundred excellent shots.
Thanks Steve. Great work.
Another excellent gig, early in
the year, was when Powerhouse
took their show to Casino
Windsor for two nights. Again,
casino restrictions made taking
pictures impossible, but I was
able to get a pic of the stage
area during soundcheck and
another of Detroit, Michigan
across the river from the casino.
I must admit, this was one fine
casino, and an great gig for us.
As I mentioned, there wasn't much to take
pictures of this summer except musicians
trying to mop water off P.A. equipment and
electronics. For the Muskoka Summerfest
in Bracebridge, we drove all the way for 6
songs, before the skies opened up. It was
a shame too, as the festival organizers
were great people and the venue was
excellent.
But later in the year, the weather improved
and Powerhouse played an outdoor show
on Concession Street on Hamilton
Mountain at one of their local festivals.
There was a lot of the flu
going around the band at this
gig. Tony (above) was one
who was dealing with it.
We don't get a lot of pictures of our sound tech, (above
right) -- a very laid-back guy. As a band, we can always
count on Russell when he’s behind the board.
One of the band's last gigs of the year was for a private
Christmas party. There was a lot of fine machinery
owned by the people that attented this dinner and dance.
Pre-show Sound Check
