The Atomic Punks

The Cradle Rocks In Rosemont

The Atomic Punk

July is a month without mercy for cover bands in this fair city. There is no such thing as a casual spectator when that first note screams off the amplifiers into the ears of hundreds of adoring Van Halen fans. Indeed. I have many battle scars on my soul covering live events, and now The Atomic Punks have added more feel-good music to the history books. I have been keenly aware of this Van Halen tribute band for quite some time and jumped on the opportunity to take advantage of this free outdoor festival in Rosemont, Illinois on this chilly summer evening.

As for The Atomic Punks, they have been jamming old school Van Halen  hits since 1994 from the "Diamond Dave" era with songs such as "You Really Got Me" and "Bottoms Up" just to name a few.  Members include: Brian Geller (Vocals) Lance Turner (Lead Guitarist) Joe Lester (Bass) and drummer, Scott Patterson had folks dancing in the streets to feverish beats to all the Van Halen classics. This had been a spectacular moment, so far with pure rock-n-roll energy.

My dear friend and associate producer for Sounds of the Underground, Eddie Bak was my ride to the show. It seem as if all the cool kids came to this party, and I mean everyone I know was there that night.  John Dobbs (Paradoxx)  Danny Romaine (One Way Street) and Mike Gaynor (High Alert) were the all at the show enjoying the good life.  Mike and I dipped out of the crowd to smoke-up, but that was not a good idea with all these bratty kids running around being nosy. So, we went back to the front of the stage and I wanted to take some pictures for this article.  "Can you hold my beer Mike?" I asked politely. Gaynor nodded with agreement and in less than a minute, that bum ran off with my half full cup of cold beer. At first, I wanted to chain whip Gaynor for being a beer thief. However, Mike was cool smoking up with me, and who can blame him with those long-ass lines waiting for cold suds.

Mike Gaynor & Dee Milenkovic

I saw Michelle Paul and asked if she had seen Gaynor running around with my beer. "No, I did not see him she said with a warm smile. "Good seeing you again, I said. I must hunt this dog down and more importantly, I need to find Eddie Bak, that's my ride home." I gave Michelle a quick hug good bye and capture this beer bandit.  With no luck, I was forced to wait in a long line at Bub City's beer tent and that's when I saw Stan Bozek in the line next to me.  He was about twenty people ahead of me and I asked if he can grab me two beers. ?Sure, anything you need Evil Genius," Bozek said. I handed him my loot and I was happy once again hitting the ground running. .

I did not see Eddie until the second half of The Atomic Punk set as they  played "Hot For Teacher." and we needed to get more beer. The beer lines where bogus as well as being ridiculous and waiting  a half hour to get a drink around here was Un-American in my eyes.   Ah. The memories of "Little Dreamer" is all I can recall for our third round of drinks.  Oh, I almost forgot about that Guy Fieri wanna be running around starving for attention. I remember this fool from the last TNT Chicago  show I finished last month and I am beginning  to think that this dude lives under a rock around here. What a fucking joke!  "He's a poser," said Dee Milenkovic as we both pointed and laughed his stupid hair and him wearing those doltish sunglasses at night time.

Stan Bozek & The Evil Genius

Enclosing, this was more than a great show. This was about seeing old friends and listing to some killer tunes outside. Myself, I am an old school Van Haeln fan and I never did like Sammy Hagar for personal reasons during my brief encounter at World Music Theater in Tinley Park. But you'll have to find a copy of my book to get the full scoop on that story. You may ask yourself  where have at the good times gone?  Well, The Too Much Fun Club has a choke hold on these adventures, and if you're lucky I might see you there and enjoy an adult beverage watching the fireworks. Until Then, Cheers from Pelletier...Salute!!