Suburban rockers to open for Gene Simmons, Bon Jovi
A rock band of four middle-aged suburbanites is livin' the dream by stepping into the white hot spotlight.
Algonquin-based Teeze will open for longtime KISS frontman Gene Simmons on Thursday at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles and for Bon Jovi on Monday at Canadien Tire Centre, an arena that seats 17,000 in Ottawa, Canada.
Drummer P.J. Alvarez said he and his bandmates fully appreciate the opportunity they have to share the stage with their music idols.
"We feel like kids in a candy store, especially at our age," Alvarez said of the band where everyone is pushing 50 years old.
Each member - lead vocalist Alex Tyler from Lake in the Hills, lead guitarist Bill Bhuller from Lake Zurich, bassist Geoff Jania from Indiana and Alvarez of Algonquin - played for years in local bands that were never signed to contracts.
Alvarez said that seven years ago, Tyler told him they should revive Teeze, a rock band project they started in 1990, and play together monthly. One gig led to another and soon the band was leveraging their roots in the Chicago-area music scene to land bigger shows.
"It spiraled out of control," Alvarez said.
Alvarez, the self-declared promoter and manager, is friendly, self-deprecating and eager to boost the band.
"My mom always told me, 'don't worry about being a thorn in their side, be the whole effin' bush,'" Alvarez said with a laugh.
Determination was needed to get a spot with Bon Jovi. When the superstar's 2018 tour dates were announced, Alvarez called Bon Jovi's manager - a contact he made by calling other contacts last year trying to get on the 2017 tour - and said they would play anywhere.
"We were willing to take anything. I didn't care, North Carolina, New York, Florida, I was ready to go as far as I needed to go," Alvarez said. "He said you got Ottawa, you want it? And I replied in negative 10 seconds, yes!"
Teeze plays all original music - Alvarez describes the band as having an '80s-style rock n' roll sound.
Thursday night will be the second time Teeze has opened for Simmons. Alvarez said he couldn't contain his excitement to meet one of his heroes the first time last August at the Park West in Chicago.
"Seeing KISS for the first time in 1977, that was the catalyst that got me into music," said Alvarez, who was able to talk to Simmons after last year's show.
After playing in St. Charles, the band will hop in a rented van and drive 12 hours to Ottawa to prepare for Monday's Bon Jovi show.
"I feel like this will be our biggest chance ever to see what it would be like if we had made it," Alvarez said. "For 72 hours, we get to be rock stars, and on Wednesday we'll be back to our day jobs."