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I don’t know if Reading, Pa., has ever been on anybody’s road-trip hit list—and as a native Keystone Stater, I can emphatically say that I’m not sure it should be—but for one glimmering Friday night in September, the city will host a harmonic convergence of stultifyingly quasi-awesome proportions.
The Reading Phillies (the AA club that is currently one notch below the Bowie Baysox in the Eastern League standings) will be rawking your ‘nads off Sept. 28 with five, count ’em, five tribute bands: Live Wire (AC/DC), Separate Ways (Journey), 2U (U2), Bad Medicine (Bon Jovi) and Draw the Line (Aerosmith). Rawking promo video from the ballclub here. Super-useless trivia here:
The amazing thing about the tribute bands is how well they play their roles. Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler once told WBCN Radio in Boston that “Draw the Line is the bomb, they are Aerosmith,” and lead guitar player Joe Perry added “I actually went up on stage and played with them.” The Boston Globe has called Draw the Line’s lead singer Neill Byrnes’ resemblance to Tyler “freakish”. Bad Medicine also boasts a pretty strong endorsement from their role model. Jon Bon Jovi once hired them to play a private party he hosted.
It ain’t Disco Demolition Night, and it ain’t Ten Cent Beer Night, but you know some people are gonna get tore up on the power of all that approximationism. And oh yeah, there’s gonna be a demolition derby on Saturday, too.
(Tip ‘o the mug to Deadspin.)