Well...it has been nine years since the guys got together to perform in public.
1996 at the now defunct Liberty Tavern was the last performance. Until now...
Duke, John, Nate, and Tony are busy planning the event. There will be guests:
Bill Pitts and Suzanne Carson-Dehnert were part of the early days. The set list will
only include music from 1983 and earlier. Those are part of the rules.
The guys are not rusty by any standards: Duke has always kept a steady gig; recently
with Alpha Dog and 6 Pak Pretty. John has been playing bass and singing back-ups in F-Line,
Nate writes and produces, and works with Joseph Lee Wood, and Tony
works with his band, performing and recording in Vancouver, Washington.
The set list will be posted here, as well as current photos of the band, and of the practice sessions.
There is a virtual plethora of past photos to post, so check back from time to time.
Other stuff for now Black Ice.
We look forward to seeing you at the show!
Duke, John, Nate, and Tony
The band that was to become Black Ice started in 1979, with the core players of Duke Harner -drums
, Tony Poukkula-guitar and Nathan Whorton -bass, three 7th graders at Hopkins Jr.
High in Aberdeen, WA. Three kids that just liked music and would create life-long friends
with themselves and many more. Early names include Epsilon and Exodus. Mike Elliott, a guitarist, was
the original fourth member. The boys practiced at Mike's house, at the school's band room,
at Duke's mom's "the Duck's" beauty salon in Central Park and Purdy's garage. The guys
played at noon-time
dances at the Jr. high, wedding receptions and where ever, sans vocals. Bill Pitts, Jim Green
and Bob Elhindi were also members early on. Suzanne Carson sang with the band for awhile, but
eventually, John Purdy became the vocalist. Now
there was a core of four. Chris Kycek played guitar for the band for awhile and was
eventually replaced by Doug George, of Raymond, WA. After the Summer of 1983 Nathan left the
group and the band
continued on in various line-ups that lasted about another three years. Perhaps,
we'll talk about that more later.
Black Ice played A LOT for any aged band. Junior, Senior high school, college dances in
Aberdeen, Montesano, Hoquiam, Raymond, North Beach, and South Bend - not to mention a zillion
wedding receptions, fair shows, keggars, a biker party and whatever else that came up.
Black Ice played mostly cover tunes - songs by Van Halen, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Def Leppard,
Loverboy, Rush, Kiss, UFO, Night Ranger and so on, lots of tunes. Actually, the list
would be more like what didn't they play. Favorites included; Working Man, 2112, Tom Sawyer,
Victim of Changes, The Green Manilishi, Cat Scratch Fever,
Rockbottom, Bottom's Up!, Ain't Talking 'bout Love, Mean Streets, Jumping Jack Flash,
The Zoo, Blackout, The Boys Are Back In Town - Can't possibly list them all,
but these guys liked playing long, complicated songs as well as easy top-40 tunes.
Black Ice played original tunes too, songs like Rock and Roll Show, You Can't Go Wrong,
Such A Long Time, Age Of Metal, In Outer Space, My Lady and Shatterday, to name a few.
There's a reason most of the players in this band have continued to be musicians,
that's because they all have talent and desire. 1996 gave the world a glimpse of the days of
yore. Duke, Tony, John and Nate played three sets at the Liberty Tavern, that included all
of the favorite covers and originals. It was packed, Black Ice rocked - and it could
happen again with Doug too! The word is?? Perhaps future links will include more information
about Duke, Tony, John and Doug. John told me that he is going to write up three stories
about the old days - about "John threatening to throw Tony in front of a car", "Duke
dumping out Nate's tape case and Nate kicking over Duke's drums" and "Duke roller skating
in Sam Benn Gym and tackling Tony because he wouldn't help set-up for a gig".
Duke is still contemplating his "Words of Wisdom" and Tony, well doesn't - but he might and
should (ditto for Doug). It's a good thing somebody remembers the not-as-good parts of the
"Good Times".
When I think about it (and I really haven't thought about much in many years) it's pretty
cool that 4-5 junior and high school kids did what Black Ice did - play and write music,
organize the business part and have fun, without adult supervision (but we, of course
had help from moms and dads).
Hopefully, there will be comments and memories from the band members, so stay tuned!!!!
OK, If anybody; Fans, bandmembers, fellow musicians have any comments to put on this fine
page, you know what to do. Write what you want to say, (I hope that it's nice)
and email it to me. Hey and while you're at it - send this link to an old or new friend.
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