Music heals.
That was an unspoken theme during what might have possibly been the final Flight to Mars concert at the Showbox Sunday night. Another theme, this one spoken very loudly with amplifiers, drums and lots of guitars, was love for former Flight to Mars singer Paul Passarelli.
Sunday’s show, dubbed Flight to Paulie, was equal parts concert and wake for Passarelli, who died last year from a heart attack. Known for his flamboyant style and impressive hair-metal vocal range, Passarelli gained fame in the early 80s as the frontman for the glam rock group Lipstick. From there he would front various Seattle bands including Palooka, 70 Proof and others, with the most famous being the UFO tribute band Flight to Mars which features Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on lead guitar. The latter was known for its successcul annual series of concerts at the Showbox, which helped raise more than $400,000 for the Chron’s & Colitis Foundation over the course of 15 years.
McCready was onhand and prior to taking the stage he let the crowd know he used his pull from Pearl Jam to support the evening’s cause.
“One part of being in my other band is that I can reach out to singers in other bands,” McCready said before telling the crowd he contacted UFO singer Phil Mogg prior to the show to let him know about Passarelli’s passing.
McCready read a statement from Mogg that said he knew Flight to Mars would give their fallen bandmate “one helluva Irish wake.” Following that, Flight to Mars ripped into “Doctor Doctor” and from there it was nearly an hour of non-stop blasts of hard-hitting metal from the past.
Surprisingly, McCready did not take the lead guitar duties for several songs, but he had a good reason. He showed the crowd that he sliced his ring finger on his left hand open while cutting a tomato. He was wearing a protective sleeve over the digit while he played and while it did not impact his playing (see video below for proof), it was noticeable that he shied away from using that finger while playing.
Passarelli’s former band, local rising hard rockers Palooka, opened the show. Their set was followed by The Chris Friel Orchestra and local supergroup of underappreciated sidemen 70 Proof, whose lineup included five(!) guitarists, performed before Flight to Mars played its hour-long set of UFO cuts. Additional guests included Medicine Hat singer Sean Bates, who handled FTM vocal duties in place of Passarelli, Thunderpussy vocalist Molly Sides and Kathy Moore.
Chris Friel of the Chris Friel Orchestra said he chose a setlist of songs specific to the time when he met Passarelli during his days with his former band Shadow. And Kim Virant, who sang with CFO and also ended the night with Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” wore black fringe in honor of Passarelli and his trademark style. Those were a few of many tributes to Passarelli Sunday evening.
The choice of closing number was more than appropriate. In a room filled with fans, friends, family and musical brothers in arms, everyone got to give thanks for Paulie.
Flight to Paulie Photo Gallery
Photos by Jason Tang
Typo crod instead of crowd