From the Weekly Musician 1/19/07

Stricken hits the stage with a vengeance and doesn't ever let up till they get the power shut off. I once said a singer had a sound like that of an animal in death throes in the jaws of a lion. Well Dean IS that lion and as a front man I have infinite respect for someone who can sing EVERY song, two nights in a row, and end the weekend with "Down With the Sickness" and "Bulls On Parade" and never miss a note... His voice is as big as his guns and he shows them both with pride and prejudice. Speaking of guns... Johnny is like a gangster with a machine gun spraying furious notes all over the building. His blistering leads are exhausting to watch and flawless in their technique. Joe, what can I say man.. you really need some more stuff dude, I mean with only two kicks, 6 toms, and 13 cymbals..plus the snare and miscellaneous hardware..you look bored back there.. Maybe a timbale', a gong, and some bells...Dude you must have that setup time down to a matter of HOURS by now.. chuckle...Hey that's all right my friend Howie takes hours too, and he only has a 6 piece but he takes a cigarette break and does a bit of reflection after each drum to contemplate the nature of the position and its importance in the global scheme of things...Joe weighs in before each performance and if he comes out without loosing at least 5 pounds he judges the night negatively. Seriously though, Joe is one BUSY drummer and the band as a whole doesn't shy away from anything. Joe wears a hockey helmet and even drums blindfolded..what's up with that? Ahhhh, I missed the big "S" on his Shirt, and thusly forgot about the "xray vision"! I get it NOW!

Brian, our enigmatic bass guru ..dude, I'm tellin ya you need to go back to school! Katie has a curriculum in mind!.. She has some schoolin in mind .. and hey what's this FERGIE thing anyway?..She tells me that's your favorite artist? Brian stomps around the stage like a storm trooper in his jack boots. Dealing death and destruction with every note, and lovin every minute of it. Together these warriors chopped the crowd into little bitty pieces and laid waste to the town and left victorious yet again. 

Gary Perrett
RII systems engineer

From our wild weekend in Grand Rapids...