Reinventing The Originals

Look-Alike, Sound-Alike Musicians Give New Life To Classic Acts

By John Voket

In the 2001 film Rock Star, actor Mark Wahlberg portrays a wannabe singer who vicariously lives out an arena rock dream by fronting a heavy metal tribute band. All is well and good until the actual band he and his mates are covering invites him to come and front their show following the ego-fueled departure of their original and “irreplaceable” lead singer. 

While Rock Star is based on the real-life experience of Tim “Ripper” Owens, who initially was in a Judas Priest cover band until he was actually tapped to join the real Judas Priest, the phenomenon of replacing seemingly irreplaceable (or deceased!) members of some of rock’s most popular acts is becoming much more frequent. In fact, there are even a few acts out there — Little River Band and Molly Hatchet come to mind — whose current incarnations do not include any of the original founders.

One of the bands that has accomplished making high profile substitutions  successfully is Journey, who is on its fifth lead singer. Filipino national Arnel Pineda now fronts the band, following the departure of original front man Gregg Rolie, who was briefly replaced by Robert Fleischman before the band drafted its most popular singer Steve Perry in 1977, followed by his replacement Steve Augeri in ‘98.

Last year, the progressive rock band Yes also enraged many of its core fans by unceremoniously dropping co-founder Jon Anderson, who arguably has one of the most unique voices in classic rock, but was suffering with respiratory problems and could not tour.

Like in the Wahlberg film, Anderson was replaced by cover band singer Benoit David. Yes, incidentally, went on to recruit Oliver Wakeman — son of the band’s long-time keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who was also restricted from touring due to health concerns.

Foreigner, whose personnel always revolved around founder Mick Jones, nonetheless faltered temporarily after original lead singer Lou Gramm struck out on a solo career. But thanks to terrific new recruit Kelly Hansen, the band is back and enjoying new life in front of enthusiastic audiences worldwide.

Last weekend, Connecticut played host to two very different acts, which are both enjoying newfound success in live arenas thanks to look- and sound-alike recruits. On February 25, Styx co-founder and primary songwriter Dennis DeYoung played The Ridgefield Playhouse with an entirely new backing band whose players were already so musically tight at only their third gig together, that they rivaled the original Styx lineup at its best.

Besides a swarthy catalog of classic rock staples that includes “Come Sail Away,” “Babe,” “Lady,” and “Mr Robato,” DeYoung hired the most astounding pair of guitarist singers in August Zadra (who performs “Blue Collar Man,” “Renegade,” and “Too Much Time on My Hands”) and James Leahey.

Their seemingly footloose but highly precise playing could easily be mistaken for Tommy Shaw and James “JY” Young, who carried on as Styx in 1999 without DeYoung following several on-again, off-again reunion attempts.

That incarnation of Styx, which is still touring and recording today, features the voice and keyboard work of former Canadian solo star Lawrence Gowan. And neither DeYoung or the Shaw-Young camps are looking back.

From Rock To Theater And Back

Despite his split from Styx, DeYoung continued to enjoy a career in show business, having won a lawsuit to permit billing himself as “performing the music of Styx.” He also supplemented his career by writing for the stage — contributing the book for a musical based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and last year, penning tunes for The 101 Dalmatians Musical.

In an interview following the Ridgefield show, DeYoung talked about how excited he was to showcase his current band and his most beloved song creations to new and loyal fan bases.

“The only reason to keep doing this is to have the chance to create something new, because the nature of touring is regurgitation and repetition, and I get bored pretty fast,” DeYoung said. “So when my son [Matthew] called me up and said, ‘Dad, I heard this guy August Zadra’ — and he sent me some videos of August performing ‘Renegade’ and ‘Too Much Time on my Hands,’ I thought, yikes — let’s do this!”

DeYoung said trotting out the new band fulfills the wishes of most of his longtime fans who come out to relive the memories, and in some small way for just a couple of hours, recapture the innocence of their younger days.

“And it all happened by accident because my son found this incredible [performer], August,” DeYoung said. “You know, I wouldn’t have done this tour without him. But after playing five shows, I have come to realize this is what Styx fans have been craving. And at 63, it does an old man’s heart good that I can still experience this.”

Although Styx and DeYoung may have their rabid fan bsse, there may be no more loyal group of musical followers, and no more unforgiving when it comes to trying to replace their hero Jerry Garcia, than the Grateful Dead “Heads.”

This multi-generational contingent has been chasing the unique kind of tribal energy the Grateful Dead had been producing and sharing from the stage since the mid-1960s.

But after Garcia’s death in 1995, and despite several valiant attempts to recreate his particular combination of vocal and guitar magic, no reconfiguration of players including two separate attempts reuniting most of the band’s core surviving members has come as close as Further to sounding like the original Grateful Dead.

Taking The Dead Further

Following a stellar show last December at the Oakdale Theatre, Further, featuring original Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir,  returned to Connecticut for a sold-out Mohegan Sun arena set on February 26.

What makes Further the most loyal recreation of The Grateful Dead sound to date is the talents of guitarist and singer John Kadlecik. Now, Further’s other backing players, drummers Joe Russo and Jay Lane along with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti are spectacular and loyal replicators of the Dead’s material, but from his first few gigs with Further late last summer, Dead Heads have been raving about Kadlecik.

According to his bio, the multi-instrumentalist musician and singer-songwriter hails from the Washington, D.C., area, and is perhaps best known for replicating the Jerry Garcia parts in Dark Star Orchestra (as well as being a co-founder of the group).

Kadlecik performances are so much fun, and astounding to listen to, because he has managed to grasp the slight variations in Garcia’s style that developed over the three decades he fronted the Grateful Dead. The newcomer — through the use of one of Garcia’s own custom made guitars and stage amplifier system — replicates the tones Garcia was able to produce.

But Kadlecik takes it so much further, precisely integrating mistakes by eerily assimilating Garcia’s triplet-based noodling, occasionally hitting an off-key note or missing a fill completely.

Kadlecik also has a firm grasp on the entire catalog of live Grateful Dead material, because Dark Star Orchestra’s niche was performing entire Dead concerts on a song-by-song basis. So his Mohegan Sun performance of “Foolish Heart” from the Grateful Dead’s last 1989 studio recording, Built to Last, is as precisely reconfigured as the vintage “Alligator,” from 1967’s Anthem of the Sun, recorded two year’s before Kadlecik was even born!

The good news for fans who missed them last weekend is, both DeYoung and Further plan to expand their concert touring well into 2010.

DeYoung is currently booking a summer run which will be announced in the coming weeks. And in addition to previously confirmed stops at the Nateva and All Good music festivals in July, Further will hit a number of outdoor venues and parks including a two-night run at Brooklyn, NY’s MCU Park in Coney Island from June 26-27.