VOICES CELEBRATE 5TH ANNIVERSARY

It was five years ago -- the last week of March in 1998 -- when the Voices of Classic Rock first took to the stage in a "one time" concert to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of The PGA TOUR PLAYERS Championship (images). In the time since, that "one time" ensemble performance has been repeated in hundreds of venue on four different continents for a variety of events.

"I remember that first show like it was yesterday," recalls Voices and Rockforever CEO Charlie Schmitt, who in 1998 was the PGATOUR.com Executive Producer that envisioned the unique entertainment format. "I'll never forget walking into the audience and hearing one person comment to another, 'that guy sounds just like the guy from Loverboy (commenting on Loverboy's Mike Reno)' to which the other person answered, 'it is the guy from Loverboy!'"

Loverboy's Mike Reno

"There was magic on that stage in March of 1998... a spontaneous electricity that attracted the attention of corporate guests in the room. Within two years we would be a full-time touring, recording, and production ensemble."

Each concert season has its own unique highlights, according to Schmitt, performances that remain etched in everyone's mind for their great memories. While selecting the best of the best would be difficult, we've endeavored to recall a few special memories from each of the past five years of Voices tours.

1998

The Kaanapali Beach Twilight View

1998: Among those in the audience for that first PLAYERS Championship performance was the Tournament Director for the EMC² Kaanapali Classic in Maui, which resulted in an invitation to entertain at the EMC² Tournament (images) in October of 1998. The venue was a patio garden, literally on the beach at the Hyatt-Regency Kaanapali Beach Resort, overlooking the sun setting into the Pacific. In fact, the "green room" for the group's use during the show was a tent - closed on three sides - opening only to the sand below and the gentle waves just past. The setting was gorgeous with the Palm Trees backlit in various tropical colors. And sound check that afternoon was particularly special. It became a free concert on the beach with vacationers attired in bathing suits and tropical shirts staking a spot on the grass for the band's rehearsal of songs by Starship, Toto, Survivor, and Loverboy.

1999

The Voices and PGA TOUR Pros Joe Inman and Gary Hallberg

1999: The second year in the evolution of the Voices featured a return for The 1999 PLAYERS Championship (images), as well as a return to Maui for the 1999 EMC² Kaanapali Classic (images), but the show that sticks out for its great memories might have to be on the beach in South Beach Miami during the PGA Champions Tour Royal Caribbean Classic. The venue was the out-door stage at the All-Star Café, on Ocean Drive in the heart of South Beach. It was a beautiful evening in early February, but what everyone probably best remembers were the two perfect days surrounding the concert, each spent on the golf course at the Tournament Player Club Heron Bay near Ft. Lauderdale. Anyone who follows the Voices of Classic Rock knows that golf is a major past-time (images) of each "Voice" of Classic Rock. In addition to the golf and the concert, we enjoyed one of our usual "team dinners," this night celebrating Pam Reno's (Mike's wife... at that point his girlfriend) birthday, on the Intracoastal Waterway at Shooters in Ft. Lauderdale.

2000

The Voices enterain the troops in Japan

2000: This was the year of "travel." The Voices of Classic Rock was coming into its own as a recognized, in-demand entertainment property. We went undertook a five date tour of U.S. military bases in Korea and Japan (images); we performed at Euro-Disney in Paris; and we capped the year with four dates in Mexico and Columbia (images); all in between a variety of dates across the domestic United States.

As highlights among a year of highlights, the week in Paris was amazing, where we visited the sits and also had the opportunity to celebrate Mike and Pam's engagement.

And the trip to Latin America (images) was a unique experience, as we learned that Bogata, Columbia (at the 7,000 plus fans that turned out for the show) was a beautiful and cosmopolitan city, more akin to Europe than our collective imaginations may have ever realized.

The Voices perform on the US Capit0l Steps

Perhaps the best, though, was the experience of playing on the West Front Steps of the U.S. Capitol Building (images) during the Internet Freedom Rally. The view from the stage was straight down the Mall to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, as we played where Presidents have literally stood. What made the experience all the more memorable was the fact that it was literally 105 degrees on a warm June afternoon in the District; and they literally sent fire trucks to the event to hose down the crowd (to keep people from overheating!).

2001

Ken Stabler and Michael 'Tunes' Antunes

2001: By everyone's admission, this was a "different" year. The Internet was evolving away from a model in which Artists would be compensated for their works online - a major facet of our Rockforever business. Our demand was growing, but also at times beginning to feel like "work." And most notably the tragic events of 9/11/01 forever changed the world and put a major "pause" in the entertainment industry.

In terms of "highs" we enjoyed our third consecutive performance at Ken Stabler's Celebrity Golf Tournament in Mobile, Alabama, where once again the guests were literally dancing on the tables.

Amanda Homi and Pat Travers - WWF Cafe at 7 AM

We kicked off summer with four hours live on the air with Scott and Todd on WPLJ in New York, performing from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM at the WWF Caf? in Times Square. That was quite an experience, as the group literally stayed up all night (the only way the vocal chords would be loose for a morning performance), and literally asked Tom Cuddy PLJ's GM to open the bar at 7:00 AM - it was dark downstairs and everyone's body clock was off... but the show must go on... and on it did!

The summer saw us drive across Canada (at least it seemed that way), as we performed five different shows (images) from Windsor (outside Detroit) to Ottawa (above Watertown, New York)... who could forget trying to cross the border into Canada as our paperwork was lost (and us trying to explain that it was the provincial government of Ontario that had retained us to play at their concerts - which the Immigration folks realized when they called Ticketmaster to check!)... or the hotel our first night outside Toronto, where what would normally be the attached hotel bar was converted into a "strip joint."

In the post 9/11 period we worked with Universal Studios in Orlando to produce our "Red, White, and Rockforever" concert series, (images) featuring 14 consecutive weeks of live shows, each spotlighting one of our 14 respective Artists in a variety show-style (Performance and Talk) format on CityWalk in Orlando.

And we were invited to perform at the MGM Grand's Employee Recognition Party, which as fate would have it was the first day of combat in Afghanistan, again providing some perspective to the business.

We also recorded our "Voices for America" CD, including its compilation of the Battle Hymn of the Republic which became a hit in Washington, DC, courtesy of our friends as WARW. We closed the year with the "Not So Silent Night" Concert with WARW in D.C. (images) ... and Mike Reno's rendition of "We're (Not) Going Down" dedicated to the troops overseas!

2002

Voices on Maui Jim's Yacht

2002: The New Year was bringing with it no shortage of collective economic concerns, as the music business was still staggering in the wake of 9/11. Buyers were hesitant to commit to expensive talent for fear that world events might intervene forcing a potential date cancellation.

We persisted, though, and continued with plans for our "Voices Rock Kaanapali" Festival in Maui, which featured 11 of our respective Voices in a made-for-television concert performance at the Kaanapali Beach Resort. The experience, though exhausting, was exhilarating, too, from footage of the Voices playing golf to our time on the Maui Jim's Sportfishing yacht in search of blue whales (which we found!).

John Cafferty -- taking a dive

Perhaps the highlight of the year, though, was the Hard Rock Hotel First Anniversary Party, (images) where we performed Unplugged in the Velvets Bar and then all 10 Artists joined for the Sunday afternoon Concert by the Pool, at which we taped our Hard Rock First Anniversary Party CD. Of course, the highlight of the show was John Cafferty handing the microphone to a willing bystander, before jumping into the pool - fully clothed - to play with the kids and swim to the stage!

A close second, though, would have to be our two days at the Alexandria Waterfront Festival (images) outside Washington, DC.. We provided two days of entertainment, on the concert stage overlooking the Potomac River and downtown Washington, during what would have to be classified as nothing short of "Chamber of Commerce" weather... and we got the crowd rocking. The Festival organizers noted it was a record weekend for "beer sales" - a compliment, we think!

2003

2003: Our year has begun, in large part, with a renewed commitment to having playing shows and having "fun." We have realized that the "magic" is created at special concerts, in special places, with special people. Against that philosophy, we've performed on the St. John's River at the Classic Cup Challenge in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as at the American Airlines Cystic Fibrosis Ski Weekend in Vail, Colorado. Our goal is simple in 2003: Rekindle memories of great music and times past, while creating new memories of wonderful performances and times present, while we feel the "magic" and enjoy the "fun" in the meantime!