Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/714189
12 nSeptember 2016n www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS At least 60,000 bikes threaded their way down one of the most fabled streets in America (and the most crowded this weekend) try- ing to wedge their way into parking spaces along the four-block venue. You name the bike and it was there. Harleys, Victorys, Indians, Can-Ams, Hondas, Kawasakis and more in years ranging from the early 1900s all the way up to brand-new 2016 models were well represented from as far away as Florida judging by license plates. Vendors were clustered along all the side streets on both sides of the main drag in the eight-city-block area and about 3,000 bikes at any given time were squeezed into the event area. That doesn't even begin to count the bikes parked two and three city blocks deep on each side of San Benito. Southwest Digital Photos from Surprise, Arizona, was on hand to capture the bikes as they rolled down the street. Riders could get copies of themselves from their on-site booth. Once you found a parking spot you picked up your VIP package at the Vault Restaurant, owned by Mayor Velazquez. As usual the Christian Motorcyclists Association and other volunteers were doing a superb job of getting the bikes safely into and out of the area. Although the only two entry points were set up at the Fourth and Seventh Streets intersections about 90 percent of the incoming bikes came through the Fourth Street entrance. There were clearly-marked lanes get- ting the bikes and cars through the intersection. Although there were a lot of bikes on Friday, Saturday atten- dance was at least tripled but the vol- unteers got them in surprisingly fast. I found Randy Burke at the VIP sign-in area in the Vault where he was headquartered for the weekend. He said that Roadshows was part- nered with Brian Holt of Offi cial Gear Company from Daytona Beach, Florida, and Tom Recel of Biker Designs, also out of Daytona Beach. Organizing the event presented a huge learning curve. Even though Street Vibrations (Spring and Fall) in Reno, and Hog Wild Coastal Rally in Ocean Shores, Washington, are promoted by Roadshows under similar conditions, Randy said that each location is dif- ferent. This was the fi rst year for his company in Hollister and everything had to be created from the ground up and he only had six months to get the rally rolling. Music is a big part of any rally. There were 12 bands this year and six of them were tribute bands. Given the cost the original acts demand it's a no-brainer to use the clones so you might as well hire the best of them and Randy did just that. He also tried to fi nd some that would refl ect the San Francisco Bay Area and he found six. There was Miss Behaved, an all-girl hard rock band out of San Francisco with Windy Wild belting out lead vocals on some Thin Lizzy, Molly Hatchet and Pat Benatar hits, to name a few. She also plays some bad-ass drums in one of the other San Francisco bands on hand, Motley Crüella with Cindy Lynne doing justice to Vince Neil's vocals and Mary Cary on some screaming lead guitar. If that wasn't enough there was Caravanserai, a Santana tribute band, Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (ZZ Top) from Northern California, Savannah Blue, Northern California's premiere Southern Rock band, and judging by the size of the audience, the crowd favorites seemed to be Journey Revisited and Zepparrella, an all-girl Led Zeppelin tribute band. Jeff Salado's vocals and looks in Journey Revisited were so close to Steve Perry it had people in the audience wonder- ing why the real Journey had to go all the way to the Philippines to fi nd a replacement when Jeff was right here in the Bay Area. My personal favorite had to be Zepparella, though. The San Francisco group has been together for several years and the steamy Robert Plant- styled lead singer, Noelle Doughty, and the Jimmy Page guitar work by Gretchen Menne and the hard-hit- ting drum work by Clementine were nothing short of amazing. Tribute bands as a rule tend to sound like the originals but when all-girl bands like Zepparella, Motley Crüella and Miss Behaved tackle a guy's song it adds a whole new level of originality. Rounding out the rest of the musical lineup were the Mike Osborn Band and the Moondance Band from the Bay Area, Mike Baker, and Jason King and Reece Michaels, all solo acts. A father and two-son trio from Idaho played classic rock and had per- haps the coolest name, Lucky Tongue. Don't know what it means but it leaves much to the imagination. The event area had stages set up throughout all of the beer gardens, including the Vets Hall. There was no admission fee for any of the concerts. Two stunt shows were also added this year. There was Monte Perlin's Globe of Death from Los Angeles and the Straight-Up Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Stunt Show from San Jose Hollister Continued from page 1 Sonny Barger and his "adopted" family, Aischa, Karen, and their mom, Jennifer, share a hug at Corbin's during his book signing. Sonny said with pride, "The girls call me grandpa." Thousands of riders rode into Hollister during the Hollister Independence Rally