They’re coming to our town, they’ll help us party it down, but they’re not strictly speaking an American band.
Raiding the Rock Vault, a rock’n’roll tribute show featuring an international lineup of hard-rocking all-stars, is set to shake the walls of Centennial Hall Friday night. The show’s usual home is the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
“What you have is a bunch of rock stars without the dancers doing the same show we do in Vegas, so it’s a special treat is what it is,” said vocalist Johnny Solinger formerly of Skid Row in a group interview Thursday morning. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. We know you’re going to be there. It’s going to be a good time.”
Joining Solinger in the lineup are guitarists Rowan Robertson formerly of Dio and Z Maddox of Rock of Ages Las Vegas; vocalists Todd Kerns of Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Megan Rüger of NBC’s “The Voice” Season 6, John Bisaha of The Babys; drummer Blas Elias formerly of Slaughter and now with Trans-Siberian Orchestra; and bassist Phil Soussan formerly with Billy Idol and Ozzy Osbourne and currently with Last in Line.
“Whenever I see Todd and Rowan’s name on my little call sheet, I’m in good hands always,” Solinger said of his castmates who were with him during the interview.
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Kerns joked when he sees Solinger’s name he doesn’t know what to expect.
“And that my friend is rock’n’roll,” Solinger quipped.
The show, which runs through a setlist picked by former Heart guitarist Howard Leese that Kerns called “can’t miss,” will also support local charities Southeast Alaska Foodbank, Juneau Animal Rescue, Trail Mix Inc. and Discovery Southeast, said Mickey Richardson, Director of Marketing for Huna Totem Corporation. Huna Totem is one of the show’s presenters.
Other sponsors include Norwegian Cruise Line, Alaska Airlines, Alaskan Brewing Co., Sealaska Corporation, Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway, Icy Point Strait, John Hall’s Alaska Cruises and Tours and Cruise Lines International Association-Alaska.
“The other crazy thing about the show is the equipment doesn’t exist in one place,” Richardson said. “We have borrowed equipment from everybody in town who has equipment. The basses came from someone, the drum kits from someone else, the lights are from someone else. It’s really taken all of Juneau to pull off a show of this caliber.”
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The rockers, who are also providing entertainment for Alaska Travel Industry Association Convention and Trade Show attendees Thursday night, said they’re excited to be in the Last Frontier.
“I don’t think anyone in the show has ever been in Alaska before,” Kerns said. “It’s good to play places you haven’t played before.”
They had plans to tour a brewery, see Mendenhall Glacier and check out downtown Juneau.
“I’m here because it’s Alaska. Because I’m playing for you guys,” Solinger said.
Know & Go
What: Raiding the Rock Vault
When: 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m.
Where: Centennial Hall, 101 Egan Drive.
Admission: Tickets available as of Thursday afternoon cost between $65 and $85. Tickets can be purchased online through jahc.org.
Extra event: There will also be an autograph session at 5 p.m. at Juneau Arts & Culture Center, 350 Whittier St. People who bring canned non-perishables can trade a can of food for a poster.
• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.
