It’s a riff so heavy it still boggles the mind more than 40 years after its creation.
Recorded in 1968, Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” – a 17-minute-plus psychedelic dirge, featuring a haunting minor-key drone along with extended guitar, organ and drum solos – set the template for heavy rock music for decades to come.
The single – in an edited for radio, a two-minute, 52-second version – reached No. 30 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and the album, also titled “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard album charts, eventually selling more than 25 million copies. It was the first album to be certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
On May 12, Iron Butterfly – featuring original members Lee Dorman on bass and drummer Ron Bushy – will bring “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” to life at Kent’s ShoWare Center. The show includes Magic Carpet Ride, who plays the music of Steppenwolf, and The Xperience, a Jimi Hendrix tribute fronted by guitarist RG Valentino, who previously played with Lenny Kravitz and Madonna.
It’s a show that hearkens back to the halcyon days of rock concerts, according to Magic Carpet Ride guitarist Glen Bui.
“Iron Butterfly is as real as you get,” he said. “They sound no different than they did in 1968. And we’re doing the Steppenwolf stuff just like in 1968. And the Hendrix tribute is all the early stuff. It’s the old rockers that play music like it’s supposed to be played. We’re a different breed, we play rock like it’s supposed to be played because we were well schooled back then. Now a days it’s a little bit different. Everything is produced in a can. It’s all sequenced. We’re coming straight out with amps and a few stomp boxes.”
In addition to the sound, the Northwest Laser Light Shows will appear.
The show marks a new evolution of the ShoWare Center as a concert venue. The arena will convert into more intimate setting, with a curtain dividing the arena in half for a more club-like feel, according to ShoWare General Manager Tim Higgins.
“When you say arena show, it’s just an arena show,” Higgins said. “But when you say club show, it gets you more excited. It makes you want to come see the band in a club setting. This place is very multipurpose. We find a way to make it work.”
“The ShoWare has a lot of potential and I think Tim’s idea is a good one, doing a club setting,” Bui added. “Where else can you go and get the club atmosphere but still be in an arena? Arenas are where concerts were in the ’70s. This could be a brand new 2012 version of Fillmore West or Winterland. It’ll be like the Fillmore North.”
The concert features 500 seats on the floor, in addition to the stands. Suites also will be available.
Higgins added that it’s likely there will be more shows featuring the club-seating variation.
“We want to get it done and show it,” Higgins said. “It’s a test run, but we’re very confident it’s going to do very well.”
Higgins said a sponsored series of shows is possible in the near future.
“The key is affordability,” Higgins said, “then we can charge that $15, $20 ticket price.”
The May 12 show gets under way at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the show are $15 and $20 and available at www.tickets.showarecenter.com or by calling 253-856-6999 or 866-973-9613. They also can be purchased from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the ShoWare box office, 852 W. James St.
