Sat 4/27
Shok Paris was the band that launched Cleveland’s heavy metal/Auburn Records scene in the 1980s, and vocalist Vic Hix and guitarist Ken Erb were its mainstays. The band released three albums in the 80s, including two on national labels, and later on Hix and Erb went on to play in Aftershok. When Erb passed away last December at the age of 63, he was mourned by Cleveland’s large, close knit metal community.
He was so beloved that when a memorial concert and benefit for his family was announced at the Maple Grove Tavern, it sold out in advance. And on Saturday April 27, an army of Cleveland metalheads in black t-shirts gathered to hear three bands, raise money for Ken’s family and pay tribute to their friend. The evening included a much-anticipated reunion set from another of Auburn’s bands, Purgatory (highlighted by some stage diving from Spudmonsters/Run Devi Run singer Don Foose), as well as an opening set by Dark Secret and an evening closing set by Iron Maiden tribute band. Maiden Voyage. During their set, Hix joined them on stage, squeezing into Erb’s leather jacket, to perform Shok Paris’s “Go Down Fighting” as a tribute to his mate of 40 years.
Between sets, Auburn Records founder joined Hix and Erb’s sister onstage to announce that that jacket and Erb’s guitar would be going into the Northeast Ohio exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
View the PHOTOSTREAM here.
