WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - After paying tribute to their late guitarist
and announcing plans for a summer concert tour, two members of the rock
band Great White delivered their first public performance since a fire
killed 99 people at their last concert in Rhode Island.
Guitarist Mark Kendall and lead singer Jack Russell played a somber
rendition of the song "Mother's Eyes," off of their 1994 album "Sail
Away," at the Key Club on Tuesday night.
"Words could never express the pain and sorrow and sadness that we feel
over the loss of our guitarist and friend Ty Longley and 98 other Great
White family members," Russell said, stopping numerous times during the
introduction to wipe tears from his eyes. "If this has taught me
anything, it's how fragile and precious life really is."
While some in the audience shouted, "We love you guys," Russell
explained the group hopes the tour would help raise money for victims of
the Feb. 20 blaze at The Station nightclub in West Warick, R.I.
Earlier Tuesday, attorney Ed McPherson, who represents the group, said
Great White would perform on a ticket with other rock bands and donate
their percentage of the profits to existing charities in Rhode Island.
"Their thoughts from the beginning have been, `What are we going to do
to help the victims?' And the only thing they do do is perform. So
that's the only way they know that they can help the victims - to raise
money for the victims," McPherson said.
Plans for the tour we're still being worked out, McPherson said, but he
added that two groups that may take part are Warrant and LA Guns.
The attorney made the announcement outside West Hollywood's Key Club,
before the first public performance by Kendall and Russell since the
deadly fire. Investigators suspect the band's pyrotechnics ignited foam
that had been placed on the club's walls for soundproofing. A grand jury
is investigating.
Along with several other Los Angeles rock bands, the pair agreed to
perform in honor of Longley, who was among the scores who perished in
the fire. Concert organizers said proceeds would be donated to a charity
supervised by Longley's family and earmarked for a scholarship
assistance program and trust fund for the 31-year-old musician's unborn
child, due Aug. 3.
After reaching a career peak in 1990 with a version of the song "Once
Bitten, Twice Shy," the longhaired, guitar-rock group Great White has
performed mainly as a nostalgia act at smaller venues around the country.
In addition to founding members Kendall and Russell, its current lineup
includes bass player Dave Filice and drummer Eric Powers.
Hours before the Great White members were to perform, about 100 ticket
holders, flanked by nearly a dozen reporters and photographers, milled
about the club. Most said they came to honor the memory of friends who
died in the blaze.
Justin Fredericksen, 24, of San Diego wore a T-shirt that read: "Rock On
Ty." Fredericksen, who said Longley was his stepbrother, added that he
wanted to keep the guitarist's memory alive.
Duane Serfass, 30, of San Francisco handed out badges with a photo of
his friend Jeff Rader, who he said escaped the club fire but died when
he went back in to try to rescue his girlfriend.
"I just want to make sure that my friend is recognized," Serfass said.
