September brought us not only traditional school back in session, but gave us a new Wednesday mid-week rock party night to make the end of summer a little more bearable thanks to Pandora’s Electric Box giving birth. Being the brain child of Heaven and Earth’s guitarist Stuart Smith (Keith Emerson Band, Sweet, and Aliens of Extraordinary Ability) with a lot of help from Heaven and Earth’s keyboardist, who is also a sensational vocalist and harmonica player, Stu Simone (Poison, Hair Guitar, Escape, etc.). With great support from Heaven and Earth’s talented drummer Richie Onori (Keith Emerson Band, Aliens of Extraordinary Ability) included and Heaven and Earth’s energetic show stopping front-man Joe Retta (EMI solo artist, Led Zepplica, Queen Nation) coming back along with Heaven and Earth’s bassist Mark Meadows (Edgar Winter Group, Lisa Loeb) who also is a talented singer, it looks like Pandora’s Box is not just going to be a monthly event, but will be here to stay! Retta is out on tour but Keith St. John graciously stepped in as the backup lead for Heaven and Earth.
This upscale elegant venue is located in the lap of luxury on 424 N Beverly Drive in 90210 Beverly Hills, Aqua Restaurant and Lounge (“Aqua”) has become a Wednesday night 21+ popular fun hangout with the fun being hosted and organized by the above mentioned classic rock house band Heaven and Earth. Joined by legendary classic rock all-stars such as guitarist Howard Leese (Heart, Paul Rodgers) and the top progressive rock keyboardist Keith Emerson (ELP, The Nice, The Keith Emerson Band, and Best Overall Keyboardist of Keyboard Magazine) showing up with local Indie acts such as Wicked Relish that now has one of the top unsigned female solo artists SAG actress Dee Dee Corona (Revamped) singing with them. Corona, who is a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Courtney Love, blew the audience away when she sang “Proud Mary.” Speaking of being blown away, Teddy Zigzag (Alice Cooper) dropped in for keys and vocals on some Blues chestnuts, and the LA Club legend Preston Smith (Crocodiles) blew us away with his creative guitar, bass, and vocals. Recording artist Aaron Wolfson and multi-talented Alestar Digby pleasured us with an amazing Blues number along with the wonderful surprise of Keith Emerson doing a duet with his son Aaron Emerson for 40 minutes. Speaking of Blues, Pandora’s Electric Box also hosted Sammi Rae and Electra. Back to rocking, there was triple pleasure with Sean McNabb (Great White, Quiet Riot) and Chuck Wright (House of Lords, Quiet Riot) that came to play along with Marvin Sperling (Keith Emerson Band, Aliens of Extra Ordinary Ability), and that wasn’t it, the talented drummer Glenn Sobel (Beautiful Creatures, Tony MacAlpine, American Idol Finalist Eliot Yamin), and Pete England joined the party jam to amaze us. Gary Ponder and Clark Souter (drums and bass from Escape) and Howie Simon (Jeff Scott Soto, Graham Bonnet, Tailsman) gave us Journey along with Stu Simone. What a treat to hear “Anyway You Want It.” Finally we had the pleasure of Jeffrey Shapiro (Under Pressure Tribute to Queen) attending. There were also many beautiful singers that are just getting started that took the stage and could delight the audience with their beauty and charm alone. The audience was kind and supportive to the performers that were newcomers.
Drop in when you have a free Wednesday night. The party starts at 9:00pm till close, and has a $10 cover with relatively inexpensive prices for the 90210 zip code. The velvet chairs are big and comfy with huge fish tanks that add to the luxurious atmosphere that also hosts a small dance floor in front of the stage. The food is amazing and the service friendly. This is one of the few events in town where newcomers and legends come together to have fun and jam and party down.
For further information get started at:
www.aqualoungebh.com
www.myspace.com/pandoraselectricbox
www.KeytarMusic.com
www.PrestonSmith.com
underpressurerocks.net
aaronwolfson.com
www.alestardigby.com
www.wickedrelish.com
www.REVAMPEDtheMovie.com
