TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | OCT 2019 37
band as long as I have been is being in the show. The traveling
and the business side is the tough stuff. They pay us to travel, but
we play for free. It’s all worth it.”
Q: What was your craziest rock star moment?
“We were in normal Illinois playing a show and all of a sudden,
this girl flew from like 40 feet in the air right onto the stage
and almost hit the singer. Come to find out she was high on
hallucinogenic drugs and had climbed up on the cat walk and
climbed up on the highest truss. Crowd saw it coming but we
didn’t. She just let go. She got injured. Had to stop the show. We
sent flowers. Next time you drop by, knock first.”
Well, epic story, but I needed more...
“Playing the Forum was the greatest place we felt we could play. The
Lakers, Led Zeppelin... a teenage dream to play. When we finally played
there with all of our friends and parents, that was a Big Deal. Surreal. When
you dream something and then it happens, it’s almost like it numbs you.
You don’t respond like you envision you would respond. Just disbelief.
Once you get over the shock of it, it’s time to celebrate. It’s just unreal.
Almost like everything we pretended, like, it came to us eventually. We
pretended like we were going to be interviewed with ourselves and have
our tape recorders out. At rehearsal we pretended we were playing the
Forum.”
Q: Other than being a legendary guitarist and really the only reason Great White
is still rocking, what gets you out of bed in the morning?
“Believe it or not, eight years ago I just said one day that instead of using
Facebook to tell everyone how great I am, I wonder what would happen
if I reached out and offered my encouragement and support to help be
a sober friend. Share my story and inspire them to get well. Some guy
came forward and said his wife didn’t want to watch him die anymore.
It crushed his soul. He saw my post and got hold of me. We got him into
rehab. Went from patient to counselor in a five-year period. When that
happened, I knew that is what I needed to do. Today I have worked with
several people seeing transformations and the success is amazing. It just
made me become more giving, loving, caring and spiritually prosperous.
Watching people get well inspires me to get up in the morning. Send out
the prayers!”
Q: I asked Mark if I missed anything and he said I absolutely did…
“I would like to throw in and just thank the fans for digging the music and
being the most loyal fans on earth, and the new generations that are just
digging our music. We basically grew up with our fans. What you expect
is what we are going to play. Our very best show and everything you want
and expect to hear will be in the show. Also, surprising jams.”
I’ve been looking forward to this concert since I found out, but since talking
to Mark, I am now gonna be front and center shaking my ass! This is going to
be a fantastic show!!
Tybee, come out and see this legendary band bring us all of our old favorites,
as well as some new ones! They will be performing Saturday night on the main
stage. See you there!!