MSB regroups as The Resonators

The group won't be doing any more double shows.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Twenty 20 years ago this month, the Michael Stanley Band struck up the band for the last time with a nine-show farewell run at the old Front Row Theatre.
For Northeast Ohio baby boomers, there's no doubt the group was its own local version of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with dozens of memorable live dates.
However, none stand out as being more impressive than MSB's record run in 1982, when it played four sold-out shows within a week's time at Blossom Music Center (with a combined audience of more than 66,000 fans). In today's terms, such a feat could perhaps be matched or eclipsed by the likes of, say, rock giants U2, Springsteen and The Rolling Stones.
"That's a good feeling," said Stanley, calling from the WNCX-FM 98.5 studios where he's an afternoon disc jockey for the classic rock station. "I still have a hard time getting a grip on it and realizing just how huge it actually was because when you look at it, that nobody has done it since then, and I doubt anybody will. I've always had a good feeling about the people who followed the band. It was just a giant mass celebration between them and us."
He added, "It's even a better feeling to know they'll never break the [Richfield] Coliseum record now that it's a big field. That one is pretty safe."
Richfield record
MSB also holds the record attendance mark for the old Richfield Coliseum with just over 21,000 fans jammed in to see a 1982 New Year's Day show. It's this tradition of joining fans for the holidays that Stanley has maintained throughout the years since MSB called it quits.
After years of performing holiday shows at the now-closed Odeon Concert Club, the 58-year-old rocker kicks off a new beginning with his backing band The Resonators -- which includes former MSB members Bob Pelander (keys), Tommy Dobeck (drums) and Danny Powers (guitar) -- when they play Friday and Saturday at the House of Blues. In the past, former MSB mates Jonah Koslen and Michael Gismondi have been known to show up on stage as well.
"I really liked the Odeon and playing there all of those years, but at the same time, the House of Blues is a great venue, and it'll be really cool to go in there for the first time," Stanley said. "Fans like that too, 'Let's see somebody in a different place.' So we're pumped."
Never again
One thing Stanley won't be doing is playing two shows on the same night. This was the case a few years ago when the former Michael Stanley Band visionary pulled double duty on New Year's Eve.
"That was a real foolish thing," Stanley said. "That was very hard because we don't do a short show, and I don't really want to cut the shows down because there's two of them, so it ended up being two really long shows each night, and it was just a little too much."
Stanley said those long shows include roughly three-quarters vintage material, ranging from band hits such as "Lover" and "Rosewood Bitters" to recent solo tracks, with the remaining tunes being covers and new tunes.
Stanley did release his first covers album, "The Farrago Sessions," earlier this year but at best he plans on only playing a few of those songs. With four new albums released over the past six years, Stanley is already thinking about his next project, which he hopes to have out next summer.
"I didn't get in this to be a rock star; I got into it to be a songwriter and musician," Stanley said. "We had our rock star period back in the early '80s, and it was wonderful, but at the same time, that's not the basis for continuing to do this. It's what I do."
He added, "I'd be doing it whether anybody cared about it or not. It's cheaper than therapy."