Lost Angel: Heart Tribute Band Debut at The Chill Room

Lost Angel Heart TributePhoto byLost Angel

The new Heart Tribute Band, Lost Angel, makes its debut this Saturday, February 10, at the non-alcoholic bar, The Chill Room at 1320 East Broadway Road in Tempe. The all -ages show starts at 8 pm. There will be no cover charge.

The making of a dream

When Dani and Mark Garrity started venturing out after the COVID lockdowns, a local restaurant near us began hosting tribute bands on the weekends. After months of being homebound, they wanted to get out of the house as much as they could. While the couple had always enjoyed music and listening to live bands, tribute acts was new to them. Although the venue closed within a year, Dani and Mark followed the tribute bands to other venues and got to know some of musicians.

One day as Mark was watching music videos on YouTube, an interview with Ann Wilson came on. He looked at his wife and said, "Hey, you sound like her when you talk! Can you sing like her? There's no Heart tribute band in Arizona." Dani had always wanted to sing or be in a band. She and her husband discussed the possibilities and decided to pursue the dream.

Dani started the pursuit by going to karaoke and singing Heart songs. She would gauge the audience reaction, which was pretty positive, even though she says she wasn't that good at the time. She also began to sing at some open mics. She found a live band at one of those open mics whose members were very supportive and encouraging. Her next step was to seek out a vocal coach, and ended up finding one in Scottsdale. By coincidence, her vocal coach had moved here from Seattle and had recorded with Heart's original guitarist.

As Dani worked with her vocal coach, the search for band members began. This is when she was met with some pretty strong resistance and negativity. She and Mark were told by other tribute band members, managers, and promoters that they had tried to do a Heart tribute with no success. The couple were warned that they would "never find a Nancy Wilson," that “there are too many talented elements needed to make a Heart tribute work," and “There's a reason there are three Mötley Crüe tributes and four AC/DC tributes in Arizona alone, and probably only six Heart tributes nationwide."

The plan comes together

Garrity says, “I think that just made us more determined. We began putting the word out and started hitting every open mic and jam we could find.” The started advertising on Craigslist and every band page on Facebook they could find, searching for members. They were particularly looking for their "Nancy.’ Dani says, “Well, we found her and she is amazing!” After the other members just seemed to fall into place.

The band is comprised of seven total members, with Dani Garrity, “Ann” on vocals, Heather Lovejoy, “Nancy” on vocals, rhythm guitar, and acoustic guitar. Heather Lovejoy - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Rhythm Guitar; J. Mark Perales on Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals: Scott Peccia on Rhythm Guitar and 12-String Acoustic Guitar; Philip Koffman on Bass and Backing Vocals; Dave "Rudy" Ridolfi on Drums and Eddie Carr-Gaona on Keyboards. With the exception of Heather “Nancy,” Garrity says they went through several of each before settling on the musicians who were the right fit.

Dani’s husband Mark Garrity is as much a part of the dream as is Dani herself. Mark wears many hats: manager, booking agent, promoter, rehearsal coordinator, scheduler, roadie, art director (he painted the band’s logo), social media person, and organizer. Mark takes care of the business end of the enterprise. He handled the name and logo trademarked, set the band up as an LLC, and purchased liability and equipment insurance.

Garrity admits that it’s a lot of hard work, but says, “It’s so much fun! The rest of the band seems to be enjoying it too.” She says the band members are all very punctual arriving for rehearsals and they get along well. This is crucial to the success of any band. Drummer Dave "Rudy" Ridolfi had been out of the band scene for a while, and according to Dani, was hesitant to get back into it. Dani says that when the drummer sat in on a rehearsal, he was impressed that such a great group of people had been able to come together with no drama. “Our lead guitarist (who has decades of experience) said "This band feels like family" (in a good way!), says Garrity.

Just beginning

Lost Angel Heart Tribute, like most new bands, will start gigging at small venues to make a name for themselves. However, their ultimate goal is to play the casinos. Their short-term goal, though, is to play at the Arizona State Fair in October of this year. They are booked for their first all-ages show at The Chill Room in Tempe this coming Saturday, February 10 at 8 pm.

As a Heart Tribute Band, Lost Angel couldn't resist the opportunity to do a Valentines weekend show. To an extent, they may have jumped in a bit prematurely, as they don’t have their entire two-hour set-list memorized yet. The full set list is a broad range of Ann and Nancy's music through the years, from the 70s and 80s hits to lesser-known deep cuts from the 90s and 2000s. Dani expects they will play for a little over an hour. The Chill Room is a small venue with top-notch sound and lighting systems. It is a relatively new venue, owned and operated by the son of one of the guitarists for several of the tribute bands Dani and Mark have gotten to know. The guitarist has been very supportive of Lost Angel since its inception.

After this show, Lost Angel will be concentrating on filming a promo video and putting together an electronic press kit (EPK) and working on getting synch-licensing for some of the songs. Synch-licensing is permission from the publisher or rights holder to post video of the songs without copyright infringement issues. When a band plays live, the venues pay a cover song license fee, but when posting a video of a cover song, synch-licensing is required for each song.

Making a name for a dream come true

The band name, Lost Angel, comes from Heart’s 2004 Jupiter's Darling album. When the group sat down to pick out a band name, they found that almost every song had been used by other Heart tributes past and present. Not wanting to be confused with other Heart tribute bands, they kept digging for ideas. Every name they could think of with the word "Heart" in it turned out to be taken. For instance, Heart Of Phoenix is actually an equine rehab facility and Heart of Arizona is an old western movie. So, says Dani, “Lost Angel it is!”

Dani Garrity reminds us that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Determination and perseverance pay off. She shares that Lost Angel had a rough start, but then things just fell into place and started to snowball. They met some great, and some not so great, people along the way. The great ones - whether they joined them, supported them, or offered their advice and shared their knowledge based on their own band experience; renewed Dani and Mark’s faith that there are some magnificent people in the world. This also affirmed their belief in manifestation. “Put out what you want and the universe will answer.”

After this Saturday’s show, Lost Angel has no future gigs scheduled at this time. Any venue owner or booking agent interested in hiring the band can reach them on their website, Facebook, Instagram, or by email at lostangelheartribute@gmail.com

The Chill Room presents Lost AngelPhoto byLost Angel

GET READY TO SEE THE SHOW!

• WHO: Lost Angel Heart Tribute
• WHERE: The Chill Room, 1320 East Broadway Road, Suite 108, Tempe, AZ 85282
• WHEN: Saturday, February 10 at 8 pm
• COST: No Cover Fee