On yesterday's six-month anniversary of The Station fire, the band Great White pressed ahead with a series of benefit concerts while a grand jury pressed for details about the pyrotechnics that sparked the deadly Feb. 20 blaze.
In a phone interview from his home in Palm Desert, Calif., Great White lead singer Jack Russell said he planned to mark the six-month point with "a little thing with candles in the back yard tonight." And he said, "I might go to church for the first time in 20 years."
Russell said he also planned to call Heidi M. Peralta, the girlfriend of Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who died in the fire. Peralta gave birth to Ty's son -- Acey Ty Christopher Longley -- on Aug. 12. "I wish Ty was here to see him," Russell said.
The California-based rock band did not play for the first five months after the West Warwick nightclub fire, which claimed 100 lives and injured more than 200 others. But over the past month, Great White has played nine shows, raising $21,622 for The Station Family Fund, according to the fund's Web site.
"I'm looking down a long dark tunnel, and the only light I see is the Station Family Fund," Russell said. "That's the reason I get up in the morning."
According to the band's Web site, Great White has scheduled 15 more shows running through Sept. 25 at the Staircase Restaurant and Nightclub in Pittston, Pa., near Scranton.
The online schedule had included a Sept. 26 show at club Liquid in Leominster, Mass., but club owner Andrew I. Rome said he plans to sell the club on Sept. 8 and the new owners don't want to host the show. "It's their first couple of weeks of ownership, so they want to walk before they run," Rome explained.
So will Great White come to New England? "At some point, absolutely," Russell said.
Will Great White come to Rhode Island? "It's hard to say. If it's appropriate, we'll play there," he said. "I don't want to upset people any more."
Russell said he understands that some people blame Great White for what happened and don't want to see them coming around again. But he said he is willing to accept "the potshots and the name calling" because he wants to raise money for the victims' fund.
Russell was asked how much responsibility he bears for what happened at The Station that night. "That's a question I can't get into," he said. "We have our crosses to bear in life. I'm not going to get into the blame game. There will be a time and a place when I'll be able to get into that."
Regarding the grand jury proceedings, Russell said, "The attorney general has a job to do. I'm not going to ask him for singing lessons, and I'm sure he's not going to ask me for legal advice. He has a tough job to do. Whatever happens, happens."
Russell said he has been overwhelmed by the response of fans during the first nine concerts. "This has really changed my life in a most dramatic way," he said. "This business makes you cynical. Everyone wants something from you. But the compassion and support of the fans has given me a whole different take on humanity."
Russell called on more people to donate to The Station Family Fund, saying, "This is not a rock 'n' roll tragedy. It's an American tragedy."
And he challenged other rock bands to help, singling out Kiss, whose members have been quoted as saying that pyro displays are fine for large arenas but can be deadly in small clubs. "Gene Simmons is Gene Simmons, but if he's going to talk the talk, help out," Russell said of the Kiss bass player. "Bands like Kiss could donate the proceeds from one show and do more than we could donate all year."
Russell said Great White takes out money to cover expenses and gives the rest to The Station Family Fund. "It's way low budget," he said of the conditions on the road.
As Great White was preparing to play tomorrow at the Plains Amphitheater in Russell, Kan., grand jurors convened in Rhode Island yesterday to weigh whether anyone would be indicted in The Station fire.
Among those called to testify was Jason T. Williams, bass player for the band Trip, which opened for Great White on the night of the fire. Williams, 33, of Vancouver, Wash., said he answered questions for about two hours yesterday morning at the Camp Fogarty National Guard complex in East Greenwich. He said he believes four other people testified yesterday, including those he described as a Station employee and "prospective buyers" of the club.
Williams, who was interviewed yesterday afternoon as he prepared to board a plane at T.F. Green Airport, said the grand jury asked about a box of pyrotechnics that he saw in the West Warwick nightclub before the Great White show. He recalled the box was plastered with stickers warning that the contents were explosive, dangerous and should not be loaded onto airplanes. He said he saw the box on stage as Trip unloaded its equipment in the afternoon, prior to the show.
Williams said Great White used pyrotechnics at 20 of the 22 shows it did with Trip, but he had never seen the box before that night. He said the grand jury displayed a photograph that shows the box in the foreground as flames engulf The Station stage.
No other members of Trip have been called before the grand jury, Williams said. He said he believes he was asked to appear because he gave a statement to authorities immediately after the fire that mentioned the box of pyrotechnics. Also, he was asked about comments he made in a Feb. 28 Providence Journal article. In the story, Williams identified Great White tour manager Dan Biechele as the man who set off the pyrotechnics during concerts, saying Biechele "ran everything by the book" and that he believes Biechele asked for permission at a club before using pyrotechnics.
The grand jury asked about Biechele's previous experience with the rock band W.A.S.P., Williams said. "Dan had said he worked 8 to 10 years with W.A.S.P.," he said. "That's all I needed to know. He must know what he's doing because that's all they do -- pyro and fire and that [stuff]."
The grand jury also asked about Great White shows in Florida and New Jersey. The owner and employees of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., have said Great White failed to tell them they would use pyrotechnics in a concert a week before The Station show. Williams said, "I didn't know anything about that."
Williams said he was asked to detail what he did when the fire started, tracing his route on a blueprint of the club. In an interview at Warwick's Radisson Airport Hotel on Tuesday night, Williams said he was heading toward the main bar area when the pyrotechnics went off. He didn't watch because he'd seen the display before. But when the music stopped he turned and saw flames shooting up either side of the stage.
Williams figured someone would put the fire out. And in the bar area he told people to calm down, reminding them of the stampede at a Chicago club a few nights earlier. But then he heard a "huge rumble" and turned to see people and thick black smoke hurtling toward him. He was trampled and crawled into a corner with his shirt over his face, struggling to breathe. He recalled thinking: "This is it for me -- I'm not going to make it out of here." But then he saw a glimmer of light and bolted out the bar door.
Williams said he believes the tragedy resulted from "three ingredients" -- the pyrotechnics, flammable soundproofing around the stage and a recessed drum area that put the pyrotechnics closer to the walls than usual. "It was a needless loss of life," he said.
