Great story, Brian! (You didn't name your band...who
was it? I grew up in P-land and saw all those bands
you mentioned, too.)

--- progcop <progcop@...> wrote:

> Seeing Rail open for Van Halen in 1980 (Portland, OR
> Memorial
> Coliseum) was such a thrill for me at age 15.
>
> By the age of 19, I was already in an up an coming
> band of my own.
> We were very popular in the Vancouver/Portland area
> and played many
> shows locally with Jeff LeBansky, Outtrage, Laden
> Saint and a very
> early Black n' Blue. Our biggest break came when our
> manager
> arranged for us to open for Rail and Ronnie Montrose
> at the Starry
> Night Club in Portland, Oregon. You can bet I was
> thrilled to pieces!
>
> My band mates had no clue who they were about to
> open for, and quite
> frankly, were pretty boring about it. I on the other
> hand, was so
> excited to meet my Rock n' Roll hero's Rail.
>
> On the day of our show, my band mates thought it
> best to goof around
> in the city instead of hanging at the club to watch
> Rail set up and
> perform sound checks. Of course I stayed behind and
> sat watching the
> band. Then, I met them.....
>
> The guys in Rail were so cool to me. They gave me
> drum sticks and
> guitar picks (maybe even a t-shirt), while my band
> mates got nothing.
>
> Show time:
>
> As our band played our set, I was petrified because
> the crowd was
> huge. As I looked stage right, there was Terry
> smiling and giving me
> the big thumbs up. Suddenly, my Steinberger bass
> broke a string,
> causing me to play much higher notes to finish the
> song. Terry
> motioned for me to hang on, disappered and reappered
> holding one of
> his basses and motioned for me to come over. Terry
> said "Use one of
> mine". We quickly changed basses and there I was,
> holding and
> playing one of Terry's basses to finish the set. I
> remember
> thinking..."How cool!".
>
> After we finished, I took Terry's bass back to their
> dressing room
> and thanked him.
>
> If MTV had the Basement Tapes contest all over
> again, I would still
> vote for Rail as I did back in 83'.
>
> Now, I'm a local Police Officer who has never
> forgotten his roots in
> Rock n' Roll. :)
>
> You guys Blaze!
> Brian
>
>
>
>


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