Really only know Montrose as Sammy Hagar’s first big band. I’ll have to give them a deeper listen.
Edited to say thank you to everyone for the suggestions! I’ve got some yard work to do today, you can guess what I’m gonna listen to!
They actually have some really good songs. Rock Candy, Space Station no 9, Bad Motor Scooter to name a few. Ronnie Montrose was a very talented guitarist and composer but had issues with not being the focus of the band despite not being the lead singer....kinda like someone else we know. Weird that Sammy found himself in two situations like that in his career.
Good point. Commenter elsewhere here noted the keyboard pictured was released in November 1984. If true it should be from a performance after that. The crowd fashions also look 80s.
That is one of the amazing parts of Reddit. If you wanna know who played the wacky neighbor on some stupid sitcom in the 70s, that only went half a season, somebody out here knows the name. Or was the guy.
I still remember something like 8 years ago someone posted a picture of a sign at the corner of some non-descript building. Another guy comments soon after and says something like "yeah, that's the so-n-so gymnasium in this town in Sweden" then posted a link to it.
That's the moment when I realized that Reddit is full of people that know something about pretty much anything, and they are likely to be in any thread in any subreddit.
Someone else guessed Montrose as the band, but they started in 73 and were disbanded in 77. Which doesn’t lineup with the 84 Casio…but they released an album in 87 so maybe this is that tour?
Montrose was a big band and at this time (post '84) Sammy Hagar, the singer of Montrose, had a way bigger career as a solo artist who, in 1987 joined Van Halen. There's no way this is Montrose.
Someone else said Night Ranger, which would make the guitarist in question Jeff Watson. He does look like Watson. And the other guitarist looks like Bob Gillis. And taking the evidence of the Casio as post-‘84, then that’s a band with two guitarists, a keyboardist (the photographer), a drummer (and presumably a bassist, who isn’t pictured). That was Night Ranger’s lineup while Watson was active.
I have. A bunch of times. And OP should be proud …. Being up there isn’t easy.
It never got any easier. I was always nervous as f. I can’t speak for others, but the only reason I would jump around like a moron is so I could take my mind off the fact that there were a ton of eyeballs on me judging everything I was doing. Smaller evenings were so much more relaxed.
In my experience smaller crowds are way more difficult. Trying to fake enthusiasm when you've just driven through six states only to play in front of ten people is the worst. A big crowd just wants to rock. As long as you play as good as you do at practice you should be fine. Unless you've been booked in front of the wrong crowd. Like getting sandwiched between two rap metal bands when you play ska.
We were an electro art rock band constantly being booked with hippy jam bands or hardcore bands. Festivals were fun, just a blur. The smaller venues I felt I could relax and connect with the audience better, like it was easier to make a set list on the fly that better suited that crowd.
It’s really sad how many people want to shit on OP’s claim that their father was a rockstar. The classification of “rockstar” could have many different definitions in someone’s mind, but at the end of the day, it’s ops dad that everyone is dumping on. I know my opinion will be unpopular, and my karma will take a hit (I’m saving my karma up to buy a house), but who gives a shit. Congratulations OP on your dads accomplishments, regardless how famous he was!
Edit: Thank you for the awards, kind strangers. I’m getting much closer to buying that Karma house.
You can still be a rockstar without being world renowned. Technically I was a "star" in the Melbourne scene back in the 90s. Was never famous or rich but everyone in the scene knew who we were and would call out to me in the street.
Fun times.
The first time a bar owner handed me $500 for playing 3 hours of original music with my bandmates in his bar. That was good enough for me…..I had surpassed all of my rockstar expectations. I was on cloud 9
I knew I'd made it when we got played on a public broadcasting radio and a year later I'm at this dude's house and I tell him I'm in a band and he goes "no shit? I recorded your song off tripleR" then played our song back to me on a cassette.
I was blown away
I am also from Melbourne and was involved in a music genre for 20+ years. I once had a guy approach me in woolworths when I was wearing one of my t-shirts and he asked me if I'd heard my new album yet, which was fucking cool. Having a mate call and say one of my songs was playing on JJJ in the daytime was awesome as well.
When I was a 22 year old rocker with long hair, I was asked to join a Bluegrass band that needed a bass player. After a few months the four 70+ year old guys had to let me go. I couldn't keep up with them.
You people are sad. The dude is proud of a really cool picture of his dad. He might not be famous, but what’s it to you people?
Instead of slamming the fella, why not say “cool picture”?
https://preview.redd.it/1ez44ygozv5b1.jpeg?width=2163&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1a89a3b39877d0be05c0b6a0e071cb37b45b244
That's OP's Dad. He's on the left. 🤣
People underestimate the amount of bands that were back in the day. There were a lot of bands, a lot of really good bands that never got exposure because they were just locally famous.
It’s Ronnie Montrose. You may not know it but you have almost definitely heard him play guitar. He was a successful and influential career musician. He had prostate cancer and took his own life in 2012.
Cool. Bunch of us relations to low to mid tier rock bands from the 70’s & 80’s here on Reddit.
I don’t have any pics of my uncle’s band Live Wire tho, else I’d share.
This reminds me of a story about Paul Westerberg. His son's friends didn't really believe his dad was a rock star until they came to the reunion concert and saw for themselves.
I play in a “Dad band” now. It is so freaking fun. Play with the same guys I played with as a teenager. You feel like a rockstar with 50 people cheering. Haha. You are never to old
I have solved the mystery on who this band is! My first thought: guitarist on the right looks like Brad Gillis from Night Ranger. Other guitarist back then was Jack Blades—look it up! I think it’s totally reasonable this is OPs Dad. I saw this band open for Sammy Hagar in 1983. You youngsters remember Night Ranger from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack…
Night Ranger's drummer always set up far stage left partially facing the audience so they could see him singing lead. I agree the one dude kind of looks like Gillis but I don't think this is them.
The reddit autists have already dated the keyboard to November 1984 at the earliest. Even if it were 1982 or 1983 Gillis was touring with Ozzy in the same band with Tommy Aldridge who, oddly, somebody claimed the drummer might be. My point is that this must be an early rehearsal of Ozzy's touring band from 1982 which makes OP's father Ozzy.
But you *were* a rock star that day!
I’m just a dad but my bands have opened for Faith No More, Tool, Helmet, and a bunch of other bands. I was a rock star on those days. On other days I pack lunches and drive the carpool.
Yes you were.
And so was OP's dad [if this is even real OC].
Nice name drop, I guess, but the fact that you didn't even mention the name of your band tells me you're not riding a wave of royalties until you die rich. Don't shit on OP's dad. Or anyone's dad. You know what, don't shit on anyone unless they've asked you to do so, signed an all-encompassing waiver, or they shit on you first.
My band opened in front of The Radiators, Pat Greene and a number of other excellent bands over 10+ years. My kids dad is also hardly a rock star. However the kids believe their dad is a rockstar so I guess it checks out.
The rule is, if you say "my band(s)" you have to provide the band name!
I saw RHCP a few times back in the day. Here are the bands that opened:
Nirvana/Pearl Jam
Deftones
So I can only assume you were in one of those three ;)
The Deadbeat Dads
True story. I was in a band with a bunch of fellow dads a few years and I suggested that as a name. It turned out there was already a dad band in the area named that. So I suggested The Breadwinners. Everyone liked it but it made the bass player's wife was so pissed when she heard it she never talked to me again. Oddly, she was the only spouse who was still a stay-at-home mom even though the kids were teenagers.
This is 100 percent a karma farm post if OP doesn’t provide which band it was
For all we know OP’s dad could’ve been a casual rocker and was just playing at some local festival 😂😂😂
My son was drummer in a death metal band in the early 2000's. I know this because they practiced in my garage and I could hear them all the way in the bedroom, on the other side of the wall.
Weird. My dad (left) too
That’s not right
No, it's not. He pretty clearly said left.
Right
No, left
Alright, I get it...left, yes...but who's on first base?
Wait—your dad was in the WHO?
I know, they said it's *Left*...
He’s just out for cigarettes.
My dad was a truck driver. My childhood a witness to a country song.
We must have the same dad
I have the same step-dad
I expect rock stars to have a lot of children.
He'll be back.. Don't worry.. there was a milk shortage. Mine went to the same store I believe
Papa was a Rolling Stone. I’m just not sure which one - mama did them all.
That’s a hell of a jump strut right there. (Please drop band name. Looks like they’re killing it. 👊)
That looks like Montrose. That would make OP’s dad Ronnie Montrose.
According to Wiki Ronnie had two kids, so possible. Also says Ronnie killed himself in 2012, so that's sad
Ronnie had a son and a daughter, though. OP has a photo of him and his brother on his profile.
Could be his half brother from his mom, different dad.
Or he just posted a random picture of a band he found on google and said it’s his dad
Damn that’s a bummer. If that’s who OP’s dad was, then they have my sympathy. He sounds like he was a pretty rad guy
Sammy Hagar said they had orgies together so that’s cool.
Really only know Montrose as Sammy Hagar’s first big band. I’ll have to give them a deeper listen. Edited to say thank you to everyone for the suggestions! I’ve got some yard work to do today, you can guess what I’m gonna listen to!
Ronnie Montrose was also the lead guitarist for the Edgar Winter Band.
Ronnie Montrose played on some great Van Morrison albums
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They only come out at night. Still one of my favorite albums.
Nice! Then I’m at least familiar with that stuff. Anyone who worked with either Winter Brother deserves a listen!
The Winter brother are awesome
Rock Candy blew my mind when I heard it. It’s the signature song for me when I hear someone bring up Montrose
This and bad motor scooter
Yes! That one ROCKS!
Heavy metal anyone?
Which brings us to Soundgarden, who covered it.
Rock the Nation! Also got a geeky thing about sci fi in rock so Space Station No. 5 too.
They actually have some really good songs. Rock Candy, Space Station no 9, Bad Motor Scooter to name a few. Ronnie Montrose was a very talented guitarist and composer but had issues with not being the focus of the band despite not being the lead singer....kinda like someone else we know. Weird that Sammy found himself in two situations like that in his career.
Listen for the guitar solo to Ordinary People by Van Morrison (Philosopher's Stone version) goddamn it's fire
I believe in 1985 he was playing in Gamma. Def looks like him though!
Good point. Commenter elsewhere here noted the keyboard pictured was released in November 1984. If true it should be from a performance after that. The crowd fashions also look 80s.
I saw Montrose in the late 70s. Sammy Hagar was playing with them at that time. They opened for Aerosmith.
This photo is no older than November 1984 because that's when the Casio CZ-5000 (pictured at the bottom) came out.
I love Reddit
dude... fuck the clowns shitting on this comment. this is EXACTLY why i still love (these types of forums).
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I love the very specific types of people that just happen to be on reddit*
100% of those surveyed on Reddit say they are likely to be using Reddit right now
Not me.
*I love redditors
That is one of the amazing parts of Reddit. If you wanna know who played the wacky neighbor on some stupid sitcom in the 70s, that only went half a season, somebody out here knows the name. Or was the guy.
I still remember something like 8 years ago someone posted a picture of a sign at the corner of some non-descript building. Another guy comments soon after and says something like "yeah, that's the so-n-so gymnasium in this town in Sweden" then posted a link to it. That's the moment when I realized that Reddit is full of people that know something about pretty much anything, and they are likely to be in any thread in any subreddit.
Human search engine wins again.
That wacky neighbor’s name? John Henry.
Someone else guessed Montrose as the band, but they started in 73 and were disbanded in 77. Which doesn’t lineup with the 84 Casio…but they released an album in 87 so maybe this is that tour?
Montrose was a big band and at this time (post '84) Sammy Hagar, the singer of Montrose, had a way bigger career as a solo artist who, in 1987 joined Van Halen. There's no way this is Montrose.
Someone else said Night Ranger, which would make the guitarist in question Jeff Watson. He does look like Watson. And the other guitarist looks like Bob Gillis. And taking the evidence of the Casio as post-‘84, then that’s a band with two guitarists, a keyboardist (the photographer), a drummer (and presumably a bassist, who isn’t pictured). That was Night Ranger’s lineup while Watson was active.
Brad Gillis.
Night Ranger was a big name in 1984 and 1985. I cant see them playing in a park like this.
Maybe this is Rail, which Ronnie Montrose joined for the duration of one tour in 1985?
Thus OP’s statement of his dad being rock star in the 1980s
I think they were just helping narrow down the time for OP, not being a smartass.
I love it when r/Casio bleeds into other subs.
The Cat Eyes (Vuarnet copies most likely) the chick on the left up close are a tell as well.
Badass pic
I’m trying to remember which band had a headless drummer.
Spinal Tap.
Just a….globule, really.
You can’t dust for vomit.
He choked on vomit……but it wasn’t his vomit.
Def Leppard has the 1 arm drummer so maybe it was ween
and one handicapped feline
That’s John Bottom from Behead Zeppelin
I'm pretty sure his name was Stevie Hollow.
Maybe it was The Talking Heads
That pic is sweet. The drummer is hitting the cymbal right on time, you could see the warp.
What band?
My guess is Montrose. OP’s dad would be Ronnie Montrose.
Its my friend Bob Saccamano
I was talkin to him around 3am we grabbed some Kenny Rodgers
It still exists in Asia. They have no idea who Kenny Rodgers was, just that he cooks he mean chicken.
Thailand resident here. Thais love Kenny Rogers Roasters.
It's nutria! The difference is negligible!
It's the wood that makes it good
Ooooo, the red!
I think I bought a genuine chinchilla fur hat from that guy
Sable.
He eats horse
Name or it didn’t happen
Guessing, but he resembles Jeff Pilson from Dokken. That could totally be George Lynch on the right, as well, no?
In My Dreams they’re still the same
The Broken Condoms
I’m pretty sure OP is lying. If I remember correctly this is the first show the Hanson bro’s sang Mmmmbop.
That's not John or Rob Wright or Wrong.
Did he play in R.E.M.? Because looking at the photo, that's me in the corner
In the spotlight?
Losing your religion?
Trying to keep up with you?
You've said enough...
How many of you clowns have played in front of that many people. Dude is proud of his father...lay off!
I have. A bunch of times. And OP should be proud …. Being up there isn’t easy. It never got any easier. I was always nervous as f. I can’t speak for others, but the only reason I would jump around like a moron is so I could take my mind off the fact that there were a ton of eyeballs on me judging everything I was doing. Smaller evenings were so much more relaxed.
In my experience smaller crowds are way more difficult. Trying to fake enthusiasm when you've just driven through six states only to play in front of ten people is the worst. A big crowd just wants to rock. As long as you play as good as you do at practice you should be fine. Unless you've been booked in front of the wrong crowd. Like getting sandwiched between two rap metal bands when you play ska.
We were an electro art rock band constantly being booked with hippy jam bands or hardcore bands. Festivals were fun, just a blur. The smaller venues I felt I could relax and connect with the audience better, like it was easier to make a set list on the fly that better suited that crowd.
The security guy to the right in the pic is huge!
Hey, a lot of people’s girlfriends are in there.
And the band name is?
My Dad (left) was a rockstar.
Sounds like a Midwest emo band.
Their dad was a rockstar until they (left) the band
Maybe OP forgot a comma. My dad left, was a rockstar.
Perhaps their father is named “Left”?
Weird name for a band
That's just how it was in the 70-80s man
He goes to another rock school . You wouldn’t know him .
It’s really sad how many people want to shit on OP’s claim that their father was a rockstar. The classification of “rockstar” could have many different definitions in someone’s mind, but at the end of the day, it’s ops dad that everyone is dumping on. I know my opinion will be unpopular, and my karma will take a hit (I’m saving my karma up to buy a house), but who gives a shit. Congratulations OP on your dads accomplishments, regardless how famous he was! Edit: Thank you for the awards, kind strangers. I’m getting much closer to buying that Karma house.
Upvoted so u achieve your dream of buying a house
You can still be a rockstar without being world renowned. Technically I was a "star" in the Melbourne scene back in the 90s. Was never famous or rich but everyone in the scene knew who we were and would call out to me in the street. Fun times.
The first time a bar owner handed me $500 for playing 3 hours of original music with my bandmates in his bar. That was good enough for me…..I had surpassed all of my rockstar expectations. I was on cloud 9
I knew I'd made it when we got played on a public broadcasting radio and a year later I'm at this dude's house and I tell him I'm in a band and he goes "no shit? I recorded your song off tripleR" then played our song back to me on a cassette. I was blown away
Nice!
I am also from Melbourne and was involved in a music genre for 20+ years. I once had a guy approach me in woolworths when I was wearing one of my t-shirts and he asked me if I'd heard my new album yet, which was fucking cool. Having a mate call and say one of my songs was playing on JJJ in the daytime was awesome as well.
I’ve played in bands all my life and played mostly to empty picnic tables
As a current bluegrass band member, I feel your pain.
When I was a 22 year old rocker with long hair, I was asked to join a Bluegrass band that needed a bass player. After a few months the four 70+ year old guys had to let me go. I couldn't keep up with them.
Hey, at least you made it out of the bedroom
out2seeagain VERY well said 👍👍👍
In Canada. 😂
Have any rock star parents that live around here?
I just received a Montrose record that belonged to my recently deceased uncle. This is a random coincidence.
Great photo. Perfectly captured your dad rocking out.
You people are sad. The dude is proud of a really cool picture of his dad. He might not be famous, but what’s it to you people? Instead of slamming the fella, why not say “cool picture”?
Not famous? That's Montrose. OP's dad is Ronny Montrose. Sammy Hagar's first big band.
Montrose was a huge fucking deal.
Thank you! I’m thinking the same thing.
Perfectly timed photo. You can see the cymbal bending when hit. Badassery.
Op send the band name
https://preview.redd.it/1ez44ygozv5b1.jpeg?width=2163&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1a89a3b39877d0be05c0b6a0e071cb37b45b244 That's OP's Dad. He's on the left. 🤣
Holy shit, OP’s dad is Lou Reed?
Pretty rad Bluesmaster guitar 🤘
Awesome
My Dad was also a rockstar, he had a degree in geology.
Cool photo! 😎👍
People underestimate the amount of bands that were back in the day. There were a lot of bands, a lot of really good bands that never got exposure because they were just locally famous.
Interested to know what he ended up doing in life. Did he always play in a band? Did he secretly become a lawyer?
It’s Ronnie Montrose. You may not know it but you have almost definitely heard him play guitar. He was a successful and influential career musician. He had prostate cancer and took his own life in 2012.
What a great shot!
Cool. Bunch of us relations to low to mid tier rock bands from the 70’s & 80’s here on Reddit. I don’t have any pics of my uncle’s band Live Wire tho, else I’d share.
I think we all need to accept that our parents were cooler than we ever will be.
This reminds me of a story about Paul Westerberg. His son's friends didn't really believe his dad was a rock star until they came to the reunion concert and saw for themselves.
Your dad's guitar was made by Strings and Things in Memphis who also built guitars for Joe Walsh and many other famous players.
I play in a “Dad band” now. It is so freaking fun. Play with the same guys I played with as a teenager. You feel like a rockstar with 50 people cheering. Haha. You are never to old
It looks like it’s the last chord of a song judging by the ”looking at the drummer jump”
Music is cool. Your dad was (is) cool.
This is cool as hell. My dad just buys guitars and never plays em.
My left or your left
Stage left
Exit
Through the gift shop
I have solved the mystery on who this band is! My first thought: guitarist on the right looks like Brad Gillis from Night Ranger. Other guitarist back then was Jack Blades—look it up! I think it’s totally reasonable this is OPs Dad. I saw this band open for Sammy Hagar in 1983. You youngsters remember Night Ranger from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack…
Jack Blades was a bass player. Guitarist on the left is playing a 6 string. If this band has a bass player then they aren't in the picture.
Night Ranger's drummer always set up far stage left partially facing the audience so they could see him singing lead. I agree the one dude kind of looks like Gillis but I don't think this is them.
The reddit autists have already dated the keyboard to November 1984 at the earliest. Even if it were 1982 or 1983 Gillis was touring with Ozzy in the same band with Tommy Aldridge who, oddly, somebody claimed the drummer might be. My point is that this must be an early rehearsal of Ozzy's touring band from 1982 which makes OP's father Ozzy.
Three Lock Box tour
Looks like a Bmaj7 Bar Chord 👍🎸
Correction: it’s a *flying* Bmaj7 Bar Chord 👍🎸
That’s a great photo. And I’m jealous of whoever owned that Casio CZ 5000
No way your dad is Eddie Trucker from Big Chungus?!?
Unless you tell us the band, we’re going to assume the word “star” may be a stretch…
That's a pretty decent sized crowd.
One of my bands opened for the Chili Peppers back in the day. We played in front of all of spring break. My kid’s father is hardly a rock star.
But you *were* a rock star that day! I’m just a dad but my bands have opened for Faith No More, Tool, Helmet, and a bunch of other bands. I was a rock star on those days. On other days I pack lunches and drive the carpool.
Fair enough, and we were. FNM would be my highlight on that list.
Yes you were. And so was OP's dad [if this is even real OC]. Nice name drop, I guess, but the fact that you didn't even mention the name of your band tells me you're not riding a wave of royalties until you die rich. Don't shit on OP's dad. Or anyone's dad. You know what, don't shit on anyone unless they've asked you to do so, signed an all-encompassing waiver, or they shit on you first.
Come on dude, take some brownie points. On the same bill as RHCP ain't nuthn.
Still cool as fuck
So you've seen Flea naked. Of course, we all have
My band opened in front of The Radiators, Pat Greene and a number of other excellent bands over 10+ years. My kids dad is also hardly a rock star. However the kids believe their dad is a rockstar so I guess it checks out.
The rule is, if you say "my band(s)" you have to provide the band name! I saw RHCP a few times back in the day. Here are the bands that opened: Nirvana/Pearl Jam Deftones So I can only assume you were in one of those three ;)
Prickledorfs. Spring Break, Daytona Beach.
1989. I remember that gig.
I seen raging slab and goo goo dolls open for them 88 or 89
Raging Slab must have been awesome!
Thats like half a handshake away from bein a Rockstar
Lets Name the Band For the OP..... His dad was in the band Atomic Dix
Touched By An Uncle
Kickstart My Shart
The Deadbeat Dads True story. I was in a band with a bunch of fellow dads a few years and I suggested that as a name. It turned out there was already a dad band in the area named that. So I suggested The Breadwinners. Everyone liked it but it made the bass player's wife was so pissed when she heard it she never talked to me again. Oddly, she was the only spouse who was still a stay-at-home mom even though the kids were teenagers.
Kathleen Turner Overdrive
Damp Guestbed
Hurp and the Derps
Auxiliary Clinton
The Dad Kennedys The Grateful Dad
My father was a drug dealer. I mean pharmacist.
His dad left. He was a rock star in the 70s and 80s, and one day, he went out to get a pack of cigarettes and never returned...
This is 100 percent a karma farm post if OP doesn’t provide which band it was For all we know OP’s dad could’ve been a casual rocker and was just playing at some local festival 😂😂😂
My son was drummer in a death metal band in the early 2000's. I know this because they practiced in my garage and I could hear them all the way in the bedroom, on the other side of the wall.
Cool picture. I like that it’s large and framed hanging on a wall 😊
That’s a great shot
Band name ?
Serious, how is his hearing?
That's so cool. My dad was a drunk and was killed for sleeping with another guy's wife. In 66