THE HISTORY OF DETROIT ROCK CITY

Chuck Zuber as Peter
Keith Mazur as Gene
John Stockwell as Paul
Dave Ecker as Ace

1997-2000 DETROIT ROCK CITY

1995-1997: Destroyer
1994-1995: Desstroyer
1993-1994: Unmassked

DETROIT ROCK CITY began in 1993 as UNMASSKED. The band had no costumes or makeup in the beginning.

The seed for what was to become DETROIT ROCK CITY was planted in the Fall of 1993 in San Francisco. John (Starchild) and Erik (Demon 1994-1998) started getting together with a group of friends at a rehearsal studio to jam KISS songs for the fun of it. They had no intention of starting a band at that time."We just did it for fun," John says. "That first jam session was 4-hours long. It was great . We were Kiss fans just having a good time. The same holds true today."

John knew of a club called Route 66 in Burlingame, California that had "open mic" nights on Tuesdays. The five-piece ensemble (John was on lead vocals only at this time) then known as UNMASSKED, would show up and play a few Kiss songs to the delight of the crowd. The first songs performed live were "Got To Choose" and "Deuce" in January of 1994. There were no costumes and makeup at this point.

After many open-mic appearances, they played one full show full-show as UNMASSKED at Route 66. "We just went up there in our jeans and T-shirts and played Kiss songs. It was great fun," remembers John.

"What’s cool is that we have all this early stuff recorded along with the recent footage. I hope our fans get to see it someday. I want to give the fans something they can enjoy and invite friends over to watch."

The band was so energized by the great response they were getting, they decided to become a full-fledged Kiss tribute band with costumes and makeup. The tribute band would be unique because not only would it feature the four most well known personas of Kiss, but John would wear Paul’s "bandit" makeup and sing lead vocals thus making DESSTROYER (the new name) a 5-piece tribute to Kiss.

DESSTROYER’S first show was July 7, 1994 at the Covered Wagon in San Francisco. Any worries the band may have had about being the only 5-piece tribute were laid to rest as the crowd went wild. "I Stole Your Love" was the first song played live by DESSTROYER.

Even in the early days, the band prided itself on performing Kiss staples along with hard-core songs like "Going Blind," "Almost Human," and "All American Man."

DESSTROYER Halloween 1994

DESSTROYER (the club owners could never remember that extra"s") barnstormed the San Francisco Bay Area over the next year playing dozens of shows. Their hard work paid off when Kiss asked them to open the San Francisco Kiss Convention in June of 1995.

Erik and Gene at the SF Kiss Convention.

The debut show as a 4-piece was September 1995 in San Francisco. "The band was coming of  age," says John. "We had finally arrived. We went from being a cool 5-piece novelty act, to an authentic Kiss tribute."

Now a 4-piece DESTROYER.

In the summer of 1996, DESTROYER was featured in the famous and highly collectible SPIN Magazine Kiss issue, forever cementing their small contribution to Kisstory. It was a thrill ! The band was interviewed for three hours and were the only tribute band in SPIN. They included them in the same article as Kiss!

"Yeah, Metal Edge," says John referring to the band’s inclusion in the Metal Edge Magazine Kiss issue that came out the same time as SPIN, "and SPIN were the best. I went out and bought a bunch of copies. I only autographed two for people so those are rare!" (laughs)

DESTROYER continued to perform nonstop in California until January 1997. "We had gone as far as we could go. There was nothing left for us to accomplish," says John. "It was a fun ride, but it was time to move on. We played a lot of cool places and met some great people. I will never forget those times, but it’s best to quit when things are still fun. We went out on top."

Luckily, personal circumstances in their lives led John and Erik to the Motor City. It was at this point they decided to make a fresh start with a new band in Detroit.

After a long search John and Erik were happy to welcome veteran Detroit musicians Dave Ecker (Ace) and Gordon Elwart (Peter) to the band. "It's a dream come true," says Dave.

"I can’t tell you how happy and how proud I am to be in a Kiss tribute band in Detroit, the town with the greatest Kiss fans," John says. "I grew up in Toledo and it’s great to be back in the area.  People love our show because we are fans just like them. I saw 18 shows on the Reunion Tour. I’m a goddamn lunatic! (laughs).

Just a few of John's ticket stubs from the Reunion tour!

"We’re not doing this to make a fast buck on the Kiss phenomenon. We are doing this out of respect and admiration for Kiss. This isn’t what I do for a living, it’s what I love to do. There’s a difference. "

After a few shows in the Detroit area, the band was asked to headline the Toledo KISSFEST on November 2, 1997. "Everything fell into place at that show," says John. "That was the best show ever in this band or any of the previous incarnations."

In early 1998, Erik James decided to hang up his bat wings after nearly four years. He felt he accomplished all he set out to with Destroyer and Detroit Rock City.

Shortly thereafter, Gordon Elwart (Peter) left the band to pursue other musical ventures.

Keith Mazur (Gene) and Chuck Zuber (Peter) joined in the band in the fall of 1998. At that point, Detroit Rock City moved into a new rehearsal space for a fresh start. It was also at the point that the band decided to dip into the more obscure tunes of the Kiss catalog.

"Things are really exciting now," John says. "We are playing some great tunes from the solo records and non-makeup years. People in the audience go nuts when they hear stuff like Hide Your Heart and Rock Soldiers." Chuck adds, "This is the greatest band I have ever been in!"

With the move, the band also invested in a professional pyro set up and a new smoking guitar effect for Dave. "The new pyro is great," John adds. "The old setup was dangerous. One explosion wrecked my amp a while back. We needed to upgrade the gear after that." The band has also expanded its tech crew to include a pyro technician, security, and drum and guitar techs.

A recent highlight for the band was playing their second KISS NIGHT AT THE BALL PARK IN South Bend, Indiana. Tons of Kiss fans jammed the stadium to hear DRC crank out  a long set of Kiss tunes.

It was quite a day on August 6, 2000 when DRC played the Detroit Kiss Expo.  The band let people vote via the Internet to help them pick the set list.

DRC played their last show on December 2, 2000. "Stick a fork in us we're done," John says. "It was a wonderful ride, and we even tried to get the band up and running again a few times but it wasn't the same. I'd love to do it again for fun, but some of our other members still think they are going to be rock stars even though that window closed a long time ago. I guarantee we will never play again. It's over."