By R.M. Engelman
In 2000 Don Brewer assembled a new touring version of the band. The GFR song American Band starts out, “Out on the road for 40 days”, and since then the band has been doing that and then some. Original members Don and bassist Mel Schacher recruited Max Carl on lead vocals/guitar (Jack Mack & the Heart Attack, 38 Special) Bruce Kulick (Kiss) on lead guitar, and keyboardist Tim Cashion (Bob Seger). Last year Bruce Kulick retired, and Mark Chatfield (The Godz, Rosie, Bob Seger) took over the guitar and background vocal duties. Tonight’s show had Stan Sheldon (Peter Frampton) filling in on bass. Don handled the lead vocals on five of the songs.
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The show kicked off with Rock ‘n Roll Soul with Max on vocals, and the band ran through the GFR standards Footstompin’ Music, The Loco-Motion, Inside Lookin’ Out, I’m Your Captain, Shinin’ On, Some Kind of Wonderful, Heartbreaker, Walk Like a Man, and the encore We’re an American Band. They also did versions of Sky High and the 38 Special hit Second Chance.
Later the guys formed a sort of drum circle with Don on drums, Max on a marching bass drum (and chants), and Tim, and Stan on congas. Mark followed with The Star Spangled Banner (on his red, white, and blue guitar), before the band went into the old Eric Burdon classic made famous by GFR, Inside Lookin’ Out. For Some Kind of Wonderful, Don came to the front of the stage to start the song. It’s always fun to watch Don who remains one of the best drummers in rock. Mark was on the money with the solos, which most of their songs have.
Grand Funk Railroad has been in existence since 1969 and is still constantly booked on the touring circuit. Young and old fans continue to fill the seats to hear the classic songs, and be entertained by a band that definitely has fun performing. Even though the guys are aging, the songs and following are ageless. Any fans owe it to themselves to listen to their extensive back catalog. The bands best material is the album cuts that naturally didn’t make it to the top 40. The first two live albums and Bosnia give you the full GFR live experience!
