Thursday, January 14, 2010
Goodbye 2009 - HELLO 2010!
Happy New Year!
Ok so I'm a little late. It has taken me this long to reflect back on all that happened in 2009 for LITD.
We played more shows last year than in previous years. We branched out into Corpus Christi at the House of Rock. It's a nice venue and we hope to play there again sometime.
For the first time since this band was formed, we did shows as openers. We opened for Destroyer (Dallas's awesome KISS Tribute) at Meridian. And we opened for Back In Black (Dallas ACDC Tribute) at House Of Blues. THAT was an awesome show! Brian Burch of NastyDogPhoto.com was on hand to shoot almost the whole show and my wife Cindy got excellent video footage so the show was well documented. Even though we were the opening act, popular opinion is that we smoked 'em at the HOB! A special thanks to all of our friends and fans who came out to support us at that show!
Several of us went to Dallas and met face-to-face with Alice Cooper himself! That was an incredible experience. He's a great guy and was genuinely interested in what we do. He autographed a copy of our House Of Blues show poster and Michael DeLuco had huge copies professionally made, mounted and framed for each of the guys in the band for Christmas. Thanks Mikey!
We made TV and radio appearances, both of which were incredible experiences. A huge THANK YOU to Dean & Rog and Suzi at KGLK 107.5 The Eagle for allowing us and members of Gene's Addiction to put on a show for listeners in your conference room. We have the honor of being the very first act to do a live show there! And THANK YOU to Lanny Griffith for having us on his show all morning at KRIV Fox 26. That was so much fun!
I saw a great write up in the January issue of Houston Music News. It said "When it comes to Tribute Shows, the finest that Houston has to offer is Love It To Death - The Alice Cooper Tribute Show". That means a lot to me and to the band. We work very hard to make sure our tribute is professional, accurate and entertaining. So many people have come up to me after a show and said things like "Wow I didn't know Alice Cooper did so many cool songs that I like" and younger people will say things like "I never was much of a Cooper fan - until now".
I would just like to thank the following people, without whom this show would not be as great as it is:
The band: Mike DeLuco (drums), Mike Lambert (guitar & vocals), Rob Jacobs (guitar & vocals), Greg Norton (bass & vocals). You guys are the absolute best! We have all gone from average bar band players to Rock Stars over the last three plus years and it's because of the dedication and perserverance that each of you has developed and established as a way of life. This is truly the first real band I have been in over the many years of my music endeavors. I look forward to many more. By the way Houston, look out for CRASH this year. We are talking about the soon to be greatest Classic Rock act to come along in a long time!
The actors and support crew: Dana Ridenour (actor & support), Cindy Byron (photography/videography & support), Doug Palmitier (actor & support), Jody "Snakebite" Hickman (actor, support & snake handler/provider), Donnie Napier (actor, drum tech & support), Erica Ridenour (costumes & support), Mickie Reyna (costumes & support), Tony Chiles (actor & support). All of you have done so much to help make this show a success and it truly could not be as good as it is without each and every one of you.
Our spouses & families: Cindy, Connie, Linda, Krissa Ann & Lisa - On behalf of the guys, we wish to thank you immensely for your patience and understanding while we are away from home for the long hours it takes to perfect our craft. And for your encouragement and support that is so important to us. Each of you has sacrificed much to allow us to do what we do. You have also participated and become a part of the show in one way or another, which adds to the list of the many things we have to be grateful for.
Our fans & friends: Thank you all for your continued support of this band, our show and our talents. It is all of you who give us the real reason we, as performers, do what we do. Also, the bands that opened for us and supported us as well as the bands we opened for - Thanks to each of you for teaming up with LITD. We look forward to doing more shows with you guys! Special thanks to Mike Campion & Gready Hunter of Gene's Addiction for the promotion and co-headlining efforts at several shows. In this section, I would like to also include as friends, the venue owners, management and talent buyers with whom we have developed a great relationship. Thanks to each of you for giving LITD the chances needed to show what we can do.
To all: Happy New Year! May 2010 bring great joy and prosperity to each and every one of you!
Paul Byron
January 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Talent - What To Do With It?
You know, there have been times when I have looked back at the last 3 years and asked myself "Why do I do this crazy Alice Cooper show?". In fact, a friend told me just today that he didn't quite understand why a person with my talents would use such talent to portray someone else on stage. Especially someone who, in my friend's eyes, doesn't seem to be that big of an act to warrant impersonating. Well perhaps its not that easy to explain but I will attempt it here.
First, a little about my talents. For more than 25 years, I have been a songwriter, musician and singer. During this time I have played (and still do) guitar, bass, keys, harmonica in bands of various genres from Punk to Funk all over the Bay Area (Texas - not California). I have been a voiceover artist, DJ and I am currently developing skills as a graphic artist.
Way back in 1972, before I ever even learned to play an instrument or do any of these things, I became a big fan of Alice Cooper - both the man AND the original group. I learned every song on all of the early albums from Love It To Death (where my band got it's name), Killer (the BEST!), School's Out, Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love. I was an Alice Cooper fanatic! I used to stand in the mirror and see if I could make myself look like Alice - not by making up my face but by changing my posture & facial expressions. I also noticed early on that I had the ability to mimic Alice's voice in it's many forms. I could snarl like Alice. I could whine & scream like Alice. I could sing softly like Alice and I could croon like Alice.
I never intended to start a tribute band until just a few years ago. After I did a minor Alice Cooper routine as a DJ at a Halloween party, I was encouraged numerous times to do it on a big stage. One thing led to another and Love It To Death was born. I chose the name because that album introduced me to Alice about 35 years ago. I have been very fortunate to have the best musicians in town doing this with me. We don't get a lot of gigs (average 1 every 6 weeks) and we don't make a lot of money. But we truly enjoy what we do so much that even rehearsal is fun. The challenge of presenting the classic Alice Cooper songs accurately has always been a big part of what we do.
We change the songs to fit the time period. Most of what we do is very close to the way Alice does right now. The reason we do this is because I am older and would look funny wearing the outfits Alice used to wear back in the 70's. I am quite comfortable looking more like Alice from more recent years. That's why we call ourselves a Modern Alice Cooper Tribute. But we do like to change things up and do an entire show that pays tribute to a particular Alice show from the last 20 years or so. We have done the Brutal Planet show in it's entirety and we will be doing "The Nightmare Returns" for Halloween this year. Again, each time we do this, we do all the songs similar to the way they were done at the time. It keeps things fresh. We never do 2 shows the same way.
So I guess the best answer I could give when asked why I use all of my talents in this way would be - Because I can. :)
Thanks for reading this and thanks for supporting Love It To Death - The Alice Cooper Tribute Show.
Paul Byron
Thursday, July 02, 2009
MONSTERS OF MOCK
M.O.M. is a little over a week away! If you haven't got your ticket yet - DO IT NOW! This will be a sold out event. M.O.M. will be the first of hopefully many Houston Tribute Showcase productions. This one will feature Tomorrow's Dream - (Black Sabbath Tribute) and Gene's Addiction - A tribute to Gene Simmons of KISS. This is something a little different. Think of a cross between KISS and Rob Zombie.
As for us...
This promises to be our biggest production to date, as LITD brings you Brutal Planet Revisited. That's right, we are gonna drag you kickin' & screamin' back to the Post-Apocalyptic world known as Brutal Planet, as seen through the eyes of Alice Cooper! We will be performing the entire setlist from Alice's now legendary show from 2000 - including all the theatrics from that show. This is something you won't want to miss!
Also - While you're there, you can enter for a drawing, which will be held at the end of our performance. For a mere five bucks, you will have a chance to win a brand new Dean Michael Schenker Flying V guitar autographed by the REAL ALICE COOPER! (Click HERE for a photo)All proceeds will go to the Galveston County Animal Alliance and you must be present to win.
MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND THIS SHOW! You'll be glad you did! :)
Monday, May 04, 2009 Texas Frightmare Weekend - LITD Meets Alice Cooper
This past weekend (April 2nd & 3rd) The LITD entourage (minus a couple) travelled to Dallas, TX on a mission - To attend the Texas Frightmare Weekend horror convention and while there, meet the legendary Alice Cooper in the flesh.
Well - we did.
Alice was more than just "personable". We really expected to be herded quickly in and out of the autograph signing but to our surprise, we were given ample time to talk to him about what we do. He seemed genuinely impressed. We gave him a copy of the poster from our House Of Blues Houston show and he smiled saying "Wow! I should just let you guys go out and do my show when I need a break!". He even commented (jokingly) on how he hates us tributes sometimes because we do his songs better than he does!
He also had expressed an interest in seeing our show sometime. I had told him that I would get a dvd of the HOB show to him and he did promise to watch it.
On a personal note:
I first saw Alice Cooper on the very first episode of ABC's "In Concert" way back in October of 1972. I was 13 years old at the time. It was only a half hour show but it was enough to keep me glued to the tv from beginning to end. That following May, I got to go to my first rock concert ever - Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies at the Sam Houston Colleseum here in Houston. It was the show that was filmed in Houston and Dallas for the movie "Good To See You Again Alice Cooper", which is now available on dvd.
I was completely blown away at how a group of guys could successfully combine really good rock songs with some of the most incredible theatrics anyone had ever seen (at that time). I was hooked. I used to stand in front of the mirror and mimick what I saw at that show and on tv. Way back then, I had no thoughts whatsoever about actually performing such songs & theatrics on a real stage with a real band and real actors, etc. Well, 37 years after my first encounter with the concept of Alice Cooper, here I am doing just that!
It was truly an honor for me especially, to meet the man whose theatrical rock show not only shaped my perception of what rock & roll should look like on stage, but also influenced my overall musical style and thinking for more than 35 years.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
House Of Blues 04/10/09
What a night!
We finally were able to bring a true Alice Cooper tribute performance to the big stage. House Of Blues Houston has got to be one of the most incredible venues ever. I was not able to roam about so I only know of the other rooms, restaurant, etc from what others had told me. But I was impressed enough just by the size of the stage, the awesome PA, the intelligent lighting and the professionalism with which the staff handled everything (including us!).
When the curtain opened and I emerged from the giant trash can, I was not mentally prepared for what I saw - a vast sea of faces, hands, fists, horns up in the air. It really took me by surprise and for a brief moment I felt such a surge of emotion and adredaline that my hands shook and I found it hard to take full breaths for at least the first couple of songs. By the time the boys started playing "Dirty Diamonds", I started to get myself together. I then realized that I "owned" my audience for the duration of our show.
The set flew by as we blazed through 15 of Alice Cooper's best songs (my opinion). We all felt like we were only up there for about 15 minutes, when in fact, it was a little over an hour. When we finished with "Elected" and the lights went down, the crowd started chanting "Alice! Alice! Alice!" The stage manager asked, "Well do you guys want us to close the curtains or do you want to do an encore?" Of course we took the opportunity to go back out on that awesome stage one more time! When the crowd heard the intro to "Poison" the roar felt like the roof was about to blow off!
I feel like a major milestone has been met by this band. We have accomplished so much over the last two years. This has got to be our biggest accomplishment to date - bringing LITD to the kind of stage that it was meant for.
We would like to thank Back In Black - The Ultimate AC/DC Tribute for allowing us to open for them. These guys are among the few of us out there who truly understand the concept of a tribute show. They (as do we) go to great lengths to re-create the look, feel and sound of the band they are paying tribute to. We were very proud to be sharing the stage with them.
Also a big thanks to LiveNation and HOB Entertainment, Inc. for allowing us to show them what we are capable of - even if we did hold back a bit out of respect for the headlining act. I have been told that we will be back. :)
Finally, we wish to thank our fans who came out to see us. If it weren't for you we'd be doing this in our driveways! I know we made quite a few new fans that night, and we hope to see all of you at future shows!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hawgs Of Texas Show Cancelled
Due to a scheduling conflict, our show at Hawgs Of Texas has been cancelled. As some of you may know, we were supposed to open for Fran Cosmo (of Boston) which would have put us on stage about 8:00 PM. Unfortunately, a rather uninformed member of the H.O.T. management decided to bump us up to 6:00 PM, which would put us in a position where we would not be able to put on a true Alice Cooper show.
Anyone who has seen our show (or Alice's) knows that you cannot do what we do without lighting and effects. It would be pointless to try and do our show in daylight. Not only that, but historically, daylight hours at most biker rallies are not spent next to a stage while various other "activities" are taking place elsewhere.
What makes all of this even worse, we were not notified of the time change. It was discovered purely by accident as we were checking their website schedule. This is construed by us as an indication of the organization's lack of professionalism. One thing is for sure - IF we ever accept another invitation to play at Hawgs Of Texas, it will only be after we have received a signed and notorized contract.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
WELCOME FELLOW MYSPACE GEEKS!
Thank you for stopping by and checking out the "new" LITD website! Keep checking here for the latest news on upcoming shows, projects, etc. You shouldn't have any problems viewing videos, etc. But if you do, please drop us a note.
Tuesday, February 5, 2009
Concert Pub - 01.31.09
What an amazing night! Being the first show of 2009, I really wanted it to be a good one. Maybe it's a superstition thing but my feeling is - the first gig should set the standard for the whole year. Whatever - This show was awesome.
We wish to thank our new friends The Ultimate Sin for opening for us. These guys put on one helluva Ozzy Osbourne tribute! Iggy's vocals are amazingly close to Ozzy's and the band nailed every song including the last one - War Pigs (my wife's fave!) Look for these guys around town and if you don't have them as your friends on MySpace then please add them. Also, I look forward to working with them again maybe sometime later this year.
Nasty Dog Photos was on hand shooting away. Brian is a very talented concert photographer and has shot a great many bands both local and regional with awesome results. You'll find him on our top friends on MySpace - add him! And B - Thank you for the pics. As always, we appreciate it so much!
JD at the Concert Pub has made some MAJOR improvements to both the house PA and the lighting. Mike the soundman did an awesome job of making us look and sound great all night! Not once did I hear that annoying little feedback, monitors were consistently ample all night. Overall the feel on stage was as close to perfect as you can get. And hey JD - Let's not wait another year before the next show eh? ;^)
Thank you to Cindy for relentlessy shooting throughout the entire show in spite of being constantly bumped and knocked around by a somewhat rowdy crowd (more on that in a minute). CLB is constantly working to improve her craft as a photographer for the band and it really shows in her work. Click here to see pics from this show. She really makes us look good!
Speaking of the rowdy crowd.... WOW! You people are as crazy as we are! There were moments when I thought we actually had a mosh pit working! You're unbelievable! But from where we were it looked like everyone had a great time! =)
We want to thank our friends, fans and family who continue to support us throughout our evolution into this insane thing we call a tribute show. Surely you know by now that we don't just do this for ourselves but for you. To have one person come up to me and say "You know, I'm not much of a Cooper fan but you guys put on one hell of a show." or "Man! I'm going home and listen to my old Alice Cooper records (cd's whatever) because now I can't get these songs out of my head!" - That is why we do this!
So if the first gig of the year is any indication of how the rest will go - then hang on kiddies cause it's gonna be one hell of a ride!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
We now have a YouTube channel! Please go to youtube.com/litdvideos and take a look at some awesome video clips from recent shows. Right now there are only 6 but we will be adding more soon.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
As 2008 comes to a close, we have much to look back on. First, a big THANK YOU to all of our friends and fans who supported us this year by coming out to the shows or helping to promote, etc. We couldn't do this without you! As we prepare to enter 2009, we are already looking at 6 shows booked through April. This is a good sign that the coming year will be quite busy for LITD. Happy New Year to you all and may we see you at our future shows. Next year's shows will be even better than before.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
HELP SAVE ROCKSTAR!!
We, along with many local bands from around DFW will be donating our time and talent to help save the Rockstar. As many of you may know, Warren is in trouble and needs our help. We will be there next Saturday along with Ball & Chain and the Trampskirts.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT for one of the biggest players in the local music scene by coming to see us next week!
Rockstar needs your help to stay open! PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THIS AWESOME VENUE!
Monday, July 07, 2008
July 4th at Firewater in Dallas
We would like to thank all of our fans, family and friends for coming to our show at Firewater. It was probably our most intense show to date and I will have numerous scars to remind me lol!
We also want to thank the supporting bands who helped make it an awesome evening of entertainment. Crystal Planet was incredible! Chris Burton pulls off a Joe Satriani tribute that is second only to Satch himself! The band was smokin' and the Satriani "feel" was prevalent throughout the set. They had even sampled some Satriani sound effects which really topped off the vibe! (I think I'm gonna steal that idea lol!)
Trio Grande was a pretty good ZZ Top tribute - with matching outfits, beards and matching guitars. The guitar player was maybe a little "too good" to do Billy. He did a solo that would have you more inclined to thinking he should be in a Van Halen tribute but overall it was a fun show.
We hit the stage about 11:30 with "Trash", whereupon I emerged out of a giant trash can which split down the middle, similar to the "Trashes The World" show. We then proceeded to slap our audience with a continuous barrage of Cooper Classicks - each song met with thunderous applause! Our set was about 2 hours and very intense. Hardly time to take a breath in between songs, but we held the crowd until the end. The finale (Elected) was the best we have ever done - the climax of which included a three-way brawl involving McCain, Obama and Hillary lookalikes and a confetti canon.
We wish to thank Clint Barlow for having us out and "Jenn - The Amazon Queen" for being so accommodating!
Also -a big THANK YOU to Linda Hollar and Andy Laudano from Harder Beat Magazine for coming out and checking out LITD for the first time. Hopefully you'll be reading more about us in an upcoming issue. :)))
We can't wait for another Firewater gig! For those of you who missed this one - you really ought to make sure you don't miss the next! :)
