By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Correspondent
Venue: The State Theatre, St. Petersburg, Florida–December 14, 2017
Zephyrhills band TEER got their start in 1992 by founding members John Teer – drums, Nathan Boone and Shane French, guitarist (also has played with Millennium and Jon Oliva’s Pain). Vocalist Dan Michaels, joined up in 1996, while bassist Frank Bruno is a more recent addition. The band was first signed by Frontiers around 2000, and remain with them, though there were a few inactive years until they reunited in 2013, and they’re back in action again, bringing their melodic hard rock/AOR to the stage in support of one of their biggest influences, Dokken.
Other influences cited are Blue Murder, Whitesnake, TNT, Tesla, Thin Lizzy, Dio, Journey, and Foreigner. Teer recorded several demos and played countless live shows through the 90’s including an annual festival held in Zephyrhills, Florida called “Livestock” held by FM radio station 98 Rock. Teer performed alongside artists such as Slash, Buckcherry and Sammy Hagar at this festival. They played in the U.K. in 1999 and 2000, the ‘Gods of AOR Festival, and toured the U.K. in 2004.
Most of the guys in the band you might pass by and never think “rock musician.” Dan Michaels, especially, looks like he’d be at home in a corporate boardroom – and for all I know, he is! But you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Okay, this is a bit of a detour, but he reminds me of a Modern Family episode where the local pharmacist hits the stage and shocks the crowd by pulling off a spectacular rendition of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” That’s a compliment, by the way, to Dan’s vocal prowess, though the entire band is consummately professional. Drawing from their past albums (a new one is in the works for 2018), songs like “Pride,” “Sadie” and “Devil In Your Eyes,” longtime crowd favorites, kept the crowd going after Undercover Betty’s opening set. I look forward to more activity from this band in the future!
Photo Gallery
When not in custody, I've been involved with music, photography, and writing my entire life. Ever since I was a young boy and played those silver tunes, I've had the beat, but being a drummer didn't suit me so I became a lead singer, which lasted a few years. Settling down, sort of, I translated my knowledge of audio and glib tongue into mobile emcee work, and my training as a photographer and videographer into a living in the wedding, party, bar/bat mitzvah, and entertainment industry. During this time I also managed to bamboozle my way into a master's degree in writing, worked for a couple of magazines (yes, I took photos for a nudist magazine!), have photographed hotels, done commercial work (shot the cover of Tablet and Capsule magazine), published a few articles, hosted some public access shows (a couple times in drag, but that's another story), and generally made a nuisance of myself until I landed here.
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