PAROUSIA: Patt Connolly, Eric Scheda, Barry Cannizzaro, Robert Lowden, Gerry Cannizzaro, Garth Huels.
The demise of the band seemed inevitable. We were depressed from a string of ‘hard-luck’ gigs that destroyed our spirits, our finances and our goals. Inside of a month we were threatened with a lawsuit (because our soundman destroyed the elevator that trapped him) and our bank account became depleted when our five-night out of town gig in Burlington, Vermont was cancelled after one night.
A handful of forces were tearing at us… Our failed attempts at landing a gig at the most prestigious clubs, Stage 1, After Dark, Mean Guys East, Barrelhead, Mickey Rats (lake of course!) plus our inability to raise enough money to release an album of our original material.
Our last collection of songs was recorded two years before on 4-track and they had Kim singing on them and she was no longer in the band. We would have to record all new songs but we couldn’t afford a recording studio, pay for recording time, mastering, pressing, album art, etc…
Even though the band was playing sometimes two and three times per week, net of expenses we had no extra funds to stash-away for an album.
The last gig at the Hamburg roller-skating rink was no ‘cheerer-upper’. I mean, were playing at a skating rink!… we were a rock band; we played songs by the WHO, Jethro Tull, and Max Webster. It seemed like we were going backwards…
Setting the band’s future aside for the night we went on stage and thoroughly enjoyed playing Friday and Saturday night at the Plant-6, a club where the band always felt comfortable performing original material like “Myron”, “Revelation” and “Lucifer’s Lament”.
We continued the set with a mix of well-known and obscure cover tunes performed in the classic Parousia style. Songs like “Hocus Pocus” by Focus, “Second Coming/ Ballad of Dwight Fry” by Alice Cooper, “Hold Your Head Up” by Argent. “Toronto Tontos” by Max Webster, “White Punks on Dope” by the Tubes, “Won’t get Fooled Again by The WHO and “Perpetual Change” by Yes.
At the end of the weekend we were exhausted and being broke didn’t make it seem worthwhile anymore. Not everyone felt that way but it was pretty clear something major was going to change…