Tragedy Catches Up to a Metal Band Past Its Prime

There was a special cruelty to Thursday’s tragedy at Great White’s concert in Rhode Island. Whoever ultimately bears the blame for the fire that killed 96 and injured nearly 200 at The Station in West Warwick, the victims included fans with an unshakable devotion to a band on the downside of its career.

“Great White has a very loyal following; that’s why it devastates you even more,� said Paul Woolnough, the Los Angeles-based group’s manager. “I was up all night watching that footage, and I’m seeing people that I’ve seen at concerts all over the country, and it’s just horrifying.�

If the loyalty was strong, the numbers were down. The group’s bell-curve of a career was typical of several of the Southern California hard-rock bands that made a mighty noise in the 1980s: It was a path that stretched from toiling in the trenches and battling for a break to sudden but short-lived stardom to a sort of extended afterlife playing the old songs for the die-hards.

Formed in 1978, Great White hit the Top 10 in 1989, broke up in 2001 and came back to life the following year. It was in the early stages of what it expected to be a solid year of touring when Thursday’s tragedy threw it all into turmoil.

“Everything has to be reevaluated now,� manager Woolnough said.

“This is a horrible thing. There’s a guitarist [Ty Longley] still missing. He’s one of my best friends. It’s just devastating for everybody.�

Singer Jack Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall are the only two members of Great White who were there at the beginning. In the early ‘80s, the band released a five-song mini-album and became a force among the legion of hard-rock acts that dominated the local rock-club scene in that decade. After a few lineup changes, it released “ ... Twice Shy,� on Capitol Records, and the album climbed to No. 9 on the U.S. chart in 1989. The next album, “Hooked,� made the Top 20, but that was their last major success.

Like many of their peers, Great White didn’t get much critical respect and was categorized as a “hair band,� a derisive reference to the flamboyant tresses sported by many of the era’s groups. But Russell did earn some grudging respect for his singing, which was often likened to that of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.

Great White was described in glowing terms Friday by a Southern California club owner who had worked with the band.

“They were great guys, really down to earth,� said Gary Folgner, owner of the Coach House and the Galaxy, two Orange County clubs the band often played. “They had no egos. They were around a long time, had already been through the rock ‘n’ roll wars, and they weren’t interested in doing that again.�

Russell, 42, has lived in Palm Springs with his fiancee and “a couple of nice dogs� for the past year, according to Woolnough. Russell has “a very quiet and simple life� there. “He absolutely wanted to be away from Los Angeles.�

Woolnough said Russell is a homebody who likes “to stay mellow� building things and doing crafts.

In the ‘90s, hard rock and metal were swept away by hip-hop, grunge and alternative rock, but the old bands soldiered on, playing to diminished audiences in smaller rooms.

Russell, restless about his music and depressed over the death of his father, left the band in 2001.

“Great White was labeled into a certain pigeonhole, and he wanted to record other material with other musicians,� Woolnough said. “And the only way to do that was to go his own way, which he did.�

Russell released a solo album, “For You,� in 2002 and toured with a new lineup, but when a Great White live album was issued the same year, Russell and Kendall reunited to promote the record with a few shows.

According to Woolnough, they enjoyed it so much that they booked a tour as Jack Russell’s Great White, completing the lineup with Russell’s band: guitarist Longley, bassist Dave Filice and drummer Eric Powers. Thursday’s fateful Rhode Island date was part of that tour.

“Touring was fun again,� Woolnough said, “and everything was going so well.�

The tour started in December and had been scheduled to last seven to eight weeks. After a break, the band was planning to play in Europe.

To add more excitement for the fans, the group had added some pyrotechnics that would go off at the beginning and end of each show -- three or four sparkler-type devices that would burn for about 13 to 15 seconds.

“I really can’t say why they started using them, because they were doing performances that were much more about getting back to basics,� the manager said.

“But I presume they did it because they felt it would make a better show.�

In the wake of Thursday’s fire, The Station’s owners stated that the band had not asked for permission to use the effects, and other club operators that booked the band on its tour made similar claims, according to Associated Press.

“All I know is that if they weren’t given permission, then they wouldn’t have used them,� Woolnough said. “They were only used when they had permission to use them.�

Russell has “been around a long time,� said Paul Long, director of programming at KNAC.com, an Internet radio station specializing in hard rock. “He certainly knows the ropes and he certainly knows what’s required.

“Just from knowing the guy and knowing his work ethic, if there was paperwork or permits or anything to be filed, that business would have been taken care of.... There was an obvious mess-up somewhere along the line.�