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Saturday, July 5, 2008
John Waite steps in for Lou Gramm
John Waite, the former frontman for The Babys and Bad English dedicated his performance at Fraze SummerFest 10 to Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm (see here for more). During his set Waite played hits that included “Missing You” and “When I See You Smile” that saw a robust Fraze crowd respond to both his charm and his sound.
For being a last minute addition to the bill, Waite and his four-piece backing band played the heck out of their material. His look and stage presence reminded me very much (fans don’t take this the wrong way because it’s meant in the best way …) of Hugh Grant’s character in the film “Music and Lyrics.” Waite wrapped things up with a energetic rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock N’ Roll” wrapping his set up at 9:30 p.m. almost exactly.
Nine bands down, one to go. If you’ve been to Fraze today, feel free to share your favorite moments here.
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Survivor survives SummerFest 2008
They have a will to survive … they sing about it and today Survivor has survived SummerFest 2008 at the Fraze Pavilion as the eighth band in a ten band ’80s nostalgic lineup.
Discovered back in the day (the ’80s in case you haven’t been paying attention) by action hero Sylvester Stallone, Survivor continues to be a favorite on the oldie, but goodie concert circuit. Ending their more than hour long set with “Eye of the Tiger,” the proverbial lid came off Fraze as the crowd was brought to it’s feet and sang in tandem. Fraze continues to keep close to a very tight schedule with Survivor exiting the stage at around 8 p.m.
Update: The crew from Mix 107.7 just came to the stage explaining why John Waite (former frontman for The Babys and Bad English) instead of Lou Gramm (former Foreigner frontman) … it goes like this: Apparently Lou had some health issues requiring surgery and Mix 107.7 crew thought, “well that’s going to be lame, we’re having our 10th anniversary with nine bands …” According to the story, 48 hours ago John Waite gets a call to come to Dayton and he did … on his birthday no less! The crowd just finished singing “Happy Birthday” to him and he started in on his set at 8:35 p.m.
Eight bands down, the ninth on stage, one to go. Stay tuned …
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SummerFest update - Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne strutted out in a shorty, cherry hot red dress that Carrie Bradshaw would give thumbs up to for the most fashionista moment of the day so far. She ended the set with a cover of the Barry White classic “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” or so we thought … she re-emerged with her backup singers to sing “Tell it to My Heart” which had the crowd on its feet including us.
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Howard Jones takes Fraze back in time …
“It is a great and fantastic honor to be here tonight,” said Howard Jones in a metallic suit at 4:30 in the afternoon.
My husband described him as Paul Shaffer’s alter-ego and until he took off his sunglasses after the first song that is EXACTLY what he looked like. With 10 hit singles to his credit and over eight million albums in sales, Jones was one of the acts we were most looking forward to thanks to his string of ’80s hits and easily identifiable falsetto … who was your favorite going in and coming out?
As if he were channeling Billy Joel, Jones hammered out “Everlasting Love” solo on a keyboard towards the middle of the set which ultimately ended at 5:20 p.m. with “Things Can Only Get Better.”
He left the stage thanking a “kind and brilliant audience.”
Here’s the days schedule for those still looking for it.
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Summerfest update - Asia and Smyth
Asia featuring John Payne left the stage at 2:50 p.m. after some serious monster rock and power chords ending with “Sole Survivor.” The Fraze crowd has officially filled out in, as a DJ from Mix 107.7 put it, “an intimate living room setting with about 3,500 people.”
To finally hear “Heat of the Moment” played by Asia, not the original members, but as close to the original band as it gets (thanks steve!), was a thrill. As a child of the ‘80s (don’t tell) with a unexplained love for all things from that time including cheesy rock music, I rekindled my love of Asia’s “Only Time Will Tell” and the synth-a-licious “Sole Survivor.” Led by John Payne who has, “been lead vocalist, bassist and driving force for the Supergroup ASIA for some 16 years, releasing over 15 albums with them and extensive world tours,” according to the band’s bio.
Shortly before Patty Smyth & Scandal took the stage at 3:10, Mix 107.7 threw T-shirts out and a woman in very close to the back row of the bleachers, not only won a T-shirt, but a set of front row tickets that were wadded up in a T-shirt (how cool is that?). Patty Smyth in a hot pink T-shirt was a bit chatty … “If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been I have six friggin’ kids and John McEnroe … seven friggin’ kids.”
Smyth, who left the group in ’85 to persue a solo career, was back with the band that put her on the map in the first place. Smyth ended the little over one hour set with “Warrior” followed by “Goodbye to You” - the livliest and largest the Fraze crowd has been yet today.
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“What we like about ..” the Romantics
Formed on Valentine’s Day in 1977, the name Romantics is apt and the Detroit band got plenty of love from the Fraze crowd. Best known for power pop hits “What I Like About You” and “Talking in Your Sleep” that’s just about the extent that this group had to offer up in it’s repertoire and they did just that in their short set to the crowd’s delight. The Fraze crowd is filling out and things are running just a little bit late - Asia was supposed to take the stage at 1:30 p.m., but the Romantics just finished up. The group ended with “What I Like About You” which is one of the reasons we like the Romantics ….
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A Flock of Seagulls brings new wave
New wave doesn’t begin to describe the pulsating synth beats on tunes like “I Ran (So Far Away)” and “Space Age Love Song” from A Flock of Seagulls, the second band to the Fraze SummerFest stage. Lead singer Mike Score’s distinctive cascading hairstyle (see photo from back in the day below), which has been referenced in pop culture for years in productions ranging from innocuous television shows like “Friends” to more controversial fare like “Pulp Fiction,” may have toned down to a long braid behind beind his head, but thankfully the sound hasn’t toned down any (although it did get a little flat on certain notes). Score was the only one from the original line-up there, backed by three new guys. One thought: Most of these bands really don’t have much more than two or three good songs to their name, but they’re the kind of tunes that get stuck in your head really easily and camp out there until the next band takes the stage.
Parting thought: “And I ra-a-an, I ran so far awa-a-ay….” You’ll be singing that to yourself all day. No need to thank us, thank A Flock of Seagulls and check out that hair!
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Naked Eyes kicks off SummerFest right on time
Pete Byrne, the surviving half of Naked Eyes, along with a backing band, was on hand to kick off Mix 107.7’s SummerFest 10 at Fraze Pavilion. And they started right on time. Although keyboardist Rob Fisher, the other half of the UK group who passed away in 1999 due to complications from stomach surgery, was missing, the music was just as we remembered it back in the day. Known best for their cover of Burt Bacharach’s “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” which Bacharach penned with Hal David, the band also played lesser synth-pop hits, ending with the guitar driven ballad “Promises, Promises.” It was a nice way to start a long day of ‘80s immersion. Byrne ended things at 12:25 p.m. saying, “Thank you and good morning!” Ten bands on one stage has got to be a logistical nightmare, but Fraze so far seems to be right on top of things. One band down, nine to go … stay tuned.
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