Skid's 2015 Dream Season

April 20th - Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock
Sellersville Theater
Sellersville, Pennsylvania

My first day without a Mets game in a week, so what do I do? Go see Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock live, what else would I do! Legendary guitarist Michael Schenker along with the Scorpions Lovedrive album rhythm section of drummer Herman Rarebell and bass player Francis Buchholz. The band includes the multi talented keyboard/guitarist Wayne Findlay and vocalist Doogie White. A solid band and one of my favorite Schenker line ups. This is unbelievably my 38th time seeing Michael play live since the first time I saw him in 1979 with UFO in Lodi, California.

Michael just this week did an appearance on "That Metal Show". The host, Eddie Trunk, is a huge UFO and Michael Schenker fan. Metallica's guitarist, Kirk Hammett, got to spend some time with his professed idol Michael and they jammed together on the show. It was a nice moment to give Michael his due as an influential guitar player to many who have picked up an axe.

When I left New York around 11am for Pennsylvania it was raining pretty heavily making the roads and bridges tough to drive on. The traffic through the Bronx was so slow, trucks everywhere, making my drive an hour longer than needed. Once I got to New Jersey things calmed down a bit and it was a smooth but long 3 and 1/2 hour drive to Quakertown PA. I checked into my hotel and then headed to Sellersville about 15 minutes away.

Meet & Greet! When I got there Taro told me there were seventeen meet & greet participants, their biggest group yet. They had only two the day before. Having been to a previous meet & greet, I did not bring anything for the band to sign but Taro gives everyone a photo to have signed. Many brought multiple album covers and guitars. The band entered the theater and jumped onstage one by one. I got to briefly talk to Wayne who came over and asked me about my Mets venture. Wayne started playing Led Zeppelin's "All Of My Love" on his keyboard and Herman joined in on the drums, only a short 30 seconds or so but very cool. Michael came in and grabbed his flying V, said hello to his bandmates and commented on the larger than usual group of fans for soundcheck. You could see most everyone perk up when Michael entered the room. He glanced off stage and saw and recognized me, smiling and pointing at me. They played about five songs then everyone lined up to get their stuff signed. Some brought about a dozen record covers yet the band surprisingly signed them all. When I saw Michael he asked, "Don't we see you always on the West Coast?" I tried to briefly explain that I was in New York for six months. We then got to have our photo taken individually with the band, then a group photo of everyone. Being able to talk to Michael, Wayne, Roberto (Michael's guitar tech), Doogie, Taro, Fast Tommy again was a thrill. Somehow I missed Carlos the Stunt Monkey but he would have tried to get me into trouble. I was going to bring Mr. Met to introduce to Carlos but it would not have ended well.

I was able to meet a long time friend, Mets fan, and huge Schenker fan, Jay. We have known each other for over a decade or more. But just like my friend Dave in Dallas, we had never met face to face. He also was at the meet & greet and we were able to chat for quite a while before the show started. The show itself was fantastic. Great sound and a great setlist featuring UFO, MSG, and Scorpions songs as well as a few from the two Temple Of Rock albums. The place was packed with standing room tickets sold out also. An enthusiastic crowd of fans who were rocked like a hurricane! Afterward I parted ways with Jay and headed to my hotel room. Another "spirit on a mission" completed.

Temple Of Rock - Spirit on a Misson

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Some of my TOR Swag
Laminate, lanyard, signed photo, ticket stub and a pick from Wayne.