Trafalgar Castle School, built in 1859, was gorgeous inside and out.
Since the nature of the show was an 'A-list' dinner/auction/fundraiser,
there was little opportunity for taking pictures or videos during the
show. Instead, we have added an edited YouTube video (above) that
includes footage shot of Frank Rondell's tour with us through Portugal
in 2005.
The interior of Trafalgar Castle School was every bit as opulent as the exterior, with no corners cut in
preparation for the fundraiser and according to the Charles H. Best website, the fundraiser was deemed a
big success. And, as you can imagine, it was a very enjoyable show for the band.
The next stop for the band
was a redate at the 6th
Annual Food & Drink Fest at
Copps Coliseum in downtown
Hamilton. As in other years,
the place was packed and the
band played to an
appreciative and attentive
crowd. The lighting in the
converted arena was very bad
for picture taking, but we were
able to capture a few pictures
of what was a fun evening for
everyone in attendance.
Above: Our newest band
member, local career
musician, Mark 'the Chief'
LaForme, sitting in for our
regular guitarist, Phil Kott.
The band spent the next month playing
some favourite local nightclubs, then
on May 13th, it was time to do a
double gig. We had an evening gig
near Toronto, so first stop was Port
Dover for a noon hour slot at the year's
Friday the 13th bash. By the time we
took the stage with Dave Battah's Rod
Stewart show, the streets were full of
people and some very fine machinery.
Below, from left to right: Carlo, Don,
Mike, John and Nick.
Dave (Rod
Stewart) even rode
his own bike to this
show (above left).
To the right of that,
our good friend,
Suzanne O filling
in with us for this
show on keyboard,
our sound man,
Russell and
newest band
member, Mark on
guitar.
The Port Dover
bash is always a
great time and
Dave Battah's Rod
Stewart show was
no exception. The crowds were huge, even for so early in the day.
The band then packed up quickly and headed to Toronto for the
evening show in what would be a very different venue
'Opulent' would
be the word that
would come to mind
and we arrived at
Le Parc Conference
Centre in Markham
for an evening Rod
Stewart show to a
shirt-and-tie dinner
crowd.
Tony (above) was back at his regular place behind
his piano for the evening's show. And from all
indications, the Unionville Home Society's reception,
dinner and dance appeared to be a great success.
The band definitely enjoyed their day.
The summer brought the band to the Ancaster
Fairgrounds -- the new home of Hamilton's Festival
of Friends -- for a redate with the Rodmasters Car
Club. Being a mid-summer date, the parking lot
was full of some mighty fine machinery -- (pictured
above).
Joining us for the evening was our good friend, Alex
MacDougall. Alex is the lead guitarist for another
excellent local band, Groove Corporation, and as
expected, he 'nailed' the show.
One thing can be said about the good folks at the Rodmasters Car Club --
they know how to enjoy themselves ... whether it be in the garage, on the
road or on the dancefloor. It was a great evening for everyone.
The next stop for the band was a redate at the
Brockville Arts Centre, this time with Frank Rondell
and his Ray Charles tribute show. As is usually
the case, a number of the band members used the
mid-summer date and the beautiful eastern
Ontario scenery to make a mini-
vacation for themselves.
The Brockville Arts Centre is a
grand old lady, done up in full
theatre tradition. But with the 'no
pictures' ban during
performances, the only pics taken
were during afternoon sound
check (above) and, of course, a
shot of Ray & the Roulettes (to
the right) in the dressing room
before the show. Probably most
remembered by the
band during this
trip was the
extended heat
wave. By showtime
of the afternoon
show of the second
day, the thermometer had soared to
41C (106F) -- far more than
Canadians are used to withstanding.
In spite of this, all three shows were
packed as the band enjoyed another
excellent trip to Brockville.
During August 2011, the band took two road trips. The second was back to Bay Mills, MIchigan
with our Powerhouse show. We'd been there many times before, so we left the cameras at home
and just enjoyed the end-of-summer show in northern
Michigan. But first, we were off to Morton, Minnesota,
to play our Chicago Transit show at the Jackpot
Junction Casino outdoor stage. It was a 'fly-away' gig, so our drive this
time was just to Buffalo Airport. We would do a lot of waiting in
airports today as we bounced from Buffalo to Chicago's O'Hare airport,
to Minneapolis, then finally, by
courtesy shuttle to the casino.
More shuttles, more waits, then
finally a late, late night arrival at
the casino -- total trip, approx. 16
hours. Coming back, fortunately
would not have the long waits for
connections.
Jackpot Junction is a Sioux Nation casino and as
such, some of the decor, both inside and out was
very nice to look at. But probably the best part of
this show was that the full proceeds were going
directly to the Angel Fund.
"Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel and supporters of
the Angel Fund are proud to be able to make a
difference in the lives of children from the
surrounding communities. Now in its 9th year, the
Angel Fund has donated over $100,000 to assist 16
children with serious medical conditions by funding
dream vacations, and in some cases providing much needed necessities to the families.”
-- Brian Pendleton, General Manager
The stage was huge, with an excellent sound system. But
because it was just the 8 band members travelling on this trip,
there was no one to man the cameras during the performance.
Pictures were thus limited to sound check and some quick pics
from stage during the show.
The evening closed off with a very impressive fireworks display.
All in all, it was an excellent show and a very pleasant stay for
the boys in Morton, Minnesota.
Next morning, we were up early and off, through rural Minnesota farmlands and
towns, to Minneapolis airport. From there we flew to Chicago, then took
another connecting link to Buffalo before our drive home from Buffalo airport. It
was another excellent road trip for the band.
Sound Check
Sound Check
Set-up and Sound Check
The 2011 year was an extreme mix of highs and lows for the Powerhouse Band. As is
usually the case, the band was on the road a great deal, playing excellent venues,
concerts, casinos, theatres and many different special events from eastern Ontario,
Canada to as far west as Minnesota in the U.S. The band played all four of its shows
spread nearly equally between new dates and returning redates to generally very
appreciative crowds. But in spite of all this, there was a great low that hung over the
band for the entire year.
January and February, being the usual ‘down time’ for bands, was spent close to
home playing a number of local clubs. By the end of the February, the band received
the news – our guitarist, Phil Kott, had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer
and would probably not be able to do many more shows as he’d be spending most of
his time with treatments. Phil played his last show with the band in mid-March with
Frank Rondell and his Ray Charles tribute show at the Trafalgar Castle School in
Whitby, Ontario at a benefit for the Charles H. Best Society for Juvenile Diabetes.
