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Just what is an "infernofest"?
If you have stumbled onto this website and
are clueless to what Infernofest is all about; let me clue you in.
Central Ohio in the mid 60’s was a garage band music lover’s heaven. After
being turned on by the Beatles and the Stones, teens in this area were
blessed with a plethora of teen clubs and teen bands. Mount Vernon native,
Larry Woolsen, saw the handwriting on the wall and started a teen dance in
Mansfield at the YMCA and dubbed it “The Inferno”. It was a hit right from
the start and had all the local great bands, including: The Wildife, Sir
Timothy and the Royals ( who later became the Ohio Express), The Music
Explosion who exploded on the national scene with their hit “Little Bit O’
Soul” to name just a few.
The Inferno and other clubs in the area (The Boat House, The Balloon Farm,
Snow Trails Ski Lodge) brought us “kids” superb music from all over the
state (the always wonderful Dantes, The Choir, Lemon Pipers, and even
bands from other states; The Rationals and Terry Knight and the Pack from
Michigan and the Left Banke from NY and a list way too long to name.
As we grew up and our lives carried us along many different paths; many of
us remembered those days of great rock and roll with great affection. In
the mid 90’s a few of us were hanging out going through our memory banks
and remembering the great music and groovy times we had at those dances.
It was remarked that to have a reunion of those bands and to see all our
old friends from those places would make a better class reunion than the
ones that our high schools provided us, because we would see the people
that we really grooved with and had the best times with. |
That was in 1998 and here
we are in 2004 getting ready to put on our 5th Infernofest. We had our
work cut out for us right from the beginning, but have always found the
challenge great fun and the added bonus of being a benefit for Hospice of
North Central Ohio has been a joy when it comes time to hand over the
money to such a great organization.
We have had great musicians grace our fests right from the first fest when
Jimmy Lynch and the JuJu Bees helped us make that night a rousing success.
Past performers have been:
The above mentioned Ju Ju Bees, Street Foxx, Bob Ross of the Wildlife,
along with the Wildlife after the first event, The Buckles, The Ohio
Express, The Music Explosion, Dave Workman as a guest performer and along
with the Dantes this past fest, Charlie Bleak, Steve Rousseau with and
without Stick People, Falon Donahue, Dean Kastran, Dale Powers, Mike Brumm,
Dennis Eggerton, Back on Earth and Mahogany Popsicle, Satan’s Satellites
(who went by the code name of The Satellite Four to avoid controversy),
Bob Tougsignant who did stints as drummer with both the Music Explosion
and Wildlife, Mark Norris, Tommy See, Pat Wasseman, the ever cool Mike
Brumm, and last but certainly not least: our fave as the new up and coming
band from Shelby; Duff!!
So Infernofest is a reunion of musicians, old friends and new friends who
gather together for one night to relive those outtasite days when we
grooved to the tunes that still resonate in our hearts and minds.
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