As good fortune would have it, I was given a second opportunity to jam with my fast friends from the February 2013 Hard Rock Cafe Orlando gig. It was now August 2013 and we were headed to Las Vegas to play in the ballroom at the MGM Grand Hotel. The whole crew was back, with the addition of Chris on bass, and Ben on guitar and vocals.
From left to right: Chris on bass, me (Mark) on guitar and vocals, Steve on guitar and vocals, Rick on drums, and Ben on guitar and vocals. We also had our whole cast of five vocalists back as well, with a special guest vocalist that joined us for the Vanilla Ice Classic, “Ice Ice Baby”. I was really happy with the show that we pulled together. We played mainly classic rock, with some pop. We did some John Cougar, TLC, Vanilla Ice, Tracy Chapman, Johnny Cash, and even “Viva Las Vegas” Springsteen style.
Near the end of the show, the five of us instrumentalists did a rousing version of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid” Joe Bonamassa style. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad that we did it. It gave us a chance to just jam as a band. This truly was a band that I would love to play with any day of the week. Chris was a phenomenal bass player. Rick provided the backbone for us on drums. Steve played some awesome lead guitar and kept us alive with his professional vocals. Ben, added depth to the band on guitar and with his rock and roll vocals. And I held my own playing guitar and adding some lead licks hear and there.
— Mark Salyers