Rockin' the fairgrounds

Tim Leeds Havre Daily News [email protected]

Although the crowd was small, most seemed pleased by the show put on by a hard-rockin' band in Havre Friday, and the band seemed pleased with their reaction. “It was cool. It was kind of weird driving up and seeing all the dirt (on the floor),” Brian “Damage” Forsythe said after the concert about Rhino Bucket setting up in the Bigger Better Barn at the Great No r the r n Fairgrounds. Once the band started to play, the audience made up for the unusual venue, he said. “It was a very enthusiastic crowd,” Forsythe said The Havre Jaycees brought Rhino Bucket, with the Great Falls band Voodoo Cadillac as the opener, as a trial fundraiser for the service organization. June Hesser, chair of the committee, said it looks like the fundraiser part was not so good the final numbers are not in, and she is not sure if the Jaycees will make any profit but it was a great show, and people who had never heard of Rhino Bucket told her afterward how much they liked the band. Hesser said the Jaycees sold about 175 tickets for the show. She won't know exactly how the fundraising turned out until she has the results of sales at the beer garden, she said. “We're pretty close to breaking even on it,” she said. Emily Vaughn, who worked with Hesser to put on the show, said Friday night that the crowd's reaction made all the work setting up the show worthwhile. “I'm just happy that the community is happy,” she said. The band fired up the crowd from the start. Audience members raised their fists and moved and rocked their heads in time with the music, hearing the beat of the drums over Dolivo's vocals through 10-foot tall stacks of JBS speakers on either side of the crowd. Cheers and applause roared from the crowd after each song. Most of the audience was in front of the stage while Voodoo Cadillac, which includes Havre native Joe England, played. Once Rhino Bucket set up and started, hardly anyone was not in front of the band. Lead singer Georg Dolivo even commented on the very few people who sat in the bleachers rather than coming to the floor. He called on the people in front of the stage to get them out of the seats. “There's no sitting down in rock and roll,” he said, adding that it was “all right” when the people in the bleachers remained where they were. The band, formed by Dolivo and bass player Reeve Downes in 1988, released its first album in 1990. After releasing its third album, the band stopped recording and playing in the late 1990s. Then, after playing a reunion show at the Cathouse nightclub in Hollywood, it reformed and has been playing ever since. Downes said there is no chance of that ending soon. “No, we're going to do this 'til we die,” he said after Friday's show. Rhino Bucket released a new album this year, and already is planning a new release. Dolivo said they plan to record it after this tour ends and they start a tour of Europe, and it is likely to be available by next spring. The band has had some variety in its lineup, bringing in Forsythe, who played with the band Kix from the late 1970s through the early 1990s and moving around some on drummers. This tour featured Anthony “Tiny” Biuso. “We've been friends for a while,” Biuso said, adding that he has been playing with the band, off and on, for several years. Rhino Bucket asked him to fill in for Simon Wright, who played on their 2009 album but is now back touring with Ronnie James Dio, Biuso said, Dolivo said the band is looking forward to its European tour, the first time it will play the continent, although he joked about buying enough warm clothes to play northern Europe in the winter. “We're going to have a great time,” he added.