KROQ Concert

About twenty past eleven someone shouted "hey that’s T-Bone Willy" (actually it was Eric). The group sitting with their backs to the stage propped up against the fence quickly got on their feet. One by one, the members of Save Ferris came out onto the stage for their sound check. Eric Zamora, T-Bone Willy, Jose Castellanos, Brian Mashburn, Bill Uechi and the new drummer Evan Kilbourne walked out all in their casual non-performance dress. They filed out looking like it was still a bit too early in the morning for them, but in retrospect it must have been an effort to consurve their energy for the show later. Monique came onto the stage dressed down but still looking smashing, wearing a glittered "Hustler" T-shirt and a skinny black skirt, The band seemed genuinely surprised that there were so many people there early. They tested their respective instruments, while the sound tech spoke with Monique, then they played one song. Short, sweet, and without too much of a production and said their good bye to the crowd, stating that they would return with luck at 5:00.

Since the "people watching" in of itself was pretty entertaining, time seemed to go by pretty quickly. Before you knew it the first band was on stage. Fenix-Tx took the stage to a crowd that was ready to get rowdy. These four guys are high octane, unleaded balls of slamming punk energy! They came on obviously just hyped to be there. Fenix played hard with all their punk rock might, full of boundless energy. You’d never know to see these guys that it was damn hot that day. They played several songs, breaking in the middle to let those darn horses do the "racing thing." They did their best to get the kids in the audience pumped up, and by the end of the set there was moshing in the center of the crowd.

Between bands the KROQ staff and the folks from Trouble Wear kept everybody entertained by holding give-a-ways. Rule of thumb No. 1; the only thing people at these gatherings like more than the music is free stuff. There was plenty of stuff tossed out to the swag-gathering mass. Lots of the radio jocks were on hand to join in the fun, make announcements and help dispense the freebies, including Tammy Heidi, Jed the Fish, Richard Blade, Kevin (of the Kevin & Bean morning show), Lightning, Lisa May, and Big Tad (also form the morning show).

At two o’clock, the members of Save Ferris gathered in the KROQ tent to meet the fans and sign autographs. Unfortunately for them this happened during part of the other band’s set. Monique, Bill, T-Bone Willy, Brian, Jose, Eric and Evan sat patiently while dozens of loving and loyal fans came to meet their favorite band. All seven members of this group are as genuine and personable as they come across on stage. They took photos with all that asked. In an extremely touching moment, Monique was observed breaking into tears in response to some heart-felt comments made to her by two female fans.

Meanwhile back on the stage, was Stroke 9. These guys were playing their hearts out. These guys looked like they walked off the set of Melrose Place, but don’t hold that against them, they sounded great. They got the kids a little over amped. By the middle of their set the sky was literally raining plastic water bottles. Everyone was having a good time, which pushed the band harder. Stroke 9 is a band that has been added to KROQ’s rotation recently with their hit "Little Black Back Pack." Most of the audience didn’t seem to be too familiar with the other songs they played, but they all seemed to be enjoying them.


			KROQ CONCERT AT SANTA ANITA PARKWAY Saturday, October 23, 1999 KROQ hosted another day of music at the Santa Anita Racetrack along with their sponsor of the day Troublewear.com. This show featured the bands Fenix TX, Stroke 9, and Save Ferris. For the entrance fee to the park just a measly $5, you got to enjoy a day at the track and hear some fine KROQ bands. If you were old enough you even had a chance to lose your money. The Park opened its gates to the eager KROQ listeners and more mature hard-core race-betting crowd at 10:30. There were people waiting to get into the park at about 9:30. Two basic types waited to get into the park; your basic grandma and grandpa types, news papers in hand already calculating their odds of making a killing at the races, and everyone else, well you know who you are; hip, trendy, pierced tattooed, wild colored hair (other than "oldster" blue), ranging from age 12 to 25 (mostly well under 25), sporting various punk or rock ‘n’ roll looks. The younger members of the waiting crowd were eagerly anticipating getting a good space right up at the front of the stage. When everyone finally got in at 10:00 sharp, some of the music fans even ran to get onto the infield. They were on a mission, never mind that the first band was not even scheduled to go on until 1:00. Once inside, about two dozen people placed themselves in optimum viewing position for the day, smack dab against the double chain linked fence in front of the stage. The rest hung out or milled around. At about eleven o’clock the sun already seemed scorching hot. Those who wanted to be in the coveted space up front did not mind, they held their ground and baked in the sun. Everyone just sat around killing time, talking to friends, just hanging.

			About twenty past eleven someone shouted "hey that’s T-Bone Willy" (actually it was Eric). The group sitting with their backs to the stage propped up against the fence quickly got on their feet. One by one, the members of Save Ferris came out onto the stage for their sound check. Eric Zamora, T-Bone Willy, Jose Castellanos, Brian Mashburn, Bill Uechi and the new drummer Evan Kilbourne walked out all in their casual non-performance dress. They filed out looking like it was still a bit too early in the morning for them, but in retrospect it must have been an effort to consurve their energy for the show later. Monique came onto the stage dressed down but still looking smashing, wearing a glittered "Hustler" T-shirt and a skinny black skirt, The band seemed genuinely surprised that there were so many people there early. They tested their respective instruments, while the sound tech spoke with Monique, then they played one song. Short, sweet, and without too much of a production and said their good bye to the crowd, stating that they would return with luck at 5:00. Since the "people watching" in of itself was pretty entertaining, time seemed to go by pretty quickly. Before you knew it the first band was on stage. Fenix-Tx took the stage to a crowd that was ready to get rowdy. These four guys are high octane, unleaded balls of slamming punk energy! They came on obviously just hyped to be there. Fenix played hard with all their punk rock might, full of boundless energy. You’d never know to see these guys that it was damn hot that day. They played several songs, breaking in the middle to let those darn horses do the "racing thing." They did their best to get the kids in the audience pumped up, and by the end of the set there was moshing in the center of the crowd. Between bands the KROQ staff and the folks from Trouble Wear kept everybody entertained by holding give-a-ways. Rule of thumb No. 1; the only thing people at these gatherings like more than the music is free stuff. There was plenty of stuff tossed out to the swag-gathering mass. Lots of the radio jocks were on hand to join in the fun, make announcements and help dispense the freebies, including Tammy Heidi, Jed the Fish, Richard Blade, Kevin (of the Kevin & Bean morning show), Lightning, Lisa May, and Big Tad (also form the morning show). At two o’clock, the members of Save Ferris gathered in the KROQ tent to meet the fans and sign autographs. Unfortunately for them this happened during part of the other band’s set. Monique, Bill, T-Bone Willy, Brian, Jose, Eric and Evan sat patiently while dozens of loving and loyal fans came to meet their favorite band. All seven members of this group are as genuine and personable as they come across on stage. They took photos with all that asked. In an extremely touching moment, Monique was observed breaking into tears in response to some heart-felt comments made to her by two female fans. Meanwhile back on the stage, was Stroke 9. These guys were playing their hearts out. These guys looked like they walked off the set of Melrose Place, but don’t hold that against them, they sounded great. They got the kids a little over amped. By the middle of their set the sky was literally raining plastic water bottles. Everyone was having a good time, which pushed the band harder. Stroke 9 is a band that has been added to KROQ’s rotation recently with their hit "Little Black Back Pack." Most of the audience didn’t seem to be too familiar with the other songs they played, but they all seemed to be enjoying them.

			After Stroke 9 ended their set, the endless wait was on! The wait seemed over an hour while everyone waited for the band to get set up, the races to finish the endless give-a-ways. At five o’clock Save Ferris was ready to come out on stage. They all entered looking just a little different than at sound check. The guys only looked slightly altered, Monique came out wearing her best glam dress, just a but of 70’s Hollywood starlet. No offense meant to the other bands that played, but it was clearly evident that most of this crowd came to see Save Ferris. They played a collective mix of tunes from both albums. Some highlights of their set were ‘The World is New, ’ Goodbye,’ ‘Nobody but Me’ from the first CD ‘It means Everything’ and from ‘Modified’ the first single ‘Mistaken’ they also played ‘I’m not Cryin’ For You,’ and ‘Turn it Up.’ Either one of those tunes would be a great next single, hint, hint! True to form, they played a killer set, the kids were all on their feet singing and shakin’ and down front there was crowd surfing. Monique was all over the place dancing and doing the signature Monique Powell wiggle that she does oh so well! The sound was great. Having seen them several times, they seem to just get better and better live. There aren’t many bands that offer such a good time. The new songs are the same SF we have all grown to love, only a little more on the grown-up side. Monique is now singing a more introspective tune, but still powered with fun and energy. One thing that did really stand out in this performance was that the horn trio of Jose, Eric and T-Bone Willy were now playing other instruments in addition to playing their respective trumpet, sax, and trombone. That was quite the surprise to look up and see T-Bone playing keyboards. It was "all good" though, whatever it is that they have done, they can just keep on doing it ‘cause it’s working. At the day’s end the crowd left the infeild sun-soked and happy. They should do this more often.