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The American Band
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 Grand Funk Railroad,
a garage band that grew up to be a real rock and roll
band played the Tupperware Center in Orlando Florida,
Saturday night. During the 70's they were hated by the
critics, loved by the fans and sold millions of records.
They wound up broke in an all too familiar story of a
record contract gone bad due to bad management. Recently
reformed with the original members, they are touring in
support of their latest CD "Bosnia." Grand Funk
was always a unique band. Self described as a garage
band, they never seemed to "copy" or
"sound like" anyone but themselves. Always the
basic "power trio", Grand Funk provided
straight ahead American rock and roll, with very little
pretensioness. I first heard Grand Funks music in 1969 walking down the hall of a military barracks. One of the other guys had Grand Funks "On Time" album (large black round things with small holes in the middle for those too young to remember) cranked up to 11. (Ala Spinal Tap!) I immediately fell in love with the sound and pounded on the door to find out what album he was playing. I became a fan since that moment and remember it well. (OK...I admit it's not up there with "where were you when Kennedy was shot!") Anyway, the Railroad rolled into town and put on a solid show at the Tupperware Center. They started off with "Are You Ready", worked through all the radio hits, along with my personal favorite "Paranoid", and ended with "Gimme Shelter". The show was short, only 90 minutes, however, the sound was 'on the money', perfectly mixed, loud but not ear splitting loud. The vocals were excellent. Mark Farner (guitar and occasional keyboard) was all over the stage, with as much energy as someone half his age. Don Brewer (Drums) matched Farner's energy, even while trapped behind his drum set. Mel Schacher (bass) held everything together with absolutely rock solid bass and provided a stable presence on the stage letting Mark and Don enjoy the spotlights. Howard Eddy (keyboards and occasional backup guitar) provided the filler for the studio versions of the songs.
Bottom line: Excellent show from a veteran American rock and roll institution. They truly are America's Band.
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One of highlights of the show
was where Don Brewer came from behind the drums to sing
the opening of "Some Kind Of Wonderful" using
only his drumsticks and Mel's bass for rhythm. Another
was the visual impact of the huge American Flag that
dropped down the back of the stage for "We're An
American Band". The crowd was appreciative, getting
into the music and singing along with the band. During
the show, Mark Farner asked "if there were any
Roadkillers out there". Roadkill is the loosely
organized internet fan club for the band which has been
instrumental in getting information out regarding the
band. [SEE PHOTO AT LEFT] He was
rewarded with a substantial roar of approval from the
Roadkill members in the crowd. Mark also said "you
know brothers and sisters, you can dance if you
want...after all this IS a Grand Funk show". Mark
also paid tribute to the Vietnam Vets. One of the topics
of discussion by the fans before the show, and by the
band backstage after the show was the proposed Vietnam
Vet tribute concert. Mark, Don and Mel all feel a kinship
with the Vietnam Vets, since so much of their music was
part of the Vietnam experience. They are trying to set up
a special concert sometime in November to benefit the
Vietnam vets who supported them during their career. 
