The Rock Hall Benefit Show was returning to Cary, and a free public pre-show was being held in downtown Raleigh! I hadn’t initially planned on attending the pre-show, but a friend of mine who works with the Cary Citizen asked me to be a contributing concert reviewer for events this summer. I gladly obliged, and this was my first show to review!

I showed up around 6:30pm after work. The event had already been going on for about an hour and a half at that point, so I missed the first couple of bands that played. Hal (the editor and photographer) met me with a bracelet that got me in to the VIP tent. I went to the food table and had some delicious chicken tacos prepared by “culinary rocker” Johnny Ciao. I’d never heard of this guy, but he was a very interesting fellow. The temples of his huge, thick-rimmed glasses were made to look like forks!

We met a couple of the members of Troubled Identity, a high school band all the way from Chicago, Illinois. They’d finished playing right before I arrived at the plaza. Hal told me they were very impressive for a high school band, and I was sorry to have missed their show.

The music started back up not long after I’d finished my tacos. Below I’ve included the reviews I wrote for each band for Cary Citizen.

94 East
Next up was Minneapolis-based funk group 94 East. The lead singer and frontman, Pepe Willie, was a major influence on Prince’s early career and the band recorded many of his early songs with him.

Needless to say, their performance was overflowing with energy and musical talent. Not only did we get to hear some great tunes from their latest album, but we were also treated with a few classic Prince hits including 1999 and an amazing rendition of Purple Rain. It got even better when singer/guitarist Marshall Carloff emerged in a purple ruffled coat, a black wig and shades!

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