Dan Johnson of Which One’s Pink was recently interviewed onstage at Club Nokia before the special AXS TV show of The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands hosted by Katie Daryl about his experience with recording The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands iTunes series with top record producer/ engineer Michael Vail Blum of Titan Recording.

Here is the latest chart of the current top hits for the series:

Some of the bands featured so far:

Bonfire Tribute To AC/DC Led Zepagain THE POLICE EXPERIENCE Hollywood U2 Kenny Metcalf as Elton and The Early Years Band THE WHO REVUE True To Crue Queen Nation The Fab Four Bella Donna Damage, Inc. No Duh Which One’s Pink? – a tribute to Pink Floyd and  Alice In Cooperland

Last Friday, May 9, GoDPSMusic held a free, live in-store and streaming ESP clinic featuring Tower of Power bass legend Rocco Prestia.  It was easily one of the coolest music events Newbury Park has ever seen. 

Full video of event on GoDPS page:

Upon arrival, Rocco’s ESP clinic was packed and several of the people in the back of the room ended up being very special guests.

Sporting his beautiful 4 string ESP bass, Rocco played some bass lines and talked to the crowd.  The entire audience hung onto every note he played and every word he said.  It was a real thrill to be able to see him play his trademark finger style funk so close up.  His bass playing is groovy.

 

After jamming on the bass, did a candid Q&A with the crowd and talked about his bass and his playing.  He answered question in a very matter-of-fact way with a good, dry sense of humor.  When asked what it was like to play with David Garibaldi, he shrugged and said “Good” just like it was no big deal. When asked if he ever plays a 5 or 6 string, he shrugged and said, “Why would I do that?”  It was pretty hilarious. 

 

Here’s a guy that has seen it all and done it all just being himself.   He also talked about his health (he seems to be doing pretty good) and stated that he’ll be making his return to Tower Of Power when things improve after his surgery.  

During Q&A, Rocco got a question in the crowd from Robert Trujillo (Metallica, Infectious Grooves) about the music scene in the Bay Area back in the day.  Also in attendance were PHILM and WAR’s Pancho Tomaselli (who happens to be Rocco’s nephew), Sal Rodriguez – the drummer for WAR since 1990, Billy Box and Sam Aliano, who has been touring with Tony MacAlpine.   Pancho and Robert both just recently participated in an incredible event that paid tribute to The Who’s John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

Pancho Tomaselli hopped up onstage and talked for a while about his Uncle Rocco, ESP, Philm, WAR and playing with Tower Of Power.  It was a great moment in the clinic:

Drummer Sam Aliano has a great gig going on tour with the incredible Tony MacAlpine and his band.  He said he’ll be performing with CAB soon.

  

Towards the end of the clinic, Sammy got up and joined Rocco for a funky bass and drum jam. Watching them lock in was a lot of fun. 

The jam with Sam:

Sam is a respected clinician and has been a local drum instructor for quite some time.  He has taught and performed with many big names in music.  A few years back, he rocked with an all star group at a very cool benefit show at The Canyon Club that had students performing with many famous musicians, such as Bruce Kulick, Rudy Sarzo and Thomas Lang.    That was a great show with lots of talent. And so was this one.

After the jam, there were informal meet and greets throughout the store and Rocco signed autographs and took pictures with fans.  

All the guys there were very encouraging to the kids that were there to watch the clinic.  

And there were ESP free hats and water bottles on the way out.  Everyone left a winner.   Score!

Rocco was a HUGE influence on Jaco Pastorius.   Here’s the trailer for Robert’s upcoming documentary on Jaco, which made his being there even more special. 

https://twitter.com/JACOFilm   http://jacothefilm.com/

You’ve heard Katie Daryl say “One more song!” many times throughout the performances on AXS TV’s The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands.   The third season of The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands season was technically set to end on April 21.   In what essentially became the sixteenth installment of the season, Katie Daryl surprised viewers and provided a special episode “encore” with a brand new live performance of the show’s inaugural tribute band, Britain’s Finest – a tribute to the Beatles,

This particular show didn’t take place on on a Monday, nor did it air at the usual start time.   It wasn’t even on the Sunset Strip…. and it turned out to be a fantastic affair that made for a very memorable part of the show’s history.  

Hosted at the spacious and elegant Club Nokia in Downtown LA, the event served to honor past performers on the show (current band included) and as a celebration of the show’s recently announced renewal for an upcoming fourth season, which will see its return sometime in the Fall. 

Other attendees of the live audience for this special event included invited guests and VIPs from The Cable Show – a television network conference that took place at the neighboring LA Convention Center.  The past tribute all-star performers of the program mingled with the rest of the crowd both on the red carpet and inside during the show.   A great party with an excellent band on live TV on weeknight broadcast from a deluxe state of the art venue?   It doesn’t get much better than that!

The live telecast began in grand fashion at 10PM Pacific time for a 90 minute performance that spanned the career of The Beatles.

The first segment was presented in black and white to viewers at home.   Very cool idea.

Britain’s Finest played an extended set list with several songs that weren’t regularly performed live by The Beatles.  The song variety added even more to the overall experience of being there.   The crowd on hand really enjoyed the concert and being treated to a great evening of music and fun.     Given the incredible impact The Beatles had on television 50 years ago, along with all the gifted musicians in attendance, this was a very fitting crowd to witness this show.   Britain’s Finest Finest took many of the cable executives and everyone else there on a blast to the past.

  The positive energy of the band gave off a really happy vibe at the show.  You could tell they really were enjoying putting on their performance, which, on top of everything else, made it all that much more entertaining.

They had about 3 minutes between each set to switch out their wardrobes when Katie Daryl took the audience through the commercial breaks to resume with their chronologically updated attire.  They managed to pull everything off flawlessly to a delighted crowd. 

The evening was the perfect way to end out the season on a great note.   Hopefully, this is an indication of the good things to come for the upcoming season.  There is a big family feeling between all the members of the various acts that make this show happen and it was a fitting way to part ways until next time.

Since its inception early last year, this show has not only done a great job of legitimizing the hard work of these great tribute bands; it also keeps the audience guessing– in a really good way.  It takes the best tribute bands like these to make the audience feel like they are being transported to a different time witnessing a historic concert taking place.   That’s what it’s all about.

SET LIST:

I Want To Hold Your Hand

Please Please Me

All My Loving

From Me To You

Roll Over Beethoven

Eight Days A Week

Can’t Buy Me Love

I Feel Fine

Day Tripper

She Loves You

We Can Work It Out

I Saw Her Standing There

Twist and Shout

   

Hello Goodbye

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

With A Little Help From My Friends

Penny Lane

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Yellow Submarine

Strawberry Fields Forever

Rocky Raccoon

Come Together

Something

Get Back Medley

Don’t Let Me Down

Revolution

ENCORE:

Hey Jude

 

The World’s Greatest Cheering Section:

 

HUNDREDS OF PICTURES OF THE EVENT

Cheers to Season 4!!!

http://beatlestributeband.net/

https://twitter.com/1BeatlesTribute

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Britains-Finest/170476559717549

——————————————————- @KatieDaryl @AXSTV – #axsTRIBUTE

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BRITAIN’S FINEST –  CLUB NOKIA 4/30/2014

MR. SPEED – A TRIBUTE TO KISS The Whisky 4/24/2014

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