Sat 6/29 @ 7PM
Western Pennsylvania’s Donnie Iris is one of those artists who’s kept a regional following over many decades, with a career that began in the mid 60s with his first professional band the Jaggerz. They scored a regional hit in 1970 with “The Rapper” (which had nothing to do with today’s rap). That band fizzled and Iris performed with other regional stars such as B.E. Taylor and Wild Cherry, before meeting Cleveland keyboard player and launching the Cruisers in the late 70s. Their best-known song, “Ah! Leah!,” hit #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.
That band has proven durable especially in this area where dozens of shows opening to Michael Stanley gave them a strong northeast Ohio fan base. Donnie’s now 81, but still rockin’. Although the band members have mostly gone on to other things (Avsec is a Cleveland entertainment attorney) and their hard-touring years are behind them, the band still plays occasionally in places where they have a following, such as northeast Ohio — with most of the same members they had in the 80s. This week they’ll be back at the Kent Stage as a headliner. Get tickets here.
donnie-iris-the-cruisers-back-at-the-kent-stage
Kent, OH 44240