Families and fans are torn by Great White's tour plan By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff, 5/1/2003 WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - It didn't look easy for Great White frontman Jack Russell when he took the stage Tuesday night, two months after the deadly fire in a Rhode Island nightclub. His face was drawn and weathered under the spotlight at a benefit for Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who died in the blaze. His eyes welled with tears as he belted out a ballad, ''Sail Away,'' in tribute to the victims. Russell slipped offstage after just one song - as if eager to escape the public glare. That will be hard to do after he announced - just before he began to sing - that this summer, Great White will embark on a 55-city tour to raise money for fire victims. The West Hollywood crowd applauded, but across the country, some victims' relatives who heard the news were aghast that the band involved in tragedy would presume to help the victims. ''I don't know why they are not in jail,'' said Carol Sweet, a Pembroke mother who lost her 28-year-old son Shawn in the fire. Her voice shaking with emotion, she added: ''I can't understand why they are still playing. I wouldn't even want any money that they made performing. ... I call it blood money. Our children died because of them.'' Her husband, Charles, was also angry. ''They are just trying to get their reputation back, and capitalizing on it one way or another,'' he said. ''I can't accept that.'' Even some of Great White's fans seemed torn by the news. Standing on Sunset Boulevard after Great White left the stage, Keri Bruce said she felt odd about the hurry of it all. ''I don't know what to think,'' said Bruce, 28. ''I think it's a good thing they continue on. But I also think they should give it a little more time.'' A debate over Great White's future has been brewing since the fire, in the Web-chat world of rock fans and living rooms of mourners. Some say band members owe it to their fans to keep on playing. Some say the band, out of decorum and respect, should stay low-key. Great White decided that playing would help. Russell described the benefit tour as ''just the beginning of the help that these people will receive, on Great White's behalf.'' Ed McPherson, the band's lawyer, said some Rhode Islanders had complained about Great White's appearance at Tuesday's benefit for Longley, saying the band should assist the 98 others who died. Touring is the most efficient way to raise money for all of the victims, McPherson said. ''What they do,'' he said, ''is perform.'' That seems a common sentiment among the most hardcore Great White fans, many of whom post loving missives on the Web, some of whom traveled long distances for Tuesday's $20-per ticket performance. Many at the show were in their 30s and 40s, wearing black T-shirts and blue jeans. For many, the best way to honor Longley was to celebrate his rock-musician life. He loved touring with Great White, said Joe Violante, 51, a close family friend who wore one of the guitarist's sequined shirts, and wiped tears from his eyes several times that night. So when Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall took the stage, Violante held a cellphone aloft so Longley's father, Pat, at home in Ohio, could hear. ''Should Great White go on tour? Why not?'' Violante said. ''It just goes on. Life goes on.'' He and many others at the Key Club said they don't blame the band for the fire, which began when pyrotechnics set off by Great White ignited foam around the stage and raced through the club. The fans say they feel sorry for the musicians. When Russell faltered during his opening speech, looking for the right words, one fan yelled out, ''We understand, Jack!'' Indeed, something about Tuesday night's show seemed to inspire conciliation - even after the bad feelings among some of Longley's mourners. The band said proceeds from their tour will go to a fund Longley's parents established to help victims, finance scholarships, and care for their son's unborn child. Heidi Peralta, pregnant with Longley's child, has set up her own fund for the baby, and at one point steered fans away from the West Hollywood event. Tuesday night, though, Peralta issued a statement in which she thanked the club and the promoters. In a recorded message played for the crowd, Pat Longley sent thanks and love from his son's ''mother, Mary Pat, his sister, Audrey, and his girlfriend, Heidi.'' He ended his message: ''Rock on!'' Still, some had expected a slowdown, at least. Rob Curtis, 31, a pilot from Minneapolis who has crisscrossed the country for Great White, flew to California for Tuesday's show, and had not expected to see the band again any time soon. ''I figured it would be a year or two before you'd hear from them at all,'' Curtis said. But if they have another concert, he said, ''I'll be there.''
Man, there's nothing like killing a bunch of people in a fire to revive a forgotten reputation. They weren't even this famous when they were famous. I think people are taking it a bit too hard though. Even though people died at their concert and even though Great White might have been even criminally negligent, it was an accident. I think mourners need to give them some room to be sorry about it, remorseful, mournful, and to try to do what they can to make up for it.
I find it incredible that you didnt expect me to post here... Great White was very famous Juan, maybe not in the circle you ran with...but in my world, they were considered one of the best blues-based rock bands of the time. People need to get off of the blame game...it was an accident, it isnt like they wanted to lose their guitarist and all those fans. They are just trying to help in the only way the know how..give em a break for christ's sake.. I know one thing, I will go see em if they come around..in a heartbeat.
Yea, too bad that you can't edit the title of the thread...that would really smoke him out! Sorry, Rockets2K, don't know why I left you off. You are one head-banging dude. If this was about Pantera or Sepultura, then I probably would have not forgotten you. For some reason, when I see these '80s hair bands, I immediately think of TheFreak and no one else.
thats the really funny thing about my rep, it even extends to people that know me IRL.. I actually prefer melodic guitar-based rock or progressive metal most of the time..but I am definitely agreeable to some good hardcore metal from time to time. I think people get that impression from the fact that 2 of my all-time favs are Maiden and Priest. Good example of my true tastes would be the fact that I am mighty irritated that Queensryche and Dream Theater are coming to town, and I cant go...They will be in H-town on Jun 23rd, and I have to be in Chicago on that day for my son's wedding..Grrr.. i thought about calling him and getting him to move it back a week, but then thought better of it.(actually the wife beat me upside the head for suggesting it) anywho...no big deal really...just giving ya a hard time....Mom
If Great White was considered one of the best blues-based rock bands of the time in your world, then that "time" must have only had one blues-based rock band. Great White's music, then and now, was pure unadulterated crap.
Ya know Tex, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.. but among the people I know, musicians and music freaks alike, we at least respected eash other's tastes enough to refrain from being so harsh about it..even if they don't agree. and yes, among that same circle of friends, at least 75& of us felt that GW was at least in the top 10 as far as that syle of music went. Whether you agree or not is of no consequence... but I'll end with this...I dont have the infatuation that others here have towards the DMB, but you dont see me piping up and telling them that DMB sucks do you? its a shame that others feel the need to be otherwise.
Sorry if I offended you, and your taste in music is your business. When it comes to the blues, I'm a purist. Might have something to do with the fact that I play the blues professionally. That being said, and no offense intended, Great White is to blues rock what a fish is to a bicycle, and Jack Russell wouldn't know blues music if it bit him on the ass.
and that is where the misunderstanding lies... I use the term "blues-based rock" to differentiate them from the other hard rock bands of the era that most here consider "hair bands".. I acknowledge that they are not a blues band..and if they were included in a catagory with real blues bands, they wouldnt even be close. When you think about it, all rock bands are essentially "blues-based"....my fault for using the wrong term to get across what I meant. and I wasnt that offended, it is just my misplaced expectations that others should treat others musical tastes in the same manner as I do..I really have no right to be that way, we are all allowed to react in our own fashions to things that displeasure us..
R2K I know what you mean with this. At that time Great White was more bluesy than most of the Warrants and Skid Rows and that sort of set them apart. They were different back then and I liked them as well. I still have the old CD's and listen to songs like Rock me, Save your love, and Angel's song every blue moon. I guess you had to be there. As for the concert, If they are using the money to help the families out I say more power to them.
yea, thats basically what I meant..I just dont transmit my ideas very well. I can see now how Tex might have misunderstood what I meant. I have always had a deep affinity for bluesy rock n roll...and in a time when most people were playin pop-metal...it was a welcome relief to hear something that was more real. Don't get me wrong, the other guys had their place, but somehow, it just wasnt the same..I guess the hair bands just sounded more....fake? I guess..manufactured?... I guess that explains why I really enjoy bands like Y&T, 38 Special, Molly Hatchett..and the like..bluesy, down to earth rock. Not quiet the same as the *real* blues bands that Tex thought I was comparing them to.
