DEAR EDITOR:
Warren is and always will be a "rock 'n' roll" city. Daniel J. Sferra said, "For some reason I can't figure out, country acts aren't as prevalent as rock."
That's because Warren isn't a country city or a hip-hop city or any other kind of music city. It's a rock 'n' roll city. I've been playing guitar since I was 14 years old and have played on and off in rock 'n' roll bands for over 30 years.
I remember as a teenager going to see bands like M.F. Rattlesnake, Glass Harp, Sideshows, just to name a few. All the early clubs in the 1970s had rock 'n' roll bands playing those classic rock tunes of the 1970s, the 1980s and 1990s, clear up until now in 2012. You see in the paper where rock bands are still playing rock 'n roll.
Rock 'n' roll is here to stay in Warren. No other acts are as prevalent as rock 'n' roll. Classic rock will always thrive in Warren. People still want to hear those classic rock songs from the 1970s and the rock acts at the Amp are the people's choice of music.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, plus countless more rock bands formed the early years. This is the kind of music Warren and its people want to hear most. And I guarantee when the Elvis Presley tribute act plays at the Amp, the place will be packed. I knew when the Amp first advertised that they were bringing in country acts it was going to fail.
Country, hip-hop and even the blues will never top rock 'n' roll. There's just something rock 'n' roll music does to people; guitar licks, bass riffs, and the pounding of the drums and crashing of the symbols, and a good frontman. These are the ingredients of rock 'n' roll, especially classic rock.
We need to find somewhere in Warren, like in Cleveland and Youngstown, a place to bring in big rock bands, like Rush, Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Doobie Bros. But until that time, if there will ever be one, just having a great place like "The Amp" and having these awesome rock 'n' roll tribute bands coming in to play rock 'n' roll is good enough for any classic rock fan.
So I just want to express my gratitude to the people behind the Amp who know that without a doubt that "we built this city on rock 'n' roll" and that rock 'n' roll is here to stay in Warren, "the little city that rocks."
Michael Adkins
Warren