Buffalo Evening News ‘Gusto’ ad – “Perousia” plays McVans on Sunday July 1st, 1979
Parousia played McVan’s many times, one of those being July 1, 1979 – a Sunday, 2 days after Pegasus did one of their awesome shows. We’ll use that as an excuse to publish our bootleg tribute to Pegasus here.
Pegasus was a ridiculously talented and dedicated set of young musicians, fronted by an outrageous and charismatic creative artist. The result was one of those amazing experiences you can only chalk up to a magical chemistry that cannot be manufactured on demand.
Mark Freeland – Vocals, Harmonica, Percussion, Toys, etc.
Vince Cooper – Guitars, Keyboards
Kent Weber – Bass, Keyboards
Steve Trecaise – Keyboards, Bass
Chuck Cavanaugh – Drums
Here’s a few pictures, and an awesome bootleg I will post here until I receive a “cease and desist” from the boys. 😛
Freaking amazing! Oh yeah, did I mention Parousia played McVan’s too?
Parousia (Perousia) leaves Kim’s basement to perform at McVan’s, Sunday July 1st, 1979
Here’s the rare recording of the last Pegasus show at McVan’s from 1979, as promised.
Young Pegasus 1972 – Steve, Kent, Chuck, Vince and Mark
A Very Young Pegasus – Kent, Chuck, Steve and VinceChuck, Mark and Kent at McVans. Photo by Jim CouchThe Pegasus LogoChuck Cavanaugh – Pegasus Drummer – 1979Chuck Cavanaugh – PegasusPegasus on stage at McVansPegasus Bassist Kent Weber 1979Pegasus Guitarist & Keyboardist- Vince Cooper playing the ARP OmniPegasus Vocals & spontaneous weird stuff – Mark Freeland (and in background – Keyboards Steve Trecaise) 1979Pegasus at McVan’sA classic Pegasus show performing The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in its entirety.Pegasus performs, ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway‘ in its entirety, by GenesisPegasus: Side ‘A’: “Think About Me Sometimes” 45rpm (Parousia covered the ‘B’ side, “City Of The Strange Ones“)Pegasus has an identity crisis and performs a live outdoor show under the pseudonym ‘A’, at Crosby Field in Kenmore NY.Parousia had the distinguished honor of opening for Pegasonics at the Granada Theater 12.10.1980 – click here for more info
22 comments for “The Inspiration of Pegasus / Parousia at McVan’s 1979”
Anonymous
August 4, 2013 at 5:18 pm
Use to frequent McVan’s in the mid 70’s, enjoyed the band Rasputin, they would dress up as Kiss and played mostly Kiss music, I thought they were actually pretty good.
I have so many memories of McVans I could go on for days….Bands Like Pegasus, Rodan, Black Sheep, …only to name a few. McVans was where I began my underage drinking experience at around 16/1973….with the NYS drinking age being 18, McVans was one of the few places that didn’t require a “sheriffs card/photo ID….no, the picture-less drivers license sufficed. For me, McVans was the gateway for promiscuous behaviour without fear of death.Recreational drug use without fear of death. Meeting “different” people without fear of death…No, McVans was a place to enjoy. It was the place where kids from the suburbs could let loose and party with the Buffalo “dogs” on their porch…then came the 1st Mighty Taco not too far away ….the rest is now nothing more than a memory. Sometimes I treasure growing up in the seventies….and sometimes I think it’s nothing more than selective recall…at any rate, the days of McVans, He & Shes, Uncle Sams, After Dark, the Outside Inn….are gone and will never return! Unfortunately, peoples attitudes have changed for the worse. There are but a few good live music clubs around….and they struggle to keep the mob mentality/violence at bay….it’s a goddamn shame///RIP McVans and the rest….your appearance and demise made a lasting impression on the generation to which you were party..especially to me=the author.
I remember back in the 70’s when the owner of McVan’s was Joe Rose and my ex was a waitress there. Rodan, Pegasus and a lot of other great rock acts used to fill the two stages. My ex hustled pool and we’d hang with the band members till 4 in the morning then go to Panos (a hole-in-the-wall) for ‘slavaki’ breakfast. Sleep it off Sunday and you had an epic weekend.
WOW! What can I say about seeing the one and only, consumate, larger than life, second to none, truly ikonic Pegasus at McVans! WHEW! Did I leave out any compliments I ask you? What an amazing amazing band. If Genesis; Gentle Giant; King Crimson; UK; ELP; etc. could look in the mirror; they would probably see remnants and reflections of Pegasus in that image, and vice versa. I remember braving all kinds of cryogenic temperatures in the heart of the worst of Buffalo winters with my brother Jerry (the drummer) and Pat (the lead singer and flute player) to see this band at McVans. Some nights there may have not been more than 50 people there altogether because of the unbearable cold and massive amounts of snow; but we didn’t care. We came to see the incredible Pegasus; and that was good enough for us; bar none player. I remember having a conversation with Chuck Cavanaugh (Pegasus’s drummer) on one cold, bitter winter night when he helped to roadie and supply some of their PA equipment (along with John McGovern who also roadied for them and was our old lead guitarist) for our band when we played at McVans. He had his head (wild hair and all) tucked as far as he could into the top of his coat in order to try and stay warm while waiting outside in their truck, and then he told me that Joe T. Rose; the owner of McVans would always bitch and say “if only it was 20 degrees warmer outside; my place would be packed.” Maybe so Joe, maybe so! On a final note; Pegasus’s sound man was Rick Diesing; who was a real wizard of audio. He looked like a blonde haired Billy Sheehan (bass player from Talas). He literally could work the sound board probably as well as Billy Sheehan could play bass guitar. I believe he worked during the day as a manager for Mighty Taco; at it’s very early beginning. Just some music and rock and roll trivia for all you trivia hungry and salivating music hounds out there. Thanks for the wondrous memories Pegasus!
Barry
(The former dim-witted guitarist from Parousia)
Check out the first pic… the Gusto Ad for the McVans Friday night line-up featuring “Pegasus”, one of Buffalo’s best progressive rock groups and there is no denying that they were an early inspiration for us blokes in Parousia.
From 1978 to 1980, Barry, Patt and I went to see Pegasus more than two dozen times at McVans night club on Hertel and Niagara St. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, it didn’t matter… we loved watching that band perform. Pegasus showed us how important it was to be visually interesting as well as sound good.
Each Pegasus song has its own unique musical and visual theme just as many top bands in the 70’s were doing and audiences loved it. Bands like the Tubes, Genesis, Alice Cooper, Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Kiss to name a few. Mark Freeland would conjure up costumes, masks, make-up and props to bring each epic Pegasus song to life. Songs like, “Superman”, “Milk is Real, “Elf Sweet Self” “a Million Years are up” and the “Alienation” rock opera. Plus, the band floored us with their incredible musicianship. Chuck Cavanaugh on drums made transitioning between complex time signatures look easy and sound great. Steve Trecaise on keys was not unlike Tony Banks with his Mini-Moog, Hammond B3 and Mellotron. Vince Cooper studied Guitar at Berkley school of music and on occasion traded guitar “tricks and picks” with Parousia guitarist, Garth Huels. Last but not least, Kent Weber was well known as one of Buffalo’s top bassists along side the incredible Billy Sheehan of Talas.
We became friends with most of the Pegasus entourage including their kick-ass sound man Rick Diesing. In 1979, Parousia purchased two bass reflex cabinets from Pegasus for our own P.A. system. On those times when Parousia had a choice gig, we rented other sound equipment from them and then Chuck Cavanaugh would come along to assist John McGovern and help us sound our best (and loudest).
In looking back at the Buffalo Evening News Gusto Ad, check out the band called “Crossroads”. They performed on Friday with Pegasus and then again on Saturday with “Rasputin” (a local kiss cover band).
Local Rock Fact: Crossroads changed there name to “the Beez” in 1980. Soon after that, both Parousia and the Beez signed up with Backstage Productions with Dave Buffamonti as booking agent and Rick Falkowski as Parousia’s personal manager.
Rick and Marsha Falkowski built a local music scene empire with “Buffalo Backstage Magazine” as the foundation and then went on to produce the first ‘Buffalo Backstage Music Awards’ show in November of 1981, (where Parousia performed the song “Myron” live on stage). Rick’s award show became a tradition that lasted more than thirty-years up to 2010. You can check out the Music Awards archives featuring Parousia here: http://www.buffalomusicawards.com/archives/1981.html
I played guitar in a band there in the late 1970’s. It was a dream of mine to play at McVan’s after seeing all the bands playing there like the Toys, Electroman, Rodan, Pegasus and Parousia. The lower level had very low ceilings, everything was painted black including the “dressing rooms” which were pretty disgusting looking and lined with graffiti. RIP Joe Terose.
Awesome article. Thanks. I remember jamming with Parousia once, when I worked at Starseed. My memory is a little fuzzy…
John McGovern and I worked together at the Buffalo Bills games. I think John is still doing sound for the games. Another important member of the Pegasus crew was Tom Ochs, the lighting guy. Tom ran the lights at the Continental for years, and is now the LD at Buff State’s Rockwell Hall.
Rick Diesing is still traveling the world, touring with rock bands, big names and newcomers alike. All that hard work must be good for you, he has barely aged, unlike most of us.”
WOW; I never knew that about Rick Diesing ! BULLY FOR HIM ! At least someone “made it” in the music industry/business; at least on a certain level.
By the way; very nice guitar work on the 2 NEW Parousia songs you guys recently recorded and put on Sound Cloud ( “No Songs for Mary”; and “The Weekday Song” (nice lead solo).
Best of luck to you; Parousia; your family and friends; etc. man !
I remember when my band the Factor opened for Rasputin at McVans. Jimbo Freeland and I were huge Kiss fans and so we thought it was very cool to jam with a band that dressed like them.
Use to frequent McVan’s in the mid 70’s, enjoyed the band Rasputin, they would dress up as Kiss and played mostly Kiss music, I thought they were actually pretty good.
I have so many memories of McVans I could go on for days….Bands Like Pegasus, Rodan, Black Sheep, …only to name a few. McVans was where I began my underage drinking experience at around 16/1973….with the NYS drinking age being 18, McVans was one of the few places that didn’t require a “sheriffs card/photo ID….no, the picture-less drivers license sufficed. For me, McVans was the gateway for promiscuous behaviour without fear of death.Recreational drug use without fear of death. Meeting “different” people without fear of death…No, McVans was a place to enjoy. It was the place where kids from the suburbs could let loose and party with the Buffalo “dogs” on their porch…then came the 1st Mighty Taco not too far away ….the rest is now nothing more than a memory. Sometimes I treasure growing up in the seventies….and sometimes I think it’s nothing more than selective recall…at any rate, the days of McVans, He & Shes, Uncle Sams, After Dark, the Outside Inn….are gone and will never return! Unfortunately, peoples attitudes have changed for the worse. There are but a few good live music clubs around….and they struggle to keep the mob mentality/violence at bay….it’s a goddamn shame///RIP McVans and the rest….your appearance and demise made a lasting impression on the generation to which you were party..especially to me=the author.
I remember back in the 70’s when the owner of McVan’s was Joe Rose and my ex was a waitress there. Rodan, Pegasus and a lot of other great rock acts used to fill the two stages. My ex hustled pool and we’d hang with the band members till 4 in the morning then go to Panos (a hole-in-the-wall) for ‘slavaki’ breakfast. Sleep it off Sunday and you had an epic weekend.
WOW! What can I say about seeing the one and only, consumate, larger than life, second to none, truly ikonic Pegasus at McVans! WHEW! Did I leave out any compliments I ask you? What an amazing amazing band. If Genesis; Gentle Giant; King Crimson; UK; ELP; etc. could look in the mirror; they would probably see remnants and reflections of Pegasus in that image, and vice versa. I remember braving all kinds of cryogenic temperatures in the heart of the worst of Buffalo winters with my brother Jerry (the drummer) and Pat (the lead singer and flute player) to see this band at McVans. Some nights there may have not been more than 50 people there altogether because of the unbearable cold and massive amounts of snow; but we didn’t care. We came to see the incredible Pegasus; and that was good enough for us; bar none player. I remember having a conversation with Chuck Cavanaugh (Pegasus’s drummer) on one cold, bitter winter night when he helped to roadie and supply some of their PA equipment (along with John McGovern who also roadied for them and was our old lead guitarist) for our band when we played at McVans. He had his head (wild hair and all) tucked as far as he could into the top of his coat in order to try and stay warm while waiting outside in their truck, and then he told me that Joe T. Rose; the owner of McVans would always bitch and say “if only it was 20 degrees warmer outside; my place would be packed.” Maybe so Joe, maybe so! On a final note; Pegasus’s sound man was Rick Diesing; who was a real wizard of audio. He looked like a blonde haired Billy Sheehan (bass player from Talas). He literally could work the sound board probably as well as Billy Sheehan could play bass guitar. I believe he worked during the day as a manager for Mighty Taco; at it’s very early beginning. Just some music and rock and roll trivia for all you trivia hungry and salivating music hounds out there. Thanks for the wondrous memories Pegasus!
Barry
(The former dim-witted guitarist from Parousia)
Check out the first pic… the Gusto Ad for the McVans Friday night line-up featuring “Pegasus”, one of Buffalo’s best progressive rock groups and there is no denying that they were an early inspiration for us blokes in Parousia.
From 1978 to 1980, Barry, Patt and I went to see Pegasus more than two dozen times at McVans night club on Hertel and Niagara St. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, it didn’t matter… we loved watching that band perform. Pegasus showed us how important it was to be visually interesting as well as sound good.
Each Pegasus song has its own unique musical and visual theme just as many top bands in the 70’s were doing and audiences loved it. Bands like the Tubes, Genesis, Alice Cooper, Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Kiss to name a few. Mark Freeland would conjure up costumes, masks, make-up and props to bring each epic Pegasus song to life. Songs like, “Superman”, “Milk is Real, “Elf Sweet Self” “a Million Years are up” and the “Alienation” rock opera. Plus, the band floored us with their incredible musicianship. Chuck Cavanaugh on drums made transitioning between complex time signatures look easy and sound great. Steve Trecaise on keys was not unlike Tony Banks with his Mini-Moog, Hammond B3 and Mellotron. Vince Cooper studied Guitar at Berkley school of music and on occasion traded guitar “tricks and picks” with Parousia guitarist, Garth Huels. Last but not least, Kent Weber was well known as one of Buffalo’s top bassists along side the incredible Billy Sheehan of Talas.
We became friends with most of the Pegasus entourage including their kick-ass sound man Rick Diesing. In 1979, Parousia purchased two bass reflex cabinets from Pegasus for our own P.A. system. On those times when Parousia had a choice gig, we rented other sound equipment from them and then Chuck Cavanaugh would come along to assist John McGovern and help us sound our best (and loudest).
In looking back at the Buffalo Evening News Gusto Ad, check out the band called “Crossroads”. They performed on Friday with Pegasus and then again on Saturday with “Rasputin” (a local kiss cover band).
Local Rock Fact: Crossroads changed there name to “the Beez” in 1980. Soon after that, both Parousia and the Beez signed up with Backstage Productions with Dave Buffamonti as booking agent and Rick Falkowski as Parousia’s personal manager.
Rick and Marsha Falkowski built a local music scene empire with “Buffalo Backstage Magazine” as the foundation and then went on to produce the first ‘Buffalo Backstage Music Awards’ show in November of 1981, (where Parousia performed the song “Myron” live on stage). Rick’s award show became a tradition that lasted more than thirty-years up to 2010. You can check out the Music Awards archives featuring Parousia here: http://www.buffalomusicawards.com/archives/1981.html
I played guitar in a band there in the late 1970’s. It was a dream of mine to play at McVan’s after seeing all the bands playing there like the Toys, Electroman, Rodan, Pegasus and Parousia. The lower level had very low ceilings, everything was painted black including the “dressing rooms” which were pretty disgusting looking and lined with graffiti. RIP Joe Terose.
Awesome article. Thanks. I remember jamming with Parousia once, when I worked at Starseed. My memory is a little fuzzy…
John McGovern and I worked together at the Buffalo Bills games. I think John is still doing sound for the games. Another important member of the Pegasus crew was Tom Ochs, the lighting guy. Tom ran the lights at the Continental for years, and is now the LD at Buff State’s Rockwell Hall.
Rick Diesing is still traveling the world, touring with rock bands, big names and newcomers alike. All that hard work must be good for you, he has barely aged, unlike most of us.”
Hi Garth !
WOW; I never knew that about Rick Diesing ! BULLY FOR HIM ! At least someone “made it” in the music industry/business; at least on a certain level.
By the way; very nice guitar work on the 2 NEW Parousia songs you guys recently recorded and put on Sound Cloud ( “No Songs for Mary”; and “The Weekday Song” (nice lead solo).
Best of luck to you; Parousia; your family and friends; etc. man !
Take care and God Bless !
Your old dim witted guitar playing bandmate;
Barry
I remember when my band the Factor opened for Rasputin at McVans. Jimbo Freeland and I were huge Kiss fans and so we thought it was very cool to jam with a band that dressed like them.
I had a foster brother that hung with Rasputin Billi And Nina Wipperman,i dont know if anyone remembers them
I was there all the time
Freaking AMAZING. I was there. Never forget. Thank you.
Cool! ????????????
Nice!
My first show there was Pegasus in ‘79 when I started at Buff State!
We were all just babies. Drunk, insane babies
Mighty taco
Wow…that’s all I can say!
Anyone have recollection of a touring guitarist named Jack Riley Playing with them?
Nope, for as long as I knew the band, they had Vince Cooper playing guitar only.