Great White and Faster Pussycat take ’80s rock decadence to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on July 15
From a press release:
It has been announced that Grammy-nominated blues rock powerhouse Great White will be performing with special guests Faster Pussycat at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $23 in advance or $28 the day of the show, go on sale this Saturday, Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. and will be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak box office (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe), and Roadies Restaurant and Bar (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe). Penn’s Peak box office and Roadies Restaurant ticket sales are walk-up only; no phone orders.
It would be easy to coast on an over 30-year career. But we all know that maintaining a career that long isn’t easy, nor is it about dwelling on the past. For fans of Great White, their devotion to the band’s classic songbook is just as fierce as the tracks yet to be written.
For five guys that make up a team bigger than any one member, Great White has moved out of its own shadow in 2016 into higher profile projects. An upcoming DVD release of their documentary and concert footage shot in Las Vegas from Rock Fuel Media will also be included in a cable network TV series called “Rock Show.”
And, in early 2017, Great White will once again work with producer Michael Wagener, a humble nod to their first self-titled EP and album (EMI, 1984). Wagener reached iconic status after working with such hard rock gods as Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Metallica, and more.
“To say we’re excited is an understatement,” Great White said. “We will be recording in Nashville, which has it’s own vibe and culture. We don’t want our fans to think we’re going country, we’re absolutely not, but many Nashville cats are transplants. We trust Michael. This is going to be an amazing ride and record that will take our sound even further into our next decade.”
Great White is Mark Kendall (guitar), Michael Lardie (guitar, keyboards), Audie Desbrow (drums), Scott Snyder (bass), and Terry Ilous (vocals). Since 1982, the Great White sound has captivated audiences worldwide with crushing blues-based guitar riffs and swagger that invokes an emotional high for anyone that listens. The band’s core writing team of Lardie and Kendall forged numerous hits over the years, and when Desbrow joined in 1985, the grooves hooked an amazing stride.
For nearly a decade, Snyder has merged his unforgiving rhythm to Desbrow’s relentless percussion. And, in 2011, Ilous’ feverish energy and far-stretching vocals melted perfectly into the Great White mold. Kendall calls Ilous “the most consistent singer I’ve ever shared the stage with and a great all-around musician.”
Best known for their Grammy-nominated “Best Hard Rock Performance” hit, “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” Great White has sold over 10 million albums worldwide, has six Top 100 Billboard hits, nine Top 200 Billboard albums, two platinum albums, and clocked the top of MTV videos four times.
To experience their hits live in concert – “Rock Me,” “Mista Bone,” “Save Your Love,” “House of Broken Love,” and “Lady Red Light” – is to ride an emotional wave of perspiring connections, sultry lyrics, and an all-out marathon of hard-hitting orchestrations.
Great White continues to tour worldwide and, in the last two years, logged nearly 200 dates in several states and countries. The band celebrated numerous milestones that included several sold-out performances; a return to the Zurich, Switzerland’s Rock Im Tal Festival; and, for the first time ever, a handful of intimate acoustic performances.
They returned to the classic rock radio charts with “Complicated” off 2012’s “Elation,” the band’s 12th studio album. It garnered high marks from numerous rock journalists behind the pesky “Something for You,” the cheeky “Shotgun Willie’s,” and the emotional, Top 10 classic rock radio entry “Hard to Say Goodbye.”
No band epitomizes Hollywood sleaze more than Faster Pussycat. Countless bands have adopted their look and demeanor in order to try and ride the Hollywood wave to success. Most fail. For those bands, it’s a costume… an act. For Faster Pussycat, it’s a way of life. They said it best in their own song, “Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll,” off their 2006 album “The Power & the Glory Hole.” However, don’t be mistaken – they are much more than an image. First and foremost, they are a rock ‘n’ roll band that has put out consistently great records and given it all on stage, where it counts the most.
Singer Taime Downe formed the band in 1985, taking its name from the cult classic Russ Meyer film “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” In 1987, they released their self-titled debut album, which went gold. The album was loaded with sexual innuendo and bravado and struck a nerve in the glam rock community, though they were always a little more down and dirty than glam. During that time, they were interviewed and played two songs (“Cathouse” and “Bathroom Wall”) in the documentary film “The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.” The documentary captured the general vibe of the Sunset Strip bands during that time period, with Faster Pussycat being featured front and center.
In 1989, they released the album “Wake Me When It’s Over,” which spawned the massive Top 25 hit single “House of Pain,” propelling them beyond the Sunset Strip to worldwide acclaim. They received substantial airtime on MTV for the video and toured with some of the biggest bands in history: Guns N’ Roses, Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, KISS, Alice Cooper, and many more. They were able to reach fans all across the world, and the sunset strip seemed endless as fans clamored for a taste of the famed Faster Pussycat sleaze. The album went gold and, to this day, many hail “House of Pain” as one of the greatest power ballads of all time. The band’s lineup during this time was Taime Downe (vocals), Greg Steele (guitar), Brent Muscat (guitar), Kelly Nickels (bass), and Mark Michaels (drums).
In 1992, the band released the album “Whipped” and toured in support of it. Following the tour, they broke up, with each member heading in separate musical directions.
Downe decided to go in a more industrial rock direction working with the band Pigface before forming The Newlydeads. The band put out four albums – their self-titled debut, a remix album titled “Re-bound,” “Dead End,” and a compilation album, “Dreams from a Dirt Nap.”
In 2001, Downe decided it was time to get Faster Pussycat back together to give the world another dose of the Hollywood sleaze that had all but disappeared during the grunge era. Muscat and Steele rejoined the band, along with The Newlydeads’ Xristian Simon, Danny Nordahl, and Chad Stewart.
Faster Pussycat quickly put out a collection of industrial remixes of the band’s early songs produced by Downe and played to enthusiastic crowds around the world. During this time, Muscat and Steele left again. 2006 saw the band’s first full-length release in 14 years, “The Power & the Glory Hole,” and proved that, under Taime’s leadership, the band was in good hands. 2009 saw the release of a live album, “Front Row for the Donkey Show.” Both were put out by Full Effect, and the reviews were positive.
In 2010, guitarist Ace Von Johnson joined Faster Pussycat, cementing the current lineup. The interjection of fresh blood into the band was immediately noticeable as his youthful high energy and virtuoso performance rejuvenated the band and their live performances. It was like 1987 again.
Faster Pussycat is currently working on a new EP and doing what they’ve always done – touring heavily, rocking the fuck out of every venue they play, and keeping the spirit of Hollywood sleaze alive and well.
