Teaser (page 2)

One venue I wanted to play was the Rio Theatre in Rodeo. Once an art deco movie theatre, Peter Van Kleef bought it and turned it into a bitchin’ venue for bands. Peter spoke with me early on and I began to pound on his door everyday so we could get a gig there. Soon we were playing at the Rio regularly.

Rio Theatre proprietor Peter Van Kleef

Peter had a penchant for blues, rock and psychedelic music from the 60s. Since this was the Bay Area, many bands well-known for their music during the decade of Peace & Love played at the Rio. Our our first gigs were on Thursdays or Sundays but we didn’t care. We were playing original music and Peter gave us our break! It was a great time to be rocking! RIP Peter, and Thank You.

Gary Burke, shown hangin’ here, was a driving drummer. Howard and I loved his addition to our originals. Here are some shots of us playing at the Rio.

We played many gigs and were getting better, but things change. Eventually Gary Burke left the band. Fortunately for us, another pro drummer crossed our path and we welcomed Dave Hallock as our new percussion. Dave contributed big time to our live performances and in the studio.

Dave Hallock, drummer extraordinaire!

Dave came from the Banana Boogie Band and was a dynamic performer. He listened to our original songs and put his touch to them. We had some of our best gigs with Dave, playing at the Rio for Proposition 65, the California Marijuana Initiative.

For that gig, we opened up for Backroad, which was Jimmy Lyon and the rest of Eddie Money’s backup band. Money was at his peak at this point and many thought he might play at the show. He did show up, but alas did not play. We didn’t care, the place was sold out and packed to the rafters! We had invited all our friends from Ontario in Southern California to come up for the gig. Being a marijuana initiative in California, there was a blanket of sweet ganja over the entire theatre. It was a great gig!