Nice Write up for the A2 Rock Revival

Check out the AnnArbor.com pre-show review for the upcoming Ann Arbor Rock 'N' Roll Revival taking place this Friday at the Blind Pig. If you haven't already, you should head over to the Blind Pig web site and buy your tickets now before the show sells out!

Ann Arbor Rock 'N' Roll Revival, 2009

I've got an awesome show coming up at the Blind Pig on December 18th, The Ann Arbor Rock 'N' Roll Revival for 2009. It's hosted by Stanley the Madhatter and will feature, Deniz Tek (from Radio Birdman), Scott Morgan and the IrRationals, Gorevette and Mazinga. Hiawatha Bailey (from the Cult Heroes) will also be joining Deniz and Scott during their set to perform a few Stooges songs in honor of the late Ron Asheton. DJ Jeremy Wheeler of the Bang Dance party will be spinning records inbetween bands. He also designed the amazing hand drawn limited editon poster which will be avalible for purchase at the show.
It's only $10, doors are at 9:30, Mazinga goes on at 10pm. Advanced tickets can be purchased on the Blind Pig Web site. Don't miss this show. It's going to rule.

Halloween Weekend!

Here is what all you people in Southeast Michigan should be doing this weekend.

Friday Oct 30th at the Blind Pig.
Mazinga will be performing a 20 song Misfits tribute set along with Suicide By Cop, who will be performing as Minor Threat. Should be an old school punk rock party night at the Blind Pig! Plus the ladies of the TICKLED FANCY BURLESQUE CO.!


On Saturday Oct. 31 Halloween night there is only place to be!
THE HALLOWEEN BANG! at the Blind Pig.


See you all there!

R.I.P Dickie Peterson.

Man, what a bummer year. First Ron Asheton, then Lux from the Cramps and now Dickie Peterson from Blue Cheer.

I love Blue Cheer. Dickie's vocals were incredible. I'm so glad I got to meet him and see BC a few times. He was a super nice dude.

Dickie Peterson and I at the Magic Stick.

Here is their classic version of Summertime Blues. I remember seeing this as a young kid of 13, it made me want to Rock!

Rationals @ The Blind Pig, Oct. 24th!

This show is going to rule! Jeremy Wheeler out did his self on this poster.

Rational weekend for a Bang!

Howdy folks,

Here is what I've got going down.

I'll be playing guitar for the Rationals CD release party on Friday night over at the Magic Bag in
Ferndale. The show is in celebration of the release of the Ace records CD comp "Think Rational". I'll be playing along side Matthew Smith on guitar, Jim Diamond on Bass, and David Shettler on Drums and of course Scott Morgan on lead vocals. Should be a stellar night. The Howling Diablos & The Space Heaters will be opening the show. Tickets are $12.00 adv. The doors open at 8pm.

On Saturday night I'll be here...

This Saturday, Robo Bang + Punk Rock Prom 2009

This Saturday you'll have at least two options for maximum party time in our little town of Ann Arbor, and if you're really up on your game then you'll take advantage of both.

First off, if you like Robots, dancing your ass off to interplanetary boogie and donating money to a good cause at the same time, then you'll want to head over to the Blind Pig for the Robo-Bang! There is sure to be some sexy cyborgs and gorgeous droids shaking their metallic bodies to outrageous jams provided by the Bang DJ's all for your audio visual enjoyment. Proceeds from the event will be donated in support of 826Michigan.

If that doesn't exactly fit your idea of a good time, and you would rather get your ears shattered by thunderous high energy Rock 'N' Roll, then just skip a few blocks over to Main St. and the Club Above the Heidelberg, where you'll find the 2009 Punk Rock Prom in full swing after 9pm. The theme for this year is "This Tragic Moment". Make sure to dress to impress! Music and entertainment will be provided by the bands: MAZINGA, Versificators, Bantha Fodder and Cock Snot (From Grand Rapids), as well as DJ's Jef Porkins and Nate Pancakes spinning punk vinyl all night. Who will be king and queen of the prom? You and your mom?

Come and find out.

I challenge you all to attend both events, since they take place within blocks of each other. I'll be at both. See you there. What the hell else are you going to do on a Saturday night around here?

Motor City Comic con recap.

I had a blast at the comic con this year.
The convention was packed on Saturday afternoon. Great deals abounded. I found an excellent fifty cent comic booth and spent over an hour scouring through it. I ended up with a nice stack of Savage Sword of Conan, various DC WWII comics, and some assorted Marvel titles which totaled $14. I got in for free thanks to the Bang, or I wouldn't been able to spend any money. I think the $20 admission price plus $5 dollar parking is way to steep for most people, Regardless the place was still crowded and people were still spending money like crazy.
The party on Saturday night was totally nuts, including a free admission price and such highlights as 800 Jelly-o shots, a half naked ape man, and hundreds of costumed fans partying with the stars from the con.
Here are some fun pics courtesy of J'dub's I-phone taken during the convention and the after party.
Can't wait for next year!

MOTOR CITY COMIC CON! THIS WEEKEND!

This weekend is a special time for me and my fellow geeks. The time for the Motor City Comic Con is upon us.

Starting today, rabid packs of Trekkie's, nerds, and pop culture geeks from all over the midwest will descend in troves on the Rock Financial Show Place in Novi, in search of rare comic book/pop culture memorabilia, and also to have the chance to meet stars from such films as Star Wars, and TV shows like Dukes of Hazard and Battlestar Galactica.
This year is extra special because Team Bang along with the 501st Storm trooper legion will be hosting the official after party! Here is the low down.

Mix Tape Dance Party With Superhero/Comic Flair!
In honor of Motor City Comic Cons 20th Anniversary the 501st Legion are teaming up with the areas most unique mix tape masters of "The Bang!" to bring the biggest pop culture fans an after party they won't soon forget!

When: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 9:00pm - 1:00am

Where: Novi Doubletree Hotel Ballroom, 42100 Crescent Bvld (only a 4 min drive from the Rock Financial Showplace)

Theme: Superhero/Comic Mix Tape Dance Party! Costumes are preferred but not required.So slip on your superhero dancing shoes, leave your inhibitions at the door and come cut loose with fellow pop-culturists for a great night of music, dancing and socializing!
It's going to be off the chain!


HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

MAY DAYS This weekend!

Hey there. I've been way to busy lately to post much here, but I had to take a sec and post about a huge event taking place this weekend.

MAY DAYS at the Bohouse.
JOHN SINCLAIR AND THE PINKEYE ORCHESTRA HOST WEEKEND CELEBRATING DETROIT CULTURE; IT'S ART, JAZZ, POETRY AND ROCK 'N' ROLL

2 NIGHTS: FRIDAY MAY 1st 2009- -SATURDAY MAY 2nd 2009

THE BOHOUSE (historically the Bohemian National Home)
3009 TILLMAN
DETROIT, MI 48216

DOORS: 6PM
SHOW: 7pm
COVER: $5 (each night at the door)
ALL AGES

BACK STORY:
"This chance meeting with Jeff Howitt had turned into a thing of great beauty-a tremendous artistic experience deeply rooted in my own personal geography and brought to bloom through the robust energy and intelligence of these young musicians out of the old bohemian tradition." wrote John Sinclair for the liner notes of TEARING DOWN THE SHRINE OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY; his collaboration with PINKEYE last summer.
The sessions were released through LOCO GNOSIS on Sinclair's 67th Birthday Party held at THE BOHOUSE where he was named Poet-In-Residence and given a key so he has an actual room of his own to live in when he is in the United States.
"Fast forward 40 years and here I am again, in the same neighborhood with exactly the same sort of people I'd grown up with at the(Detroit Artist's)Workshop and doing the exact same thing!"
With that sentiment Sinclair asked Howitt to help him design an event for "May 1st and/or 2nd". Howitt(whose inaugural event for LOCO GNOSIS at the Masonic Temple in 2006 featured 12 bands on 2 stages volleying sets for 8 hours of unbroken music)immediately knew it had to run 2 days. Howitt recruited band mates Jason Worden and Frank Stephens and MAY DAYS started to take shape. They invited the Detroit Artists Workshop and Detroit Life to help keep one eye on lineage, another on friendship and the third on the spirit of this city and how it reflects in it's people and culture.

JAZZ & POETRY UPSTAIRS IN THE BALLROOM-curated by James Semark & the DETROIT ARTIST'S WORKSHOPhttp://www.detroitartistsworkshop.com/-sponsored by DETROIT LIFEwww.myspace.com/holicepwoods

-FRIDAY'S PROGRAM FEATURES:

GALLERY:
7:00 AHH CHARLIE
8:15 RED CHINA
9:30 SLOW GIANT

LIBRARY:
7:20 OUTDATED FATE
7:55 HELLBLOWER
8:30 BLACK LODGE
9:05 THE SUMMER PLEDGE
9:40 HOT DAMN!
10:15 BARS OF GOLD
10:50 JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM
11:25 WOODMAN
12:00 MARCO POLIO & THE NEW VACCINES/PINKEYE
1:ish CARJACK/THE OSCILLATING FAN CLUB

BALLROOM:
7:00 RON ENGLISH ENSEMBLE
8:00 McCUNE - SEMARK - WILLEM COLLABORATION
9:00 WARDELL MONTGOMERY
9:15 DONNA VINSTRA
9:30 ANDY VINSTRA
9:45 JOHN CAGE'S SCULPTURES
10:00 RON ENGLISH & JOHN SINCLAIR
10:30 MIKE WHITTEY & drummer
11:00 JOHN CAGE'S CRUMBLED PAPER
11:15 BILL HARRIS, DOCTOR DETROIT and others

-SATURDAY'S PROGRAM FEATURES:

GALLERY:
7:00 DANDYLYON WHINE
8:15 INDIAN GUIDES/JURA
9:30 ROOT BEAR

LIBRARY:
7:30 MOTHER WHALE
8:05 OATMEAL
8:40 AL SCHEURMAN
9:15 THE MANTONS
9:50 GARDENS
10:25 OBLISK
11:00 BLUE SONG
11:35 DUENDE!
12:10 PIGEON
12:45 FRIENDLY FOES

BALLROOM
9:00 DUTCH PINK
10:00 RED CHINA
11:00 MADAME XD
12:00 MAZINGA
1:ish JOHN SINCLAIR & PINKEYE ORCHESTRA

Live videos from the Ann Arbor Ron Asheton Tribute show.

Thanks to Dan Boyd and his crew for filming.
More to come in a later post.

Mazinga on your mind. Blowout and Belmont.

Hey there friends,

Mazinga will be performing at the Metro Times Blowout tonight at Bakers Street Car Lounge @ 12am.

We make hardcore jams, so fuck respect.

In a few more weeks we'll return to Hamtown to blast the Belmont. We plan on cashing in your wolf tickets for the good vibes we drop tonight.

Asheton Tribute Recap

If you missed it then you suck.
If you were there then thank you very much for coming out.
Here is a nice recap.

Here are some cool photos.

It was a great night. Thanks to all the bands for playing and being professionals.
Most of all thanks to Ron Asheton with out whom our lives would be much less cool.

Christpuncher recap.

Ricki told me it rocked, but don't take his word for it. Check out what was said over here at the Elizabitchin' blog. This lady has the low down on all local Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti events.
Stay Tuned.

Ann Arbor Ron Asheton Tribute Show.

This show is going to rule. Don't miss it.

Christpuncher Returns this Saturday @ The Elbow Room!

So my step cousin Ricki Dickerson finally got out of prison for writing bad checks. His old band Christpuncher is getting back together and doing a show at the Elbow Room on Feb 14th for Valentine's day. Christpuncher is a wild over-the-top Heavy Metal band that plays all your favorite metal hits from the mid-70's up to the early 80's. They are not to be missed. Looks like Ricki set up a myspace for them. Go check it out. He said if I didn't help him promote his show that he and his band mates would kick my ass. Really... no joke.Hope to see you all there or my ass is grass... :[

Motorcityrocks.com likes Mazinga!

Hey there friends and neighbors!
Head on over to MotorCityRocks.com and read their review of our latest EP "Open the Blast Doors".
They liked it!
And... just so you don't forget, there is this coming up!

And this!

The night after that, on Feb 28th, we'll be a part of a special Ron Asheton Tribute show at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor. More on that in a future post.
Shortly after that, we'll be rocking at the Metro times Blowout on March 6th. Universal Temple Of Divine Power is playing with us that night and they don't suck. In fact they rule and if you haven't seen them then you suck.
So there you have it. Start spreading the news. Call all your friends, relatives & close relations. Convince them to go see Mazinga as if their very lives depend on it. Because you never know, it just might.
-end of line-

More Mazinga updates.

Howdy Friends.
Team Mazinga has been busy with the business of Rock. You can read about the results of our efforts over at the I-94 Bar. Seems the folks down under dig the Mazinga vibes. The Barman himself recently gave our new EP "Open the Blast Doors" a stellar review! Well, go check it out already!

HEY LANSING! We're going to be performing up in your neck of the woods on February 20th at Mac's Bar. You should really come say hi to us and witness the life affirming sounds of Real Rock N Roll the likes of which are seldom heard in the capitol of our fair state of Michigan.
Hope to see you there.

In case you missed it...

Here is a link to a live recording of Mazinga performing last Friday at the Elbow Room. People told me they liked it. Hope you enjoy it as well. It was the first time a sound guy told me to turn up the guitar. They usually ask me to turn it down.

Zee on Mazinga!

Amanda Zee is a local photographer who shoots a lot of happenings around Southeastern Michigan. She recently took some amazing photos of Mazinga when the group performed with the Meatmen and Chapstik. Go check them out on her flicker page here.

Happy Obama day! + a live Destroy All Monsters video!

Bush is out of there! Thank the maker! America actually has a president who can speak in full sentences. The last 8 years under Bush have been a nightmare. Obama's speech was great.

I found this little gem over at the Barman's blog. Here is a video of Destroy All Monsters live at the Heidelberg in Ann Arbor circa 1983 with Scott Morgan on rhythm guitar and Gary Rasmussen on bass. I'm not sure who the drummer is, but I think it's Rob King. Dig it.

Rock N Roll Hall of Shame skips the Stooges again.

I went to the Rock hall in Cleveland once. It was pretty neat to see all the cool stuff they had. One big thing that bugged me though was the lack of Stooges and MC5 stuff and the fact that both bands have yet to be inducted. Well the Stooges just got denied again, just a week after Ron Asheton passed away. While I have no problem with the artists who will be inducted, I'm astounded that an organization calling itself the Rock N Roll hall of fame would not induct the Stooges or the MC5. I mean, how fucking stupid are those people? I heard that there are 600 people who vote on who to induct. Are they all retarded? Do they not understand that there would be no punk rock with out the Stooges, which means there wouldn't be modern Rock music as we know it today with out the Stooges? I really thought that they would make it in this year. Seriously fucking lame. I really think there should be some sort of protest during the ultra exclusive induction ceremony. Who the fuck do these people think they are anyway? Rock 'N' Roll isn't an exclusive thing and should never be. I'm boycotting the Rock Hall until they induct the Stooges and the MC5. Fuck whoever runs that piece of shit.

KHAAAAAAAAN!! R.I.P. #6 R.I.P.

Ricardo Montalban passed away today. As if that wasn't enough Patrick McGoohan passed away as well. Double lame. I'll be watching some Prisoner and Wrath of Khan tonight to honor the two actors.

Metro Times cover story on Ron Asheton.

Go check it out here.

Upcoming Mazinga shows.

Come out to these shows and party with us.

Mazinga Review @ Deep Cutz!

Jeff Milo posted a great review of the new Mazinga EP "Open the Blast Doors" over on his Deep Cutz blog. Thanks Jeff! Well what are you waiting for, go check it out already!

Guitar Wolf are back, in Japan at least...

Guitar Wolf has finally returned from their extended hiatus, after 558 days of not performing. Apparently Seiji underwent hip surgery way back in Aug. of 2007 and they haven't played since then. They'll be performing Saturday April 4th, @ Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo (aka. Yaon). To bad that's in Japan. OH well. Hopefully this means they'll be coming back to tour the USA soon! Guitar Wolf is one of my favorite bands of all time. You can read my 2005 interview with them and the review of their last Detroit show over here at MCR.

How I spent my Christmas vacation...or the longest post ever.

This post is long overdue. I've just been to busy with things to get to it. Now it's Saturday and I have a time to complete it.
My Christmas vacation started early with a snow storm, which caused me to miss work on the last Friday before the break. Cool with me. I had the extra time off to cover it, so fuck it. That night was the Back in Spades, Gorevette show out at Small's and Alex really wanted me to go with him and hang out. I was all most a party pooper, but ended up going at the last minute. I decided to take my old crappy camera to see if I could capture some Rock 'N' Roll moments in time. I'm glad I did. The show was great. Running With Panthers opened the show with some high energy rock that got the crowd fired up. They reminded me of Electric Frankenstein kind of fired up punk rock.

RWP's fires up the Small's crowd.
During RWP's set I was asked to help a friend dig his car out of a snowbank down the street.

After trying for about 30 minutes we still couldn't get his car unstuck. It doesn't look that bad, but his car was on top of the snowbank and the front wheels had nothing to grip. I felt super bad for him. He was very grateful for the help anyway and to reward me for trying, he hooked me up with an incredible Star Wars collectible. An original Star Wars film reel projector. I had one when I was 4 years old and when he presented it to me I almost shed happy tears because it's so awesome! Here is a photo of me at 4 years of age, totally absorbed watching Star Wars on the little projector. This is pre video/DVD and back then the only to watch Star Wars at home.

Up next was Gorevette. Having Nikki Corvette and Amy Gore team up in a band is a great idea and it shows in the results of their jams. Their song "Fake it Now" is a instant garage rock classic. They put on a really good show and people seemed to really dig them.


Amy Gore rocking out.

Alex King on the drums.

Nikki Gorvette, and Lianna Castillo on bass.

Up Next was the main attraction for the night, Back In Spades. These guys were the shining light of the Future of Detroit Rock music back in 2003-04, but the broke up back then and all hopes were dashed. Thank goodness they decided to bring it back one more time. They put on a great show. They played all the songs people wanted to hear. I was totally amazed by the technical ability of the two guitar players. Watching Jackson Smith casually finger pick his way through amazing guitar solos was very inspiring. It made me want to go home and practice my ass off. Here are some photos. Too bad my camera kind of sucks.



It was a killer show.

On the 23rd I played bass for Devil Elvis at the Magic Stick. It was cool. The Gepetto Files and the Amino Acids performed as well. It was a rocking good time, except for another damn snow storm which scared me into leaving early and missing the Gepetto Files.

Christmas was super laid back. Theresa and I went out to my folks house to spend Christmas morning. After we opened some presents, we decided to watch Crank because my folks hadn't seen it yet, and we need to charge things up a little. Good times. My folks rule. Dad loved Crank.
It might be a new Christmas tradition.

Up next, on Dec 26, I found myself back at Small's when Mazinga opened up for the Meatmen and Chapstik. We had a great time, except I forgot the Mazinga CDs and some other stuff. Then I wigged out on the rest of the band for a minute. Not cool. I was to stressed out. Luckily we had Mr. Greenjeans there to calm us all down. Then everything went smoothly after that. Here are some Mazinga photos Theresa took with her new camera.



After Mazinga slayed, Chapstik came on and laid waste with a sonic wall of devastation. Check out the photos.




Up next, the Meatmen. The legendary Tesco Vee didn't spoil any expectations arriving on stage wearing Santa suit with a gigantic penis and ball sack full of goodies. The band blasted through all their classics from the "You Suck" album. Here is some photos of the mayhem.


After the show the weather turned totally strange and the outdoor temperature shot up to nearly 60 degrees. This caused all the snow to melt extremely fast which resulted in the thickest fog I've ever seen in my life, which of course I had to drive all the way back to Ann Arbor in. Seriously, I didn't feel comfortable going over 25 miles an hour, although that didn't stop other drivers from driving like complete assholes. I couldn't help but wish death on each SUV that barreled past at high rates of speed.

After recovering for a few days it was time for New Year's Eve and the Bang. It was totally rockin' this year. We kept our set up simple and invited two killer bands to perform, Kiddo and the Friendly Foes. They ended up combining forces to make one kick ass band instead of two. I had heard that the Friendly Foes were really good but I had no idea just how much they actually rocked. I was blown away. They did a bunch of covers, including opening with Green Day's "Welcome to Paradise". I've never really liked Green Day, but the Foes made their song quite likable. I can't believe I was suckered into enjoying a Green Day song. The jam of the night was when they played the Kiddo song "This Could Take Forever". The song is simply one of the best, most catchy songs I've ever heard. For real. That song should be HUGE! It's got a great sing-a-long choirs and infectious hook that you can't deny bobbing your head along too.
After the band were all loaded out, the Bang kicked into high gear and the rest of the night is an intoxicated blur. You can check out all the action photos over at the Bang flicker page.

The rest of my Christmas break from reality was spent chilling and house cleaning. My Truck crapped out on me on Saturday night, but I was able to fix it on the cheap thanks to a friendly mechanic who helped me out big time and cut me a huge deal!
Going back to work sucked. Ron Asheton passed away. What a shitty way to start out 2009. Let's hope it only get's better from here on out. I payed tribute to Ron last night by performing with The Hard Lessons over at the Blind Pig. We did the song "No Fun" and it was great! Big thanks to them for inviting me out for that. I love those folks.
I think that about covers it. Hope you enjoyed reading.
Thanks.

Now for some good news...

I heard about this from my pal John.
The Dark Crystal is being shown at the Michigan Theatre on April 19!!! That's 8 days after my birthday. What a great gift!


The Mazinga dudes jammed out on WCBN 88.3 for the local show last night. It went well and we had a good time. We did TV Eye for Ron.

More news and reflections about Ron Asheton.

This news item was released this morning. Hope everything gets sorted out the way Ron would have wanted it.
My friend John wrote this blog about Ron. It's good.
I'll post more info as I get it.

R.I.P. Ron Asheton

Ron Asheton (pictured far right) is my guitar hero. His playing style, his story and local Ann Arbor upbringing influence me more then any other guitar player. His band and their songs are part of my personal mix tape that plays in my head as I travel through life. Growing up a Rock 'N' Roll infected teenager in the Ann Arbor area you couldn't avoid the legend of the Stooges. Their legacy effects every rock band from this area even if they don't know it. They set the standard.
I was fortunate enough to have befriended Ron back in 1999. It was wonderful to be able to get to know the person behind the Stooges legend. He was always very gracious and friendly, and he loved to talk about the past Rock 'N' Roll glory days and the Stooges.

I am very honored to have performed with him on several occasions, when he sat in as a special guest with Powertrane. The highlight from that time was a show we did in Brooklyn at the Warsaw where we played to a sold out house in April, 2002.

This was before the Stooges reunited. Ron didn't play out much back then. Originally I hatched a plan in early 2001 to reunite Ron with Deniz Tek (my other guitar hero) and combine them with Scott Morgan and Powertrane, a group I had just taken over bass duties for. Ron And Deniz hadn't performed together since the New Race tour in 1981. My plan worked out perfectly.

We did a short tour and three sold out shows at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, the last one included Mitch Ryder on the bill. A live CD titled Ann Arbor Revival Meeting was released featuring highlights from the first two Blind Pig shows. After the tour Ron took the money he made and bought a ton of fireworks and held an awesome forth of July party. It wasn't a blowout crazy party. It was small. People brought their kids. It was great. He delighted in setting off the fireworks and entertaining the little kids that were there.
Ron started performing out a lot more after doing those shows with Powertrane. He went on tour with the J. Mascis and the Fog and I didn't see him for a while. One day out the blue Ron called me and asked if he could use the Powertrane rehearsal space. He and his brother Scott were going to play some big festival in L.A. with J Mascis, Mike Watt and bunch of other folks and they needed to get ready for it. I told him of course he could. Then he said I could come sit in on bass with them for rehearsal. I was thrilled to say the least. He and Scott were super cool. They even let my friend John Griffin sit in and sing. We did about 40 minutes of Stooges stuff. John and I had our little minds blown. Ron and Scott must have not minded either because they asked us to come back and do it a second time. It was crazy. It was a Stooges fan dream come true. For about an hour or so John and I were in the Stooges. Sort of. Shortly after that the real Stooges got back together in 2003. I saw Ron around then and he was super happy and excited. He was never a stuck up rock star, not once. I was super happy for him and that the Stooges finally got the respect they deserved.
A few years later my wife and I bought a house just down the street around the corner from Ron. We hung out a few times. I saw him outside a lot when I drove past his place. He always waved. In 2007 the Stooges released the Weirdness album and were getting ready to embark on a big tour. While Scott Morgan was hanging out with Ron over Christmas, Ron offered to have Powertrane open for the Stooges at the Fox Theater. Later that year on April 13th we opened their show in Detroit, all thanks to Ron's help.

It was an amazing experience. One I'll always be incredibly thankful for. The last time I talked to Ron was after they played for Madonna. He told me that he had a good time but that it was sort of silly and strange. I saw him one more time after that while coming back from a walk with my wife. He drove by and slowed down and saluted to me. I was supposed to go see him on Christmas Eve, but we were to tired after family stuff. I know Scott saw him. Of course now I wish we would have went. But I guess you never see this sort of thing coming. Ron always seemed like a super mellow person. He liked to relax at home and chill. I hardly ever went over to see him. He never answered his phone and was always in chill mode just off a tour or something. I didn't want to bother him and I hate showing up unannounced. When ever I did stop by, he was always super nice and never turned me away. Ron Asheton is my guitar hero and I'll always be thankful for his friendship and the time I got to spend with him.