Just Announced! Tower of Power and Killer Queen!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, MELBOURNE, FL –
The King Center for the Performing Arts is proud to announce the return of two incredible shows to the Space Coast! AEG Presents Tower Of Power, Celebrating 55 years, Tower of Power has delivered the best in funk and soul music and will be performing here on Friday, March 3rd at 8 PM. Additionally, Elko Concerts is bringing back fan favorite Killer Queen – A Tribute to Queen featuring Patrick Meyers as Freddie Mercury, slated for Saturday, October 7th at 8 PM. Both shows will be performing on the L3HARRIS Technologies Theatre Main Stage. Tickets for both events go on sale this Friday, December 9th at 10 AM online at KingCenter.com and starting at noon at the King Center Ticket Office / 321-242-2219. For more information visit KingCenter.com
Friday, March 3, 2023 – 8 PM – Tower of Power, Celebrating 55 Years!
“We were a Soul band called The Motowns.” recalls Emilio Castillo. “Rocco was the bass player, I was in there, and my brother was the drummer. I met “Doc” Kupka back in 1968 and gave him an audition. He came in the band, and we eventually changed our name to the Tower of Power.” The reason for the band name change was that they had a specific goal in mind.
“We wanted to get into the Fillmore Auditorium and with a name like the Motowns, dressed in suits with razor cuts, we knew we’d never get in there. We grew our hair long, and started to be hippies, and changed our name. Doc then suggested that we start writing our own songs.”
The Fillmore was a major goal, which came along at the right time. “We had been playing nightclubs, and we had gotten busted for being underage. One night, the ABC came in, and caught the trumpet player drinking, and the next thing we knew, a notice was out across the Bay Area that if they hired us again, clubs would lose their liquor license. Then, my parents moved to Detroit, and I was on my own, broke and hungry, and all I did was rehearse. We wrote the songs for East Bay Grease, and by November, we were at the end of our rope. I told the guys that I was leaving for the holidays, and if nothing happened with this audition, I wasn’t coming back.” Fortunately, he did, and the rest as they say, is history.
Saturday, October 7th, 2023 – 8 PM – Killer Queen – A Tribute to Queen
Lead singer Patrick Myers said “It's been an amazing journey. That first show changed my life. We thought our band would last maybe a summer at the most but it's a very addictive thing performing these songs. The concerts grew and grew, and we've ended up playing and selling out the same arenas that Queen played at their peak. It's been quite a surreal ride. Becoming regular performers Red Rocks Arena in America is another highlight. The Beatles, U2, Springsteen, Dylan all played on that stage. It's really got its own kind of magic going on there”
Killer Queen's first public shows were at London University, following in the footsteps of the real Queen who had played their first shows there decades earlier.
Killer Queen's UK popularity grew to such an extent they soon secured a residency in London's Strand Theatre attracting nationwide BBC coverage - the first tribute to have a show in the West End.
The band's reputation continued to grow both in the UK and abroad leading to an awards ceremony in Leicester Square, hosted by Suggs from Madness who presented them with the award for “Worldwide Best Tribute Band”. They also scored a number one hit when they were asked to recreate Queen's harmonies for “The Real Life” with Fatboy Slim.
Tickets for both events will go on sale this Friday, December 9th at 10 AM online at KingCenter.com and noon at the King Center Ticket Office / 321-242-2219. For more information visit KingCenter.com