Graham Bonnet has been a renowned vocalist for four decades mostly due to having founded Alcatrazz along with fronting, for awhile, Rainbow and Impellitteri. When he spent time making music with legendary guitarist Michael Schenker in the early 1980s, however, Bonnet was known for something else.
Having recorded the Michael Schenker Group's Assault Attack album in 1982, Bonnet's first gig with the band was one to remember for all the wrong reasons. Bonnet was so drunk on stage, he couldn't even make it through a song and was promptly fired.
And that's what makes his reunion with Schenker that much more amazing.
Bonnet was candid about his place in Schenker's history when I spoke to him by phone in October 2016 (listen here), just prior to two San Antonio performances in January and December of last year (coverage here and here) of his new Graham Bonnet Band.
On Saturday night, he graciously went "Into the Pit" prior to the Michael Schenker Fest headlining a nearly three-hour show at Vibes Event Center inside The Rock Box. Bonnet further explained his drunken stupor from those early days and how he and Schenker reconnected 35 years later. The duo's story has a happy ending, as Bonnet and Schenker are celebrating several years of sobriety while making new music together. Michael Schenker Fest released Resurrection on March 2 with the help of fellow Schenker vocalists Gary Barden, Robin McAuley and Doogie White.
And what's that? Bonnet could be taking up residence in the Alamo City?
Click the video box below to hear Bonnet discuss the spanning of his career. Then click here to watch Bonnet in action just a few hours later on "Desert Song" from his sole contribution to Schenker's solo discography until the new team's release.
Stay tuned for more separate interviews with Schenker, McAuley and White, plus coverage of the concert.
The former vocalist of Alcatrazz, Rainbow, Impellitteri and on 1982 album "Assault Attack" with the Michael Schenker Group goes "Into the Pit" with Alamo True Metal to discuss how he reconnected with Schenker, among other topics, prior to the Michael Schenker Fest band headlining the Vibes Event Center (camera: Howard Peterson)